Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:55 am

aggie79 wrote:I really like the design and construction of your teardrop!

Thank you for using aluminum composite material for cladding. After seeing it used in commercial construction, I've been fascinated/fixated for some time about ACM, and have it earmarked to use on a (hopeful) future build. Thank you for detailing your construction techniques using ACM.

I may have missed it but could you say what thickness ACM you used please? (3mm?)

Hi Tom (& Linda),
The ACM we used is 4mm. 3m x 1.5m sheets for the sides and 4.8m x 1.5m for the top. They are ready painted, which saved us a lot of time in the finishing with the limited time frame we had. This will tell you about the one we used.
http://www.ullrich.co.nz/rolled/signboard_composite_panels.php It is really good to work with, cuts nicely with the jig saw and as reasonably easy to bend around the curves.

dodgedartgt wrote:
Johnysteam wrote:Looking good buddy
We are in Tauranga, if you are ever passing
cheers


We're in the States, and we've been to Tauranga. Small world, eh?
Nice looking, and QUICK build. I'm impressed!

Mike in FL

Thanks for the comments.
You sure are right, it is a small world. You should try Whangarei some time.
Cheers Frank.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:55 am

Day 70: 26 Sept 2012. 14 days left to finish it. :shock:
Getting there on the galley. The pantry is mostly completed, with the 230v electric in that area sorted. The bench is ready to go in, we ended up using a ready made formica piece from Bunnings (one of the main hardware chains). I still have not worked what I am doing under the bench, as I have been trying to fit in the portable gas bbq, complete with its folding stand, but that is stuffing up where everything else is supposed to go. I have also done a lot of weight saving on the bottom side of the bench top with the skill saw.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Mon Sep 29, 2014 4:49 am

Day 73: 29 Sept. 2012.
11 Days before we leave. :frightened:

We pulled it out of the shed today for the first time. :P
It had already been registered, and the number plate fitted. Today was also the first time on the road, as we took it in for a Warrant Of Fitness. Behind the Outback, we hardly knew it was there and It went through its WOF inspection with no problems. Now that it is road legal we can book it in for an Electrical WOF.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby KCStudly » Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:12 am

Milestone marker achieved! :thumbsup:
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:39 pm

KCStudly wrote:Milestone marker achieved! :thumbsup:

Yes! It sure is. It makes you feel really proud when you stand back and look at it. And I am sure everyone in town was standing there admiring it as we drove by. :D
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby rebapuck » Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:00 pm

And if they weren't admiring, they should be.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby eggsalad » Tue Sep 30, 2014 2:01 am

Sheddie wrote:Day 73: 29 Sept. 11 Days before we leave.

We pulled it out of the shed today for the first time. It had already been registered, and the number plate fitted. Today was also the first time on the road, as we took it in for a Warrant Of Fitness. Behind the Outback, we hardly knew it was there and It went through its WOF inspection with no problems. Now that it is road legal we can book it in for an Electrical WOF.


There are time I wish we had such things here in the States. Trailer inspections vary by state, with many states requiring no inspection whatsoever. At most, you'll get a cursory inspection of lights. You could build a camper out of matchsticks and saliva, and as long as the lights work, you'll get a "pass".

As for electrical inspection, there's simply no such thing.

I cringe at some of the things I see rolling down the road.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:01 am

Hi Judy, thanks for the comment. If any of them were actually looking, they were probably saying, "what the hell is that?" :shock:

eggsalad wrote:
Sheddie wrote:Day 73: 29 Sept. 11 Days before we leave.

We pulled it out of the shed today for the first time. It had already been registered, and the number plate fitted. Today was also the first time on the road, as we took it in for a Warrant Of Fitness. Behind the Outback, we hardly knew it was there and It went through its WOF inspection with no problems. Now that it is road legal we can book it in for an Electrical WOF.


There are time I wish we had such things here in the States. Trailer inspections vary by state, with many states requiring no inspection whatsoever. At most, you'll get a cursory inspection of lights. You could build a camper out of matchsticks and saliva, and as long as the lights work, you'll get a "pass".

As for electrical inspection, there's simply no such thing.

I cringe at some of the things I see rolling down the road.
We were quite surprised how easy the registration and compliance process was, considering how strict they are with getting motor vehicles on the road. Fortunately we have one set of rules for the whole country, but then we are about the size of Colorado with a population of about 4.5 million. I called in to Vehicle Testing NZ to see what was needed. Registration was just fill in the form, pay the money and we had a number plate. WOF can be done by any garage with WOF authority. They check the basic frame condition, suspension, tyres bearings etc. and make sure all the lights are in the correct place and working. After that you pay an annual registration fee and have a WOF inspection once a year. The electrical WOF is for the 230v system. We are required to have all the correct circuit breakers, RCBOs power cables etc. This is valid for 48 months, and you can not plug in at a camp ground without one.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:50 am

Day 83: 9 Oct. 2012.
We are supposed to be leaving tomorrow afternoon. :shock:
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There have not been a lot of visible changes going on, just all the little trimming and wiring etc.
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As you can see the lower galley has still not been done, and yes we are due to leave tomorrow afternoon. :sweaty:
We want to get part way down the North Island to be in Wellington the following night to catch the car ferry the next morning for the South Island.
One drama we had was when we took the TD down to the local caravan/motorhome dealer, where they had arranged for it to have its electrical Warrant Of Fitness issued (for the 230v system). The inspector didn't like the power outlets we had in the galley, he considered it to be a wet area, and wanted them replaced with outdoor outlets. The big problem was that the inspector was going on holiday the next day and would be away two weeks. After a lot of begging he arranged for someone in his office to issue the Wof when the outlets were changed. Without the Wof we would not be able to plug in at the camp grounds.
I have fitted a C-tech battery charger for charging the battery when camped, and run wiring from the car for charging on the road. For the car I used 85amp 8gauge wire with an auto reset circuit breaker and a relay to shut off the supply when the engine is switched off and an Anderson connector at the hitch. The car now has an alternator instead of the old generator to up the charge rate.
2014-10-07 20.28.11 (640x480).jpg
The black connector on the left is a flat seven pin for the trailer lights. The grey one on the right is the Anderson connector for heavier power loads for the battery charging.
2014-10-07 20.28.11 (640x480).jpg (159.31 KiB) Viewed 3347 times
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby KCStudly » Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:31 am

That looks campable to me!

You have done a lot of work (quality work at that) in a very short period of time! You are to be commended, sir. :thumbsup: :applause:
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:31 am

Day 84: 10 Oct 2012: Plan is to head off this afternoon. :roll: :roll:
KCStudly wrote:That looks campable to me!

You have done a lot of work (quality work at that) in a very short period of time! You are to be commended, sir. :thumbsup: :applause:

Hay Stud, thanks for the comments :beer: It had been a full on experience, and fitting it around work as well. :sweaty:
The plan was to work this morning, come home about lunch time and head away early afternoon. Fortunately I had got all my customers sorted by yesterday, which left me this morning to finish off a few things that still needed doing on the TD. Problem was that there was a lot more to do than I hoped. :shock: Things were getting that desperate that I even had the wife using the power tools un-supervised. :NC She was busy making the drawers for under the bench and racks for plates and fitting mud flaps. She was also trying to pack everything around me as I was getting the hatch to open and shut, trims and seals around it etc. etc. By afternoon tea time we had revised our planned destination for tonight, to a couple of hundred Kms closer to home. At 10pm we decided that we had better stop for dinner, and look at an early departure time in the morning, as there was no way we were getting away tonight. :goodnight:
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby noseoil » Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:30 am

Always write the plan after doing the job, that way the planning job looks brilliant and the work gets done anyway. Nice job on the build, if a bit frantic. That's why I'm giving myself 2 years to do mine, figure it might be enough time to get things finished. Hope the trip is a relaxing one!
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The time you spend planning is more important than the time you spend building.........

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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:54 am

Hi Tim,
That's two years camping you will miss out on.
11th Oct. 2012.
The trip started off a bit hectic. We worked on the teardrop through to midnight, then had to tidy the place up a bit before we headed off to bed about 1.30AM. :SH
We were back up at 3.30AM, packed and on the road at 4.30AM.
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This was the first time in the thirty years that I owned the Capri that I have ever had anything hooked on the tow bar. As we headed out the gate my wife said that if we can get up the first hill we should be ok.
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First stop was Shell in Kamo, then it was Wellington or bust 845kms (525mls) away, to catch the Ferry we had booked for the South Island early the next morning.
The Capri is fifty years old and the engine has always been a bit fumie, but the extra load of the TD meant that when we started climbing some of the bigger hills it got really bad. Called for winding down the windows to get rid of it. We had come this far we weren't giving up now. Next stop was Warkworth for a tinkle stop and check car and TD, both ok. Still dark so pressed on to Bombay (south of Auckland) and McDonalds for breakfast. Apart from the fumes, all was going well. The TD was towing like a dream and the car was doing the job well. It is only 1500cc but with seven gears in the box there is always the right one there. Next stop was Cambridge for fuel, and called into my cousins workshop for morning tea and another rest stop. From there we went to Kinloch on Lake Taupo for lunch with my niece and a couple of hours rest.
From Kinloch we headed down the east side of the lake and fuelled at Turangi before continuing down the Desert Road.
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Here we are on the Desert Road with Mount Ruapehu in the background. Next stop was Bulls and dinner at Subway then rolled in to Porirua for fuel, with only a dribble left in the tank, and finally arrived at the camp ground in Wellington at quarter to ten and fell into the TD for our first nights sleep in it. What bliss! :goodnight:
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby KCStudly » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:26 am

Fabulous!! ...and bringing back fond memories of my days traveling in your wonderful country. :thumbsup: :applause: :D

You might want to chase down those leaks someday, if you plan on doing a lot more towing with that gem of a car.
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Re: Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

Postby Sheddie » Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:06 am

Hi Studly,
Yes it will get all the engine issues sorted.

12 Oct. 2012.
We slept like babies and were up early to be at the ferry terminal an hour before sailing. We had not had breakfast as we thought that we could do that while waiting in the queue to board. After all we had our kitchen with us. They were having computer problems at the check in gate, :frustrated: so by the time we got into the marshalling line and opened the hatch, they came along and told us to drive on. We drove right up into the bow of the ship, parked and started organising breakfast, as it would be a while before loading was done and we were ready to sail.
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This was fine until a fairly officious crew member came along and told us we couldn't do that down there. So after she left we sat in the car and finished our cereal.
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We had a calm trip across to Picton, it takes about 3-1/2hrs. We then drove down to Blenheim and stopped for lunch. Only problem was that every time we stopped we would get mobbed by people wanting to know what the car was and all about what we were towing, every stop was a long stop.
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We were going to head across to Nelson for a night so we could visit the Wearable Arts Museum and then on to Christchurch, via Lewis Pass, the next day. But because of the fuming issue we decided to go direct to Chch, and avoid a few extra big hills and this would also give me an extra day before the Car Rally started to check the engine situation in case anything needed doing. We arrived at the camp and set our selves up just as the weather started to deteriorate. As it turned out it was just as well we didn't come via Nelson as the next day it snowed up in the mountains and some of our friends and family that came that way only just made it through before the roads were closed. A phenomenon that that we in the upper north of our country are not used to.
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