A Little Tearapy

[erfnie]

Wiring Fun
Before we close up the headliner/roof cavity we wanted to make sure our wiring connections were correct. To do that, we needed to temporarily hook up some of the lights for testing. And in order to do that, we had to also finish the switches for the porch lights in particular. That spot only had a wire coming out of the wall with no room to hide connections.


To solve this we built some switch frames out of wood slabs we had lying around. We bored out a small space in the middle to make some space for the wires and connections.


We also used these to make a back plate for the reading lights.



Then for the switch plate, we attached the parts.



And the first test, (drum roll please...)



Next test was on the reading lights...

They're on!... but wait. What you don't see in this picture is the smell of burning coming from the light. It wasn't because we left the plastic on. They wouldn't turn off or dim like they were supposed to either.
We quickly disconnected these and the saga with these PITA lights will continue... At least we know there is power getting there. That was the main test here.

Now we can start closing up the headliner starting at the front. Our power center is at the back of the cabin so all the wires coming from the galley go through that wall and the back cabinets, thus they can be accessed later that way.

[erfnie]

Closing it Up! (the roof, anyway)
At this point we were able to work on the front exterior and the galley details simultaneously so things really started moving along.
We went from working on this part to that part and "A Little Tearapy" really started to look like the teardrop it was.

To ready the plywood for attaching later, we attempted to warp it so it would go on easier. We strapped it good and even misted it with a spray bottle a few times.
Then it sat while we continued on the other steps.


In the meantime we glued in place all the pieces of insulation.


Here we cut some grooves to pre-wire some solar wires for the solar panel that will be added on the roof later. The thought is to hide the connections in the vent fan housing.
(We got that great idea from Mike on Camp & Camera.)


Then when the glue was dry we filled all the cracks, voids and larger wiring spaces with Great Stuff.


And then shaved it off so it was all even.


Time to attach the first piece. (It did not stay warped at all like we had hoped. )
We used construction adhesive on all the wood framing parts
and ended up using screws to hold down the edges tight.



One piece at a time we'd attach and let dry before putting on the next piece. We coated over all the screw heads with additional adhesive.


Back on top with some final insulation and then gluing the top pieces on.




With all the pieces on and dry, we could trim off all the edges and the vent fan hole with the router.

[erfnie]

Working in the Galley
Much of the galley work had been on hold because we were waiting for the temperatures to warm up consistently so that the contact cement to apply the laminate to the countertop would set properly. This laminate needed to be on before any of the lower wall cabinets, shelves, plumbing, sink, and any wiring within could be put in.
Here's the before...


And the dry fit...


Then we had to prepare some holes for the sink, plumbing and some wires.



Making sure we don't need our notes on the plywood anymore. They will soon be covered, not to be recovered!


Applying the contact cement. Man, this stuff stinks!




This vinyl glue spreader worked good to spread out the contact cement evenly.


All glued down. Now we wait.


Once it's dry we routed out the sink hole.



Yay! Now we can make some progress on the galley parts.

[erfnie]

Plumbing the Galley
Now that the countertop is in place we are able to proceed with installing the plumbing for the galley.
Preparing another hole for the water fill hose. First we measured and cut the hole on the cabinet component.


Then put it in place and traced the hole to cut the wall.




You may have noticed the unusual hole above for the electric. That was a change in plan to use a noco 15amp inlet plug which was smaller.
It was a relatively easy fix that will be completely unnoticed later on.
Before the recut...

Figuring out the best attachment for our cold water faucet.


The water pump was attached under the sink.


In order to reach and make the connections on the water tank, we needed to slice part of the top off of the cabinet that surrounded it from inside the cabin.
This will hardly be noticed later and provide a removable panel for any maintenance or repairs in the future.






The lower connections between the tank and water pump are accessed from the galley, at the back of the cooler compartment.

[erfnie]

The Magic of Lights
It was time to finish up the wiring and light connections through the galley.
The plan is to have strip lights on top, underneath and even inside each cabinet section. All these lights will be wired to a dimmer switch.
The lights that will eventually be on the hatch will have their own switch. All the lights are installed inside a diffuser strip to help on the eyes
Here is a strip above the cabinet, located just behind the front edge.


The wires at the top are hidden behind this panel with the screws on it and go through the galley wall to the power center on the other side.


Next is underneath the cabinets.



Then the brainstorm idea of having lights inside the cabinets, only to go on when the door is opened.
To do this we fabricated and installed a bracket to hold an "always on" switch that goes off when it's pushed - in this case when the door closes against it!
Here is the bracket and the button installed.



And here you can see some trim and another panel at the back of the cabinet to hide wires.


Last part was to create a mount for the water pump switch. We found a piece of plastic and cut out a hole to fit the switch.
Then this is mounted on the front of the raceway section under the galley window.



Here is everything roughly put together.



And then of course to make it more dramatic, we had to wait until it was dark to try the lights. Drumroll please...

[OP827]

Looks fantastic, nice work!

