Whitney's Weakender - Hatch / Galley Lid Redesign - Pg 11

[bobhenry]

and you still have 66 days to "GIT ER DONE"

[shortgmanp]

Hope to see you at one of the gatherings soon.

[LDK]

Hey Whitney

Your build is lookin great. You are very close now and I don't think that's a train at the end of the tunnel.

[Billy K]

Dang it, Whitney! That's nice work!

You will be coming to the Hoosier Fall Gathering...??

Mine won't be as finished as yours....but, we'll be there.

Wonder how I missed you and PA Arnold....and...and... at CRA

[WhitneyK]

If it is a train a comin', I hope it's bringin' me some aluminum for the outside of my camper!

Got my tires mounted (free tires my neighbor gave me, by the way) on my freshly painted white spoker's. New chrome lug nuts I picked up at Big-O for around a buck a piece and it's now standing on it's own 2 feet.

Hooked it up behind the Blazer to see how well the proportions where going to be (a little late now I guess).


I suppose I should have thrown a "coming out" party for it since it finally got to see the light of day and the back of the TV


From the back you can see I have my LED HF lights mounted and temporarily wired. I at least wanted tail lights on it before I pulled it down to the local Co-op to weigh it. Called my friend / neighbor who owns the local pizza shop to ask him who was on duty tonight since I don't have tags on it yet. I had no more than pulled it out of the garage and into the driveway when I heard the "birp, birp" of a siren, looked up, and the local cop on duty was sittin' at the end of my driveway. Just stopped to talk.
We live in a very small town folks, you know what you can get by with and with who.


From the front view, it doesn't appear to stick up much higher than the TV


It doesn't fit too bad behind the Blazer, may turn my receiver insert over to level it out a little better.


People put things on their antennea's to help them find there car in a parking lot, I put them on there to be whimsical. This is our Tarzan, he started out life in a McD's happy meal. With some selective hole drilling, he now appears to be hangin' on for dear life! He's been to VA & back, Toledo, and many other points of interest. Just thought I'd throw that in for kicks. (my Mom thinks he's a pole dancer)


Oh, by the weigh (pun intended), currently the weight of the camper is 900# (a little heavier than I had hoped for) with a tongue weight of 120#. I'm going to re-think a tongue box, probably move my battery to the back. I really didn't think it wieghed that much since I could lift the tongue and move it around in my driveway easily and it's runs down hill. Garsh, guess I don't know my own strength.

It pulled just like it did when it was a utility trailer. Actually weighs less now than when I had my ATV on it.

I'll have to sell something so I can buy al for the skin. I've got the windows ready to mount, just have to make frames & screens for the inside. Trim mold, as mentioned previous post, needs cleaned and/or painted. Oh, and I'll have to address that license plate thing sometime too. (I wonder if my brother still has the title to the trailer???) Should start sealing the outside next, you know, for "insurance" reasons. I haven't decided if I'm going to buy or make my fenders yet. My neighbor that gave me the tires has a metal brake and the shrink / expand thingy's to make radius' with, like for fender openings.

Thanks guys for your kind comments, I'm tryin' to do the best I can with what I got and as cheap as possible.

Billy, I'd like to make the fall gathering, but no promises yet.
Shoot! Just checked my schedule, we've got a big festival to inspect that weekend.....RATS!

[jmkaay]

Nice job Whitney!
I like the way you're using all the recycled / found parts in your build. Smart and thrifty.

JM Kaay
My build:http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=45112&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[Senior Ninja]

Whitney,
That is one sweet build!
Ya know you could paint it and use it until you find the aluminum. Just a thought.
Steve

[WhitneyK]

Thanks JM, it stinks to be poor, but I'm doing what I can.

[aggie79]

Whitney,

Your teardrop and tow vehicle combination looks great! I bet that was a great feeling to take her around the block for the first time. It only gets better from here.

Thank you for posting pictures,

Tom

[parnold]

Whitney:

Looking real good! I hope to actually meet you CAMPING the next time I drive out your way!

[WhitneyK]

Thanks again

Steve,
I'd considered sealing / painting the outside but my end goal is to be skinned in al or filon. Needs to be as maintenance free as possible. I'm going to seal the wood with somthing (probably the 50/50 poly/mineral spirit mix) but don't want to go to the expense and effort of finish coat painting. So, I'll just wait for da money. I've got my car dolly out front for sale and I also have a meat slicer someone is using "on loan" that is worth just a little more than what the al is going to cost. Hopefully we can close on that deal soon and then I can "skin it with a meat slicer".

Tom,
It did in fact feel good to actually get to move it. My family has owned the trailer for years (20 maybe?). It pulled about the same as when I used to haul my ATV on it, it just weighs a little less now. My ATV was 800# plus the trailer, since then I've removed the 2x10 side boards and steel floor. So, at 900# currently, it's lighter.

The camper profile is just a slight bit higher than the tv. But, if we put our cargo bag on top (we keep our "just-n-case" stuff in it), it should be just right (and keep the bugs off my new camper!)

Paul,
Hopefully we'll get to chat a bit longer next time we meet up in the woods.

[WhitneyK]

Woo Hoo! Closed the deal on the meat slicer so now I have the money for the al skin I'm also working on some contacts at the trailer repair place hoping to get a little better deal on the material. I have to work Saturday, so I might have to take a day off this week to go buy the al.

[WhitneyK]

Just Great!!! Get the money for the skin and now my back's out ... bad! After this past weekend, it was hard getting up & down (not that I did anything exciting or extraordinary) so, against my better judgment, I broke down and went to the chiropractor yesterday. Was doing better this morning, walked in to his office pretty decent. Did the adjustment, fine, went back for pt and after 10 min, couldn't get up. Finally got my knee bent enough to allow me to woller out into the floor. Took about 20 min to get into the upright (semi-standing) position. By the time I could even think about leaving, I could barely drag my left foot. I think I'm done with that! I have insurance, but probably not 100% covered for quackropracters, I hope it don't eat my skin funds.

THOSE IDIOTS LIKED TO HAVE CRIPPLED ME!!!

[kinto]

Monday I went to town with my wife, stopped by the scrap yard and sold the cat.

WHAT?!?

oh, it says 'converter' after that...



kent

[kinto]

super sorry to hear about your back though... i spent 3 days laying on my living room floor once pretty much immobilized with pain so i can definitely sympathize


kent