Woody's Wagon

[glake]

A number of year ago, I picked up an all aluminum teardrop from my uncle. Apparently, Old Navy stores had them as displays for jeans. When they were done with them, they gave them to employees, and after passing through a few hands, my uncle got it, and then it went to me.



After sitting in my yard for a few year, I finally did a bit of work to it and took it on a trip up to Mammoth with a friend and his son. Being entirely aluminum, and really cold at night, condensation would build up inside and rain on me! So i called it The Silver Bullet.


Unfortunately, after returning home from this trip, new priorities took hold, and I sold it. I regret it everyday.

So now, after a few more years of looking, dreaming and drooling at the builds on here and Expedition Portal, I've decided to dive back in. I had an old boat trailer sitting a friend's yard for the past 10 or so years. I went up last week and pulled it home.

Now the fun begins.

[glake]

I actually got started a couple of days ago. After getting it in the garage, I began cutting it down. I only wanted the usable metal and the axle.




Once I had it cut down, I laid out the basic frame.




Yesterday, I was able to finish up the bulk of the frame, including the tongue and getting the axle bolted in place.



I had hoped on flipping it over and getting the tires mounted, but ran into a roadblock. I decided to go ahead and pull the hubs to check the bearings. Bearings were in great shape, but one of the spindles had the threads smashed and stripped. So now I have to wait to get to the trailer supply tomorrow for a new spindle.

[glake]

I was able to finish the bulk of the frame yesterday, getting the tongue welded and the axle placed. I also cut out the holes for trailer lights.



I had an appointment with the DMV this afternoon, so this morning I had to get it road worthy. I finished up the paint, wired up the lights and got the safety chains on. I also made up a jig for the fenders and got them framed up. I temporarily used plywood for the inserts to save time. I'll replace with sheet metal soon. I borrowed the plate from my other trailer to get it down there.



Even though I made an appointment, I still ended spending almost two hours, but at least it's done and the trailer has a plate. Funny thing was that they didn't even really look at the trailer. Just stuck the VIN sticker on.

[noseoil]

Looks like a really nice start on the build. Want to see more work & pictures as you go. Do you have a profile mapped out yet for the sides?

[glake]

Looks like a really nice start on the build. Want to see more work & pictures as you go. Do you have a profile mapped out yet for the sides?

Thanks. I'll try and keep up on the pictures. I don't have anything on paper. I tend to plan things out in my head and go from there. It's probably going to be a Benroy style similar to The Dog House. I'm also thinking of using swing out barn doors on the back rather than an up opening hatch. The trailer deck is a bit over 8 feet in length. The box will be 8 feet and this gives trailer overhang as a built-in bumper. I should probably sketch something out at this point.

[glake]

Picked up some scrap sheet metal from the metal yard the other day and finished my fenders up today. I also got the deck cut and the bottom side painted.

[ctstaas]

Hi Glake, Your'e gettin ur dun. When I built mine my frame was perfectly square but the plywood was out 1/16". I rolled my cabin onto my frame with a piece of 3" pipe and it was easy. The cabin starting 1/16 out grew into almost an 1/8" on my final piece of cabin enclosure at the bottom of the galley. No one else knows so please don't tell.
Enjoy, Chris

[glake]

After a nice little vacation in Moab and then coming home and finishing some chores, I was able to do some work on the trailer. I did some work on the doors. Framing them up and even test fit (forgot to take pics).




I got the sidewalls insulated.




Also started the interior walls. We had a bunch of wood flooring we took out of our kitchen when we tiled, so I'm putting it to use.

[glake]

Since my last post, I've finished the box and interior walls, done most of the kitchen area, test fitted the doors and yesterday got the canvas on the box using the "poor-mans fiberglass" method.








My canvasing job was no where near as good as some of the others I have seen on this site, but it should work. Hopefully, once I get a few coats of paint on it will look better. Today I will finish canvasing the side doors, the rear doors, and get the first coat of paint on.

[glake]

I got the doors canvased and primed everything. I then started painting. I lost track of how many coats I did. The trailer changed colors about four times as I decided to use up some of the left over cans of paint around the house. Right now it's a beige/brown color. The final coat of gloss white should go on tomorrow. After the first couple of coats, I got out the caulking gun and decided to try and clean up some of my bad cuts. I ran a bead of caulk along the seam and then spread it out with my finger. I think it helped make my seam look a bit better.




I also got some paint on the battery box that will go on the front of the trailer. I used some Bilgekote I had from a boat project on the inside. It's not in the picture, but the outside also got primed today.

[glake]

It's been a productive week. I finished up the painting.





I got the windows mounted. For the doors, I went down to Ecology Auto Parts and pulled a couple of windows out of a Chevy van. The frames had a curve to them, but the glass is straight. I notched the aluminum frames to allow them to bend, clamped them into the doors, and screwed them in on the inside of the frame. Worked out pretty well. The smaller windows were a couple I had laying around.










Installed the roof vent.


Got the rear doors mounted. I also decided to break up the white a bit with a grey stripe. I used UV resistant PVC molding from Home Depot to no only separate the two colors, but also hide the canvas seems.







Yesterday, I mounted the interior cabinet doors and worked on the electrical.







I also added carpet to the inside.



Today's plan is to finish up the electric. I got the the interior lights done yesterday, but need to finish the galley.

[KCStudly]

Lots of progress there and it is really coming together nicely!

[rebapuck]

I see the tongue box lid is wedged open. How will you hold it when finished?

[glake]

I see the tongue box lid is wedged open. How will you hold it when finished?

I sent back and forth on that. I though about a prop rod, but in the end I just kept the wedge!

[glake]

Took it for a pull the beginning of the week. First time since the body has been built. It towed very well.



Last weekend I finished up the electrical. I put a 12v socket and USB port in both the cabin and in the rear, along with a meter gauge. The USB had a small light that stayed on so I added a switch for it.



This weekend I installed drip caps over the side doors and rear door. My dad made them out of sheet metal (he's a retired A/C guy).





After making some screens for the small side windows, my wife came up with a brilliant idea for door screens. I made these roll up screens. They velcro up out of the way when not in use and they have a strip of wood to weight down the bottom with velcro to hold it in place when down. You can see the velcro straps hanging down in the first picture and the strip of wood at the bottom of the door. Sorry the pictures aren't that great. I used the phone.







And I pretty much finished up the kitchen adding some adjustable shelves to the upper shelves and using the leftover carpet to line all of the storage places. The final pieces are in the works. I'm making fold-down tables that attach to the inside of both rear doors.\




Planning the shake-drown this coming weekend. I'm planning to head up to Big Bear Lake from interstate 15 via the Cleghorn Ridge Trail. I plan to stay on dirt all the way from the 15 to Big Bear City. Wish me luck!