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[atahoekid]

Adventurous or enlightened ??? Foamies , the Thinking man’s (or Ladies) trailer ...

+1

[ghcoe]

Been pretty busy around here and hot! As you may know lots of fires up here in Idaho.

Last week I was able to get my axle bolted into it's new spot and get all the other things done such as pack the wheel bearings and getting it registered. Also got the wheel wells installed and reinstalled the inner frame rails again.

Wheel wells

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Wheel + well

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Frame rails

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[GPW]

Looking Great George !!!!!! ... nice to see the lic. plate on there already ....

[ghcoe]

So this weekend was the weekend to glue the body to the floor. My first attempt did not go well. I used Great Stuff, by time I got the body on the floor it had already foamed up too much. As much as I tried I could not get the body to make contact with the floor, or even close. I figured out that the humidity was quite high and made this stuff go crazy. The body was a quarter inch plus up off the floor!

Glue

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I had to walk away from it before something ugly happened

After the Great Stuff dried I went back out and separated the body from the floor using a sharpened putty knife. It actually was easier than I thought it would be.

So, I did not want to try the Great Stuff again. I changed over to Gorilla Glue for the next attempt. This went much better.....

Gorilla glue

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Gorilla up close

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Still had one wall slip forward a quarter inch. By time I figured out it had moved it was too late. The Gorilla Glue set up pretty fast too, but did not foam as much as the Great Stuff.

[ghcoe]

Looking Great George !!!!!! ... nice to see the lic. plate on there already ....

Thanks.

I got the trailer ready to take to the DMV because I figured they would need to inspect it. Turns out they do not title anything under 1500lbs. So I spent all that time rushing to pack wheel bearings, bolt down the axle in the new spot, and wiring for nothing. But, at least it is done.

[ghcoe]

The Gorilla Glue is a bit tougher than the Great Stuff so I did not really want to tackle it with the putty knife. I used this handy little tool, If you do not have one I highly recommend one, they are awesome.

Tool

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I just had to cut the body off the floor in front of the door. The tool made quick work of that. Re-glued and clamped into place in the right spot this time.

Re-glued wall

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The tool worked great for removing excess glue from the edges too.....

Cleaning Gorilla Glue

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[ghcoe]

Some shots of the trailer and body as one now....

Front shot

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Other side shot

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Side shot

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[atahoekid]

Looks real good!!!! I only used the great stuff for small emergency repairs and it works great but the foaming could make it hard to use. I think someone mentioned knocking it down before the foam got outta hand but I never needed to try it. GG or epoxy was my glue of choice in the critical areas. That curve in the roofline looks perfect!!! As this has been a topic of much discussion as of late, could you remind us of how you did yours??? Great work!!

[ghcoe]

Guess I must have missed that discussion somewhere...

Well I have a hot wire jig that I did mine with. You should be able to use a skill saw, set to the right depth, and a straight edge though.

My kerfs are 1 inch apart.

Kerfs

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My walls and roof are 2" foam. I used two sheets of 1" foam so I could keep the kerfs hidden in the middle. It takes more time to cut two sheets of foam instead of one, but I believe you will save time in the long run by not having to fill kerfs and sand them smooth.

This is the shot of the first 1" kerfed layer installed.

1st layer installed

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This is a shot of the second layer installed over the first.

2nd layer installed

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[ghcoe]

Here is a shot from the edge to show how the kerfs face each other in the middle.

Edge shot

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[atahoekid]

I used the same method you did but when I cut the kerfs on mine, I did mine with a Skilsaw with the blade set at 3/4" deep. The blade creates deep kerfs that are somewhat variable in width. I marked the cut lines and freehanded the cuts which allows the saw to twist ever so slightly left and right which cuts wider kerfs than you did with you hot wire cutter. I guess if you used an edge guide and moved it for every cut you would get better kerfs but that would be very time consuming. The saw also creates a mess of pink pellets everywhere. I bought a disposable painters suit to wear when I cut kerfs just so it wouldn't be all over the clothing. I think a hot wire cutter is the way to go!!

[ghcoe]

I used the same method you did but when I cut the kerfs on mine, I did mine with a Skilsaw with the blade set at 3/4" deep. The blade creates deep kerfs that are somewhat variable in width. I marked the cut lines and freehanded the cuts which allows the saw to twist ever so slightly left and right which cuts wider kerfs than you did with you hot wire cutter. I guess if you used an edge guide and moved it for every cut you would get better kerfs but that would be very time consuming. The saw also creates a mess of pink pellets everywhere. I bought a disposable painters suit to wear when I cut kerfs just so it wouldn't be all over the clothing. I think a hot wire cutter is the way to go!!

Yeah, I could see if you did not use a straight edge it could get ugly with a skill saw. I like the hot wire because there is no foam mess. It just melts away........

If the cuts are not perfect it could transfer to the surface. I noticed even with 1" kerfs when it was bent you could see the pattern on the surface a bit. They sanded out pretty easy though.

[Mary C]

You are doing an awesome job. Your Hatch now makes sense to me. It is really neat!!!

Mary C

[mezmo]

Great progress pics, and I agree, one of those Multitools is a
great addition to one's tool arsenal.

[ghcoe]

Was able to work some on the trailer tonight. I installed the front edge. This edge is 2"x3" flashing that is bolted the floor and extends out under the foam and along the front lower edge of the body. This will protect the foam from bumps and should make a nice edge for the canvas to lay over. I will be doing the same technique along the bottom sides. The foam is a bit narrow than 2" along some of the edges and this will come up high enough to make the sides look flat all the way down to the floor. Not to mention a bit more protection along the floor edge and crisp lines for the canvas.

No support

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Installed

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