TwilightLane Cubbie Build

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Setting up placing the hinge...

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To drill the holes in all that angle aluminum and al strap, I made myself a jig. It worked really well.

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Getting the trim in place

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I was really stumped on how to do a drip edge over my doors. I didnt want to just slap on a piece of angle. So I came up with the idea to use a piece of molding.

I used a strap of aluminum that was wide than my wall was thick, so it would stick out just a bit. (Wall is 1-3/8 and I used 1-1/2 inch strap). I used that 'ledge' as a foundation against which to place the molding.

I predrilled holes in the molding, to nail it to the trailer. To get the molding to bend nicely I used a piece of conduit. Ducktaped one end closed. Propped it vertically and filled it with boiling water. (Don;t tell my wife I used her tea kettle). After about 5 minutes it was supple enough to fit nicely into place.

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One last look before the paint.

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Well I got all the angle trim on, the latches and hinges and got to doors working nicely. Then I took it all off! Time to paint. I had already coated the trailer with CPES, so the paint was partly cosmetic. I had also used epoxy filler to fill holes and cover screw heads etc. I sanded it all down.

I used a high quality exterior latex, in a cream color. Two coats. Although I may go back and hit some spots a third time. I plan to add some contrasting green stripes at some point.

I had planned to skin with aluminum. I still might do that at some point. But between the costs of aluminum and just plain ol wanting to use the thing I'm painting it for now.

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After painting, I re-assembled the doors and mounted the windows. Slick!

Then I turned my attention to the hatch. I wanted to work on how it seals. I started with running 1/2 inch aluminum cap molding over the side wall edges.

Before:

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My al cap molding came in 4' lengths from Lowes. I was just fiddling with it and ultimately just bent it to shape, very slowly, over my knee. I didnt anneal it or anything. Just gently and slowly over my knee. With a lot of dry fitting it into place to test the shape.

To attach the molding, I wanted to screw it from the inside. So I built a jig that would hold the molding while I had it in the drill press.

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So I dry fit the piece to know it hit just like I wanted. I cut out a notch at the end (see pic). Read to go. I ran a bead of caulk along the inside and placed it.





Then attached it.

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Based on how I built my hatch, I wanted to beef up the edge of it with a 1/8 inch al strap. I also needed to narrow the gap between the side wall and the hatch.

First some holes. Using my trusty jig.

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Held in places by clamps, then drilling holes through the 5mm plywood.





I guess I didnt take pics of it (yet) but I used some beefy rivets to attach the strap to the hatch. I put some dabs of silicone caulk in with the rivets. I'm really pleased with how that worked out. I think it adds a cool accent to the hatch. I still have to track down some rubber that will go in the gap.

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Well, it's time. Let's get this sucker on the road and see what she does.



You can kind of see the rivets in this one.

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I took some pics to get a closeup of the rivets and the spacing on the hatch seal...

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Spacing...