5ft Weekender build in Indianapolis

[IndyCubby]

Nice build so far. I have a MINI also. It is my pride and joy so I probably won't set it up to tow but I love driving it. I will be watching your thread as it seems to be coming together fast and furious.

P.S. you can see my car in my thread....

Larry

Hey Larry,

Yes, I did see your build thread and spotted your MINI! White with Black roof, right? Very nice. I really love my car very much...this is actually my second MINI...my first was a Chili Red/White R50 Cooper, and my current (as you saw) is an '08 MCS. This is my everyday car....so I've racked up the miles....pushing 65K now.

Have you been to the annual MINIs on the Dragon event down in Deals gap, NC?

[cop1406]

No. I'm in Cali so that is a major drive for me. I have been to AMVIV in Vegas twice. My MINI has 12000 miles and is a 2010. Do you listen to the White Roof Radio podcast? Very funny and all about our cars.

[Kharn]

I'm kind of leaning that direction with the higher mount AC for the reasons you mention....but I kind of like the idea of having it there all the time and not having to deal with setting it up each time. Also, I may "need" the weight on the tongue. This frame was already pretty well balanced front/back and moving the axle wasn't really an option without alot of hassle (and welding). Even now without the galley components added, the tongue is very light and my concern is that I'll need something on the front to keep it stable at speed. A spare mounted on the tongue could add some weight as would a battery. My thought was to somehow permanantly mount the AC at about the level of the floor in front and not have any of the AC unit exposed inside the cabin, but rather have it somehow ducted upward and in/out through the shelf/headboard/storage area.....a shroud of some sort could be built around it with some small doors that could be opened in order to vent the exterior half of the unit. I don't know.....may be getting too complicated. I'll probably wait until the trailer is more together and see what my tongue weight is actually going to be before figuring it out.

Regarding the baggage doors....there's an RV surplus/salvage place up near my hometown. I should take a pic of this place.....buildings full of parts and outdoor crates all over the property full of windows and baggage doors! The trick is digging through to find the right size. If you find what you are after, though, you are rewarded with low prices!

A low-mount AC also changes the available space for the tongue box. A bigger battery (or a second one) can always be used to increase tongue weight. No one ever complains that they have too much power available, as long as they do not need a mechanic's jack to lift the tongue.

The other problem to consider is the condensate from the AC must drain somewhere, which means some sort of opening below the unit. For a low-mounted unit that would mean a cap or plug you must crawl under and remove every time you use it, or you risk hornets or other insects building a nest inside or rocks flying up and damaging it.

[IndyCubby]

A little more progress yesterday. Had friends over this weekend, so not much progress since last weekend....it was just too damned hot outside anyway!

The cabinets are mostly done (just plywood). The doors are store-bought cheap oak panel kitchen cabinet doors and will just be mounted to the plywood faces of the cabinets.

More to come...

[IndyCubby]

More progress today. Started out by heading over to home depot for supplies..



Worked most of the day installing the interior skin, insulating, and wiring for a few lights and a vent fan. Finally decided to make my own doors, so the holes are now cut out. Tomorrow I will work on the outer skin.

[les45]

looking good (I like the simplicity of your design - lol)
Larry S.

[IndyCubby]

looking good (I like the simplicity of your design - lol)
Larry S.

Haha. I take my inspiration only from the best!

[IndyCubby]

Another busy day in the garage. The outer skin is mostly done now and the galley hatches are framed and skinned.





I have two new favorite tools now...the belt sander and my new kreg pocket hole jig. How have I survived this long in life without them!

[KCStudly]

Your hard work is showing. Good progress!

[les45]

Looks like you will be prepping your skins soon. Not sure if you have seen this, but I did a lessons learned from my fiberglass tape experiences. It might help if you decide to go that route.
Check this link: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=50792
Larry S.

[pjo129]

looking good (I like the simplicity of your design - lol)
Larry S.

Times 2.

Taking some clues off your build for my own future build.

[IndyCubby]

No work on the trailer this weekend, but I did do something trailer related....

After nearly a month of the trailer hogging my side of the garage and parking my MINI on the parking pad next to the garage....having to get out and unlock it each morning and lock it back up at night.....I had enough. The trailer is nowhere near ready to weather outside without protection at this point. So today I built a 10 x 14 carport over the parking pad to serve as a permanent place for the trailer...


The MINI tucked in to bed where it belongs!

From the other side of the garage...


Hopefully back to work on the camper later this week. I need to order some parts....windows and some hardware.

[pappaw]

Nice!

[WhitneyK]

Wow!!!
Your making quick work of this one!

[IndyCubby]

Well it's been a long time since my last update. My goal was to "finish" the Weekender by the end of the summer (I'm a teacher and wanted to get it done before going back to school). Well, school starts tomorrow and as of today, the camper is "camp-able". Still need to do several things....need to trim out the bottom of the body where it meets the frame (probably with thin aluminum bar), need some shelving in the interior cabinets, and need to add a tongue box of some sort (for storage....and to add some weight to the tongue!).

The outside of the camper was sealed with three coats of thinned polyurethane, sanded, filled, sanded some more, and then painted with two coats of primer and two coats of Rustoleum oil gloss in Almond. The worst part of the build was the doors....I originally set out to buy premade ones, but then decided I didn't want to spend the money on them. They turned out pretty decent in the end.

Here she is....
























Thanks to Mike for posting the Weekend plans and to everyone whose ideas I "stole".