Grizz-Pod Teardrop Trailer - New tow truck - 66 Chevy

[grizz]

I have a totem from Canada! Bought it at Butchart Gardens in May of 1991 (Honeymoon).

That little round picture is me and the missus on our wedding day.

Hi Cliff, that is nice, has a hand hewn and polished look to it.

Mine looks more commercial and mass produced , but it will do.

I took a photo just for you of mine close up.

The plan is to mount it on the inside of the door to keep an eye over us.

[grizz]

Not a lot to report tonight, but I did get an hour in on the galley hatch prep which really made me feel good and a bit more relaxed after work.

These little bits of time spent on the build all add up as well, as I do not do much outside after dark.

Some years ago I picked up a piece of laminated kitchen worktop from a skip where I drove past. It was only 1550mm long, by 40mm x 135mm but I could not resist it.
Tonight I ripped 2 battens of 40mmx40mm from it, and am left with about 50mm , these will be the top and bottom battens for the hatch, where the hinge and also the ally for the outside skin can be screwed on securely. The other 2 battens I have just made of 20mx38mm pine.

I am also contemplating not skinning the inside completely, as I want to see if I can put some storage space for magazines, aprons, or similar lightweight items inbetween the ribs if I only skin it partly like small pockets down at the lower end, which will hold when down, but also not tip the contents when fully open.

Anyone got any views or experience ?




Lastly, I took a closer up photo of the Totem I bought yesterday.
I want to stick this on the inside of the cabin door when the trailer is done. Trust it will look out for us.

[dandan]

Hi,
enjoying the build you have going.
your old radio looks to me to be a Bush DAC90.
like the sign on the garage door !
we seem to be similar when it comes to local tips & ebay etc......

Keep posting the piccies.
Best rgds dan.

[grizz]

Hi,
enjoying the build you have going.
your old radio looks to me to be a Bush DAC90.
like the sign on the garage door !
we seem to be similar when it comes to local tips & ebay etc......

Keep posting the piccies.
Best rgds dan.

Thanks Dan, getting a thumbs up from a master craftsman like yourself, makes me pretty pleased.

Have you looked in on www.tcgb.freeforums..org ?

I also posted a photo of the Roswell on Retro Rides today to get more people interested in Teardrops and building them.

http://www.retrorides.proboards.com/ind ... read=79149


Cheers,

Rian

[grizz]

Hi guys, gals

I am in the process of thinking about the ultimate goal.......

Glueing the ally sheet down on the ply.

What in your experience and annecdotally is the best glue, or compromise ??

I am planning to screw the sheets to the leading and trailing edges of the body and also the hatch, into the hardwood battens I have prepared, as well as into the fillets on the side edges of course, and then covering with some strip (yet to find something suitable.

Then the ally sheeting needs glueing and fixing to the ply sheets.... Right ?

I was wondering if Sikaflex 221 would be the best option to ensure a life long bond and waterproofing qualities.

Here it is on Ebay Germany at half the UK price.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Dichtmasse-Sikaflex- ... 3cabb76d1b

I am sure there was a thread somewhere on one of the forums showing the way the guy did it all, but cannot find that one.

Thanks for the advice or pointers.

PS: Remember I am in the United Kingdom/England, so European glue etc is accessable to me

Rian.

[Chuckles2153]

OK, so Sunday has come and gone in a flurry of Bootfair and B&Q hardware shopping, and then a visit from my mate Kevin who had brought me the Odysey Gel Battery I had bought from him last week for the 1200GS.

I went to B&Q after bootfair shenenigans to get another sheet of 4x8 foot 18mm ply that I wanted to use for the ribs of the Galley Hatch.
While I was there, I also got 2 sheets of 4x8 Jablite Polystyrene for the insulation, it is 25mm, and my space is closer to 20mm, but I hope the beltsander will pee off all the neighbours and turn my back yard into a winter wonderland.

Back to the bootfar.

