It seemed so simple... at first.

[Felix_Esq]

Started with ribs, ended with skin.

That's a huge hurdle

One that I'm afraid of.

PS. Hope the wind shift is good for you, not so good to the North.

AQI peaked over 500 (the extreme high end of "hazardous") earlier this weekend. Currently it is 192 (or merely at the upper end of "unhealthy"). So something better.

[nevadatear]

Since you are in NorCal, you should haul it up to the Redwood Rendezvous (finished or not) and show it off! Check out the post about the RR under Jefferson State gatherings here on the Forum.

[Felix_Esq]

Dry fitting the hatch with exterior 1/8 inch ply sub-skin shows no noticeable "spring-back." To ensure this remains the case I will probably pre-bend the interior skin before putting it on.



Also put the first coat of "the mix" on the hatch exterior. This pic is a 1:2 mix of poly and mineral spirits. Why did I pick 1:2 for the first coat? Because some of you guys said start at 1:3 and others of you said 1:1. I can math good enough to figure out halfway between the two.*



Next: More coats of the mix, caulking where necessary, aluminum skin, extruded aluminum angles along the sides and bottom, locking t-handles, tail lights, license plate lights, interior skin, and interior galley lights. I already wired everything up for all that.

Then resume work on the main body: coat everything with "the mix," caulk, re-attach aluminum skin on top and sides, affix all aluminum angle pieces to seams, re-install door, window, and vent.

Then the last bulk work is to bolt/weld the tongue box on including some fabrication work to build a bracket (something I have no idea how to do ), do a better job of attaching the tongue extension (that the "PI" put on with two carriage bolts... I can't believe the trailer got all the way back here from Utah like that!), install bigger diameter wheels/tires (12" wheels 4 lug on 4"), install fenders.

Then I take a trip to the DMV to get everything registered! I feel like an end point is starting to emerge from the fog on a far off horizon!

The plan is to leave some of the interior cabinetry undone when we go the first time to see what life inside a teardrop is really like.

*I know that a 1:2 is not really the average of 1:1 and 1:3. Choosing 1:2 was a semi-educated guess.

[Felix_Esq]

Contact cement really smells bad. Fortunately I have a 3M mask with cartridges for organic fumes.

Original alum skin replaced on hatch.

[Felix_Esq]

After taking a few more weeks off to work on another project, I am back. Started gluing the skin on the roof/front, and ordered wheels and tires. I chose to work with 145R/12 radials so I can drive faster without messing too much with the suspension and axle, as would be required for a larger sized tire. Plus, my rig has the counters all set up, and a much larger wheel/tire would move those counters up to an uncomfortable height considering my wife, who will be my partner in crime as we wander the west, is only 5'3".

[S. Heisley]

I can already tell.... It's going to be beautiful and worth all the blood, sweat, and tear-drops.

[Felix_Esq]

I am back to work. This time I am doing things I have no prior experience doing.

Since my trailer is 4 feet wide and the body is 5 feet wide, the fenders either need to be bolted directly to the exterior wall of the trailer, or I need to build brackets to mount the fenders. I chose the latter, for several reasons:

(1) I have no intention of poking or drilling more holes in the exterior of the trailer.
(2) I wanted to try metalworking.
(3) My son wants to experiment with welding.
(4) I thought this would all be fun.

It took the entire weekend to get it done. Initially, the bracket was square because I had measured everything, but then changed my theory on how to put it together... without actually looking at the place that the bracket needs to be attached to the frame. Then I had to chop up the first draft of the bracket and re-weld things to make it fit around some bolts that are about amidships on the Harbor Freight trailer frame. Hence the 1/2 inch of relief at the front of the bracket.

I plan to weld the bracket to the fender, then clean, sand, prime, and paint the whole thing glossy black with a clearcoat on top.











Learned a lot about metal. I am sure I could make better brackets if I started over from scratch, but materials are kinda expensive nowadays. Maybe if I am lucky, I can finish it before the end of the year!

[JasenC]

Always good to learn a new skill, looks like you're getting the hang of it.

[Felix_Esq]

I think it is funny how I can get some bigger things done quickly and make a ton of progress, then get to working on some detail or other and POOF there goes two days of spare time.

This week’s examples:

Getting the fender to the right height.



And wiring up tail lights.



The fenders had me working all day Saturday and a few hours Sunday. The tail lights have been a work in progress that had stalled out for a couple months. Today was research about wheel studs and making last measurements before I weld the fenders to the brackets I made. Such small details, such a huge chunk of time by comparison.

[Felix_Esq]

Fenders progressing. First coat of black. There will be two more coats, a sanding, then two or three coats of clear, a sanding, and a buffing. I want these to be shiny.





And since I am working with volatile hydrocarbons, I decided today to put the middle and final coats of mix on the right side. After that dries I will put the aluminum skin on the side.



I always loved the smell of a paint booth, but I should probably wear my respirator when I am painting... I am feeling a little weird while I am writing this.

[featherliteCT1]

"I am feeling a little weird while I am writing this"