Ira wrote:Hey, Grummy--welcome!
Sounds like a cool plan. Would you consider doing the same for the interior roof? (As you probably already know, we don't call that a "ceiling" here!)
Yep. The trick is to use the correct glue. I spent about 10 years in auto upholstery and that included vinyl tops and of course the van thing. And, yes, I do SEW (shouldn't everyone ? :-) I also spent quite a few years wroking on luxury Yachts (Burger Boats) both in upholstery and in later years electronics. I doubt I will be able to put the same amount of pure gold plating in my future tear as some of those boat owners do ! :-)
We used to puchase 5 gallon buckets of a special glue for vinyl top work, and subsequently used it for literally everything from glueing foam slabs together to holding up headliners. It was a rather thick glue, and you would drop it in a typical Binks spray gun and spray both the backside of the material and the part you were placing it on. You'd wait a few minutes, then drop the material on. Most materials allowed you to yank it back loose a few times in order to get things stretched. It was a glue that could take high heat once set, an important aspect if you want to KEEP the material up where it belongs (which means those little spray cans of 3M stuff will likely let stuff droop when the sun comes out.
As far as me knowing how to do it right, well, conversion vans were typically never "right".... just as fast and cheap as possible. The boats were VERY different with prices between 40 and 80 million each!
Got any ideas on which TD design you're leaning towards?
Sure do..... two DIFFERENT ones ! I have drawn the typical "Cub" style and fell in love with its fabulous smooth lines. No matter what I build, I will go 5' wide x 10' long, and I will cover the frame on the sides.
But, then I fell in love with the useability of Rik Kellers Road Toad style, albeit with a twist. I drew mine with the full rear hatch and a front galley like the Jim Dandy. I figure this way I could haul my wife and I's Yamaha V-Stars to events AND Camp, or well, just camp. Kind of a dual purpose trailer, and as a camper at 10' and no rear galley, there will be room for a portapotti and a mattress. The front galley works for me (knee knocker tounge) because I know I won't spend much time "in the kitchen" when I am camping anyhow. a stick and a hot dog is good enough for me (well and a beverage). I do want to get Rik's permission though if I go this route, as I do not want to just copy what he did.
So here is the tuff part. I have way too many hobbies. I somehow HAVE to do this though. I dont have one, but I AM addicted. There is no going back.
The good news is, I hobby in CNC stuff. I have a 2'x4' CNC Router at home and an engraver, but I have Exclusive use to a roughly 6' x 10' CNC Router where I work !!!
You know what that means ? I can zing out profiles and parts with precision and speed.
If I could just commit to a specific shape, I could get started !
So, I do not know exactly when I will get underway, but teardrops and this group are really sumthin' !
Thanks for the warm welcome,
Grummy
