Got quite a bit of work done in the last 2 weeks. Finished all the frame peices, prepped it for travel, had the foam blown in, and in 2 hrs time, skinned the whole roof. Hoping this weekend to finish trimming the roof down, & filling the screw holes in prep for fiberglassing. Glassing to begin in 2 weeks. In the interum, I'll start work on the galley hatch frame.
The last two pics give a pretty good idea of how small my work space is.
I managed to get quite a bit done in a small amount of time. I spent one day routing out all my hatch frames. Over the last 2 days I got the hatch framework completed. Monday I'll skin the hatch, and hopefully fiberglass the main roof. After that it will be glassing the outside, and epoxying the inside of the hatch. Then I can install my rear lights, and galley toggle latches. I'm still debating whether I want to skin the roof and hatch with aluminum. My roof is 1/2" wider than the 5foot alum. Perhaps I'd be better off with some white roof compound?
If your trailer is only 1/2 inch wider than 5' then that's only 1/4" not covered per side. You could easily cover the gap with 1" aluminum edge moldings, screwed down over butyl tape to make the seams waterproof.
I have a boxy trailer but the edge moldings will bend around a curve too.
I made a lot of progress this month. The roof and hatch are done. All the wiring is finished. Toggle latches keep the hatch tightly closed. Tomorrow I pick up my Aluminum sheet and trim. I might get this puppy wrapped up by the end of the month. I still have to mount the inner door bezels. I need to varnish the headliner and epoxy the floor. Then it's just a bunch of trim work and building cabinate doors. At least once the aluminum is on, I can take it out and use it.
After losing my original source for aluminim I spent a month tracking some down. Picked up the pallet this morning. By 2 I had the lower nose section on. You can see I used cargo straps to hold everything in place. Once I had the front seem drilled and screwed, I took it all apart to drill out the holes on the lower panel oversize so it could snug up as I pit the trim on. Using the 2x4 worked great for moving the trim where I wanted it. So for the next 3.5 hrs I walked those boards up and around while drilling and screwing down the trim. Works pretty good for a one man operation. So later in the week I will pull of the trim so I can throw sealer under it, then put it right back on. I do plan to make the holes in the skin slightly oversize to allow expansion and contraction. I'm really happy I went with the black edge trim. She's almost done.
I will have to touch up some of the black trim, as the 2x4 removed some of the paint. I plan on keeping the mill finish as it is. I like the raw alum. for the roof.