Basket Test

So, on the way home this evening, I stopped at Target and picked up a couple of different baskets to try.  Why baskets and not build wooden bins?  Good question.  Not sure yet.  My thought is that they are lighter, some of the choices can be broken down to be stored flatly, and they are already made.  One negative is that they are not the exact size I want them to be.  The first was essentially a cube; in fact they are made for those cube storage units that have become so popular recently.

This one is a bit taller than the second one that I tried this evening.  Conversely, it is not as long or deep.  This leaves a little more of the shelf unused.  Not sure how I feel about that at this point.

You can see from the image above that it fits nicely in the height and is a little short in the depth.

The second bin was a bit deeper, but shorter.  It also did not breakdown to store flatly.

You can see from the image above that it is a bit longer or deeper.  Looking at the images again, I don't see a significant difference in their depth.  Either way, four of the baskets would fit nicely in the space.  There would be just a teeny bit of wiggle room with either choice. 

With the idea I had earlier about the slide out shelf and the power center below the main shelf, I think I'm ready to keep the shelf as is with the baskets.  I'll stop by Target tomorrow and pick up the additional baskets and see how that feels when I add the additional insulation.  The good thing about using the baskets is that I can easily convert it to open storage again without doing any damage.  Can't wait to finish the insulation and install the headliner this weekend!

The "Right" Door Seals: Thank You Restoration World!

So after some consultation with my colleague and fellow 1947 Tourette Teardrop Owner, Larry, I've found the 'right' door seal for the teardrop.  I've tried multiple types of weather stripping to not much success.  Larry, who also restored his 1947 Chevy Pickup Truck, shared his source for all things 1947.  He used the door seal from the 1947 Chevy Pickup on the Teardrop.  So, I finally bit the bullet and bought the same seal from a company in Ohio called Chevrolet Restoration World.

I think it's pretty cool that a company like this even exists.  Their whole world is restoration of old Chevrolet vehicles.  Amazing!

 

So, after a quick conversation with the company, I purchased the seals and they are on their way to me.

I'm thrilled because as soon as I place the seals on the body of the teardrop, I'll be able to insulate the doors.  I'm hopeful they will get here soon so that I can complete the interior work soon.

Baskets and Electrical Outlets in the Cabin

So, after some thinking and brainstorming I've possibly come up with a solution for my dilemma on the cabinets.  I need to 'hide' my wiring chase on the bottom of the shelf.  So, I'll build a very short 'false bottom' to the shelf.  On top of this, I will place baskets similar one of these:

These would have many benefits over permanent cabinets.  1). I can take them out to organize clothing, etc.  2).  They can be cleaned easily.  3).  If I ever feel the need to use the shelf as a bunk, open storage, etc. I can do so without any permanent damage to the teardrop.  4).  They should be easy to access as well.  They could be tilted easily to see what's inside thanks to the shape of the ceiling.

I'll need to decide what 'ideal' sizes would be.  As you can tell from the image, there is a slight slope  at the back of the shelf area where the ceiling comes down.

The rear measurement is about 13" from the base of the shelf to the roof.  So, I'll look for baskets that are about 13" tall.  The length is about 21" so there will be a little bit of 'open space' in the back.  I'm planning to put a small shelf in front of the electrical outlets.  I'm thinking that they would be a good place to set an iPhone, etc. to charge.  I just had another idea that might be even better.  I could make a slide out shelf that would accommodate a laptop, iPad, heater, etc.  This would solve many problems for me.  The good news is that I have an extra set of drawer slides that will work perfectly!  I really like the fold down drink holders that are often used in boats.  I would like to place one of them on each side of the door for Erica and I to put our beverages.

I can't wait for the school year to end so that I can get busy finishing up all of the projects for the interior of the teardrop.  Once I'm done, I'll be able to start polishing that old aluminum!

Cabinets or No Cabinets? That is the Question.

So, I'm finally inside the cabin doing something besides pulling wires and installing fixtures.  I'm thinking about how I want the interior to work for me.  As you can see from the picture below, the teardrop has a very sturdy shelf over the wheel wells.  Believe it or not, my nearly 5' 11 year old fits perfectly there!  This brings me to the topic of today's post: to build cabinets or not?

The shelf/cabinet area of my teardrop.

I spent the night in the teardrop for the first time this past weekend.  I found myself using the front of the shelf as a 'foot rest' while reading at one point.  Another time I used the shelf to hold my regular glass of water I go to bed with each night.  This got me thinking.  Do I really want to build cabinets above the shelf or not?  

A really good friend of mine argues for not building cabinets.  He says that one can keep suitcases, bags, etc in the tow vehicle and there is really no 'need' for lots of storage in the cabin.  Pretty much you are only going to keep additional clothing, toiletries, etc. inside the cabin.  Because you can't stand up to change, you probably are going to be using some version of a 'side screen room' or shelter to do that in.  