I wanted a 10mm spanner to attach to the tablesaw permanently for adjusting the fence, as it has a double 10mm nut fixing.
Got about 5 spanners including the 10mm for 50p.
I also got 2 rolls of Duct tape (you can never have enough duct tape or tape measures) for £1.00
Nicola found me these 2 unused spice racks for 50p
And lastly, I bought a tourist Totem from Canada for 50p
So my spend there was a grand total of £2.00



Back home the curve of the ribs and also how to maximise my sheet of ply had me flummoxed for a while, with my mate Kevin and Nicola adding comment. Eventually I just cut a carboard template and moved it about to find optimal fit.
I also cut a pair of supports to go onto the sides of the teardrop body in the galley , and to act as supports for the hatch when it is closed and also to further water and dust proof it.



Clamped the lot with my clamps that were 50p each at the last big tat sale at B&Q.
Then got the coarse belt onto the sander and went about shaping them all, finally I used a medium grit torn belt to hand finish all the sharp sides and splints off.







Finally finished and ready for the battens to be cut and top and bottom suports to be ripped next week.

I had planned on having the sides up and set today, but ended up doing stuff that should be done while the sides are down and workable.
So look forward to getting what I can done next weekend.

I have actually short changed Nicola a lot the last few weeks, but then these things need to be completed once started.
I would never have started the build had I known how it would progress, living in 2 homes is not ideal at the best of times, so having a major distraction is even more so not ideal.
She has been very good at just letting me get on with stuff, so I probably owe her a big pampering in the end when this is completed.





Have a great week and be carefull out there.

Awsome job there Grizz !!
I can't believe all of the great deals you got on the retro stuff for your TD, Good job I personally like the radio and tail lights. Can't wait to read more.
Boy once you start building on of these TD's it just gets in your blood and you just can't get enough !!
Take care and watch that back ( From one who knows all too well ).

[grizz]

Ooops , double post

[grizz]

Well, today was a busy one.

I was up early, and then off to Essex to "Essex Caravan Breakers" where I was going to buy some stuff for the build.

http://www.essexcaravanbreakers.co.uk/1.html

Chris was helpfull and full of advice as usual, a great guy to deal with.

I also had to pop into a colleagues place to fetch some timber he had put aside for me as he is moving into a flat soon.

Chris the caravan breaker has loads of stock, and knows where to find stuff too.
He currently has a complete aluminium carvan chassis with the body in place for sale @ £60.00

I was looking for a couple of window hinges to make up my galley hinge.
And also a broken window to cut up for the portholes in the Grizz-Pod.

I got lucky and found a 5 foot window and hinge , as well as another window he threw in for £10.00

I also bought some small doors for the inner cabinets , which saves me making them up, he also supplied me with some spring loaded mechanisms for them, all in for £10.00 again.

Here is about 1/4 of his stock, plus he has a warehouse full of good stuff too.



Packed and ready to go, I love this car .



Back home, with my newly acquired treasures to gloat over for a few minutes while I made a cuppa tea and my lunch sandwich.




While I was away, Nicola had gone to the hospital with her mum at 9am and then home to work/play in her garden.
In the mean time Dave "Oldbus" and his son Alex had popped into my place from Osnabruck in Germany to hand deliver some Sikaflex 221 which I will be using in the glueing down of the roof.

Only problem is that he had wanted to surprise Nicola and me today, so had not told us they were popping over.... OOOPPPSS !!

Anyway, when I got home, this greeted me, as I had unpacked everything before I had left for Essex, so that I could just get on with it on my own.

Sorry Dave, but thanks for the delivery.



I worked from about 12.30pm till 6.30pm and was inside the house, wrapped up by 7.05pm for dinner... nommm !

I had to make up a new front face and floor for the inner cupboard for the trailer, to take the doors I had bought earlier.
This took time, and once again, I realised just what a pleasure it is to have some decent tools.... the recessing of the timber for the frame to fit it all together , just a quick run over the table saw, no cross cut saw here.



Frame mocked up.



Door appertures cut out.




Lastly all glued and "clamped" with timber and loads of weight on the front part of the cabinet, till tomorrow, then I will fit the doors.

