Ripping Out the Galley

Today was a productive day!  I started by drilling out all the rivets on the hinge; all 60 of them!  This is what my drill bit looked like when I was done!  You can see the 'head's of the rivets on the drill bit.  The drill bit 'pops' off the rivet head and then you finish drilling it out to 'open' up the hole.

 Once the hinge was removed, I was able to take the hatch off.  Putting the hatch aside, I was then able to start drilling out the rivets that held the cabinetry in place.  I decided to take all the rivets out that were attached to the aluminum skin of the sides of the teardrop.

Then, I got Medieval on the cabinets.  My five pound sledge provided just the right amount of persuasion.  What needed additional persuasion was soon tamed by my reciprocating saws demolition blade. 

Thankfully, I managed to 'pop' a lot of the rivets and thus I didn't have to drill out all of the ones in the 'back' of the galley.

After deep cleaning the aluminum, I was able to spray the hatch and galley with the same paint as inside the cabin.

Hatch before:

Hatch After:

My wingman, Jim Tingey, came by today.  We spent most of our time talking through different design ideas.  I wanted to cover the front of the teardrop (the 2' above where the teardrop meets the frame) with diamond plate.  The reason for this would be to fix up some cosmetic concerns.  We figured out that the teardrop was installed on the present trailer frame and in doing so had to be retrofitted; hence the need to cover up some cosmetic issues.  The diamond plate was going to cost quite a bit; I had several estimates from local manufacturers and one from Pittsburgh, PA.  Jim's idea was to try something slightly out of the ordinary.  He suggested that I try looking at other materials; plastic or rubber.  I've contacted a good friend who's company makes just such a product.  Additionally, we talked about putting the battery on the trailer tongue.

After talking through a variety of designs and ideas, Jim suggested putting the battery, fuse box, etc. in the galley rather than putting it in a tongue box.  I had been looking at one of those cargo racks that you can use in combination with your tow hitch.  I saw some pictures online of a way to 'customize' a Harbor Freight rack to fit on the tongue of the trailer.

This would be an excellent way to have additional storage and maximize the aerodynamic boost of the design of the teardrop.  I put some of the most essential items in the newly painted galley and started working with some ideas.  Now, its time to study pictures of other people's galleys and begin designing my own.

While showing Jim the cabin, he wondered aloud if the 'shelf' could double as a bunk for my 11 year old.  We had him climb up into it and guess what?  He fits!  However, we'll end up adding some sort of storage cabinets there so the bunk idea is out of the question.  

We talked through adding insulation to the cabin and possibly a solution for how to add the same on the doors.  I'll probably end up adding the insulation and wood paneling to the doors in 'compartments,' rather than as one large piece.  It felt good to share ideas and solve some of the problems together.

My plans for tomorrow are to get the cabin water tight.  I am planning to remove the old caulk and install the bolts that hold the cabin to the plywood flooring.  After that, I'll put the other door on and install the weather stripping.  I may attempt to add the floor storage box tomorrow too.  My door and galley locks as well as the galley hinge will arrive next week.  I won't install them until after I have the window installation finalized.  I'm hanging on to the screen windows I've made until after I've decided if the sliding windows are going to meet my needs.

Taking Stock

The past couple of days have been a chance for me to take stock of where things stand with the teardrop.  The first thing I did was clean the interior.  I went through about 10 buckets of hot soapy water cleaning the aluminum.  It was really dirty inside.  However, there were no signs of critters living in the inside.  The hatch had a boatload of caulking from various applications over the decades.  I applied a chemical that broke down the bond of the caulk and helped it peel away.

The windows were a nightmare.  The wood frames were rotten and the screen was completely rusted.  (You can see the sagging seal and the rusted screen in the image below. )  The aluminum 'cover' of the window is supposed to be hinged.  This one was completely missing, (we later found it in the cabin.)  The one on the other side had been caulked in place.  I removed all of the rotten seals as well.  I took one window frame out and left one in for reference as I begin to rebuild the wooden frame.  I will treat the 'new' frame with polyurethane to help it last a few more decades.  I considered buying a plastic framed window, but unfortunately, they are a unique size and will probably need to be specially made.  I have a window company that I would like to at least have an estimate from so that I can make an informed decision.  If it's not too terribly expensive, I think it would be worth it to have a sliding screen window.  I'd like to be able to have the light inside the cabin from windows. 

Later today, I was able to remove all of the trim along the bottom of the trailer.  I plan to replace this badly worn and broken trim with a slightly larger trim piece.  I'm looking forward to learning how to use a rivet tool.  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to drill out the old rivets. 

You can see in this picture the old wood frame and the larger wooden frame that is used to seat the door.  I plan on rebuilding these pieces soon. 

This is the naked door with all the wood and hardware removed.

You can see by my wooden mallet all of the hardware that I removed today.  Each of those are going to be replaced by replica hardware that I've been able to find online.  It's time to start shopping for all those replacement parts!