Slow Build in Oz

[edgeau]

The mattress is a very personal thing, it either works for you or not. We are very happy with a similar foam one we get from Super A Mart. But our comparison point was a leaky air mattress in the tent only lasting until 2AM that kicked us into the Teardrop world! Good Luck with your find.

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[MickinOz]

Ya know, it was an uncomfortable night on an air mattress in a tent that sent me down this road, too.
I rolled out on New Years Day 2019, and said to the missus, "I reckon I'm over sleeping on the ground," and she said a heartfelt, "Me too."

[MickinOz]

So I went in to Fantastic Furniture after successfully getting the missus out of the clutches of the medical profession.
Dragged out the $149 foam mattress from the rack, laid it on the floor, kicked off my boots and lay down.
Nope!
Guarantee my hip and shoulder would be banging on the plywood floor before sun-up.
Across the mall to A-Mart. Dragged out their $179 mattress. Nope!
Down to Clarke Rubber.
Dragged out the $400 foam mattress. That's right, $140 more than the mattress I use on my bed at home.
Beautiful. Firm but not hard. The salesman said, "Some call 'em a bit on the hard side, but for big blokes like you and me.......".
"Call it for what it is," I laughed "you mean it's strong enough to hold up us fat bastards."
He said, "I can't call you a fat bastard until after you've bought it. How about 20% discount?"
So $399 became $319 and I brought home a mattress I wouldn't turn up my nose at if it was on the bed in my bedroom.
The best bit? It is slightly undersized. Closer to 59 inches by 79 inches than a true queen size 60 x 80.
Perfect!

[MickinOz]

Also grabbed a 105 AH deep cycle FLA battery and a box to keep it in.

[MickinOz]

Woke this morning to find the missus in good spirits and, even better, not requiring a trip to the A & E department after yesterday's bad fall in the kitchen.
So I devoted the middle of the day to fitting the hatch.
Is it perfect? No.
Am I happy with it? Heck, yes!

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[MickinOz]

Interior has the forward shelf/tray in place.
Note I got my little butterfly vents. Cutting the holes for them saw me feeling almost religious.
If I believed in prayer, I may have offered one as the hole cutter hit the plywood

Interior fwd stbd side.JPG (56.25 KiB) Viewed 3546 times

[edgeau]

Looking good.

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[MickinOz]

Thanks.
It is coming along. Plan was to fit at least one door yesterday.
Managed to test fit and work out where and what I needed to shim the frame to get it sitting evenly in the cutout.
That was in between the showers of rain.
I at least determined the thickness required, so tonight I machined some 7mm plywood down to 5mm.
While I was at it, I opened and closed the hatch a few times, sorta admiring the handiwork and identifying "opportunities for improvement" at the same time.
That's when I discovered I can drop the hatch from at least 18 inches up, scaring myself inn the process, and the fit is so close that air pressure makes the lid "soft close".
It was probably obvious to everyone else that this would happen, but I was delighted.
I suppose the phenomenon will disappear when I fit the vents for the fridge, but in the mean time its cool.

[MickinOz]

The day saw advances Trixie

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RHS door screen closed glass door open 28.6.2020.JPG (96.6 KiB) Viewed 3399 times

[MickinOz]

This weekend saw the other door go in. I now have the sleeping compartment at lockable stage.
I wasn't super impressed with these doors when I got them.
I guess I expected that for $1360 they should have been a little more robust, dimensionally accurate, solid, somehow.
However, all is forgiven now they are fitted. They no longer seem flimsy.
Once the frame is shimmed straight in the opening and glued and screwed in place, things work very well.
Suddenly the doors latch properly and pull in against the seals.
I find if all the vents are closed, there is a little bit of resistance to opening until the seals let go.
And they shut with a nice satisfying little thump like a good car.

Progress is slow but steady.
I also clamped the boot lid shut and ran the trimmer bit in the router up both sides, so the skin now lines up exactly with the sides.
Still waiting for the stainless steel latches I ordered.

[MickinOz]

Progress slow lately - certain social engagements took priority.
No regrets though - one of those social engagements is an annual affair that involves a wood fired brick pizza oven, good food, good company and the odd alcoholic beverage.

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But I managed to fit the latches for the boot lid.
Temporary screws - have ordered one-way security screws.
Won't stop a real crook of course, but the casual opportunist should be deterred

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[apple_at_cha]

Looking great. I'm designing my first build, and I really like how your doors have a full-size screen door. I may have missed the brand/model if you mentioned them in this thread. I did see that you mentioned were you to do it again you might build your own. I would be afraid of winding up with too much thickness if I built a double door like this, but maybe I'm not thinking creatively enough. I wonder if you had some tips to share about them, what you like and don't like now that they're mounted, etc.

[MickinOz]

The doors are Aussie Traveller branded. I believe they are actually made here. I got a deal - $600 Australian each plus free hurricane hinge.
Freight added $80 per door from Queensland to South Australia.
http://www.aussieteardrops.com/
Bloke's name is Reiner Gudd - highly recommend him, but probably not viable for people outside Oz.
If I were to do it again, I'd consider splashing the extra cash required to acquire proper hardwood marine ply for the walls, cut carefully with a jigsaw and use the cut out as the door.
Then again, these doors are damned good. Reiner also publishes a how-to for installing them. It's very useful.

[MickinOz]

Was finally able to get back to the TD.
Had a go at making my own mudguards. Not pleased with the result - back to the drawing board.

Now, I went through high school rocking A's and B's in Maths, Physics and Chemistry.
I ain't no Triggernometry Tenderfoot. (Apologies to the late Louis L'Amour http://www.louislamour.com/audio/thattrigger.htm )

But, I still couldn't come up with gas strut geometry that works with my profile, bench position and hatch layout without undue stress on my hinge.
So I built these.
Hinged manual struts.
I hope the pictures tell the story.
We'll be here all night if I have to write it.
I didn't use glue when I installed the top bulkhead panel, in case I needed to get at something. Glad I did.
attachment=0]hatch open new struts.JPG[/attachment]

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strut left closed.JPG (52.2 KiB) Viewed 3187 times

[MickinOz]

The forecast for tomorrow (Thursday) night says "chance of snow on high ground" at Yongala, South Australia.
I've actually only touched snow once in my life - in the Mannanarie Hills between Yongala and Jamestown.
It was at Yongala on New Year's Day 2019 that I reached the conclusion that I was well and truly over sleeping on the ground.
It was that conclusion that ultimately led me to commence construction of a teardrop trailer.

I'm at lock-up. The beast is road registered.
It'd take next to no effort to hook up the battery to the cabin lights and install the mattress and bed stuff.
The one thing I don't have that would allow me to make the 60 mile trip to Yongala tomorrow night is mudguards.
Spewin.

Only a fellow South Aussie can appreciate the the incredibly rare chance to conduct the maiden voyage in snow.
I could head over to the pub for the "Farmer's Night Special", fill up on cheap ($12 per serve) and cheerful pub grub, over indulge in red wine and port in front of the fire, then retire to the 'drop for my first night ever of sleeping in a tight wooden box.

Imagine sleeping in snow in the arid zone of the driest state on the driest continent after Antartica.
It's a once in a lifetime deal, and I will miss it by about a month.
Can't take a day off, to put in a big burst to get it road legal, as I have a remote pilot's exam at work tomorrow.