A fellow teardrop enthusiast, Stacie, made a great suggestion on the TNTTT forum.  She suggested that I construct wooden bins to slide into the space above the wells.  This would allow one to store things out of sight, but still retain the ability to use the space as a shelf, bunk, etc.  I think that is brilliant.  I will think that over a bit.  In order to customize them even more, one could make them 'slant' from front to back.  this would further maximize the amount of storage in each bin.  

Another member of the TNTTT forum, Becky, shared that she decided on making a shelf too.  She wished she had made her shelf bigger.  She shared that she built a small cabinet below the shelf to hide her electrical work.  This got me thinking.  I need a place to 'hide' the 12 and 120 volt outlets.  I could make a small 'cabinet' below the shelf where I could hide these.  This would retain the shelf, but would solve the problem of getting the power into the cabin.  

I'm sure others will share fantastic ideas; that is what most amazes me about the teardrop community; they are always helping one another!

Electrical Success and Beginning Insulation

It was a good weekend of work on the Carpe Diem.  I finished all of the electrical in the galley and even figured out what I had done wrong on the switch for the porch lights!

I cleaned up all the wiring an then, still not sure if this is the best idea or not, I used the hot glue gun to anchor the wires.  I would have used wire clamps, but I couldn't screw them into the aluminum because there was nothing behind it.

Jack helped me cut and fit the pieces of insulation for the ceiling and the storage shelf area.  We just used friction to hold them into place now.  I still want to figure out how I'm going to cover the insulation.

Even the ceiling is coming along.  This is a really cool view of the teardrop; you can see how it is all coming together.

The weatherstripping on the doors is not quite thick enough.  It is a little hard to see in this image, but there is tiny gap near the floor.  I got another package of the thicker stuff and will try it when I have some more time.

These 27 LED lights were on sale at Harbor Freight for $3.00.  They have the adjustable hook and a magnet on the back.  They hang from the hinge on the door and will be great for when you have to go to the restroom or the shower.

The AC power system is still not working.  I am going to try re-stripping the wires and reconnect.

I suppose, even though I was very careful in the process, that I could have switched the two ends.  Someone noticed in one of my pictures that I could have accidentally sliced the wires when I was stripping the insulation.  I'll try re-doing the wires first to see if that might be the problem.  

One thing I thought about after climbing around inside the cabin is what to do with the storage shelf area.  I had planned to build cabinets there.  Now I'm not sure.  I'll have to figure out how to arrange the 12 volt and 120 volt plugs if I don't build the cabinets.  I'll think about it a bit more this week.

47 States, 35 Countries, 6 Continents, 843 Visitors, Two Months

In the two months that this blog has had a Clustr Map, there have been over 843 unique visitors from 6 continents, 35 countries and 47 states.

All but Antarctica have checked in!

Only North Carolina, North and South Dakota have not checked in from the 50 United States!

All of the readers from Africa have been from the southern portion of the continent.

Think about that.  In two months, this blog has reached every continent on the planet but Antarctica!  Isn't the internet amazing?  I think that speaks to the appeal of teardrops and the idea of getting out into nature and enjoying it in a simple, but thoughtful way.  

First Night in the Teardrop

I took a half day yesterday; that got me home in time for a much needed nap and some time to work on the teardrop.  I successfully fixed the trailer wiring.  I'm not sure exactly what I did, but it was the front two marker lights that gave me the trouble.  I re-did the wiring and everything worked!

Because I had success with the wiring, I went ahead and put another coat of polyurethane on everything.  The countertop and all the surfaces are looking great and are super protected from moisture at this point!

One of the problems I've had is that my battery would never fully charge.  It turns out that my problem was the battery charger.  I tested it on the battery in my car, which I knew was fully charged.  I was able to salvage the inline fuse and battery clamps from the old charger and was able to use those as my main connectors from my electrical system to my battery.  

The business end of my GFCI power cord.

I spent a little more time working on the electric.  I cleaned up the wires and anchored them.  I thought I would start on the AC portion of the wiring.  I cut the ends off the GFCI extension cord and wired it up to the Marinco power inlet.  That went pretty well, but unfortunately, I can't get the GCFI portion of the system to 'reset' so that I can run power through it.  I need to do a little research to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I decided that I would try spending the night in the teardrop.  The forecast was for a clear and cool evening.  We put the mattress in the teardrop; it still needs to be trimmed in order to fit into the area where our feet go, but for one person, it was fine.  I cranked up the Fantastic Vent, tossed in my sleeping bag and got comfortable.  After reading a few chapters of my book, I turned off the lights and drifted off to sleep.

Very comfortable.

My son came out to say goodnight to me.  I was in deep sleep when he opened the teardrop door.  He scared the daylights out of me.  I went into full freak out mode when the door to my teardrop popped open!  I think I scared him as much as he scared me!  Needless to say, I learned how the inside door locks worked after that.  Jack has some serious payback coming up!

Usually, this time of the year, I am awoken by the birds outside my window at about 3:40 in the morning.  I slept right through the birds this morning.  The fan canceled out any birds or any other noise in my backyard.  It was a pretty good night of sleep.