Pulling Lots of Things Together

Happy Mother's Day!

After church today we all went out for brunch.  I was able to steal away a little early and while I was waiting on everyone to get home, I was able to get all the old caulk, dirt and goo off of the hatch.  In doing so, I was able to see the potential for how awesome the teardrop will look when I get to polish it.  I used an SOS pad to get the goo and rust off of the skin and hosed it down and let the sun dry it; every time I do work like this, it makes me look forward to the polishing.

One of things that makes me really happy is that I was able to find tail lights that are almost identical to the original shape and size.  The down side to this was that the previous owners had put other tail lights on it and drilled lots of extra holes for that and for the license plate.  I decided that once it was all clean, I would cover the inside of the hatch in the headliner material.  I'll caulk the remaining holes to keep water from entering through the holes.  I really like how the hatch looks with the carpet like material on it.

One big task I accomplished today was putting the hinge on.  It was quite difficult.  The problem was getting the wood strip to be anchored; this was tough because it was a 'blind spot.' I couldn't clamp it because it had to be underneath and it prevented me from using any kind of clamp, etc.  Jack and I went to see Ironman 3 and decided to try to finish this when we got back.

We ended up drilling through from the other side and putting two temporary screws in place to hold it.  Then, we added the butyl tape and went to town.  Jack was a big help putting the hinge on the hatch. I think it looks really nice with the headliner on.  I was not able to figure out the mechanism that latches the hatch; I was trying to use screws and I just realized that it actually needs a bolt.  I just remembered that is what I took off of the latch.  Again, it's one of those strange things that you can't see it when it's doing it's job.  I'll have to fiddle with it later when I have more time.

I realized, sadly a bit too late, that the counter top was about 1/4" too wide.  It caused the struts which hold the hatch open to not be able to close all the way.  Thankfully, I can get away with using 1/2" plywood to make a finishing strip.  That will give the counter top a finished look.  Also, you can see in the image above that the wood strips will need to be painted orange as well to give it a really nice finished look.

The next big job was adding the butyl tape to the Fantastic Fan.  I installed the tape and cut roof spars to screw into and also to give some rigidity to the roof.  When I was moving the fan in and out in preparation for installation, I flexed the roof too much and the foam piece that was holding the dome light popped off.  I am glad it happened now and not when I had the headliner in place.  This reinforced the need for the roof spars, both to 'screw' into and for support.  Unfortunately, I broke one of the screw heads off in the process and found one that would not penetrate.  I'll need to check on that hole (right in the center) so that it does not leak.

I am still going to caulk the edges of the fan, but I'm hoping the butyl tape will do its job.

You can see in this image that I was able to 'brace' the ceiling with the vertical and horizontal spars.

There is no movement at all on the roof now.  I'll have to re-glue the foam for the dome light.  I may use the Gorilla Glue to hold the roof spars in place too.  You can see that I drilled holes to allow the wires to pass through the ceiling beams.

There are two things I need to do to make it safe for being outside.  

1. Add the weather stripping to the doors.  

2.  Install the rubber/aluminum over the hinge. 

After that, it should be safe to be outside; I'll probably keep a tarp over it until I can really caulk all the roof and hatch joints properly.  Getting it outside will be great, but I worry about pulling out to the back porch without a tow dolly.  Maybe I could rent one from Lee's Rent It?  Or, I might need to purchase one if it works well.  They are pretty cheap at Harbor Freight. 

Electric and Other Stuff

So today was a mixture of many small projects.  I started wiring the trailer for electric.  I was a little intimidated by the idea of doing this.  I've had some negative experiences with electric in my house and have always ended up having the electricians come in and do it.  It just scares me too much.

So, today I started by testing out the various fixtures while connected to the battery.

Here are the two main interior fixtures, the dome light and the reading lights.  The first thing I had to remember is that sometimes fixtures come with different color wires.  Both of the above fixtures had white and black wires.  I just had to remember that black was hot on those fixtures.  I then connected the red wires to these terminals and all was good.  I was so happy to see both light fixtures actually light up!  Then I decided to wire the interior lights together to put them on one circuit.

The reading lights have a recessed connection, so they had to be installed onto a block of wood.  This then was screwed to a piece of hardboard, which was glued to the foam.  It all should work out smoothly for me when it comes time to cover it with the headliner.  I'm hopeful that I can put that section on in one large piece.

Here you can see how I braced the foam to the roof.  Using these planks of wood worked pretty well.  I used Gorilla Glue for the first time.  That stuff is interesting.  It's kind of like working with the extruded foam; it actually looks like that when it dries.  It also 'expands,' which regular glue does not do in the same way.

Here you can see the small pieces of hardwood that are glued to the foam.  This gave me something to 'screw' into for each fixture.

Here are the fixtures mounted onto the hardboard and foam.  You can see the channels I cut for the wires.

You can see the hole coming in from the cabin.  I just got plain lucky that the shelf in the cabin was at the same height of the counter top in the galley.  I was able to tuck the wires into the power center area very easily.

This is the hole going into the power center.

You can see how the fuse panel will fit into the side wall there.

Here you can see the two 12 volt power port holes and the small square hole is where the 12 volt battery meter will be placed.  I decided to use two steel boxes.  One will potect the back side of the 12 volt outlets and the other will be for the one 120 volt outlet that I will install after I put the power port entry hole on the outside of the teardrop.

