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...

Lots of Paint

I had no idea when I first thought of painting the inside of my teardrop how much paint I would use.  I decided to use paint to seal the door and window frames and I thought I would use the same paint to give the interior of the cabin a fresh look.  (It was originally painted a pale turquoise that reminded me of a trip I took to Florida in 1979 when just about everything was that color!)  I think I've gone through 8 or 9 cans of Rustoleum gloss gray paint!

However, I am very happy with the result.  The inside is looking terrific.
Along with the screen windows, which are painted black, I painted the sliding doors on the bulkhead black.  I like the effect of the accent color on the interior.  The biggest lesson I learned from painting the interior is to be patient and to use a mask and gloves!  Thank goodness I had a mask with a nice respirator on it because the outside of the mask was nearly completely gray by the time I finished painting the inside.

I also ended up making another set of screen window frames; I'm such a perfectionist that the first set of  frames did not meet my standards.  That took less time than I thought because I bought the finest toothed saw blade I could.  It cut smoothly and with very little splintering.  That made finishing a breeze.  So, with new screen window fixtures, I began considering a couple other design issues.

The original hinge on the hatch was missing the hinge on both sides.  I had started to replace the hinge with a 1" hinge I found at the hardware store.  This worked okay, but the previous owner decided to drill new holes for the hinge they installed.  So, even with the new hinge, there were still holes in the hatch and the area above the hatch.  I had attempted to fill these holes with rivets, but the rivet holes were too large and they don't make a rivet large enough that will work in my rivet tool. That's when I thought about using a larger hinge.

I picked up a 2.5 inch from the hardware store.  This hinge would cover the holes from both of the previous hinges and would be a bit 'beefier.'  I hope to give this a try soon.  My only concern is whether the hinge holes will leak.  I'll caulk the hinge and the holes when I put them on.  This way, it will be both cosmetically and structurally sound.  One issue that creeps up by choosing these larger hinges is how to fasten them.  I might be able to rivet them, if I use a hole that my rivet gun can fill.  I will try that first.  If it does not work, I have purchased bolts that I could use and then I'll need to route out a channel in the screen window frame to make up for the additional space on the interior that the bolt requires.

With the interior nearly finished, at least at this stage, the cabin is close to being water tight.  The only other cabin related item I have planned is to build the storage boxes into the floor.  I have to investigate how the frame connects to the plywood subfloor.  If its possible, I am excited to build some storage space into the floor.  This will open up the bulkhead for more storage too.  I like how Joanne used aluminum to cover the edges of the hatch and the lids.  I plan to use a similar design.

I'm waiting on my hatch hinge, door and hatch locks and body trim to arrive.  While I wait for those items, I am planning to remove the aluminum cabinets from the hatch as well as the hatch cover.  By removing the hatch, I will be able to paint and rivet the non-essential holes in it much more easily. Once all of the cabinets are removed, I can start designing the galley and treating both the floor inside the galley and the cabin.

There are several pieces of metal, I believe they are aluminum, that are critical to the structural integrity of the teardrop.  These pieces fit on the floor of the galley and on the actual galley hatch. Thankfully, these pieces were kept by the previous owner, but they are in terrible condition.  (I found them when I was cleaning out the teardrop).  I hope to be able to hammer them back into shape and re-use them.  I doubt that it would be possible to find replacements for them, they are strange angles and shapes.  I discovered yesterday at Lowes that there is a spray for galvanized metal that 'restores' it to its original finish.  I may give that a shot on this trim once I've gotten it back to its original shape.


Quick note on the electrical design.  I want to remember to use 'connectors' for both the tail lights and galley light fixture.  This will make it simpler for me to remove the hatch, if I ever had to do so, without cutting all of my electrical wires.

I found this DC electrical panel from West Marine.  I like that it has LED's that light up and that it has two 12 volt receptacles built into it.  I'm thinking that if I used this panel in the galley, I could just use those two receptacles for the galley.  This would save me a bit of work wiring the two additional outlets.  Then, I would only have to put the two in the cabin.  This would also allow me to use the four circuit panel because I would only have four additional circuits.

 

I will add a tiny volt meter to my electrical box in the galley.  I have seen several that would fit the bill.  Will probably go with a red one to match the LED's on the breaker panel.  

The weekend can't come soon enough!

Nearly Watertight

I spent the entire day yesterday working on the tiny parts that make up the door frame inside the cabin.  These tiny parts had to be cut, sanded, pre-drilled, primed, painted, dried and then finally installed.  This, along with a multitude of trips to the hardware store for the proper stainless steel bolts, washers and nuts took up the greater part of my day.  I decided to spray paint all of the wooden pieces to seal them from moisture.  I also painted the interior surface of the door; I chose a soft gray, which looks an awful lot like the original aluminum color. 

Erica took some photos of me installing the interior door frame trim; fun to see me inside the teardrop!

 While I had all of the bolts out, I used CLR, Brillo Pads, soap, and elbow grease to remove the rust from the hardware that had been in place for 60+ years.  My goal was not to polish, but to simply remove the rust.  However, in doing so, there were a few patches that shone so brightly that it made me smile to think about how shiny this thing will be when I finish with all the interior restorations and can properly clean and polish the exterior!

I learned how to use my rivet tool.  I was able to re-install the window hatch. The earlier owner decided to cut the hatch on the passenger side to make more room for a hinge.  I installed new hinges and was able to cover the old holes using my rivet tool.  Not perfect, but functional and pretty nice.

Both doors were painted in preparation for the screen windows.  I love how the grey looks!  I applied the seal to the door frame.  I'll need to play with the fixture that opens the hatch.  It's a pretty simple, but ingenious design.  It is nothing more than a metal rod that is used to 'push' open the hatch.  When not open, it folds back onto the frame and 'locks' the hatch.  For now I'll re-install the fixture and live with it a while before designing anything different.

Once I finish both doors, I plan on spray painting the interior of the cabin, installing bulkhead doors and flooring in the storage area, and then re-installing the tail light wiring semi-permanently.  That will basically complete the interior until I am ready to begin installing the 12v/120v electrical system and start thinking about how to insulate the cabin.

The next big project will be removing and then installing a new hatch hinge.  I've decided to take George's, from The Teardrop Fix It Shop, advice and replace the hinge.  We'll use a block of wood to 'hold' the hinge in place and to give the hatch some heft.  This should be a permanent solution.  Then I can dismantle the galley and begin renovating it.   It will be fun to start planning the design in the meantime.

Today is Easter.  I have things I have to finish to be ready for the end of the semester at NLU and to prepare to go back to school tomorrow.  I don't know if I'll be able to do any work on the teardrop today.