Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

• Bite the bullet and order the sheet of aluminum, paying a huge price AND waiting another three weeks or so for delivery.
  
• Use two smaller pieces to cover the galley hatch with a flat butt seam between them, presumably covered with some sort of trim. Does anyone have any advice to offer about that? I'm inclined to think it's a poor solution, but have no experience with this sort of thing so I'm VERY open to suggestions.
  
• Look for another source of aluminum, probably in Sacramento as some have already suggested in another thread. IF I can find a source, however, I'll still need to rent a large enough truck or a flatbed trailer to pick it up, and it's a six hour drive each way, so the cost of trailer rental and a couple tanks of gas get added to the cost of the aluminum, and I spend a long day driving. All in all, not much of a savings, and that's IF I can find a source.
  
• Skin the galley hatch with something different. The trailer sides are already skinned with 0.040 mill finish aluminum and I'm ready to skin the top of the trailer tomorrow. I've considered making the galley hatch a woody, fiberglassed for protection. Can anyone offer any advice about that? Can I glass just the outside plywood covering, which is 1/4 inch ply? Should I wrap the glass around the edge, or end it flush with the edge of the sheet? I have even less experience working with fiberglass than I have with aluminum, so I suppose I need to read up on it. And get the materials.
  
  How UV stable is the epoxy? Does it need some sort of topcoat for longevity? Does it need periodic reapplication, and if so, are there issues with the caulk used to seal up the aluminum roof edge trim and other alum. angle molding? Boats are made with the stuff, so it must be pretty robust.
  
  Would some other clear coat solution work better? Four or five coats of spar varnish, like Epifanes? Something else?
  
  Any suggestions other than wood and 'glass?

mike_c wrote:Use two smaller pieces to cover the galley hatch with a flat butt seam between them, presumably covered with some sort of trim. Does anyone have any advice to offer about that? I'm inclined to think it's a poor solution, but have no experience with this sort of thing so I'm VERY open to suggestions.

T&CLongmire wrote:The beauty if aluminum is minimal maintenance. With fiberglass, spar and even two part euro's the elements will effect them. UV will be an issue. I used a combination of two part euro and spar on my teardrop it's been through a couple of downpours and the Texas heat but only since last memorial day. No problems so far, also over a thousand tow miles at this point. But I also will use this at least every three months.

http://www.sailrite.com/303-UV-Protectant-16oz

I was recommended this 5 years ago for my plastic boat and kayak, they look brand new, It works like a champ. I have two coolers I store outside I sprayed with it, no cracks in them either. Bass Pro and Cabellos are cheaper on price.

Tim

KCStudly wrote:

mike_c wrote:Use two smaller pieces to cover the galley hatch with a flat butt seam between them, presumably covered with some sort of trim. Does anyone have any advice to offer about that? I'm inclined to think it's a poor solution, but have no experience with this sort of thing so I'm VERY open to suggestions.

I'm going to have to vote "no" on using two smaller sheets of aluminum, strictly because I think it will greatly detract from the appearance of your finished product (unless you can skillfully hide the seam with a graphic treatment that suits the rest of your theme). Not to mention the issues that could arise with leakage.

On the other hand, Aggie Tom did a very nice lap joint technique that almost disappeared on his beautiful TD, so what the hell do I know.

Have you checked out (Lance and) Becky's Sagwagon? Lots of good info on epoxy, and I believe links to other good epoxy discussions. I am no expert, but from what I have read it is not UV stable in the long term and should be top coated. She used a really nice looking Interlux (IIRC) boat paint over her epoxy. Here's a link to the part of her build that talks about the Interlux, but I recommend you check out the whole build if you haven't already - http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=45917&start=165#p948139.

I hear you. Yeah, my mission tonight is to find out as much about epoxy as I can, LOL. I actually like the idea of making the galley hatch a nice woody, but I don't want a high maintenance finish, which is why I was partial to aluminum from the beginning. And no matter how well maintained, a finished wood surface is going to need eventually refinishing, or covering, and I'm worried about refinishing the panel with the caulk in place around the trim edges. But I'm using a polyurethane caulk (Vulkem 116), not a silicone, and it occurred to me that in the worst case I can simply put aluminum over it later if that turns out to be the best way to deal with long term maintenance issues.

--Mike C.

That brings me to a thought for another option to get around the missing aluminum sheet. How about seeing if you can match the Interlux paint color to your blue cabinet highlight color and do the galley hatch up in solid blue as a proportional highlight to your whole outside? Or do a vinyl wrap akin to what was done to 2Bits LT after sale (only choose your own graphic, perhaps including your blue color?

However it turns out, you will get through this minor setback and find your way to a solution that satisfies your needs. Don't settle. Fix or get creative so that you will always be happy with it in the end.

mike_c wrote:Big shout out and thanks to Grant Whipp, who has what I need to finish my galley hatch! Thank you Grant! Looks like I'll be driving to Redding on Monday!

--Mike C.

treemaker wrote:You should be able to roll up a 5x10 sheet and haul it in a pickup.
Just don't try to roll it too tight.