Australian "Cooroibah" Build update 19th dec 2009

[irondance2003]

The section of thicker ply from the wall will now have to be glued to the thinner section, this is easy just get a section of the thin ply lay the bigger on it with a lot of glue inbetween.
WAIT....
I have a pattern on the TD that will have to be followed in some way but I don't want to weaken the door so I will only copy the mid line of the frame on the TD with 2 small cutouts and some sculpting to carry it through.
That was done before the glueup (Dam no photo)

How to use a lot of clamps
When the glue was dry I cut and sanded the thin sheet to match the thick 1 that was the size wanted then I cut out the window again allowing for the plastic strip for the inside finish.

I then made a frame to go on the inside of the door.

No it is not on the outside it is on the back.
AND you will need to put your door in place withe the face of the door level with the door frame outer frame and then work out the thickness of this frame LESS 1/2 the thickness of the seal so it will need to be thicknessed down to the size required.
test it then glueand screw it on the back.

Now put it in with all the shims and see how it fits.

DAM it's Wednesday allready 12.30 am I'm off to play poker I need the mindlessness

[irondance2003]

At first the wireing for the breaks etc. was to be on the outside of the shell, down low just above the rear bumper.
It has been decided that the lights would be L.E.D.'s and that as they are a long narrow section that they will be on the hatch.
This means that at this point in the build the wires will be exposed when you lift the hatch, this is OK as long as they are placed in neatly!!
Now I'm not saying that what has been done is MAGIC but it looks good and neat (at this point as I have not finished them yet).
So here are a bunch of photos



First off I run a wire from the car end to the rear of the TD as the chassis is a full length tube this is easy with a length of fence wire ran through and just tape the electric wire to it and pull back out.


I then went into the kitchen area and about 4in (100mm) in from the rear I drilled a hole through the floor and into the chassis rail.
This allowed me to run the wire up into the kitchen (no exposed wire at the rear).
NOTE.. any further in than 4in (100mm) and it is very hard to get the wire back up the chassis and into the kitchen. Also give yourself about 1ft (300mm) of a loop before you join up to the rear lights wire, this will cover IF ever you disconect the TD from the car and drive off without unplugging the electrics and you break the wire.

Next I mounted the lights.


Then ran the wire for them across the back of the hatch and down the left hand strut, allowing some slack for the hatch opening and then ran the wire under the left hand hatch gutter down to the floor, (All the electrics including the battery and the fuses are here on the left )in the long run.



solder all the wires together and cover all the joins.
The electrics in this TD are all 12v there is no mains.
A...power from the car when on the move.
B.. power from a battery when not attached to the car.
Note there will have to be a battery isolater switch so as not to have the car and the battery all going at the same time.
For the TD there are a few power requirements
Cabin lights
porch light
kitchen light
power point in cabin 12v Ciggy lighter (computer TV
power point in kitchen (fridge) 12v ciggy lighter
So a 4 point fuse box was used

Positive in the fuse box negative is the join on the left also the battery wires are connected to the power and earth wires coming from the car.
The kitchen light is again a LED and it has a switch placed next to it the wires here can be run just between the strut and the roof of the hatch.


That last photo is the wire under the hatch gutter.

By now you will be able to see what it was when I said there are 1000 and 1 little things to do.
467 to go

[irondance2003]

Very off topic
When it was the school holidays a fair while back the young fellow wanted to help for the princely sum of $10 per day (he worked out what he was worth and I was ripped off) all he wanted to do was play UNO with the wife,
Not a bad price realy as it keep the both of them out of my shed.
Anyway he felt that all the off cuts could be usefull to make some thing else beside firewood.
Well they were and here is his xmas present just finished today.



OH and Mary-Anne is giving him his own set of UNO cards.

[irondance2003]

The port-holes in this TD are from something millitary __-Alloy and plastic.
So as you know 2 holes were put into the design to carry 2 of them and they have now been fitted.
Now if you like these and have no way of getting to my shed to grab a set then get a plastic shop to cut a pair of round bits and fit them in the holes and put a timber ring around them on both sides.
From the outside the black looks good.


from inside a nice view.

now on the inside there was just a small amount of the alloy that poked past the wall so I made a ring that fits over the alloy and on the top of that ring I placed another with a smaller hole ,this covered the end of the alloy and held it all in place (with the help of some glue)

and the finish was and is fine

Now the future owner wants some curtins so I made up some holders .

the porthole ones are just a rod and a block of wood, the wood is glued and the screw that passes into the rod is longer to also hold the block to the wall if the glue fails.
The other main opening windows have the same setup with a block and screw at both ends.
Just unscrew the rod and slip the curtin on and in the case of the porthole rod just weave 1/2 on go through the block and then weave the rest on.



Cross that job off the list..

[irondance2003]

OK the HIDE-E- HOLE
first a space

There is enough room to hide a laptop and a lot more at the same time.
SO.
A section of ply a small bolt and a big screw.




The small bolt is the pull and it is on the right at the top and the big screw well that goes through the top shelf and down into a block of wood mounted on the back of the false wall.
To open just remove the screw and pull the bolt.
It is not of the quality of Serenity but I'm not hiding stuff from the Federation just the snatch and grab mob.

