Colorado Teardrop Build Journal (Build Complete) (kayakdlk)

[PubUltraStar]

Great idea to test the door latch before drilling your real door. Will definitely be doing this!

[aggie79]

Wow, that's a heck of a first post! I'm interested in the timbren axle too.
Bruce

I agree with Bruce - on both accounts. You do wonderful work!

I am also interested in the timbren axle. Did you weld the cross tube connecting the two suspension units?

Take care,
Tom

[kayakdlk]

Thanks for the complements. I am doing my best, taking my time and using the best materials that meets my needs as I plan to use my teardrop for many years to come.

See my write-up on the Timbren axle under "My Experience with Timbren Axless system (kayakdlk)" I have not yet welded the cross member but will once I get close to finishing the build next spring

[Ron Dickey]

You are moving quickly nice job.

Looking forward to your next move....

Ron

[KCStudly]

Link to "My Experience with Timbren Axless system (kayakdlk)"

[kayakdlk]

Got some more work done on by build. A few evening last week and since we decided to come home early from our camping trip (my son was sick and not feeling well) all was not lost as I now had part of Sunday and all day Monday to work on my build.

Last week I skinned the interior of my side panels with 1/8” Baltic Birch. I glued and weighted down 3 1/8” BB sheets of plywood to cover the cabin and galley. The cabin seam is under the door frame and then there is a bulk head panel between the cabin and galley so no other seams. There is only a tiny 3” seam showing above the door seal panels in the cabin.


After the glue was dry I routered the 1/8” panels flush to the side frame with a bottom bearing router bit.



I also test the fit of the doors.


I purchased 4 sheets ¼” BB plywood and cut out door seal and spacer panels from it. I made the door seal panels overlap the door by about 2.5-3” and rounded the top corners to match the door corners. I screwed the ¼” spacer panels to each side frame and routered the door opening flush to give me two door seal spacer panels and a template for the actual door seals panels.


I used the other two ¼” panels for the door seals. I clamped them together with the door seal spacers and I used my largest router pattern bushing and flipped it upside down with a 1/8 straight bit to router out the opening to get an 11/16 seal edge.



After the door seal panels were done I rigged up some scrap wood for a straight edge and routered the mortise for the piano door hinges into the side panels and doors.
After test fitting the door seals and spacers to the door opening I glued on the door spacers and seal and weighted them down until they were dry



The next day I installed the door piano hinges with a few screws and test fit the doors to the sides and door seal panels. They fit great except for one corner which as little tight. Nothing a little belt sanding wouldn‘t fix. I then belt sanded all of my door edges to make sure I have room for epoxy and paint



I then decided to start on the galley hatch pieces while the side panels were still flat. I used a jig saw and cut my galley hatch sides from the side panels. I am using the Steve Fredericks method of hatch construction and first cut 2” from each side panel to use as the side of my hatch lid.




I used scrap pieces of 1/8 BB plywood and pieced together to make a spacer for the galley sides and cut out with a flush bottom bearing router bit. I then cut out the ½” galley side panels by using my largest router pattern bushing and flipped it upside down with a 1/4 straight bit to get approx. 1/2 galley hatch seal edge (leaving a 1/4” gap for weather-strip). Check out Steve Fredericks build manual and his web site for more details on his hatch design.


I needed to cut out a ¾ spacer for the galley hatch side and since I didn’t have any ¾ plywood and didn’t plan to use any in my build I glued together some scrape 1x3 board together for galley hatch spacer. I will use the router and cut out two spacers using the left over cutout from the ½ side galley side panel as a template


I also cutout my galley gussets but then decided I had cut them wrong. I followed the side panel at the top with the rounded edge and was having trouble figuring out how to attach the spar for the hinge. I poured through Steve Fredericks build manual and his web site pictures and figure out I made my gussets incorrectly. I should have made the ends square so I made a new pattern for the gussets out of scrape 1/8” plywood and cut them out of scrap ½ plywood.



