M&M's Droppie

[TallGuy7]

Last weekend we bought a rolling chassis. It used to be a caravan but now only the chassis remains.
It is an easy way to get a road legal chassis for Europe.

If everything goes to plan we will receive the chassis next week. I will remove the remains of the floor and the chassis will be shortened to fit our version of the TearDrop in XLT-size. The chassis will also get a full service and some TLC. It is an AlKo-chassis, German built to last a lifetime, but all the partsare available if replacement of parts is necessary. The weight of the chassis is 175kilo, so that's a good start.



Some waiting therapy: Sketchup.
I have started designing our Teardrop. It will be a simple and light build.
The ply board will be cut by a company with a cnc machine to save time.

[TallGuy7]

Progress report:

The chassis we bought was delivered.


The next day I decided to cut away the old floorboard.


I cut off over 1 meter of the chassis with an angle grinder.


Since the trailer is due for maintenance I installed new lights to the chassis.
This will be fitted to the teardrop in the future but the chassis is now compliant and I can haul it to the shop for maintenance.

Unfortunately ply comes in different sizes, but not in the same thickness as insulation. I rented a polystyrene cutter and cut 4 100mm by 1000x2000mm thick sheets in sheets that are the correct thickness for walls and floor. If all goes to plan all the wood will be delivered next friday so I can continue my build. Unfortunately the cnc-company cancelled my order so I will cut the plywood to correct size myself. Should not be a problem, just takes more time.


Next week the chassis goes away for maintenance. The axle will be refurbished, new tyres will be fitted and shock-absorbers will be installed. The latter is a necessity to be allowed to drive at a speed of 100 km/h in Germany with the trailer attached.

[TallGuy7]

Today I should receive all the materials for my build. I was planning to make the first cuts tomorrow but did not take into account that mother nature had other plans... After a month of sun and high temperatures we woke up in a white landscape.... Snow! Beautiful, but since I am building in my garden I am making other plans for this weekend.

Did find a very handy tool to help make nice curvy cuts....

[tony.latham]

Keep posting! (Looks great)

Tony

[TallGuy7]

Sunny and dry, made the first cuts this morning.
Now its snowing again so forced to stop for now.
Hoping the sun will return soon…

[TallGuy7]

Progress!!






And the window fits!

Tomorrow I will stretch the wood and add an additional 68 centimeters.
I will then copy this to the other sheet of plywood.

When I receive the flexible router guide I will finalize the shape of the first sheet and then copy the exact dimensions to the other sheet.

[MickinOz]

Been meaning to ask. We are well into autumn down here south of the equator. Nights are starting to get chilly. News from Europe still shows snow. Surely it must be spring there. When does the snow stop?

[tony.latham]

When does the snow stop?

I'm curious too. They can't get much since they're basically at sea level. But about 52º latitude.

Greenup here at 45º and 4,200'.

Tony

[TallGuy7]

Officially its spring, but the weather is more extreme due to global warming.

We can have snow until the first week of may, but that's very rare.

In the Netherlands we have a saying (translated it looses some vaue):

March wiggles it's tail

April does what it wants.

Both refer to the weather. In march we can have very volatile weather that changes every day and in April, even though its spring, the weather can be very cold and wet with occasional snow.

[tony.latham]

March wiggles it's tail

April does what it wants.

I'm going to steal that. Those two months do the same here, in the western U.S. --Idaho.



:thumbs-up:

Tony

[TallGuy7]

Today was a productive day. Did have to drag everything in and out a couple of times because of rain, snow or hail.

I completed the second part of the sidewall and made the grooves to connect/glue both parts together. I have cut the strips that will fit into the grooves.


I copied the first wall and managed to cut both parts. I am hoping to find some time this week to glue them all together.

Also cut the bulkhead. I have designed a storage compartment in the front that will hold our Lafuma relaxing chairs. My wife was not too enthusiastic putting them on top of our bed. This plate will slide into a groove in the floor and walls and will provide structural integrity and hopefully a square teardrop.

[TallGuy7]

Got a visit from the Covidbug last week and had to go into isolation. Luckily I felt a bit better yesterday and since it is allowed to stay in the garden I managed to get some things done.



I managed to ‘stredge the wood’ for the walks with 50% succes… one wall I will have to re-do.

Also started work on the floor.







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[TallGuy7]

Did a lot of research on how to make the floor panels. It was difficult to find the glue I wanted.

Luckily I found a contact glue for polystyrene in Belgium. I will use that to glue the polystyrene to the floor. I found it more difficult to decide on the glue for the top of the floor. Using contact adhesive with no possibility to correct seemed too much of a risk.

Found construction glue for polystyrene and tested a small piece …

Success!! It does not eat the polystyrene and creates a very solid bond. Perfect for my plans.


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[TallGuy7]

Recovering from Covid… a lot less energy than I am used to. So babysteps…

Unfortunately I cannot continue building the floor. Turns out one of the sheets of plywood was delivered in the wrong thickness. Now awaiting delivery of a new sheet. So I continued with the walls.





Cut the polystyrene for both walls.






Started sheeting the skeleton.

The build continues tomorrow. So much to do, so little time.


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[TallGuy7]

Despite a low energy level I managed to skin the inside of the other wall. Went a lot easier with yesterday’s experience. Glued the insulation in the first wall.

Tomorrow the build continues….








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