Orange Crush

I love the color orange.  It's my highlight color on the inside of the cabin and in the galley of the teardrop.  I've had plans to paint the rims and even add a stripe of color to the side of the teardrop for as long as I've been working on this project. 

There were always more important items to complete.  Well, today I decided to go ahead and paint the rims.  I had them off the trailer so that made it much simpler.  I didn't have any masking tape, but duct tape seemed to work just fine.

I put about four coats of paint on the rims and then set them in the sun to 'bake.' 

 

I'm not sure how I feel about the orange yet.  It seems a little 'loud' right now.  I think I'll live with it for a while and if I like it enough, I might tape out some lines on the side.

 

Now, I need to hook up the trailer to the Civic and test out all the wiring.  That is going to be tomorrow's task.

Before and After Paint

Before and After Paint from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.


Teardrop Trailer Paint Job from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

Finally, Some Progress I Can See!

My day started bright and early.  Went for a coffee and then dug right in.  Got the rest of the galley that had not been finished painted.

My second project was finding a way to mount the spare tire under the galley.  You can see the three bolts just in front of my drill.  I used rubber washers to hopefully keep any water from penetrating through the floor of the galley.

Three of the five bolts; should be plenty of support.

Next, I painted all the drawers and doors.  I started by painting them all blue.  I immediately regretted that decision.  I waited for them to dry and then painted them brown; which was my original plan.

The next project was to cut the hole for the Marinco power port entry.  I was very anxious about cutting the hole in the side of the wall.

There's the hole.  The problem I had to solve next was how to trim the wood on the inside so I could use the washer/nut that goes on the inside.  The walls were a little too thick.  I ended up using one of my sanding cylinders; that worked perfectly.

The port installed.

What it looked like from the inside.

Next project, install the gasket over the hinge. I taped it in place to get a feel for how large the gasket would be.

The sun was hot and it ended up helping me a lot because the gasket and the butyl tape heated up and made it easy to 'stick' in the right place.

I ended up adjusting the edges of the gasket a bit.  I bent the aluminum over the edge so that any rain would run off the drip edge.

I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Cabinets, drawers and doors, take two.

Not a good photo, but you can see how I mounted one of the four LED lights that will come on when the porch lights are lit.  Hopefully this will keep me from banging my shin into the corner at night.

Was able to install the galley light.  I really like that it is on a swivel.  That way you can aim it where you need it.

Was able to put in all the power receptacles and fixtures.  They are not connected yet; that's my big goal for tomorrow.

Close up of the spare tire mount.

The last major problem I solved today was one that had been causing me a lot of trouble.  I could not get the latch on the teardrop to connect.  I also could not figure out how to make the new handle work with the old fixture.  The first part, getting it to fit ended up being easy; I just bolted it in place.  The second part, getting it to work, not so much.  Because the latch is a blind connection (you can't see what's going on because the hatch is in the way) I could not figure out how to get the 'catch' to connect.  Then I had an idea:

I needed someone small enough to fit in the cooler slot so that when I closed the hatch they could see what was happening with the latch.  Jack just so happened to come out and ask if I needed any help.  Within twenty minutes, we had it fixed!  Now, the latch is installed and works perfectly!

As I mentioned before, tomorrow's goal is to get the electric completely done.  I'm going to go set my alarm.

All Sealed Up

The cabin is about 90% restored to its original state at this point.  Today I re-caulked every internal joint, re-painted the cabin, and sealed the floor. 

Caulk drying in the seams and joints of the cabin.

Caulk dry and painted.

My three favorite ingredients in sealing the cabin.

I tried to repair all of the trim pieces that thankfully were kept by the previous owner.  The piece you see above goes on the bottom of the hatch and provides rigidity and helps it seal along the 'bumper.'  It was severely warped and misshapen.  I used a piece of the aluminum angle, an aluminum rod, my ball peen hammer, sledge hammer and several chunks of wood to re-form it to its original shape.  At one point I lost my grip on the aluminum piece and my hand slipped.  If I had not been wearing my gloves, I would have ripped an inch or more of my flesh from my hand.  I was very happy to not have that to deal with!

The hatch is looking terrific!

The hatch, and the additional trim pieces that I was able to re-shape.  The piece at the bottom is the 'bumper'  It was in terrible shape.  I love how Rustoleum restores the look of these parts!

This is the inside of the bulkhead.  When the previous owner placed the cabin on the new trailer frame, they did not replace the flooring in this area.  So, this area is the last section of the cabin that I need to repair.  I plan to use a 3/4" x 6" piece of treated wood.  It's a strange shape though, so I'll need to make a template of it and then carefully trim the wood to fit.

You can see in the images above, the area where the cabin was 'cut' to fit onto the new frame.  I don't like the ragged look of this and this is where I will apply some kind of rock guard.  It will act as a 'rock guard' but it will also mask this rough area.  I'm leaning towards using some material in black, just to tie into my color scheme of black and silver.  

I painted the trailer tongue today with Rustoleum.  It looks sharp!  I don't know if I've mentioned a unique element of the trailer tongue.  You can see the triangular piece of metal that is supporting the tongue.  This is a really rare design that is not seen in today's trailers.  Most trailers have a crank jack/wheel that is used when the trailer is off the hitch.  My trailer's design is  much more sturdy and won't 'roll' when in camp.  Jim suggested that I add a jack/wheel, but keep the triangular piece too.

 

 Above you can see my rough sketches for the galley area.  I intend to use Google Sketch Up to try some different layouts for the galley.

  Jim gave me the name of this place; Kendor Marine.  It's only 20 minutes or so from my house and it is essentially a marine surplus store.  They have over 40,000 square feet of stuff.  Jim thought it might be a great idea to take a look there.  I'm wondering if I can find some cabin lights and a fuse panel, etc. there?  I'll have to stop in there sometime soon.  Sounds like a cool place. 

Here is my list of next steps (in no particular order):

1.  Make a template for the mattress; consider how to trim futon.

2.  Make a cardboard template for the bulkhead floor area that needs to be replaced; trim board to fit.

3.   Order windows.

4.   Finish bolting the internal frame to the subfloor.

6.  Experiment with various galley layouts in Google Sketch Up.

7.  Mark out storage box for cabin floor.

8.  Consider laminate covering for the cabin and galley floor.

9.  Draw electrical diagram plan.

10.  Order electrical supplies:  fuse box/power center/voltage meter/shielded red/black wire/corrugated wire channel/easy disconnects, etc.
(Found out that there is a Delta Marine in Winthrop Harbor.  They have my fuse box and additional things in the store.)

These are the steps that are necessary before I can begin to plan for adding insulation, wiring, etc. to the ceiling.  The cabinets in the galley will need to be roughed in as well in order to layout the power center and wiring inside the cabin.  One good thing about putting the power center in the back is that there will be short wiring runs from the power source to the receptacles.  
  

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.