"Silver Nugget" Teardrop Trailer

[down under tech]

Hey Grizz: What plate do you want? I can get you one here and send it to you if you are unable to get one on your own. Let me know what colors and a state preference if any.

We can do anything here in the states, that is if you have a fat enough wallet !!!

[grizz]

Hey Grizz: What plate do you want? I can get you one here and send it to you if you are unable to get one on your own. Let me know what colors and a state preference if any.

We can do anything here in the states, that is if you have a fat enough wallet !!!

Hi Johnny, I will take this to PM so as to reduce "Thread Hijack" in case someone has an issue witht he fact that this is a chat forum as well


Let's see what we can cook up wrt the plates.

[down under tech]

I got a little more of the bulkhead framing installed yesterday. It is the part at the upper rear of the galley that makes the attachment to the hatch spar.



I was able to make the horizontal piece with the Kreg Jig but the holes of the pockets overlapped because they were so close together. It did not affect the outcome of the frame, it was only six inches wide. You can see the overlap in the pockets in this picture.



The vertical piece that attaches to the hatch spar and the horizontal piece was only four and a half inches wide so I used two boards and Kreged them together to make up a board that was the right width/height to fit the space. I attached the assembly to the spar with several screws going into it at an upward angle. I can still get the 1 1/2" ceiling insulation in the space above the board. This also gives me a place to rest the luan that forms the inner ceiling on the top lip of the exposed board top.




I have to frame up the wall studs and then remove the spars to make the wall panels of oak plywood to finish off the inside walls. Once that is done I need to make up the front and rear cabin cabinets.

This might take some time because I don't have much free time because of working at least 48 hours a week on my job for the next two months. And to slow me down even more I have to re-certify for my ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) master technician's certification. Two days of testing, one this week and one next week. It will be just an hour or so for each test but that burns up more time coming and going to take the tests. Oh well, I will get through this and work on the "Silver Nugget" as time and whether allows. I will keep you updated, so stand by for a long silent pause.

[S. Heisley]

With all that you've been doing already, Johnny, you are making excellent progress. So much so that I doubt you have to worry if the project slides a week or two. Didn't anybody tell you about teardrop time? You're on it.

[down under tech]

Thanks Sharon: I love my new hobby. "Teardrop Time" is great for your soul. I can feel it. I wish I was farther along on the build, but "It'll Get Done, It'll Get Done, as the turtle said to the hare in the old cartoons from our childhood days of watching mindless TV. I remember those days fondly. I forgot to mention that I want to spend some time helping Pam M. on her TD. If I didn't need to sleep I would be done with mine and Pam's would be half done by now. But this is a reality show and I will go at the pace that has been set for me by the heavens.
Stay tuned...

[DMcCam]

Hey Johnny, you are doing a great job on your TD! We've got to get together soon! Thanks for posting your pics too.

Cheers, Dave

[Pam M]

Johnny D.

The spars and counter look really really great!

Are you over hanging the counter or are you going to put another bulkhead in where the cabinet doors will be hung from?

You deal with your stuff and let me make my TD in tear drop time. Building my teardrop is my therapy time. I just have not needed my therapy lately.

Yes folks you probably have already guessed. Johnny is a MAJOR perfectionist, and I am much less of a perfectionist. I kinda go through life like most women cook. A pinch of this and more of that, and that sounds good, throw that in too. BUT usually I don't make major mistakes like the frame ~ but that is yesterdays old news ~ lets not revisit that again.

Seriously Johnny your silver nugget looks awesome, you should be very proud of your work. But you don't know I am right behind you, I just have not posted. he he he hehehehehe!

[down under tech]

Dave: I will PM you about a meet & greet.

Pam: Are you turning down FREE help??? I would not, because good help is hard to find you know...especially some one that is on teardrop time as well as U.

[grizz]

Hey Grizz: What plate do you want? I can get you one here and send it to you if you are unable to get one on your own. Let me know what colors and a state preference if any.

We can do anything here in the states, that is if you have a fat enough wallet !!!

LOOKY LOOKY HERE !!!


Thanks to Johnny "down under tech" in Reno , Nevada, We now have a number plate for the galley in the Grizz-Pod.

I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to get a plate to use as name plate for the trailer, and John jumped to the rescue, not taking no for an answer and refusing to let me pay, he has gone and ordered a Kansas plate (There is a link to Sinclair Oil Corporation in there) and given it to Nicola and I as a Trailer warming wedding present.

Thank you Johnny, massively appreciated. You are indeed a gentleman of epic proportions.
Your generosity is evident where ever you seem to go, helping with builds, advice and being a nice guy allround.

Now we just have to get it through the postal service this century.

[down under tech]

Hi Grizz: I am glad you got the license plate all the way over the pond. Your TD is just about done, that's great! It is looking super nice.