[irondance2003]

This TD has a small travel fridge 12v
But it opens on the top so a sliding shelf had to be made.
I cut down a sliding draw set of runners to the size required and mounted them to 2 small lengths of timber , the runners are not level I have slanted them away from the open position so that in travel they will stay in the closed position.



Dam no photo of it open with the fridge - But the water storage fits


OK Another small mistake here.
Can you see it ?
No not that, it's the
The Tire Rack door bolts are under the runners of the fridge shelf !!!!!***#
Ok there is enough room if I trim them and when if ever Kel needs to replace a flat tire he just has to take out the fridge as well. Hehehehe
OH and that means that there is no way the bolts can ever vibrate out and lose the spare ,cause the hatch will need to open and have lost the fridge and its sliding shelf as well, I feel better now that it is now a safty aspect!!!!

after the trim

AND the fridge OUT

[irondance2003]

Remember that post on the hatch stays well here is the photo of the cutout in the hatch to allow for the bottom stay screw head to pass the hatch strut.
That's a mouth full.

[irondance2003]

Yes it is almost finished
Today there was a bit of a flurry and the A frame at the front got a coat of blue after the chassis Number was welded into the chassis and a 2nd Safety chain was welded on (seems there are some new rules about 2 safety chains crossed over )
I spent a lot of time working on the hatch and how to get it to close and watertight for travel and in the long run I again used the same sort of catches that were used on the other TD builds .
All of the other TD's had a hatch that finished before the rear floor as there was always a trunk under the kitchen bench , this time around was the first that I built the hatch all the way to the floor so the little lockable pull down latches had no where to hook to on this model .
Well there was and a very nice tight fit followed I mounted the clip for them on the bumper bar.
This gives me a very Tight hatch and there is still ajustment in the catches for later on when the TD hatch starts to bed in and the rubber seals seat themselves .

I also added 2 extra reflectors on the guards as they are wider than the rear lights.
So I will post over the next week all the stuff that has not been done in here yet.

[frosty]

Great work Tony

Very

frosty

[irondance2003]

Thanks Frosty,
OK back to the door.
Now I'm not sure if I said that the door was not quite square (yes I did) anyway mounting the door was straight forward in the frame.
Back a step when I put the door in place it screamed out for the same treatment as all the other timber (I was going to have just a straight edge all the way around with a piano hinge but it looked odd) so out with the router and presto)

Now this ment that the piano hinge would not fit so a pair of brass hinges were used, this allowed me to still use the double foam seal on the hinge side of the door and also as the top hinge would need to be pushed out a bit further to take up the (out of square) gap I place some fine washers under the top hinge and the fit was this.

nice fit and the thickness of this (below) gap at the hinge side looks natural because of the hinge not let into the door and frame.


Now the foam rubber seal, single layer all the way around the door frame facing the door when closed and times 2 where the door closes and meets the hinge side.



Time to hang the door and look see.



looking good (fingers X'ed)
So a few more coats of paint and then toss in a window.



All is almost well ?
There is a small bow in the door and I think that it is because of the carving in the center it is only 1/8th in (4mm) over the full lenght of the door and the foam will take it up and fully seal as there is 1/2 of it above the center line and the other 1/2 is below so in reality it is just wider than a single layer in the ply.


Some will notice that the door lock/handle is in (no picks ,so yet another post).

[irondance2003]

Ok here are the just got a water test and the outside is finished photos.




That is the little girl.
And I mean little as in lite weight.
As for the wash it down and spray with a hard water test ... the door failed at the top will need a small bit of flashing or a thicker rubber seal (Oh and never drive sideways with it as that is how the water gets in)

[bve]

Irondance, that's a great build and a very thorough journal.

I sure like the detailed router work you have put into it.


Burke

[irondance2003]

19th Jan 2010
This is out of sink but here it is.
I got her finished and took her on the first trip and delivered her to Kel, the new owner.

this was the setup 3/4's of the way on a 2500k delivery.
on the way the new owner got to have a tow for a while on his way to work (Newcastle to Sydney)


Kel has had her a week now and she is starting to shine and be his TD.


also a repaint of the white windows.

bed and curtins.


I am still getting my shed sorted from the build so I am afraid that the polish on this build will have to wait a while.
I will be back

[irondance2003]

Well this is the last post.
Kel has had Her for a while now and seems to be a proud new Dad (Trust me he is).
She was fun to build and grow along side of and with and there were some very frustrating times in there as well.
I hope this Journal gives you an idea of what is involved in building a small Teardrop Trailer and if it inspires you to go down that path, then go for it it is very rewarding to put what you have built behind a car and head down the Highway, Have FUN.
Oh and She is my last build and that is a fact.
I'm off to
http://automatabytjc.blogspot.com/2010/01/first-post.html
A bit smaller in the build and just as much fun.
Tony

[irondance2003]

OK the old girl #2 build and I are off Camping in about 5 weeks so I am building an 8ft Boat to go with her and the Morris UTE.
http://diy-8ft-boat.blogspot.com/2011/02/post-5.html
http://diy-8ft-boat.blogspot.com/2011/02/post-5.html
another build and design as you go project.
Tony