Silver Beatle - She's now with an old friend!

[aggie79]

Thanks ZRH. I look forward to your CTC build. Having the "shell" almost ready to camp will save you a bunch of time.

[aggie79]

Here is a picture of our teardrop at the South Central section's Beaver's Bend gathering in April:



One thing to note on this picture is the location of the electrical pedestal. Typically electrical (and water and sewer) connections are on the driver's side at most campsites. On this one, however, the electrical and water connections are on the curb side. I use to complain about the weight (and cost) of my 40-foot electrical service cord, but for this site I'm glad I had it.

[Starseeker]

Looks like you had some fun.
I spent countless nights camping at Beavers Bend when I was growing up. I miss camping there and need to get back soon. I do manage to make it to Clayton Lake a couple of times a year, but that is my home town. I need to get going on a teardrop so that me and the wife can start joining some of the gatherings.

[Rudyjr]

Tom, That is one fantastic looking little camper! I love the black and red with the aluminum. Jim

[rdraider]

Wow! What a build! After 9 hrs and the entire Matrix trilogy, i've finished this thread. Outstanding craftsmanship!

I was quite surprised by the red and black motif, from an aggie no less! lol

All joking aside, those are some beautiful cabinets!

[aggie79]

Wow! What a build! After 9 hrs and the entire Matrix trilogy, i've finished this thread. Outstanding craftsmanship!

I was quite surprised by the red and black motif, from an aggie no less! lol

All joking aside, those are some beautiful cabinets!

rdraider,

Yes, others have questioned my allegiances over my teardrop's color scheme. Although my blood runs maroon and white, I really wanted to use some classic hot rod colors - "chrome", black, white and red - in our teardrop. Maybe the next one I build will have Ole Sarge on the side.

BTW, while I did build the cabinet boxes and face frames, I purchased the doors, drawer fronts and RTA drawer boxes. I have all of the tools, and moderate enough woodworking skills to build them, but I didn't have the time. As it turned out, I probably would have saved only 20-30% of the cost if I had built them myself.

Take care,
Tom

[MitchReef]

Wow....I am really sad that the build ended. This was amazing and I would love to see the Beatle at some point. Do y'all ever get over to the Sunshine State? It's too hot for much during a lot of the year, but it makes a great late season or pre-season camping destination. I am just in the baby steps of my build and I gotta say I will not have your level of build but I will use a lot that I learned here in my own. Those 6 inch radius bends in the skinning are insane.

One thing I gotta say is that your construction, design and finish are second to none. I could almost consider you too good! But, one thing that says I would still be able to enjoy tilting a cold one with you is that our lawns appear to be about the same....if you had a perfect lawn too, you would probably be insufferable....this keeps you in the "real people" realm!!! LOL!!!

Love the Silver Beetle even if this is a bit of a late reply!

[aggie79]

Hi MitchReef,

One thing I gotta say is that your construction, design and finish are second to none. I could almost consider you too good! But, one thing that says I would still be able to enjoy tilting a cold one with you is that our lawns appear to be about the same....if you had a perfect lawn too, you would probably be insufferable....this keeps you in the "real people" realm!!! LOL!!!

Love the Silver Beetle even if this is a bit of a late reply!

Thank you for the kind words about our teardrop. It was a 3-1/2 year labor of love that still has some details to be finished.

I've been up and down the east coast but have never been to Florida for whatever reason. It is on my bucket list so hopefully one of these days, I'm going to make it there.

Take care,
Tom

[MitchReef]

That would make a perfect little beach front bungalow in Key West, I believe! Give me time to get mine campable and we will have to plan a Key West run. I imagine there probably is one but I haven't even looked at stuff like that yet.

[Metalhead]

To echo the numerous other posters: your build is awe-inspiring. Your techniques and construction ideas will definitely be on my mind while my build is in progress.

The flooring was a great idea and I may be borrowing that if I can catch some on sale. I, too, hate finishing wood even though I'm a fairly avid woodworker. My wife jokes that I should just open up an unfinished furniture store because I love to build but hate to paint/stain/varnish.

I was a little curious how the hull liner would turn out, but by the end of the build thread it had really grown on me. I may look into that as well, again to route around finishing .

Thanks for your detailed build thread, and maybe I'll see you at a LA meet in the future.

[Sheddie]

Here is a picture of our teardrop at the South Central section's Beaver's Bend gathering in April:



One thing to note on this picture is the location of the electrical pedestal. Typically electrical (and water and sewer) connections are on the driver's side at most campsites. On this one, however, the electrical and water connections are on the curb side. I use to complain about the weight (and cost) of my 40-foot electrical service cord, but for this site I'm glad I had it.

Hi Tom & Linda,
I have finally managed to read my way through your build journal. Every time I sat down to have a look at it, I would get a few pages in, then get called away to do something else and not get back to it. We have just had a few lazy days away with the TD, so yesterday afternoon I sat down with my tablet (Dala was sleeping in the TD), and had a big read. What an epic journey you had with this, but you sure have come out the other end with something to be proud of. Seeing it sitting there in the camp site it looks bloody awesome.
As for the location of the electrical pedestal, it is on the drivers side

[dales133]

Yes it certainly is a real class act.

[aggie79]

Hi Tom & Linda,
I have finally managed to read my way through your build journal. Every time I sat down to have a look at it, I would get a few pages in, then get called away to do something else and not get back to it. We have just had a few lazy days away with the TD, so yesterday afternoon I sat down with my tablet (Dala was sleeping in the TD), and had a big read. What an epic journey you had with this, but you sure have come out the other end with something to be proud of. Seeing it sitting there in the camp site it looks bloody awesome.

Yes it certainly is a real class act.

Thank y'all for the nice thoughts. We've had fun with our teardrop (although we wish we had more opportunities to camp.)

As for the location of the electrical pedestal, it is on the drivers side

You've brought up a good point. With the scope of this site encompassing so many parts of this earth, I guess I should have added added another reference to "driver's side". Perhaps I should have said "left hand drive".

[flyguide]

Beautiful build! Can you tell me were you got the info for your build? I'm struggling with my own right now.

[aggie79]

Beautiful build! Can you tell me were you got the info for your build? I'm struggling with my own right now.

Thank you for the nice comments.

Most of the information and methods of construction I picked up right here on the forum. Way back in time I did some construction work and picked up a few skills there. Also, I built a few hot rods in my teens and 20s. The best way to find out something is to ask it here on the forum. People kindly contribute their thoughts and suggestions.