Build of a Teardop in Glasgow, Scotland.

[H-Balm]

Thanks guys and gals for your kind words. I've also had lots of positive comments from passers by. People have been driving over and stopping for a good look. Too many to count and almost all complete strangers.

Yesterday a small car stuffed with five young lads stopped by and asked what I was building. "We thought you were building a wooden car!" They said whilst leaning out of their car.
Hmmm, a wooden car? I explained what it actually is to them and they were full of compliments before driving off.

Last weekend, an elderly gentleman stopped by and asked what I was doing. After I explained, he wished me well and offered to lend me any tools I might need and that if I needed any wood to be turned he would give me access to his three lathes.

There is something about these little trailers that brings out the best in people.

What a wonderfully uplifting post!
That made me feel real good.... and I live an ocean away!

[Chuckles2153]

I've just finished going thru your build journal and have to say it's really looking sweet.
Hope mine turn out looking as good in a couple of weeks.

[teardrop_focus]

Al, fantastic progress you've made!

Thank you for the quote for my post signature.

[BigAl]

Hi Guys, Thanks for your very kind words. :)

As I might have mentioned, I am building on my drive and have been really lucky with the weather at the weekends. I have had a good run of reasonably dry weather with light winds.

However, with the arrival of British Summer Time last weekend, (that's what we call the daylight time saving change) the weather turned quite foul. We have had blizzard conditions and sheets of rain with very high winds. It's the wind that is the problem as it drives the rain or snow sideways. On Wednesday I was outside in a blizzard lashing down three of the four tarpaulins that had been ripped off the trailer by the high winds.

Anyway, the weather didn't stop me, it just slowed me somewhat. I managed to wire my trailer for the internal electrics, insulate the roof and install the internal roof ply. My internal roof ply is 3mm (1/8") WBP luan, screwed but not glued. This means I can unscrew the ply and have access to my wiring. Luckily because I just bought this...



...from eBay for the ridiculously low price of $8. Its approx 18" wide by 10" tall. I will replace the glass with Lexan and mount it on the front of the trailer. Of course it's going to be mounted along the centreline, exactly where I have run my wiring. So the interior roof ply has to come back off and the wiring needs a redesign.

Its a little extra work, but I think the new window will help to add to the retro aesthetic.

[teardrop_focus]

However, with the arrival of British Summer Time last weekend, (that's what we call the daylight time saving change) the weather turned quite foul. We have had blizzard conditions and sheets of rain with very high winds. It's the wind that is the problem as it drives the rain or snow sideways. On Wednesday I was outside in a blizzard lashing down three of the four tarpaulins that had been ripped off the trailer by the high winds.

Anyway, the weather didn't stop me, it just slowed me somewhat...

Excellent. I've heard it said that in Scotland, there's no such thing as bad weather; only the wrong clothing.

And, a front window is always a cheery addition to any teardrop's interior ambiance.

[BigAl]

Hi guys, It's been a while!

The weather suddenly decided to become incompatible with building a teardrop on the driveway during most of April. I made a couple of forays outside, but more often than not, I had to put the tarp back over before I got anything useful done. I guess I should be happy that the bad weather was only wind and rain and not volcanic ash or pyroclastic flow.

BUT this weekend has been glorious and now I have completely covered the trailer in a coat of epoxy sealer.



I also purchased my aluminium, at considerable cost! That's $450 or 300GBP in local currency. Now you know why we call this place rip-off Britain! My beautiful American wife is always horrified at the cost of everything here.

I opted for the more costly option of aluminium coil over aluminium sheet so that there will be no seams on the roof. Sheet for the sides, and lots of nice 'soft' moulding for the edges. The aluminium gets delivered on Monday.

For the first time it makes more sense to list what is still left to do, rather than what I have done:

* Build Battery Box
* Aluminium Covering
* Fit Lights
* Fit Wheel Arches

...and then it's Happy Trails! :D

<sound of screeching brakes>

Oh, The interior still looks like the inside of a packing crate, and I haven't even made a decision on having a kitchen, but at least I can take the trailer for a test camp. :D

[grizz]

Great progress Al.

I LOVE that front window you got, would love one on my teardrop too.

Anyway, are you on www.tcgb.freeforums.org ?

I went the ally sheet route, and ended up with 1.2mm , which I suspect I will regret later, but did not know how I was going to cut it neatly.
At least the 1.5m width is the width of the caravan (Should be )

[Rigsby]

Looking well mate. How come the ally cost so much? is it polished? I used of the roll stuff on mine, 8`4" wide and off the roll at £20 per linear metre.
It came mill finish, but polished up ok. Got mine from a commercial trailer manufacturer
steve

[BigAl]

Thanks Grizz! :) I joined the other forum by the way. Thanks for the link.

