"Silver Nugget" Teardrop Trailer

[down under tech]

Hi Everyone: I was able to get the inner oak plywood skins cut to fit today and here is the pictures I took today to show the progress.

I removed the roof spars to get room to make up the inner wall skins.





First I cut them to fit the cabinet bulkheads at the rear of the cabin.





This is where I had to cut the ply to conform with the side walls. I traced the profile and the door opening so I could cut them out.



Here is the left side cut and sanded around the edges and set in place.



Above is the left side and below is the right side clamped in place.



Next I marked out the cuts that were needed to clear the spars.



I made up a jig to help mark the right size cut outs to clear the spars. I placed it where it needed to be and clamped it there and traced the jig with a pen.



This is after cutting out the skins for the spars. I used a jig saw with a fine tooth metal cutting blade. I did get some tear out, but it will be covered by trim.



Back in place and ready to install the spars. I will have to use a rasp to get the final clearance of the spars as needed.



Then they came back out to cut the door openings out.



Here the right side wall.



Here what it looks like from the front of the TD.



It doesn't look like much, but it is progress.

I will be working over 60 hours this next week at work, so it will be next week-end before I will be able to post again.

See Ya,

[grizz]

Great progress and immaculate work as always JD.


Please do show us a few pics of the Banana Sundae behind the trailer.

Looks like an old delivery truck.... UPS.

And do tell a bit more about it.

[down under tech]

Thank you Grizz: I try to do it right so I have less problems to deal with later on. The banana truck as you call it is an old Pennzoil delivery truck I bought in Ohio before I moved back to Reno in 2003. The diesel engine was fried because the driver drove it for 2 days after the water pump went out and just kept driving it until the engine seized up. "I" built a Chevy 350 gas engine for it and the truck has made the trip back and forth to Ohio to get all of my belongings 2 1/2 times. That is why it is Screaming Pennzoil Yellow.

[nevadatear]

Hey Johnny, not to hijack your thread, but what part of Ohio were you living in? My husband is from Ohio, Hartville to be specific (near Canton).

[down under tech]

Wooster, 30 Miles from Canton. I think I talked to you about that before. Amish country.

[nevadatear]

you are right, we did talk this before. My brain is on overload! more teardrop time!

[down under tech]

I was able to cut the openings for the light switches in both of the side walls this morning.



Then I used a rasp to make sure the walls fit without hitting the spars on both sides of the teardrop.



Baby steps !!!

[down under tech]

Hey Grizz: Here is a couple of pictures of the Screaming Yellow Zonker for you.

[grizz]

Sorry... did I just show my approval ??


LOVE THAT TANK.

Thanks for posting up.


Would love to have that in the UK, especially if it was the only one with a nice little V8.

[down under tech]

Thanks Grizz: It has a small block Chevy 350 & manual 4 speed w/ granny low gear in it now but a big block 454 would be better here in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

I have a 454 with 50 thousand miles on it.

[down under tech]

OK Then: I spent today in the extreme heat in Reno at 96 degrees sanding and varnishing the red oak inner wall skins and the red oak plywood in the foot well area of the TD. I also varnished the bulk head plywood for the cabin cabinet. This will be the rear of the cabinet. I just used hard wood luan for in there. I ran out of daylight so I could not get pictures of that. I will take them later and post them at that time. I used Cabot Satin Marine Spar Varnish on the panels. Here is a view of what it looks like before and after the varnish is applied on a test piece. I like the lighter color more than a darker shade on the oak. I did not stain the wood at all. I just used the varnish on the oak.



Here is one side wall after three coats of varnish. It just about dried on the paint brush before I could get it on the plywood, because it was so hot.



And the other side wall panel. They turned out looking very nice.



Well, I'm done for and so is the day. I want to say "Hi" to Terry in Antelope CA.
Everyone have a good work week if that's possible,

[down under tech]

All Right: I told you I would take more pictures of what was done yesterday. Here they are. In this pic I had not yet varnished the foot well or cabin cabinet back.



This is the other side. I think the color is just right. I like it to be bright inside the TD.



Here is how it looks with the spars just setting there in place. You can see I did varnish the foot well and the cabinet back in this pic. I ran out of varnish and I had to go to Lowes to get another quart of it before I could do the inside plywood.



I love the wood grain of the red oak panels. You can see it very good here.



I need to get ready to go to work now. It is supposed to get up to 99 degrees today and that will match the record temperature for today. Yuck... See you guys,

[down under tech]

I drove down to Roseville yesterday and me and a friend of mine went to the Dinio's Auction. This place has anything you could want. It is more like a giant swap meet. I was able to get the mattress of 4 inch thick medium density foam for $100. That is half the price I was quoted here in Reno. I picked up some vinyl to cover the headboard I plan to make for the TD.



This is the deal of the day. I paid $5 for this two speed fan I will use to help circulate the air around inside the TD just to help keep the air moving.



I got my fabric that I ordered off of Ebay. It came in yesterday while I was in California. This stuff looks retro and it will be used for the curtains.

[parnold]

I have to second the vote on the bright interior, I did the same with mine! Looking very good, and gratz on the finds!

[grizz]

Cool fabric.

Absolutely love the retro feel and look of the fan though. And a bargain.