Project leaving well enough alone is never an option

[vanwyk4257]

Got a little more work done on the interior today. Didn't make a lot of progress as it had to be over 100 degrees in the trailer with the tarp over the trailer and since we're supposed to get thunderstorms I didn't want to uncover it completely.

Roughed in the street side dinette bench

The battery box is empty, but I will be adding a fuse box and wiring for my dome light and porch light later. I will be cleaning up and attaching the wiring to the wall at a later time.

Roughed in the side cabinet which will be 30" tall by 30" wide and 18" deep.


Added supports that will also carry hinges for the cabinet doors to support the couple of seperate cabinets.

[vanwyk4257]

Worked on the cabinets some more today. Finished the side and part of the front cabinet. It may not look like much but it was a lot of measuring, cutting, drilling, screwing to get those shelves in place. My only regret was cutting the plywood shelving freehand with my circular saw instead of breaking out the table saw, I would have ended up with a little bit cleaner edges. The plywood on the shelves inside the cabinets is recycled 1/2" plywood from the former bunks of the popup, so some of the old camper lives on in the new one. I'll be installing new 1/2" oak plywood on the tops of the cabinets, still deciding between varnish and laminate for the countertops. I was test-fitting a couple of clear plastic totes and a 5-gallon water jug. I decided to leave the rear corners of the cabinets open to each other to give me more flexibility to stow longer items.

[vanwyk4257]

Final update for the holiday weekend. Worked on the interior some more, finished the internals for the cabinets, bracing for the dinette benches, skinned the fronts of the dinette benches, installed 1/4" lauan on the ceiling and front upper wall section and cut the 1/2" oak plywood for the countertops. I have decided to install laminate countertops and will probably do an indoor/outdoor carpet on the ceiling and walls.
As for the exterior, I'm still going back and forth between looking for larger aluminum sheeting or just biting the bullet and going with Filon.

[S. Heisley]

Lookin' Good!

[vanwyk4257]

Thanks Sharon, that's high praise indeed coming from you!

[aggie79]

Man - you are really moving along on your build! You have an abundance of storage inside. The cabinets look great!

Take care,
Tom

[vanwyk4257]

Thanks Tom. It's amazing how much storage you can build in when you skip all the other amenities! I wish I could build this quickly and with the same craftsmanship as your build, but the two are diametrically opposed with each other. I'd also love to do a countertop like the one you did, but I don't have the skill or patience. Kudos to you on both counts!
I went a little taller than originally intended on the forward cabinet because I figured the difference in weight would be negligible but the additional storage space would be well worth it.
I plan to store all my camping gear in the trailer so it's always ready to go with just food and a little other gear packed.

[vanwyk4257]

More progress to update. Went to pick up Filon yesterday but found 49"x96" sheets of 0.030" aluminum instead and decided to go that route and use roof edge molding as needed.
Started putting the siding on today and found out in short order that there were some things that weren't going to work well for me. First, the router flush trim bit clogged up to fast and the jigsaw even with a fine blade was tweaking the edge of the aluminum too much. Second, putty tape doesnt work well to seam two panels as it doesn't flow like a caulk would so I'm going to have to rework the rear seam for a better appearance. Finally, trying to move a sheet by myself leads to kinks in the aluminum (see lower right rear).
Having gotten that out of the way I had my son help place all the sheets in place while I clamped and/or taped them temporarily to mark the backside and then I trimmed all of the aluminum by hand with aviation snips and a shear. Thankfully my father worked with sheetmetal all his life and I watched him do lots of it so it was pretty easy if not tedious.
I need to get a stapler tomorrow to staple the sheets on the perimeter and hopefully the local RV dealer will have the mill finish roof edge molding for me next week. The sheets look a little wavy right now, but they aren't secured in place at all to flatten them out. I did get both my windows installed to help retain the upper side aluminum panels until I can staple the perimeter.
Black is definitely a pain to work with as opposed to white as it shows every little mark and I don't think these have any protective plastic coating. I'm hoping a carefully applied coat of wax will take care of that.
The remaining sheets will be on tomorrow if all goes well including the roof.