The aluminium invoice came to 300 quid. I cannot remember how much the off the coil was per meter but it is 2500mm wide 0.9mm thick. I bought all sorts of aluminium mouldings too. I kind of got giddy at Service Metals and bought way too much stuff. :D

[Rigsby]

Its probably the mouldings that bumped the price up then

[jackdaw]

Great to see you back on the project Al
Let's hope the weather holds for a while, and you'll be able to get the ali on.
The Alumininium for our build turned up yesterday. You may not want to hear it, but Aalco came in £40 cheeper than service metals , but i've used 0.8mm coil and .8mm sheets for the sides.

Happy building fella

[BigAl]

I paid 30.00 pounds per linear meter for my roof sheet from a coil. This high price is down to the width of the coil @ 2500mm. I bought the roof coil to make sure I don't have any roof seams.

My trailer width is approx 1500mm, so I will have a fair amount of offcuts that will skin the doors and possibly be used to make mudguards and a cover for that ugly plastic roof vent.

One of the 8' x 4' sheets I bought for the side was in a terrible state, so I had to call the company and ask for a replacement to be delivered. It should get here tomorrow.

In the meantime I have fitted the other sheet on the port side of the trailer, it completely transforms the homebuilt look that the trailer had to something that looks quasi-professional. :D

One obvious thing I should point out to those still to fit their aluminium is that cut metal is *really* sharp. It's like handling an 8 foot razor blade and cutting it into many smaller razor blades. I hardly have a knuckle or finger that is not missing some skin. I hate working with gloves on, but I might be persuaded to compromise.

As a novice tinsmith I found that it was easier if I made a rough cut first, approx 1 inch from my true cut-line, then go back and make my true cut. The reason for this is that the aluminium off-cut needs to 'curl' away from the tin snips. With the rough cut you will have much more off-cut and it will resist 'curling' and your cut will be rough and inaccurate. Then on your second pass with only an inch of off-cut the aluminium will 'curl' much easier and you will obtain a nice smooth accurate cut as a result.

The tools I am using and my findings...

Tin snips
----------
Need to cut in two passes (see above), clean and accurate, but tough on the hands. Only suitable for cutting sheet. Do not try to cut mouldings.

Angle Grinder with Metal cutting disc
------------------------------------------
Cuts quickly but leaves an untidy swarf on the metal edge on aluminium sheet. One slip or wrong move and you could make a mess of your expensive aluminium sheet. Perfect for cutting mouldings.

Metal cutting blade on Jigsaw
---------------------------------
I have still to test this tool because I have a suspicion that the jigsaw base plate may leave a score on my sheet and I think the sheet would need to be supported really well to avoid the sheet binding and hopping around under the jigsaw causing damage to the sheet.

The *STAR* tool for me has been a little hand powered staple gun. Great for tacking the aluminium sheet in place with tiny (10mm) brad nails. Who would have thought it would staple into aluminium sheet almost 1mm in thickness? The tiny nails are almost invisible. I'm using them very sparingly and only where they will be covered by moulding as they will rust!

[Ageless]

As for the jigsaw; put a layer of duct tape on the base to avoid scratching

[BigAl]

Thanks Ageless, What a good tip! :)

[BigAl]

Hi Guys, Today I made quite a lot of progress with my recent aluminium delivery.

Charlie, my neighbour helped me lift the roof coil onto the trailer and offered some tips and much needed assistance.



The delivery man from service metals delivered my replacement Aluminium Sheet, he asked me for a look at my project and was very complimentary. "Are you a Coach-builder?" he asked. I can only imagine he wasn't looking closely or he has no idea of what a Coach-builder's work looks like.

There were a number of 'rubber-neckers' throughout the day. The Postman had a 'tour' of the trailer. The courier who delivered my Amazon delivery wanted a look and told me he had seen a Teardrop somewhere around my suburb, but couldn't quite remember where. Intriguing!

It's garbage collection day, the Recycle garbage truck crew stopped for a look. One of the guys said he wanted me to build him one for fishing. haha, no chance! ;) Later the regular garbage truck (the one that collects landfill garbage) gave me the thumbs up. I waved back and this was all the prompting the driver needed to abandon his garbage truck, blocking the road and come for a nosey. Add to this my usual curious neighbours and I am surprised that I got any work done at all.

I am not complaining, it's encouraging to have such nice comments and I find that it encourages me to pay more attention to detail than I otherwise might.