I lightly sanded my interior side panels and stained them with Rustoleum water based light "Summer Oak" stain and then varnished them with 2 coats of Behr satin water based polyurethane .



I also stained and varnished the interior door panels


I am hoping to dry fit everything together this weekend, finish the interior panels (2 more coats satin varnish) and a few other odds and ends all ready for gluing together very soon. I will post again when I have more to show.

[KCStudly]

That's looking very nice. Great job!

[drewh1]

Great progress! you are doing great work.

drew.

[rand_98201]

Youre really cranking along,nice work.

[kayakdlk]

Thanks to everyone watching my build and the nice compliments

Well this weekend I hit a major milestone in my build. The walls and bulk head are up and glued in place. Hurray!!!


I started the weekend by removing all of my floor elevator bolts as they were sticking up some and I wanted them flush in the galley area. I removed them all and routered a small area so they would be flush with the top of the floor. I had also noticed every time I sat on the floor the floor and frame creaked, so I then ran a bead of Dynaflex 230 Black Caulk along the tops of the frame rails and bolted the floor down.

I epoxied the bolt head in place. No more creaking, and now the bolts are flush.




I then decide it would be easier to do another coat of epoxy on the side panels now while the panels are flat. I first sanded the outside side skins and door panels and then rolled on a thin coat of epoxy to smooth them out and hid most of the weave. I also applied epoxy to the door seal areal and the galley hatch seal area. I will add some black dye on the future coats of epoxy for the door and galley seal areas.


Galley hatch seal area



I used blue masking tape to mark all of my 1x3 in the walls etc so I would know where to screw the shelves into the sides and bulk head. I had marked them all and taken pictures before I put the interior skins on so I printed the pictures to mark the side panels and bulk head.

On Sunday I had planned to dry fit everything together and then if all went well glue the following weekend. The dry fit went very well, only a little trimming of the spars and some belt sanding on my previously made gear shelf, headboard and reading light shelf. The weather here in Colorado is suppose to turn stormy and cold mid week so I decided to go ahead and glue it together while it was nice out.

We took it all apart and I used PL premium glue on the sides where they meet the floor and in the bulk head channels and where the bulk head meets the floor. My side panels cover my frame so I then ran a bead of Dynaflex 230 Black Caulk along the frame rail side where the side panels would touch and put the side panels and bulk head together. We clamped the side to the frame and used a few temporary screws. We then screwed in all of the spars and check the width measurement. The spars will come out later when I install the headliner, and then I can glue them in.




We also screwed in the storage shelf for our duffle bags at our feet. The headboard storage and shelf (not installed yet) and the over head shelf with reading lights. Everything was within about 1/8". I didn't glue the shelves in place as it was too tight of a fit to apply glue and then move them into place with making a mess. I plan to use some type of sealant around the seams to seal up the cabin.




During assembly we scratched the inside panels (I knew this would happen) so before I install the headliner I will sand, touch up the stain and apply the final coat of satin polyurethane on the cabin interior.

I also think I will work on test fitting some of my electrical while the headliner is out and I have more room .

In my spare time I designed my Built Not Bought decal . I copied my profile from a picture and made a drawing in MS Powerpoint and then captured in a jpg file and sent it off for a quote from a vendor I used for my Jeep build. Hopefully it will not be too much.


Next I will be building the galley counter (I ordered the Formica on Saturday) and start on the galley hatch.


That's all for now

[KCStudly]

Looking good!

[pchast]

Just a thought.
With boating I've seen several logo's printed on rice paper
and applied under epoxy and or varnish. They looked great.

[Junkboy999]

Mocking up the door is a great idea.

[kayakdlk]

Since my last post I have gotten some more done on my build. Work has been busy so I have been spending my time build rather than posting.
I installed and test fitted the doors, door handles, windows, porch lights, light switches, drip rails etc. I drilled holes and screwed them all in place to make sure everything fit as I had planned






I built power boxes out of ¼ red oak to house my AC and DC outlets. I have one in each corner of the cabin. The front ones will mount flush to the headliner and the wire hole will not be seen as they will go through the front into the box.