In the morning we are off to a few bootfairs, and at 12.30pm we have aviewing on my house, keep fingers crossed the viewer likes the house and puts an offer in.



Hopefully more tomorrow.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

That Essex Caravan Breakers sounds like a fun place to rummage around! Keep up the good work Rian!

[2bits]

Love the sign in the background

[grizz]

Love the sign in the background

Thanks Thomas, Nicola is quite territorial which means she looks after me in more ways than one.

It is one of those things that she got me when we started commiting to each other. She is also very helpfull and does not mind getting into the garage when I need her there.

I love the sign, and will get a fresh one up some time.... they do fade over time.

[down under tech]

Hi grizz: What are you planning on doing with all those parts? It looks like you have all the parts there to build a Caravan, (TD for us yanks). Seriously, You have that pile of parts coming along nicely.
With the quality workmanship you present, It will be a great finished build.

I too, would like to purchase one of your warning signs.

[grizz]

Hi grizz: What are you planning on doing with all those parts? It looks like you have all the parts there to build a Caravan, (TD for us yanks). Seriously, You have that pile of parts coming along nicely.
With the quality workmanship you present, It will be a great finished build.

I too, would like to purchase one of your warning signs.

Hi Johnny, I realised a while back that propper preparation means quick and easy assembly.

Today I was busy again for about 5 hours with various jobs, and everyting is still "Flat Packed" but I made the top table, cut, glued and screwed the supports for it, as well and finishing fitting the doors to the cabin cabinets... 2 have pop up hinges, the 3rd one broke when I was fitting it, so I will replace it with a different design.

After cleaning up, I also slapped a coat of varnish (Water based stuff - BLEUGGHHH !!) on all the surfaces I worked on today, both top and bottoms.

I will update the thread in a minute. as I always copy and paste from www.retrorides.proboards.com where I do the initial write up.

[grizz]

What a lovely weekend this was !!!!

Very little to add tonight, other than that I just had 2 x Brandy and Pepsi Max's at Nicola's place, and will be sleeping over here tonight as I can't bebothered with going home.
I also BBQ'd some very good steak, lamb "saddle chops" and some Nommy pork sausages.
Nicola made us some Cous-Cous salad to round it all off.

We did 2 bootfairs this morning at 06.30 , but they were quite disapointing, with me getting a wooden breadbin for the galley @£1.00 , and also a nice 24 18 inch metal Coca Cola sign for a whole 20p.
I guess the off topic buy of the day was a rather large Ape/Monkey which I bought to be the Mascot for the www.medwaymonkeys.co.uk group which I am a member of.

COST : £5.00



Further than that, I worked on the trailer for about 5 hours, and got to make up the top working table/shelf and also some side supports for it.
Lastley, I varnished all surfaces so that there is at least a bit of waterproofing there.

I also got lucky with a pair of 100 watt "disco speakers" new and unused, for the princely sum of nothing on the local Freecycle.
They will be going into the Transit bus when I start doing out the rear end.

[grizz]

£1 find at bootfair, it will possibly be screwed down in the rear corner of the top shelf.

A decent wash (not really needed) and 2 coats of varnish later.




Tonight I was just chilling in the garage, as my work day was a bit poo, and I needed to unwind.

I coated all the surfaces for the galley, and the internal cabinets with their 2nd coat of varnish.

When that was done, I felt the MOJO still bubbling away, so decided to see if I could get the hinge off the window I bought for £10.00 on Saturday. That way I can start making up the galley hatch when I am ready for it.

One side slips out, the other had been press fitted along with a rubber seal between the ally and the window perspex.

I asked DeliDave and he suggested cutting it off with perspex in place.... but of course I tried "Old Skool" therapy first.... large lump hammer and screwdriver, followed by liberal WD40 application, a mug of tea and then some more hammer action down the length.

After a reasonably short time I had them seperated and am now the proud owner of 5ft 5 inches of hinge.

Starting to seperate away.




Done !!! WoooHoooo !!