Dreaming and Planning

So this weekend, I worked very hard on our basement.  It, thankfully, is going to require much of my physical and mental energy through the winter.  When I finally get the Carpe Diem, I should be able to spend my time working on her.  One thing I've learned from the basement project is that no matter what you 'think' you can do, it will take twice as long to do it 'right.'   You might as well embrace that and find joy in the process. 

I didn't have a lot of time to dream about her, but I did find a few things that I thought were pretty exciting.  I found a couple of images of a completely restored 1947 Tourette.   Whoever owned this must have stripped it down to the bare bones and re-skinned the whole thing.  It was a random post on Pintrest that mentioned a hot rod 'hotel' they saw at a car show.

As you can see, the aluminum is perfect, as is the galley.  I wonder if that fridge is still an ice box or if they up-cycled it and made it a real fridge?  It is gorgeous nonetheless.  I also like how they have put a solar panel on top.  I want to add a solar panel to my rig eventually so that it can charge up the battery when we are off the grid.  I like that this system seems to be able to be put up on demand and is not permanently anchored to the roof. I don't know anything about solar power, so I am looking forward to researching it.  Harbor Freight has a 45 watt solar panel for less than $200 that includes a converter for 12 v and other voltages.  It seems like a decent deal.  Again, something to research.

While I don't like the specific 'pin up' found on the side of the Teardrop, the side of the trailer does provide a nice canvas to express yourself.  I'm not sure exactly what I might put on there, but it's fun to imagine.  For sure, as I said in the last post, I'll put the name CARPE DIEM, on her somewhere.  Right now I'm leaning toward the hatch.

Now that I 'own' it, how am I going to renovate it?

Once again the Teardrops and Tiny Trailer Forum has been a lifesaver.  I found two owners who have 1947 Tourette Tourers just like mine on the forum.  Both of them were generous with their insight and advice.

One of them did a complete overhaul of the trailer.  He separated the hull from the chassis and replaced the entire flooring.

As I'm learning more and more about what went into that overhaul, I'm thinking that I will probably do something very similar to my Teardrop.

I started asking questions about how to insulate and 'skin' the interior of the Teardrop.  I received several excellent responses about what types of glues and foams to use.  And then I had one of those moment where I realized I had completely blown it.  I had visions of me covering the interior with foam insulation and single sheets of birch plywood and lacquering them to a beautiful finish.  How on earth did I plan on getting those large sheets of birch plywood into the interior?  Through the door?  Duh!  I suddenly understood why one owner used cedar strips to do the job: they could easily be inserted through the doors!

I'm sure this is just the first of many, many more revelations I'll have over the next few months.

Larry and Jill, two owners from just outside of Dayton, Ohio were very kind to e-mail me and answer a slew of questions and give some terrific advice.

This is Larry and Jill's completely restored 1947 Chevrolet Truck and 1947 Tourette Teardrop Trailer.  Sweet isn't it?

As of now, I'm thinking that I will remove the cabin from the trailer and upgrade and repair it as needed.  Then we'll be able to access the interior of the cabin from underneath.  This will allow me to insert the full size sheet goods into the cabin and the roof after I've wired the entire trailer for lights and electricity.

That's my next task:  figure out what I want, electricity wise, inside the cabin and what additional lighting features and switches I want to add to the exterior too.  I'm going to study the forum posts on these ideas and hope to glean as much as I can from others mistakes.