Another big task was putting the original hinge back on.  You can see on the image above that I used the butyl tape to seal the top part of the hinge.  I then screwed into a 1" by 1".  This gave the hinge something to 'bite' into and I think allowed me to really tighten the hinge.

These clamps worked well to hold everything where I wanted it while I was screwing it in place.

Here is the 'porch light.'  These will be tied into the four small LED lights, one on each corner too. 

They will all come to a central switch on the shelf area.  I can't wait to see how these are going to look at night!

Everything worked!  I shouldn't have been surprised, but given my history with electricity, I was!  I had not had the chance to 'sit up' and use the reading lights before.  I found that leaning against the bulkhead, which is headliner covered foam, was very comfortable and the lights will work perfectly!

I thought I had done something wrong with the vent.  I couldn't get it to turn on.  Then I realized that you have to have the vent hood open for it to turn on.  It is quiet and truly moves a ton of air around.  It isn't too noisy, but just noisy enough to work for us as a white noise creator.

I also was able to fix up the drawers and doors.  I had done a poor job on their fronts.  I routed the edges of the doors and sanded their fronts properly.  

One of the last projects was installing the new screw/bolts that hold the struts in place.  These struts hold up the hatch.  It was amazing to me how much a small bag of stainless steel hardware can cost.  

Tomorrow I have to get the second half of the hinge installed and the vent and doors sealed up so that the teardrop can go out onto the concrete patio.  

Hinge Solutions

Thanks to the incredible support group on the Teardrops and Tiny Trailers Website:  http://www.tnttt.com/ I think I've worked out how I am planning to replace the hinge gasket on the Carpe Diem.  It seems the best way to 'seal' the hinge is a two-fold approach.  First, I'll use butyl tape under the hinge.  Then I'll add a rubber gasket over the hinge, which will be held in place by two strips of aluminum.  The strips of aluminum will be anchored above and below the hinge and will help all the water to 'run off' the hinge.

You can see from the photo above how the 'finished' hinge will look.  The teardrop above, has the rubber gasket over the piano hinge.  This is the exact same set up I will be using.  By the way, that is one sweet looking teardrop isn't it?

Dreaming of My Teardrop

I love the way my mind works.  Even though I'm super busy this week and won't have much time, if any, to work on the Carpe Diem, my mind has been hard at work solving some of my design 'problems.'

Problem One:  How to make the 'seams' where the wall and 'floor,' which are covered in insulation and headliner, come together in a way that looks finished.  I found a soft rubber that has a slight bend to it.  It is originally designed for the bottom of a garage door, but I think, with the right glue, it will fit perfectly along the seams.  This will also be a great way to cover the machine screw/bolts that hold the plywood floor to the walls of the teardrop.  Here is what the material looks like.

This also 'solves' another problem I had; my mattress is not going to 'perfectly' fit the width of the teardrop.  I would have had a problem with the heads of the screw/bolts.  I could imagine them scratching fingers or hands and being cold in colder months.  This will cover them and provide a tiny amount of cushion as well.

Problem Two:  How to insulate the doors and still maintain the integrity of the hinge mechanisms. The way my teardrop is designed, the hinges, which are brass, are mounted directly on the inside of the teardrop and to the door.  Because they are bolted in both positions, they are firm and very sturdy.  I wanted to add insulation for two reasons.  One: it would make the 'wall' when the doors were shut, the same 'thickness.'  Two: it would allow me to cover the whole door with the headliner to give the edges a finished look.  I'm working to make the inside of the teardrop look like it was made that way intentionally, not just thrown together in a make-shift fashion.

My solution; cut pieces of plywood to mount to the door and the wall which will bring the thickness of both the door and wall to the same thickness as the 1" insulation panels.  Then, I can simply cover the plywood at the same time I finish the foam core.  I'll then bolt through both the wood and the covering of headliner.  The hinge will then be visible, but will be solid.  The gray that I've painted the interior skin will compliment the subtle charcoal gray of the headliner.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled, busy work week!  My mind will be running in the background.  Next problem to mentally work on:  how best to construct the galley cabinets to allow for a power center with my fuse box and how to create a pull out drawer for the cooking stove...

Hinge Trouble

I started to tinker around with my new hinge tonight, only to find out I've got a problem.

Take a look:

What you are looking at is the discoloration of the metal from the adhesive used to hold a rubber gasket underneath the piano hinge, which was original on the teardrop.  The new hinge is one I bought to hopefully solve my leak issues.  Unfortunately, as you can see, the hinge is too narrow and does not cover the 'gap.'

Here is the original hinge:

Significantly larger; probably double in mass and girth.  I think I'm going to have to resort to replacing the rubber gasket and re-installing the original hinge.  I'm wondering if I should resort to my bicycle tire gasket solution again?

One thing that I did notice about the 'hatch' is that it is much more rigid with the horizontal stabilizer piece I re-attached to it.  Also, it seems like the hatch fits perfectly over the sides of the galley.  This was a problem on the trip back from Tennessee.  It seemed to be quite weak and wobbled a lot.  It now feels more solid.

Now, to find a gasket that is five feet wide and 1 1/2" thick, or something that would work like that.  I wonder if butyl tape would be sufficient?