Tom & Shelly's build

[Tom&Shelly]

If you don't need a lot of Acetone, you can use a bottle of fingernail polish remover that you can probably get at the drug store.

PS. It's looking really good!

That's a good idea Sharon, and in fact we only needed a few tablespoons full, so polish remover would have worked. As I was driving back from the aborted mission to Home Depot I was wondering if drug stores still sold "Absorbine Jr", a snake oil from the 70's that was really acetone and green food dye. (The dye might have messed up the paint color a little.)

In fact, we emailed our order to a rural Tractor Supply and I picked it up Monday first thing before too many folks were out. That will likely be my last trip out for awhile.

Tom

[twisted lines]

looking good
Round overs too!

[Tom&Shelly]

Here is the result of the 2nd coat. Shelly had a heck of a time avoiding lines that were thicker than the surrounding paint. Worst turned out to be this



which bothers me mostly because it looks like we screwed up tapering the glass and epoxy, after we spent days on that! Oh well! Think this one happened on the first coat when she went over the ceiling and round over then did the other side first and came back after this had started to cure. She tried to blend it in with the 2nd, and was fairly successful with similar lines, but not here, obviously.

The port side looks great



The area under the spare tire holder looks good



and the lines with the black enamel look nice and crisp.

The tricky part around the third brake light was a little tricky, and not perfect



Here is how the paint compares to our Taco



Probably as good a match as could be hoped for.

Seems the tape took off some of the varnish on the sides, so we'll have to work on that at some point.

So, it is what it is. Next steps will be to finish the cabin interior, install the fan, dry install the doors (without butyl tape), get the mattress in, tape the doors, and build the galley.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

I keep eyeing the snow up the creek and the forecasts... waiting to sneak away and boonie (which is still legal here.) It hasn't hit 60º yet.

Tony

Far as I can tell, all camping on State or Federal land here in New Mexico is verbotten these days.

Weather has been great! While we let the Monstaliner cure, it's been in the mid to high 60's, leaves are coming out on the mountain mahogany, and I've been going out every day to clear a pad and to cut firewood. Then, we woke up this morning to this:



Typical New Mexico Spring! Guess it's time to get back to building the teardrop!

(I'd shovel the driveway, but, well...where are we going to go?)

Tom

[S. Heisley]

Some boondocking is still okay but many of the restrooms and even outhouses are padlocked, especially on Fed land.

[Tom&Shelly]

After a month of delays, the butyl tape finally arrived, so I installed the fan today!





We decided to let the knob stick down below the ceiling (rather than build the fan up higher on the outside). I asked Shelly if that looked okay, and she said "sure, it's on your side". (We're doing well "staying at home" together!)

When I cut the bezel, I noticed the Maxxfan instructions showed the type of hacksaw handle that holds the blade so one end is out. I think we had one of those, and when I asked Shelly, she said it must be at my step-son's house. That's an hour away, in each direction, so my pre-dam-panic solution would have been to go to the local hardware store and just buy another. But we're trying to minimize our contacts with people (we say it's because of certain pre-existing medical conditions, but to tell the truth, we just never liked people all that much, and this gives us an excuse! ) (Just kidding!)

So anyway, I came up with a shop made solution



I also put some little pieces of butyl tape in the screw holes of the porch lights and running lights (for rain proofing), and installed those



The rear running lights are high, so the one on the starboard side is above the spare tire, and as visible as possible. Incidentally, those running lights are from Walmart and had white plastic shells. I primed, then painted them with the same Rustoleum gloss black we'd used for the galley/hatch edges.

By the way, a few days ago, I also re-installed the upper shelf in the forward utility room, after Monstalining (above the AC in the pictures). We plan to store our Eazy-Up and a few folding chairs on that shelf.

I still need to seal around the fan (and later, around the passenger and cargo doors). Seems like I need something with UV protection, and maybe two tubes--white for the fan, black for the doors, unless we can find a tan that matches the Monstaliner. Candidates are NP-1 (a polyurethane based sealant that I'd used on the utility room floor), Dicor lap sealant (Maxxfan's recommendation), OSI-something or other (recommended by some on the forum), or 3M's polyurethane product. At this point, it may be whatever I can get for a reasonable price, in a reasonable time, from Amazon.

I also installed the rear lights, license plate holder, and hatch handle



Finally, we ordered a quart of black Monstaliner, which just arrived, and we are planning on painting the cargo doors (from Challenger Door) for a little extra protection from rocks and stuff. I have a question about how to install those doors, but I'll ask in a separate thread.

Tom

[MickinOz]

we're trying to minimize our contacts with people (we say it's because of certain pre-existing medical conditions, but to tell the truth, we just never liked people all that much, and this gives us an excuse! ) (Just kidding!)
Tom

Reminds me of Big Tim:
"I like going fishing with Nang. We've got a lot in common. He hates people, too."

Tim wasn't kidding.

[Tom&Shelly]

Shelly rolled the first coat of Monstaliner on the cargo doors this morning.