For the rear shelf power boxes I didn’t plan a conduit when I built the walls, so I decided I would use ½” plastic water pipe and cover with black corrugated wire loom in the corners and run through to the ceiling and drop wires from the roof down.


I cut out and joined 2 and a half 1/8” sheets Baltic Birch panels for my headliner. I use Titebond II wood glue and glued a 6” wide 1/8” Baltic Birch baker board over the butt joint


I stained and varnish the headliner on my work bench. I then installed the headliner as a test run. It took most of a day to dry fit. I had to recut the length, then cut all of the side wall frame blocking that I had cut out earlier to create the headliner shelf. Each piece had to be cut and belt sanded to fit and then screwed into place. Once it all fit I took it all back apart and used PL premium glue to install the headliner permanently.






I used a few small stick to prop up a to press the headliner to the bottom of the spare where they were glued. It ended up fitting great in all but one small area where I had a gap. I caulked the entire interior with a dark brown caulk to fill any gaps between headliner, floor to walls etc. This will also seal from any liquid spills inside seeping through the gaps under the walls and any gaps bugs could crawl in.


Here is picture of my headboard with headliner installed. Power panels laying in place and some plastic baskets from Target which are for pocket items like keys, wallet etc.


I then started working on the galley. I built my counter top out of ½ plywood and covered with my Formica I had ordered. I made a red oak front edge and also have a piece of aluminum I could use if the red oak doesn’t wear well. I had planned shelves and drawer up top and slide out shelves for the coolers down below. I pulled out camping gear and played around with it. I couldn’t come up with a plan for the lower galley that I really liked, to many unknowns, couldn’t fit everything and wasn’t sure we would always (if we didn’t take the kids) need two coolers etc. I decided I would leave the lower galley open for now and camp with it a few times to decide if I wanted to build any slide outs or shelving. I focused on the upper galley. I build a red oak face frame and made a place to hold the stove from moving around. I then test fitted it with the hatch in place.


I then decided to split the rest of the upper space into two shelves with a lip. I had planned to find some containers, basket etc. to hold loose items to keep from sliding. I used my Formica to cover the two upper shelves and had enough for two side table tops. Here is the roughed out area.


I built two drawer and use ½” red oak as the faces.




When I was all done I pulled out my camping gear again and tried to place all items. I then went looking for containers and ended up finding at Target some black plastic baskets that fit pretty well and looked good.






I then did a test fit again to make sure everything clears the hatch


I am still deciding where to put the battery and decided it would depend on weight balance. I can put it in the front storage box, or the rear fender, or in the lower galley. I decide to use the very top back area under the hinge as my electrical panel area. I am running a ¾”plastic wire loom along the back corner for wires from battery and junction box for trailer lights. Easily modified as needed once I decide where to put the battery. I decided I would mount all of the items (GFCI, AC Outlet, fuse panel, etc.) on the upper bulkhead . I decided I would make an access panel to cover it, but have access in case I need to change a fuse, reset a power strip etc. I also wanted a place to mount my switch for the overhead galley hatch lights and a place to put AC and DC outlets in the Galley. Here is what I came up with.


My Marinco inlet, GFCI, Power strip with breaker, DC fuse panel etc. will be behind this panel



I built a removable panel that house an AC and DC outlet for each corner of the bigger panel, and then put the hatch on/off light switch in the middle


Here is the galley all built out and ready for camping gear. Some day after a several camping trips I may build out the lower galley, or leave open and flexible.


My next effort is to do all of the AC and DC wiring, test it out and be ready to cover the roof and hatch lid with 1/8” Baltic Birch, fiberglass and epoxy.

[Oldragbaggers]

Beautiful build!!