Sleepin Around, New Zealand. The Build

[Johnysteam]

Looking good buddy
We are in Tauranga, if you are ever passing
cheers

[Sheddie]

Hi Johnysteam,
hi fellow Kiwi, thanks for looking in.
I have just had a quick look at your build. I will get back to a proper look later.

[Sheddie]

Day 60: 16 Sept. 2012.
Today we are cladding the sides.
The ply has been sanded and the poly is flush with the ply.

Cladding has been cut to shape and now I am cutting out the hole for the door. Then we will remove the protective vinyl coating from the inside, and alcohol wipe, before gluing to the ply.

Applying the glue. It is a combination glue and sealer.

Sides on and the clamps are going around the outside edge. The door will be screwed in to place, it is an ideal way to clamp that area. Then make sure I have enough clamps around the outer edge and check there is plenty of glue oozing out around the edges. I want this well sealed with no chance of water getting in anywhere. The screws around the door are the only mechanical attachment on the side panels at this stage. Even when we are finished the only other screws in the sides will be for lights and vents etc.

[Johnysteam]

Hey
cant help noticing you've got a ford capri?

[Sheddie]

Hey
cant help noticing you've got a ford capri?

We have Yours, Mine, and Ours.
The green one (Mine) is a 1962 Ford Consul Capri. the first of the Capris.
The red one (Yours (the wife's)) is a 1986 Ford Capri MK3, 2.8 injection special. The last of the real Capris.
Ours is a blue 1992 Ford Capri XR2 Turbo Convertible. These were the Australian ones that no one liked(mainly people that had not had anything to do with them). Although ours is one of the final series that they had sorted most of the issues. This one won't get a tow bar for pulling the TD though, front wheel drive and no roof could put a bit of undue strain on things.

[Heifer Boy]

I was just about to ask you about the Consul Capri but Johnysteam beat me to it.

I had a '62 Consul Capri for a while and semi-restored it. Every time someone asked what I drove and I said a Consul Capri I would have to explain to them that it wasn't a Capri and more like a MK1 Cortina. I drove it every day and then found out it was just 1 of 6 COnsul Capri's in Australia. So I got quite a bit for it when I eventually sold it. Cool car though.

HB

PS - Fellow Kiwi living in OZ. I'm a JAFA though so I don't know if you are allowed to talk to me.

[Sheddie]

I was just about to ask you about the Consul Capri but Johnysteam beat me to it.

I had a '62 Consul Capri for a while and semi-restored it. Every time someone asked what I drove and I said a Consul Capri I would have to explain to them that it wasn't a Capri and more like a MK1 Cortina. I drove it every day and then found out it was just 1 of 6 COnsul Capri's in Australia. So I got quite a bit for it when I eventually sold it. Cool car though.

HB

PS - Fellow Kiwi living in OZ. I'm a JAFA though so I don't know if you are allowed to talk to me.

Hi HB
They weren't sold new in Oz, and Ford NZ apparently only imported about 50. Total production was about 18,000. I have owned it for 32 years.
As far as JAFAs, are concerned, my wife is an escaped JAFA as well.

[Sheddie]

Day 63: 19 Sept. 2012.
Three weeks to go before we leave!!!!!
As well as finishing the camper, the car has to have a few things done on it as well. It has never had outside rear view mirrors, as I have never seen anything to suit it. I finally found some through a supplier in England. The stupid thing is that they are quite a bit cheaper than anything I have seen locally and that was even allowing for postage costs.
Also it needs to be wired for trailer lights, and I am going to run wires for charging the camper battery when we are travelling. Because of this I will need to replace the old generator with an alternator. And give it a service.
The gazebo arrived today. We couldn't wait until day time to set it up and check it out, so we put it up in the lounge. With it's pointy roof we couldn't extend the legs, but the dog thought it was ok. Yes that really is a dog there.

[Sheddie]

Day 64: 20 Sept. 2012.
The roof goes on.
The insulation is in, and the necessary wiring done. The roof panel has been on for a trial fit and screwed down then taken off again for gluing. The panel we have used for the roof is the same as the walls. It is an aluminium composite sign board, white on top mill on the bottom. We were able to get a 1.5m (5ft) x 4.8m (15' 9"), which was long enough to go all the way over the roof and hatch with only a small offcut. That length was b#%&h to transport and handle, but once we had cut off the part for the hatch, it was still a b#%&h. We applied the glue to the top of the walls and across the spars and carefully lifted it into place, and with the curve now in it wasn't any easer.
The worried look
Starting in the centre I worked back, then forward screwing it down. That stuff is really good to work with and fits around the curves with ease. I would definitely use it again, and when you pull the protective coating off, it is all painted and ready to go.

Lots of extra clamps across the back, to hold it down between the screws until the glue sets.

The wheel is on the roof for a bit of extra clamping.

[Sheddie]

Day 66: 22 Sept. 2012.
Skinning the hatch.

Need lots and lots of clamps!

[KCStudly]

Curious, no plywood inner skin? Something to prevent dents?

It will be light weight, but aren't you taking a bit of a risk that the AL will 'pop' from the wood when heated by the sun? My hatch frame looks very similar to yours at the moment (w/o the skin) and it has very little lateral stability by itself. I am hopeful that that will all change when I put the inner 5 mm plywood skin on (it almost certainly has to), but with an AL/composite skin such as yours, aren't you the least bit concerned that it might go wrong? ...or did you screw it as well as gluing?

[Sheddie]

Hi KC.
As I have stated right through the journal, when we started our build we had not had anything to do with TDs, so it was guess work all the way. As far as traditional build methods are concerned I did not see the necessity for using the ply under the composite alloy sheet, as I though it would only be necessary under a thin alloy skin. The glue we have used cures to a rubber like texture so probably has a bit of flex to it. There are screws along the top and bottom and others holding the tail lights and handle. The heat on the skin is probably not so much of an issue here, we seldom get down to 0deg C or much over 30deg C. The white on the outside also helps. As far as dents are concerned, the skin, which is 3mm of plastic with about half a mil of alloy bonded each side is quite rigid, especially when put around a curve. It would take a reasonable knock to put a dent in it. To start with the hatch was quite floppy, but when we put the inner liner in (the same stuff we used inside the cabin) it stiffened it up no end.

[KCStudly]

[aggie79]

I really like the design and construction of your teardrop!

Thank you for using aluminum composite material for cladding. After seeing it used in commercial construction, I've been fascinated/fixated for some time about ACM, and have it earmarked to use on a (hopeful) future build. Thank you for detailing your construction techniques using ACM.

I may have missed it but could you say what thickness ACM you used please? (3mm?)

[dodgedartgt]

Looking good buddy
We are in Tauranga, if you are ever passing
cheers

We're in the States, and we've been to Tauranga. Small world, eh?
Nice looking, and QUICK build. I'm impressed!

Mike in FL