Trolley top mk 2....., Wanda

[jackdaw]

We're officially in the starting blocks of our number 4 build. The new donor caravan is on the drive, awaiting wheel removal and sorting. This time we're using a Piper 1400.
I bought it off a mate who had started building a trailer inside it... and gave up after realising they don't build themselves and you have to put some time in to achieve the end result.
First job is going to be to take the part build apart and see what is useable.
Good points so far:chassis is solid, It tows fine, It's dry, has lots of useable trim, and a good door, a near new fiamma sky light/ roof vent, and some useable timber and ply included.
Not so good points: Chassis isn't galvanised, Its got a 1/2 built teardrop inside that is poorly constructed, and is going to need to be taken apart before we can start a fresh. Not a lot of stuff to sell on as it's been mostly stripped.
So here we are, the Donor


Spec is going to be 8ft long, about 5ft wide, lightweight, possibly like the Coppertop.
Basic for me. Probably 2 side doors, rear hatch, and maybe a pass through from the cabin.

Heres a few of the inside as it stands











I've thought about doing a Jim Dandy, the one with the hatch at the front, but still undecided as I like the modernistic shape

[Classic Finn]

Are you feelin all right You must have high fever at present Id suggest a doctors appointment but there is no cure so...

Hah Another great build thread to follow.

[jackdaw]

Its all therapy for me Heiki.... I know there's no cure. But building is great treatment for some of us

[jdarkoregon]

I'm excited!

DO IT - I'm sure it will be great, awesome, fantastic, and just COOL

John

[jackdaw]

I'm excited!

DO IT - I'm sure it will be great, awesome, fantastic, and just COOL

John

Cheers John, I'm just as excited as I was when we were starting the first one. Hopefully we'll get stuck in this weekend.


Dave

[grizz]

Great stuff Dave.

Look forward to another entertaining build.

[jackdaw]

I've had a bit of time on the build over the last couple of weekends. First job was to clear the caravan out, take the part built trailer apart to see what's usable and what's not.

I had a play with some profiles, and whilst I like the Jim Dandy, I like the modernistic with a trolley top more. I know I've built one before, but I don't think that should stop me doing another. I 'll apologise now if it's boring and same old same old. I guess it could be entertaining building it in a small caravan. I've moved the table that came with the caravan, into one corner to keep it out of the way, but still useable.

I printed off the profile of the modernistic, and scaled it down to an 8ft length, and added the trolley top to return the height.


I'm going for an even lighter build, so this time the sides are going to be 9mm ply. The profiles have been marked out, cut and sanded, as has the trolley top sides.
Here's my new tidy (ish) workshop


The profile,


The trolley top cut out.



The sides have been marked up for where the roof struts will be fitted, where the cupboards are going, and where the rear storage is going to be.

I was waiting on a new blade for the band saw, but in the mean time I got on with the floor frame.

All jointed, glued and screwed


All the support battoning have been cut and glued in place



so here we are, as of this evening



It's great to be building again

Cheers Dave

[droid_ca]

looking good I'm going to keep my eyes on this one as I've decided I would like to do a trolley top as well ...so a couple of questions the trolley part was cur with the whole profile or is it an add on piece? how much higher will it be? how wide of a trolley top compared to the overall width? inside open for head roomor closed for shelving on the front section? thats it for know thanks this is going to be good

[jdarkoregon]

How the heck do you work in such a small space? Doesn't the noise just kill you?

If we had a prize for the smallest workspace, you would win

John

[jackdaw]

looking good I'm going to keep my eyes on this one as I've decided I would like to do a trolley top as well ...so a couple of questions the trolley part was cur with the whole profile or is it an add on piece? how much higher will it be? how wide of a trolley top compared to the overall width? inside open for head roomor closed for shelving on the front section? thats it for know thanks this is going to be good

Hi Droid, Im glad you like the plan so far:lol:.
The trolley top is the same profile as the top of the trailer. It should be around 8" high to return the overall height to about 4'. So the side profile and side of the trolley top were cut out of the same 8x4 sheet.

The width of the trolley top is yet to be decided. The Copper top is a similar width trailer at 5ft, and has a 40" wide trolley top. I think it looks in good proportions, but I might look to go a little wider and see what it looks like.
There'll be a shelf to the front,the top will be open inside with windows on either side, and possibly an opening window at the rear. Still undecided as to weather to go for long windows, or round windows...

Here's a slide show of our 2009 Copper top build, I'm hoping it turns out to be similar.

Cheers Dave

[jackdaw]

How the heck do you work in such a small space? Doesn't the noise just kill you?

If we had a prize for the smallest workspace, you would win

John

I think if I had a bigger area John, It would only get filled up with a lot of unnecessary clutter. I have Planet Rock playing on the radio to drown out the noise

I think i might struggle to build a 10 ft teardrop in the current 'workshop'

Cheers Dave

[droid_ca]

thanks jackdaw so the 8 to 4 reference would mean you have 2 inch spars going inti the outside of the trolley top and you have 2 inch spars spars at the top of it so wouldn't it be a 4 inch rise on the outside but a 6 inch rise on the inside (I think) so what about th courve to the front of the trailer or do you just bring it down to the top of the roof line ? sorry about all the questions just want to get it right the first time

[Lookfar]

Dave, this is going to be great. I really enjoyed your last build, and it will be fun to watch you do it again.

[jackdaw]

Butch I'm hoping it's as much fun.

thanks jackdaw so the 8 to 4 reference would mean you have 2 inch spars going inti the outside of the trolley top and you have 2 inch spars spars at the top of it so wouldn't it be a 4 inch rise on the outside but a 6 inch rise on the inside (I think) so what about th courve to the front of the trailer or do you just bring it down to the top of the roof line ? sorry about all the questions just want to get it right the first time

Droid, I have a few photos of the Coppertop build that may show the rise better.

This build will be done in a similar way, but I should get it right straight off this time around

This first shot shows the sides of the trolley top are dropped only about 3/4"(the batons around the edges are 1 1/2" x3/4")
You can see the front of the trolleytop is resting on the first spar between the roof and the main profiles. It wasn't a great place to be supporting the top, mainly because you'd smack your head on it every time you used the trailer. I decided to move the main support to the next position up. you can see where the short spar has been removed already.



Then I cut a 3/4 slot in the trolley top, so it would sit on top of full length spar.




With the new full depth (2 1/2" x 1 1/2") spar in place, the lower part of the trolleytop needed some strengthening. I cut some mahogany stuts that would go from the new support , down to the bottom of the trolleytop. I utilised the bottom of the new spar to pick up a shelf. It seemed to be at a good height, and made it look like it was always planned:lol:



A shot of the inside before we put the insulation and internal boards up.



The top of the main support spar was cut to make easier access to the shelf. The mahogany struts spread the load onto the next full spar down, so I don't think there's any significant lost of strength.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd4/ ... 0015-3.jpg


The top's 8"..... the spars are 1 1/2", and the top's set 3/4" down into the main profile.....I think that gives a 7 1/4 rise on the outside...... and the same on the inside ?

I hope that kind of makes sence

Dave

[droid_ca]

ok that makes way more sense now thanks for the detailed pics