For the rest of you, I have been working extremely long hours at my job in the last month. That is why I have not posted in a long time. I didn't get very much done, but I hope to get a lot done this 3 day week-end. I had removed the spars to seal them with marine spar varnish. I will let you see the progress I make in the next few days. I want to finish up the interior wall studs and start wiring and insulating the walls. That seems like a huge endeavor but we will see how far I get.





Here is some of the aluminum trim Pam M. and I got out of the old truck camper awhile back. This piece was used to hold coat hangers. I might just use it as decorative trim.



There is two eight foot pieces of counter edge trim I will use somewhere in my build. I want Pam to use one of them in her build, too.





I got two of these 18"x24" panels that I am going to use on the cabin cabinet doors. I shined them up a little by hand using Mother's aluminum polish. This is after one treatment of the polish. I will need to buff them a lot more.





I hope all of you have a great Memorial Day week-end!!! Take Care All...

[grizz]

Good to see you have survived the overtime Johnny.

Looking good.

Why are you varnishing the spars ? Are they going to be exposed ?

Rain interupted a lot of my play today, but I do hope to get more done tomorrow.

[down under tech]

Hi Grizz: It is only a precautionary measure, I am building the TD outside and it gets very windy here at times. I don't trust the tarp that I use to cover it from keeping out all the water. When I get the roof on it, I will know it will be watertight. If some water gets inside on the wooden parts, it will not damage those parts and therefore no dry-rot.

[grizz]

Morning Mate, yes, that does make sense, protection from the inside out.

I am just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit more, then I will be out there.

Been to the shop for milk, bread and Nicola's paper, so nothing left but to surf the net, everything I want to do involves some noise.

[down under tech]

Hi everyone, I got a little done yesterday. First, I need to tell you about the deal I got on craigslist on Saturday. I found a bench-top drill press that I bought for $60. It was just like new and the guy had only used it a couple of times. He still had the box it came in and it was taken apart and inside the box. It only took me about 15 minutes to put it together. I bought it so I could have it for drilling trim pieces later in the build. I used it to drill the mounting holes in the lower floor spar. I counter sunk the holes to have the screw heads below the top surface of the wood. You can see where I had to notch the bottom of the boards to clear the carriage bolt heads that hold the floor assembly to the HF frame. I used my new table saw to make the cuts in the bottom of the floor spar.







I then started the inside wall studs and ran a piece on 1x3 poplar along the bottom of the walls so I can attach the wall skins later on. I raised the boards up off the floor the using good old paint stir sticks from HD. This keeps them up high enough to keep them out of any water that might find it's way inside the TD's floor since I did not seal the wood first. I then drew the profile with a pen and cut them with my jig saw.





Then I placed the blocking to support the wall skins around the front radius of the TD. I screwed them from the outside of the walls and glued them in place with two #6x3/4" wood screws and PL premium poly adhesive. I used poplar instead of pine so that the brads hold when the wall skins go on to be sure they stay put. I use oak for the hinge side of the door opening for holding power for the screws. I will be making the overhead cabinet like the one in the Kuffel Creek plans, so I used oak there, too.





This is the stuff, PL premium poly construction adhesive. I have been using it anywhere I can to "over-build" this first TD. I am not sure where I found out about using these grey electrical wire nuts as a cap/seal for opened tubes of caulk/adhesive. I might have read it on here. If so, thanks for the tip to who's ever idea it was. You have to be careful to cut the tip smaller than you normally would so the wire nut will screw on the end of the caulking tube. It is OK if some of the adhesive oozes out from the cap. This way that is the stuff that dries and the remaining contents of the tube stays uncured & ready for the next time you need some.



I placed an oak wall stud where the face frame of the cabin cabinet will hook to. I used one of the spars as a guide and I will use it to attach the face frame of the cabinet to and set it directly under that. I used one screw at the top of the stud to hold it in place and a framing square to get it plumb before setting the rest of the mounting screws.



I still had some daylight, so I cut and attached some of the panels that cover the shelves and cabinet frames. The blue tape lines up with the cross pieces in the frame assemblies so I know where to place the brads.



These pieces are only laying there and I need to insulate the voids under them before they get glued and nailed in place.



More adhesive and ready for a panel and brads from my brad nailer.







This picture shows where I need to place the insulation.



That is all I got done yesterday! I wish I had gotten more done. I still have one more day. Stay tuned, I will let you know what gets done today.

Hold the phone. This update is not finished yet !!! The things preceding this part were done yesterday. I started to insulate the bulkheads that divide the cabinets from the cabin & galley this morning. I am stopping due to the chance of rain this afternoon. Instead, I am going to Pam M.'s house to work on her TD with her. We are about neck & neck in our builds now. Here is some pictures of what I got done this morning. Even though it was not much, it is still progress.







Happy Memorial Day to all you tear-droppers out there.

[grizz]

Great Progress Johnny !!

I am just uploading photos of my bit of progress of the day.

Work again tomorrow.