[vanwyk4257]

Getting closer. Grabbed a pneumatic stapler today and finished attaching the sides and back and then installed the front and the roof sheet metal. Just need the roof edge molding and the exterior will be largely done save for installing lights and my bottle opener. The door was also installed. I'm going to do some research into what paint will provide the best adhesion but I'll be painting the door gloss black to match the trailer.
The biggest downside to the black aluminum is that it absorbs much more heat and oil cans a fair amount. It isn't quite as bad in person as it appears in the pictures, and these were taken after prolonged direct sunlight exposure. I wish they would have had white, but I would have paid three times as much up here for white.

[StandUpGuy]

If the CIA built a tiny travel trailer, this is what it would look like.

Really you are flying along and just passed up my build progress. You need to slow down you are making me look bad! It is really a nice size trailer. Should be very comfortable. Way to go.

[vanwyk4257]

If the CIA built a tiny travel trailer, this is what it would look like.

Maybe I should look for a black suburban for a tow vehicle and tint the windows out?

Thanks for the compliment. I am definitely approaching the burnout threshold but I have a deadline to meet so I'm motivated to push through until I finish it.

[vanwyk4257]

Made a little more progress this weekend. Got most of the roof edge molding on, still need one more piece for the street side rear corner. Also got all the trailer lights, porch light, spare tire carrier installed on the exterior.
Built and installed the lids for my dinette benches and cut out the table from 3/4" oak plywood. The dinette benches and lids will get tan indoor/outdoor carpet like the walls, the table will get varnished.
I hope to get the countertops laminated and ready to install this week and possibly get all the carpeting installed in the interior if the weather cooperates.
I also need to finish removing all the excess putty tape from the roof edge molding. The good news is it's raining tonight and there aren't any leaks anywhere.

[kinto]

If the CIA built a tiny travel trailer, this is what it would look like.

HAHAHAHA! when is command central being installed? if i see that parked in front of my house not a whisper outta me, see...


all kidding aside, fantastic job! & no leaks is a good thing fo' sho!


just outta curiosity, are you experienced with towing? i'm not at all (so this might be a stupid question) but with it being so tall are you concerned with side winds and such while towing? my car is a ford escort & there have been times on the open road where the winds were so strong it was making my tiny little aerodynamic car swerve around some.


kent

[vanwyk4257]

If the CIA built a tiny travel trailer, this is what it would look like.

HAHAHAHA! when is command central being installed? if i see that parked in front of my house not a whisper outta me, see...


all kidding aside, fantastic job! & no leaks is a good thing fo' sho!


just outta curiosity, are you experienced with towing? i'm not at all (so this might be a stupid question) but with it being so tall are you concerned with side winds and such while towing? my car is a ford escort & there have been times on the open road where the winds were so strong it was making my tiny little aerodynamic car swerve around some.


kent

Kent, thanks for the compliment. As for towing I have towed quite a few different trailers with lots of different tow vehicles. The worst was probably towing a Land Rover Discovery on a car trailer through Chicago behind my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I was right up against the weight limit and my dad's trailer didnt' have any brakes so it made for a white-knuckle drive through Chicago freeway traffic!
I'll be towing this trailer for now with my wife's 2010 Subaru Forester which so far has done great with a utility trailer with a GVW loaded weight of right around or just over 2000lbs.
I'm sure in strong crosswinds I might get a little bit of sway, but with the trailer properly loaded to maintain the desired tongue weight and all the weight down low to maintain a low CG I'm not too concerned with it.
It may be a bit more of an issue towing when I have the snow tires on the subaru as they're a bit more prone to squirming.
If it's really an issue it's a good excuse to pick up a truck from my Dad that he wants to sell me. It's a 1972 Chevy 3/4ton pickup, two wheel drive with a low mileage 366 chevy big block engine, rebuilt Th400 transmission and a Dana 60 rear differential. That truck could tow my house if I could put it on wheels.
I did also leave the original spring perches on the axle, so I could probably put the axle back on top of the springs if need be to lower the trailer a few inches.
It's always good to have a backup plan!

[aggie79]

Michael,

Great job with the dinette area! I like the table notch to get to the bench. It would even fit my substantial midriff!

Take care,
Tom