The Astroliner

[capnTelescope]

Great work! I'll agree with everyone else. It just didn't look that big before. "Big" is relative for us non-standy types.

[Atomic77]

It's funny... After I walked around inside of it, I asked Carrie... "Should we have made it bigger?"

[KCStudly]

Based primarily on the fact that you are already there, and have done all of this work that would be very difficult to expand now, the answer to that question has to be no.

[Atomic77]

Very true KC...very true. Carrie thinks it is perfect. I think she's right. It's still a tiny trailer, but being able to stand up and move around plus have everything inside will be nice.

[Atomic77]

Having the Astroliner at my brothers shop now is good and bad. Bad, because it's an hour and a half away and I can only get down there every other weekend right now... But good, because my brother is there to lend a hand and he's pretty talented. Plus it's fun for me, Carrie and Matt to all get to work on the project together. This weekend we got all the ceiling in place, all the spars glued in and the foam insulation cut and in place. We had to do some engineering to figure out how the ceiling met the floor in front and back, as well as figure out the curvature for the framing of the front window. Next weekend we will be ready to do some wiring in the roof for fans and lighting, then the exterior Luan will go down. I'm still trying to decide on gluing down the Filon or floating it. I hope you all will comment on the pros and cons of both so I can make up my mind. The Filon will be 7'5" wide by 20' long. Take a look at the picture with the ladder standing next to it to get a real feel for the size...

One of the things that I think may or may not be unique about this build is the lack of hardware involved. Up until the point of installing the spars, we hadn't used any hardware or fasteners. Right now there are six bolts in the wall cleats clamping the walls and the Hysol to the frame. And there is one screw in each end of the spars. Otherwise everything else has been glued (thickened epoxy) and clamped in place.

[kayakdlk]

What ever method you use it looks like it is coming along and looks great, cant wait to see more pictures as you finish it up.

Dan

[Atomic77]

Thanks Dan. I'm not sure what method I use either. Ha! I'm a boat builder not a camper builder but there's a first time for everything!

[kayakdlk]

One thought is if you float it vs. glue it down, if and something happens to damage it (tree limbs , hail, etc.) you more easily remove, repair and replace the roof.

Dan

[Atomic77]

That's something I hadn't thought of. So Dan... what do you think about floating it? It will be attached on all four sides and where the ceiling fans and stargazer window mounts.

[bobhenry]

One thing you may not have thought about is thermal expansion. It will shrink and expand just a bit with heat and cold. I have 3 trailers with FRP or lexan as a large portion of the skin. They were installed using rosettes and a large dollop of 100% silicone as a sealant. The drilled holes were oversized slightly and the silicone remains flexible enough to keep things leak proof. You will really like the FRP outer skin it's wash and wear attitude and the fact it laughs at dents and scratches helps to keep the trailer looking great.

[Atomic77]

Thanks Bob. Yes that's one of the reasons I chose Filon over Aluminum is the wash and go...

[kayakdlk]

I had considered Filon or vinyl for my roof and was going to float it like you said with edge trim and roof vent holding it on.

Dan

[bobhenry]

I was a bit concerned with ballooning at road speed that is the reason I chose the oversized fasteners in a tasteful pattern.

[Atomic77]

Took her out for some fresh air today...

[Vedette]

Way to go!!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi