Silver Beatle - She's now with an old friend!

[aggie79]

Thanks Burke and Shaun for the tongue box comments. I'm happy with the way it is turning out, but it has taken a bunch of time to build it.

Tom

[down under tech]

Hey Tom: I also got a 10% off coupon from the USPS. Everyone, go to your local Post Office and ask for a change of address kit. It comes with a 10% off coupon inside for Lowes. They usually have them setting out on a table. Pick up a few of them. Lowes won't mind??? Just use them one at a time. These are good for high dollar buys.
Keep it real,

[down under tech]

Hey Tom: I also got a 10% off coupon from the USPS. Everyone, go to your local Post Office and ask for a change of address kit. It comes with a 10% off coupon inside. They usually have them setting out on a table. Pick up a few of them. Lowes won't mind??? Just use them one at a time. These are good for high dollar buys.
Keep it real,

[aggie79]

Hey Tom: I also got a 10% off coupon from the USPS. Everyone, go to your local Post Office and ask for a change of address kit. It comes with a 10% off coupon inside. They usually have them setting out on a table. Pick up a few of them. Lowes won't mind??? Just use them one at a time. These are good for high dollar buys.
Keep it real,

That's where I got mine!

[vetjeb]

Great Build!!!

I've followed your project and just signed on today. Great craftsmanship. I've been rounding up parts to start my TD. Thanks for the inspiration to unpack my tools.

[aggie79]

:thumbsup: Great Build!!!

I've followed your project and just signed on today. Great craftsmanship. I've been rounding up parts to start my TD. Thanks for the inspiration to unpack my tools.

Thanks Vetjeb. Not only is TD building a reason to unpack tools, but it is a good "reason" to add to your tool inventory.

Gig'em, Tom

[aggie79]

Well, tearop time bit me in the rear this weekend. I took off Friday to get a little extra time for the build and broke a tooth over lunch. Saturday evening, I temporarily turned in my man card and took my wife to see Fiddler on the Roof. And on Sunday, coming back from my daily run to the BORG, I got a speeding ticket in a park zone.


I still managed to get a couple of things done. When I built my sidewalls, I didn't cut the notch for the galley seal. I was putting this off, but it turned out to be quite easy. With the router, I first cut a rabbet along the sidewall and then followed that up with a template bit to remove the rest of the material.



My next project was to add some fiberglass tape along the edges of my hatch to reinforce the edge. Pretty non-eventful, but here is a pic of it anyway.



Oh, and one other thing - I need to borrow a hurricane hinge stretcher from someone in the DFW area. I unpacked my hinge from Grant and realized that I gave him the out-to-out frame dimension rather than sidewall dimension.

Until next weekend,
Tom

[Cliffmeister2000]

Oh, and one other thing - I need to borrow a hurricane hinge stretcher from someone in the DFW area. I unpacked my hinge from Grant and realized that I gave him the out-to-out frame dimension rather than sidewall dimension.

Tom

I did exactly the same thing, but for a slightly different reason. My plans changed (added 4 inches to the width) after I had ordered the "Better than Hurricane Hinge" from Grant. Someday I'll offer the smaller on to someone on this forum at a reduced price (unless I build a 4x8)

[planovet]

Oh, and one other thing - I need to borrow a hurricane hinge stretcher from someone in the DFW area. I unpacked my hinge from Grant and realized that I gave him the out-to-out frame dimension rather than sidewall dimension.

Call up Grant and see if he will exchange it. You will still have to pay for shipping back and forth.

Sorry about the speeding ticket

[tonyj]

You have just learned another of the unwritten laws of teardrops--If you are not working on your trailer when you should be, bad things will happen to you.

Or was that something I read in a fortune cookie?

[aggie79]

Oh, and one other thing - I need to borrow a hurricane hinge stretcher from someone in the DFW area. I unpacked my hinge from Grant and realized that I gave him the out-to-out frame dimension rather than sidewall dimension.

Call up Grant and see if he will exchange it. You will still have to pay for shipping back and forth.

Thanks for the idea about exchanging the hinge, Mark.

My hinge does run the full width of the sidewalls, but I don't have any overhang or projection beyond the sidewalls. I've studied your hatch and hinge detailing on your build website, and may be able to come up with a way to make the one I have work.

[planovet]

... and may be able to come up with a way to make the one I have work.

I hope so!

Grant is great to work with. I made an expensive mistake and cut one half of my hinge too short. Expensive AND stupid mistake. I sent Grant an email and he sent me the half I needed for half the price of a whole hinge. At least I did not have to buy the whole hinge again. Grant is the best

[2bits]

What the heck??? Something happened and I have not been getting updates to your build! I look in the build journals today and you are on top, and I am thinking what did I miss!!!!

I love the wheels, and the crack about you shoulda got two of em made me laugh out loud! Sorry to hear about all the bad luck, but good things are rollin down the pipe! Mistakes are a given when undertaking such a project, just look at my blankets shoved right in front of my AC intake! I few flubs here and there and you will still be campin in supreme style! The galley walls look good, Funny how things build up and are uneventful in the end. I think it is the possibility of total destruction that is what gets us!

[H-Balm]

I too await further posts.

We're watching you!

[aggie79]

It has been awhile since I've posted. My wife and I had a wonderful time at the Beavers Bend TD and TTT outing, the last weekend in March, even though we were in a tent.

Hurricane hinge #2 arrived, so I got motivated to go into the garage. It's time for aluminum installation. The aluminum I have is in 4' x 10' sheets. The teardrop is 5' wide, so I cut some sheets in half for the front, roof, and hatch. I have a hand-held electric metal shear, but a metal blade in a jig saw was much easier to control.



The sheets will have to be seamed. I will overlap the sheets and adhere this seam with 3M 4200 and stainless steel screws. I used staples at the top of the first sheet after aligning it to the sidewalls. (The staples at the top will be hidden by the overlap.) Then, with the help of straps and clamps, I conformed the aluminum to the profile, stapling the edges as I worked my way down the profile.



Finally, I wrapped the aluminum around the 6" radius, bottom front roll pan. This was a bear to get the .040 aluminum to curve to this radius, even with pre-bending it some. Nothing a floor jack and some wood blocks couldn't handle.



I was happy with how the first sheet came out.



At this pace, I will have the teardrop complete for the LCG XIV outing.

Gig'em