Sunday

Today was a very productive day!

I started by making a trip to Harbor Freight.  I bought two jack stands for $21.00.  They allowed me, with the help of the jack from my Honda, to lift the teardrop about two feet off the ground. In doing this, it gave me the chance to properly mount the storage boxes.   I ended up using the jack to hold each box in place while I screwed the aluminum angle onto the frame.  I was able to slide in underneath and work easily.  Not a bad way to work by yourself, if I do say so myself!  It's a little hard to see in this image, but the jack is on the axle and there is about a foot of space between the wheel and the floor.  That was a very good purchase.

After mounting the boxes, I cut the aluminum for the storage box lids.  I am so glad I re-did the aluminum because I think it looks TONS better in its shiny finish rather than painted black like I had originally had done.  After cutting the aluminum, I installed the headliner and then glued the aluminum pieces in place.

 

Doesn't that look awesome?

The next project was to install the aluminum angle that originally held the aluminum to the frame.  The aluminum was pretty badly cut and bent, as you can see from the before images above.  I installed a 1" x 2" green treated board behind the aluminum angle and it pulled the ragged aluminum into place.

That front section looks 'finished' again.  I had originally planned a piece of aluminum diamond plate, or my rubber idea.  It looks so good that at this point, the 'cover up' will still look great, but it won't be hiding anything.  

I took a little time to figure out how the reading light fixture would be mounted inside the teardrop.  The lights swivel and thus have a 'ball' like feature that extends below the plate.  I found that mounting it on a piece of 3/4" plywood was just about the perfect amount of space.  I'll cover this in the headliner material and mount onto the styrofoam to give it a finished look.  This got me excited about how the finishing touches are going to look.  

 My wingman showed up with a present.  He had a cargo basket that he was not going to use anymore.  He made me an incredible deal on it and it fit perfectly on the teardrop's tongue.  I had originally thought I would just buy one from Harbor Freight, but the ones they sell are bolted together and do not have a mesh bottom like this one.  This basket is all welded steel.  The great news about it is that I will be able to easily remove the basket and use it on the tow vehicle's hitch if we ever need or want to use it.  It has a fold up hitch mount that easily slips onto the tongue piece.  I am going to add a couple of bolts and one or two 'U' bolts to hold it on the tongue.  Lastly, I'm going to add a couple of conduit clips through the teardrop to help it ride firmly.  What a great addition to the Carpe Diem!

This image shows how nicely it rides on the tongue and how cleanly the aluminum came together by mounting that strip at the bottom.

 The next project was to replace the aluminum strip that sits on the end of the hatch.  This is the piece that I 're-tooled' to get it as straight as possible.  You can see that I painted it with Rustoleum to protect it.  I installed it with stainless steel screws.

The hatch is off, that's why this image is vertical.

The next project was to try out the new lock sets I ordered.  Unfortunately, it looks like the inner locks are not going to work for my rebuild.  Unfortunately, I would have to drill new holes for the handle in order for the latch to hit at the appropriate spot on the door.  It's right now when I am SO glad that I did not pitch the original door hardware.  A quick coat of Rustoleum and I think the original door latches and locks will work just fine!

 

The original outside door handles were in bad shape.  One of them was missing, the other had been mangled and was beyond salvaging.  However, I ordered these new beautiful chrome handles.  I will only have to slightly adjust the interior latches in order to get these new handles to work perfectly.

I may end up keeping the original latch for the hatch too.  It's on the lower left section of the image above.

After a thorough cleaning of the garage and putting all my tools and materials back in place, I was able to close down the garage and head back inside ready for the work week.  If I have any time this week, I'll work on the galley cabinets.  All in all, it was a great weekend!