New tug and new trailer....to be ....

[GerryS]

I wanna see more about that 'dub job...

[Shadow Catcher]

You can always put a Subaru WRX engine in it
Looking really good.

[jackdaw]

I wanna see more about that 'dub job...

You can always put a Subaru WRX engine in it
Looking really good.

The Dub was a massive learning curve that I'm happy to have come through... The bus is an 11 window, 1964 Italian bus that was imported from Belgium. The 120 hours of welding that we were quoted turned into 240 hours and the £600 worth of panels turned into £1500 worth of panels.... Only time will tell how well we've really done.
its had new top hats , I beams, inner and outer sills (rockers ?) cargo floor , cab floor, inner valance , outer valance, front dog leg arches, long side repair panel, short side repair panel, cargo door bottom repair panels.....and so it goes on....
We've altered the running gear and done away with the reduction boxes on the back axle, in favor of the early bay window set up. We're using a Beetle gearbox that currently hooked up to a new to us 1600 twin carb engine. We've still got the original 1200 engine too. The plan is indeed to fit a 2 litre Subaru unit as funds allow.
It's had new tubes and cables fitted through out . New brake lines now with a servo, and later wider brake drums on the back. These may get changed to discs in future, but it stops pretty well as it is, and at £1000 per axle for the disc conversion I'm not sure it's going to perform with that much difference.
The steering's also been upgraded with a rack and pinion set up as the original steering box was scary as hell driving over 50mph. it was just like steering a boat

Here's a facebook album from star up to paint... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 947&type=3

The rebuild ................... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 947&type=3

The only bit I original thought I'd be doing was the interior

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 947&type=3



I'm loving the bus, and it's great fun just going for a little drive now and then, but the fuel economy is really poor when we pull the trailer and the engine does struggle.

Any how, I'm back building another trailer now. I'm so much more comfortable around wood . I'll start a new thread for the build,,,,The new ones called Mambo 5'5"

[jackdaw]

We'rw off to a vintage nostalgia show next weekend , and whilst our little side tent has been really practical....it hasn't really been in keeping with a vintage style trailer... This weekend we've created something more in keeping.....It can be used open...like this....





We've made a matching canopy for the bus ....



We made up some side walls that zip together and zip onto the top.... So any of the walls can be unzipped and rolled up.....





And theres plenty of room to stand up in there too

[KCStudly]

Nice addition!

[mezmo]

Great job on the 'extra room' jackdaw !

[S. Heisley]

...Amazing. You are very talented!

[jackdaw]

We've had a really fantastic tear-dropping year so far... I thought I'd share some of the good times with the folk who have both inspired and encouraged me with our teardrop journeys to date

We've done 49 days with the teardrop so far this year, with 14 trip and over 3000 miles covered and we're not done yet....The Splitty has been used for most of the trips upto 100 miles, and the Delica for the longer trips.
This year we've started showing the trailer at a variety of shows...We seem to be having a bit of a vintage resurgence over here in the UK... and the trailers fit in just nicely. Steam and vintage shows have been popular over here for as long as I can remember and we've visited some as punters before but never 'displayed' the trailers...It's been great as many of the shows are so pleased to have us along we don't even pay for camping in return for putting on a display

We got right into it at the Vintage Nostalgia Show.... We got all dressed up and Rosie even put a dress on







Our friends Barry and Jeannette brought along Wanda our number 4 build...



Jess our Daughter took the Coppertop, our second build.....



My brother Steve took Mambo.... our number 5 build, that he's since bought......



My nephews tried out a potential new tongue box for the Copper top.... that we decided against in the end...



The trailers were a real hit as most Brit's have never come across the concept of a teardrop....

We had such a good time at the Vintage Nostalgia that we looked for more similar event that we could attend.. Sue from Retro trailers found a suitable show nr Exeter...about 100 miles from home.
'Crikey it's Killerton' was the first time we had used Madonna, our twin peaked party tent.... It made for a pretty cool looking display with just the two trailers set up.....



We had a constant flow of visitors from the moment the show opened right up till it closing time. Anyone would think they'd never seen a teardrop trailer before.....and in fairness most of them hadn't



It was a really busy weekend , but most enjoyable all the same. We've used this set up for several shows through the year and had a great time showing off the trailers...

We've done some regular camping too, taking advantage of the weather in July we had another trip to Cornwall.....it was so nice we didn't even put the event shelter up...



August was time for our trip to Fairport's Cropready Festival.....




An early start secured us a prime pitch close to the arena ....


We've got a few more trips planned but the season is now on the turn and we'' be lucky if we have good weather for the remainder of the year... We live in hope though...

I've also been helping my brother in law build a trailer and I'm itching to get another build under way .....

[Junkboy999]

They look great out there all together.

[High Desert]

Great pics Dave, thanks for sharing them. Looks like you folks are having a fantastic time, and are wonderful ambassadors for teardrops in your part of the world. Well done sir, well done

[mezmo]

Great pics Jackdaw, thanks for sharing.

[doug hodder]

Thanks for the pics of your trips! I would love to camp on a nice patch of lawn like that once in a while. Doug

[jackdaw]

We're only gone and bought a new tow vehicle.....We love our VW bus, but it doesn't like doing over 100 mile trips towing the teardrop... So we decided to buy a pickup truck....and whilst we're at it thought we'd build a new trailer for us at the same time....
Here's our new truck along side Wanda our number 4 trailer...It's a 1947 Ford...It needs a little work But hopefully we'll have it sorted for sometime next year. I'm hoping for May but we'll have to see...


So I thought we'd go for a bit of a Steampunk/ ratty trailer to tow behind the truck.... This build has been in my head for far too long and needs to be done...It's going to be a 10x5 modernistic built out of oak ply internally and old floorboards on the outside.... Then it 'ill be having a trolley top done out of copper and Ali... with a bit of brass thrown in for good measure...

We've started on the trailer ....and the main structure has taken shape.... Almost ready for some metalwork....



The space inside ..


There's lots to be done on both but we do like to keep busy now the camping season is coming to an end...

[S. Heisley]

It seems to be almost half done and well done as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing how you "punk" it out.
Once again, thanks for sharing your build!

[jackdaw]

It seems to be almost half done and well done as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing how you "punk" it out.
Once again, thanks for sharing your build!

Watch this space Sharon .... All will be revealed


We've had a good weekend on the build and have a lot of the metal now fitted...

We had a 3ft wide off cut from of aluminium when we built mambo...it must have been 14ft long, and was just enough to do the lower roof.... I dressed an up-stand against the trolley top to give us added protection with the waterproofing ...







Being a plumber gives me access to plenty of old hot water cylinders... They are usually weighed in for scrap.... However I had a few put aside for the build... My good lady cleaned all the paint off them, She's good like that Heres an opened up cylinder ... and one we'd cut to fit the sides of the trolley top..



Another made the front panel....



I plan to put another under the rear of the trolley top



Front panel fitted ...With a silver plated serving plate made into the window... and the aluminium fitted to the top...






The back of the trolley top has a roll of copper under the end of the ali sheet....



Oh and I started on the fridge workings that will be mounted on the side of the trailer ....and left exposed...



Should be back on it next weekend All going well.....I might even get some of the windows prepared during the week ....They're going to be made from old copper trays and brass plates...