Conch Fritter Woodie - Finally gets its topsides painted!

[daveesl77]

Thank you all for your comments and compliments. She isn't done (probably never will be), but she is getting real close to going out condition. I'll take her on a 50 mile test run by Sunday, then a 100 mile on Monday or Tuesday. Assuming all is well, then she goes on her first real trip around the 20th. We'll be heading up to NY to see grandson graduate HS. Plan to be gone about 3 weeks, so a good 2,600 - 3,000 mile first camp.

Got my running lights all tested last night, need to clean up the wiring a bit today. Have a handful of finalization things to do and some more trim work, but in reality, she could go out tomorrow. My camping gear is screaming to come out of their boxes and get placed!

As to the weight, I'll be weighing at the truck scales when I take her out, but I estimate knowing what I put in her that she weighs a total of about 1,200 lbs., including trailer frame. So the trailer carry weight is around 950 lbs or a little over half of its rated capacity. My truck has the HD tow package, and can pull 10,000 lbs. With our old trailer and a total loaded weight of 6,700 lbs, the truck had no problem pullling it up some steep grades in the Rockies at 60 mph. With Conch Fritter I don't expect it to even react. The body curves will help in reducing aero drag on both ends.

dave

[Atomic77]

That galley is impressive!

[OP827]

...The body curves will help in reducing aero drag on both ends.

dave

Those are some body curves indeed, especially whose super-dooper wings

[daveesl77]

Just completed her first, legit 60 mile road test! Not a single problem. 70 mph, 20 mph, rural, interstate, traffic, cows, only thing I wanted but did not get was a big rain, just a few sprinkles. Will do a few more add-ons and then Sunday do the 100+ mile test run. After that, all things being good, we'll head up to NY next weekend. That'll be a 2,600 mile run over a couple of weeks.



I got the galley idea from a video I saw on Expedition Portal. I just took it a step further. When we get back from this trip the boxes will get an upgrade and I'll probably make them to where either or both can rotate. That way, depending on the campsite, we can maneuver them around for a best fit. My original idea was to have the galley come out the side in the front, but when I saw that video and realized I had a ton of empty space under the bed, well it just made sense to make it a hideaway. Adding in the 12v pump and internal tank tomorrow.

I will say, she does get some looks from cars and at the gas station. Oh, and as far as my "...spiffy, modified tail lights..." well that got messed up. I had taken the idea from Michael and epoxied a pair of bullet lights to a pair of round ones. It all worked well. I couldn't leave well enough alone though, so I decided to add some silver paint trim. I then noticed that the paint would take 21 days to dry unless I put it in the oven. I figured light covers should be able to handle a little heat right? Wrong, in less than 10 minutes I had 2 nice globs of red plastic. Arrggghhh. So, popped over to HF and picked up 2 LED ovals that work well with the aluminum.

dave

I just realized the back looks kind of like one of those Japanese cartoon characters or maybe it is a video game. I don't care, I like it.

[rebapuck]

I can't wait to see that kitchen in action. Take lots of detail pictures while you are whipping up the Eggs Benedict.

[daveesl77]

Today has been brutally hot and humid. Got about 1/4 of the aluminum trim sections cut out and polished and 2 of the door sections installed. Goal for today was to have it all done, but the storms moved in and kind of a rain out for now. Maybe in an hour or so it'll quit.

I am so thankful to my neighbor that decided to get rid of those wonderful aluminum shelving units. The sheet is being used for covering, trim and what have you. All of the bracing is used as bracing in the camper. I can't imagine what he spent on having these built and don't understand why he wanted to get rid of them. This was literally hundreds of dollars of metal and by the time the build is finished I'll have used almost all of it. But, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

And on the topic of costs, my total cost to date on the build is about $2,200. Plus a bazillion hours of labor, but retirement pays for that.

dave

[daveesl77]

I put together a timelapse of the build to this point (well as of yesterday). So, if you have 5 minutes of your life you'll never get back, here it is...



dave

[KCStudly]

Nice!

[Atomic77]

Great video Dave. Love it!

[OP827]

Great video, thanks for sharing!

[ukewarrior]

Thanks for the video ! I loved it.

I put together a timelapse of the build to this point (well as of yesterday). So, if you have 5 minutes of your life you'll never get back, here it is...



dave

[sincere01]

I put together a timelapse of the build to this point (well as of yesterday). So, if you have 5 minutes of your life you'll never get back, here it is...

dave

I don't want the five minutes back, that was great! Thanks for sharing and what a beautiful trailer.

[lincolnlerner]

I would like an extra 5-55 minutes with narration and details!
Congrats!

[daveesl77]

My build journal and gallery have all the shots and detailed descriptions on everything I did. My son wants me to do an "Instructable" for it, so I might.

dave

[lincolnlerner]

Read the build many times! Great video!
Still got popcorn, food, drinks and a tv waiting for the movie!

An instructable sounds fun. There are so many variations on any teardrop, let alone all the different types. The instructable could go more general or an exact design. A bit of work but a well deserve round of applause and encore.

Thanks for letting me sit here and see such ideas work.

Again thanks. Send me a sign copy of the dvd. (j/k)