We already added the catalyst to the quart, so have to do the second coat this afternoon.

That's 8 1/2 square feet of door, and we debated how much to mix, but it took about half the quart, so we should be good, as long as the can don't kick. We're going to wait about 4 hours, and the instructions say it should be good for 6-8, so hopefully we'll be okay.

I thought the doors were plastic, but it turns out it's painted aluminum. Shelly scuffed the paint with a scotch pad, and we decided not to prime, figuring it's new paint.

Tom

[noseoil]

You might throw the mixed can in the fridge to keep it from setting up too quickly. It might help prolong the pot time if you have a bit of other stuff to do while' you're waiting.

I did this with epoxy & use the opposite approach for curing slow stuff, just set things in the sun to bump the cure rate. I've also been know to use a preheated oven for faster cures (170F). West System's G/Flex usually takes up to 24 hours to kick off well & get hard, but with the oven trick, 2 hours will be enough time for working the cured bond on my knives.

[twisted lines]

we're trying to minimize our contacts with people (we say it's because of certain pre-existing medical conditions, but to tell the truth, we just never liked people all that much, and this gives us an excuse! ) (Just kidding!)
Tom

Reminds me of Big Tim:
"I like going fishing with Nang. We've got a lot in common. He hates people, too."

Tim wasn't kidding.

Seems you may know a teacher.

[Tom&Shelly]

we're trying to minimize our contacts with people (we say it's because of certain pre-existing medical conditions, but to tell the truth, we just never liked people all that much, and this gives us an excuse! ) (Just kidding!)
Tom

Reminds me of Big Tim:
"I like going fishing with Nang. We've got a lot in common. He hates people, too."

Tim wasn't kidding.

Seems you may know a teacher.

Shelly tells me she's seen that cartoon before.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

You might throw the mixed can in the fridge to keep it from setting up too quickly. It might help prolong the pot time if you have a bit of other stuff to do while' you're waiting.

I did this with epoxy & use the opposite approach for curing slow stuff, just set things in the sun to bump the cure rate. I've also been know to use a preheated oven for faster cures (170F). West System's G/Flex usually takes up to 24 hours to kick off well & get hard, but with the oven trick, 2 hours will be enough time for working the cured bond on my knives.

Hi Tim,

We did that with epoxy in reverse: Applied it in the cold garage, then turned the heat on overnight to cure it.

The Monstaliner worked fine though, we added a tablespoonful of acetone to the top of the can right after the 1st coat, and it was ready for the 2nd a few hours later. The doors came out great, just like they were factory made that way




We decided we won't use butyl tape for these, since the screws will go into the sides and so won't be compressing the tape. Instead, we ordered some black OSI Quad sealant and plan to seal the flanges with that, then apply a bead around the edges after screwing them down. With the delays in the system these days, we won't have the sealant here until mid-May.

Tom

[KTM_Guy]

Hi Tom, looks like you are making some progress. Keep up the good work.

Todd

[Tom&Shelly]

Hi Tom, looks like you are making some progress. Keep up the good work.

Todd

Hi Todd, good to hear from you!

Sorry I missed your post for a week. Been cleaning piles of dead wood and brush off of some of our land, left by the previous owner. (Neighbor offered his ten year old son to help, and it was too good of a deal to refuse. We are slowly eliminating some of the eye sores they can see from their back yard!)

With the camping opportunities limited this Summer, I decided to get that, and some other work around the cabin, done first. We plan to get back to the teardrop shortly, and hope to finish it this Summer.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Back to building the teardrop after a month hiatus!

Installed the trailer cable tether this morning. Another thing I would have designed a little better with more experience.



I have six wires tied to the junction box ground stud, and I'm wondering how well that will hold up to vibration. Will the nuts loosen? A better design may have been to take one wire from the junction box to a separate set of connectors. Could have made the whole mess look neater too. Oh well!

The six wire cable goes back to the galley, where the rest of the electrical system will converge, hopefully in a somewhat neater manner. Of the other two cables going into the wall, one is a 10 gauge pair to maintain charge on the battery through the auxiliary wire, while driving, the other is a 12 gauge pair for the trailer brakes. I didn't want to cut them down any further, so wire tied the excess above the junction box to keep them from snagging against other stuff we plan to store in this utility compartment.

The 22 gauge speaker wires are for the front running lights. I did a quick test on those with the power supply, and at least they are wired correctly.

I was originally planning to run the tether cable out the front, hence the hole in the forward bulkhead. (It doesn't go all the way through.) Before putting on the outer skin, after reading some things on this forum, I changed my mind and decided to run it through the floor, as the photos show. Rather than use a (pricey) bulkhead fitting, I'm planning on putting some sealant around the cable.

So, I'm surprised, but haven't been able to find discussion on this: What is the best way to tie the tether to the tongue?



I'd rather not drill holes if possible. I've ordered some heavy duty wire ties and plan to try holding it with those, but is there a better way?

Tom