[erfnie]

A Little Accident
I suppose we wouldn't be human if we didn't make mistakes sometimes. And no good build is without a good story so here's my embarrassing one...
We had waited to close off the last part of the roof above the power center until the wiring was complete in the galley and since that was now done, we could close up that roof.
That's this area here before all the wires were in.

We had the rigid foam pieces pre-cut to fit in the spaces and now it was just a matter of filling in the voids with Great Stuff. As many of you probably know, that Great Stuff clogs up the tube pretty quickly if you don't keep spraying it out consistently so I was working quickly.
That was mistake number one.

The area to be filled was in the center of the camper roof which was not easily accessible from the sides on our 6ft wide teardrop, and I was not real confident yet about putting my weight on the roof to more easily access and fill the voids. The only reasonable spot to put the ladder it seemed, was from the back, at the center of the galley. Now mind you, the edge of the counter still had a bit of laminate overhang that had not been trimmed off yet. The plan was to put a piece of trim under that edge to support it and to have a slight overhang. That wasn't done yet but I figured most of the weight of the ladder would be on the edge of the trailer anyway and I wouldn't need to step that high to reach the roof with the Great Stuff.
That was mistake number two.
I think you can see where this is heading...
And so I stepped one step...good. And then another... and "crack!"...
...and then it was like Clark Griswold on the ladder in Christmas Vacation. The weight of the ladder resting against the back edge of the trailer was too low, I stepped too high putting too much weight on the unstable laminate edge, and the whole ladder slid down the back of the trailer with me on it. It happened so fast. I could only attempt to catch myself on the ride down. My arms hit the edges of the counter and the trailer. My ribs even caught the edge of the trailer, and my shins banged on the rungs of the ladder when we landed with my feet still on the same step of demise.
Ouch!
A quick look around with a head nod to see if anyone saw that while I lay there prone on the floor on top of the ladder.
Well as you can imagine the counter laminate edge did not fare so well. That was the crack I heard.
Luckily that was the only thing between the teardrop and me, that broke, whew!

I was only left with some battle bruises. And a great big bruise to my ego of course.

[tony.latham]

Double-ouch!

T

[erfnie]

Wrapping It Up
Literally. We chose the poor man's fiberglass method for the easiest use of materials since we were rookies at this. We started with wrapping the bottom flap up against the sides.
This flap has been hanging on loose since we attached the floor to the trailer! Seemed like eons ago.

First thing we did was add a strip of wood to make a drip edge of sorts over the edges of the trailer frame.
This was glued and stapled on to the bottom edges of the sides.



Then we proceeded to glue the canvas flap up. Needless to say it was a little dirty and full of dust from all the construction thus far, so after a good vacuum it finally gets glued up!
Our method was to brush on a coat of Titebond II...

Apply the canvas and use a card to smooth it all out.

After this, we applied a watery Titebond mix (about 75/25 glue to water) over the top of the canvas where needed.


The back corner edges got a little extra wrapping.


The sides will be next when this dries.

[erfnie]

The Wrapping Continues
Continuing from the bottom up we moved on to wrapping the sides in canvas. The teardrop was conveniently parked right under our kayak hangers so we decided to try and use those to hold the roll of canvas above and unroll it down as we applied the glue.


That didn't end up working so well and instead we just set it on top of the teardrop, holding it in place with weights. It was more stable that way.


Then we started rolling on the glue a section at a time. For these larger areas we used a roller instead of a brush.
That helped to get it on much faster as we didn't want the glue to dry too fast.


And we unrolled it a little at a time, trying to keep it as smooth and straight as possible. The clamps helped to keep it from unrolling too far too fast.
We did our best to locate and cut the holes for the porch light wires as we unrolled.


After the canvas was applied we went over it with the watery glue mixture to make sure it was saturated with the mixture all the way through.



After it was all dry.



Trimming the canvas edges close to all the openings which will be folded in and glued down.


The corners were trimmed so they would fold down tightly against edges.




And the corners by the hatch opening.



Trimming and wrapping the front and top edges down.




Sides complete!

[erfnie]

Wrapping Up the Top and Front
The top was easier because it was mostly flat, but harder because it was so wide. We had to put the extension on the roller to help.
Then it was the same as the sides. Roll on the glue. Apply the canvas. Rollover the top with thinned glue.




The whole headliner was also too big for one piece of canvas so we put a overlap near the top front edge.



Then when it was all dry we cut out the vent hole and completed the edges just like the windows and doors.


The hatch, in case you were wondering, will be built and skinned separately.

[swoody126]

WELL DUNN

NICELY DOCUMENTED

your pics will be easy to follow

THANKS

sw

[Finlander]

Looks really good! How much glue did it take to cover the entire thing with PMF?

[erfnie]

Looks really good! How much glue did it take to cover the entire thing with PMF?

We used approximately 4 gallons, maybe a little less if you figure some of it was the watered down mixture too.

[eLink]

Smooth canvassing job!
Makes me second-guess my decision to go with aluminum.