HELP! Photos of your homemade door and advice

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HELP! Photos of your homemade door and advice

Postby tburick » Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:08 pm

Greetings Everyone!

I'm Tom...a new member here...and I'm building a foamie teardrop to pull behind my 1962 Vespa scooter. (I know it sounds crazy...I'm use to the "honey we're concerned" speech from my folks lol)

I'm pretty far along with the gracious help from my friend Lucy. She built a beautiful foamie tear drop a few years ago and I've been able to rely on her expertise. The challenge we are facing is WEIGHT. We're fighting hard to keep the entire 40"W x 8'L trailer to a mere 125lbs. We're doing great so far with an aluminum frame and other weight saving measures.

We can't build the door like she did on her teardrop because of weight. In short, can you guys show me some photos of your homemade door? We need a super simple, lightweight solution to seal the door when it's closed. We can't rely on a lot of pressure bc the side walls and door are only 1" foam. Our only idea so far is to line the door and door frame in thin gauge aluminum "L" channel to add some strength...but we have no idea how to create a water resistant seal. Any ideas or advice? I do better with photos to figure things out so I'm hoping for a bunch of great photos of your DIY doors!
I've included a few photos of the side wall door area. The trailer isn't much to look at just yet...but wait till she's done :)

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Re: HELP! Photos of your homemade door and advice

Postby MickinOz » Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:06 pm

Take a look at this video from Trekker Trailers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NmxUP9Y7F8
It looks to me that that they rely almost entirely on the z shaped aluminium extrusion door jamb to exclude water.
They do put a gasket seal under the door hinge.

Edgeau (Australian Retro Rambler) used simple timber door jambs.
He's from the Gold Coast in Queensland, which gets about 4 feet of rain per year.
He tells me that this works fine.
edgeau wrote:Today a lot came together that has been in preparation for a while. Glass is in the port holes, doors are fitted (but will come off again at some point to do the Wylie Windows) and the spars are up. The framing for the vent/fan is in. I just need to frame up the fusebox then I can start on the ceiling and roof.Image

ImageImage
I have yet to do a contrasting trim around the port holes on the outside. I think it will look really good when I do.
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