Lightweight TD build based on Mike's Ultralight design

[jonw]

Drilled holes for hatch side latches and install with coated wire to not-yet-installed handle.

Cut kerfs in birch inside ply of 1/4in luan for hatch and dry fitted again to draw where inside ribs can be screwed into when glued.

Attached living hinges to countertop hatch doors via #4 wood screws and put floor tiles on countertop – had to diddle with ring pull cutouts in linoleum tile so they were flush.



Re-dry fitted the hatch frame with the linoleum in place and determined it did not affect the fit.

[jonw]

With Bob’s help glued and screwed 1/4in luan “Revolution Plyâ€

[jonw]

Cool fall weather has arrived. Used duct tape to attach two 90 degree PVC pipe elbows and flexible tubing to the battery box and exhaust port, so the tubing is out of the way, which I later replaced with cable ties.



Cut out and fitted roof foam insulation. Binder clips on joists are to keep insulation in place until roof is put on.

[jonw]

Ran kitchen light wiring inside of hatch. Glued and clamped aluminum skin to kitchen hatch.



Cut and attached bamboo rollup blinds to interior ceiling


Unpacked aluminum on pallet and discovered it had white stains or corrosion marks on it from sitting inside of wet cardboard


A call to the company I bought the aluminum from and some web research revealed I had stored it improperly. Luckily the back side of each piece was salvageable, only have marks from the wet cardboard on them.

Removed clamps from hatch aluminum skin, drilled holes in aluminum skin for latch and mounted T handle latch mechanism.



Cut aluminum strips for galley hatch inside edges. Cut aluminum for rear section below countertop.
Used Dremel tool to cut out bamboo ceiling for vent opening, and used pieces of duct tape to keep it the thread/binding from unravelling (they'll be covered by the vent facia)


Cut and attached piece of plastic corrugated panel below bamboo ceiling at “headâ€

[jonw]

Cut holes in rear section aluminum for tail lights and for wood trim at bottom (and row of countersunk flush screws at top), then glued and screwed rear section aluminum on. You can see how stained the aluminum is on the right side...


Dry fitted roof aluminum and cut out hole for vent. Also trimmed end and side to fit. Stapled several front foam panels to roof ribs to keep them from constantly falling down. Clamped roof aluminum until able to glue it so bend would be pre-formed. You can see horizontal lines in the aluminum from the cardboard corrugation


Attached LED tail and side running lights, wired them up and tested them


Worked on hatch aluminum stains with auto and then metal polishes and Porter Cable dual action orbital polisher. Very messy but some improvement on the rear panel, as you can see in the above picture. Decided I needed something more industrial, so I ordered some Nuvite and bought a rotary polisher next trip to Harbor Freight.

[jonw]

Glued and (temporary) screwed aluminum roof/front piece using GE Silicone II caulk instead of construction adhesive.


Attached roof vent and wired the it’s 12V fan. Also attached molding along hatch wall and rear sections.


Ordered Nuvite aluminum polishes to remove defects and polish to a mirror finish (if I decide to go that far).

Attached the hatch to the body via the hurricane hinge. Attached striker plates to inside of kitchen area for hatch latch to lock into


Discovered the hurricane hinge puts ¼in space at top of hatch, which changes the way the bottom of the hatch frame rested on the counter top. It wouldn’t close. Had to plane and sand off approx. 1/4in off the hatch frame footer piece to get it to close. Doh!

Attached and wired up the hatch light


Due to rain, urethaned interior molding inside my house

[jonw]

Worked on hatch molding – not happy with the way it’s going on so I shifted onto something else...


Attached door hinge and put trim around door openingss and cut T molding for one door


Attached T molding to door and put door on hinge. Dry fit closed and everything looks good


With Bobs help attached passenger door hinge to body, T molding to door, and attached door to body via hinge.


Used Dremel to file off pop rivet stems on the hatch edge moulding that broke off in the wrong place.

Attached finish molding to bedroom cabinet openings, and kitchen wall cabinet joints

[jonw]

Polished aluminum front/roof (forward of vent) using Nuvite system. Very messy and took a while to get the hang of it, but it did work. Did NOT use polish to make it shiny like an airstream (at least yet)

[jonw]

Made custom gaskets from rubberized shelf liner for each door latch. Installed door latches and weatherstripping on both doors. Both latches are keyed the same – yeah!


Attached vertical drip moulding in front of hinges for both doors


Drilled holes and dry fit roof/wall moulding for both walls. Picture above shows it being dry fit - screwed in all the way around sans any caulking

Measured dimensions of fender structure to hold fenders out from body and over wheels. Rough cut poplar pieces to work on tomorrow...

[jonw]

Removed, caulked, and re-installed roof and rear edge molding. Installed other side of hatch moulding and molding along hatch bottom edge


Disconnected wiring and removed hatch to cut a slot and install screw to keep it from sliding sideways. Put molding along hatch bottom under edge but it is not touching the body. With a double layer of thick weatherstripping hatch cannot be closed so it latches. Later replaced with different weatherstripping that fit better.

Put weatherstripping on door T aluminum, and inside of door hinges.


Urethaned hatch bottom that was planed last week, as well as notches in front “bumperâ€

[jonw]

My laptop needed to be sent out for repair so I was unable to keep a daily diary on it. At this point I was only a few days away from being functionally done. Here's from memory and pictures I do have

Spent the weekend in it at the music festival and realized I needed to do a few more things, like adding door pull handles to make closing the door easier, and curtain rods for some privacy. Here you can also see the screen molding along the bamboo-wall edge that helps the flexible bamboo follow the profile and keep from sagging


The trailer had sat out in rain before without any leaks, but I drove through a torrential downpour on the way to the music festival and found places where there was water leakage.

Installing the drip moulding above the doors certainly helped. Bend carefully...


I hadn't followed Grants instructions on letting the body portion of the hatch hinge stick out over the side because I didn't understand it. Now I do, so I used some leftover drip molding to fabricate some hinge water diverters


Notice also the piece of weatherstripping i put in the gap in the hatch hinge (remember that 1/4in?)

[jonw]

I needed something to hold the hatch open and I was not enthralled with using gas struts, nor had I seen anything on the forum that I liked. I had been using a dowel with chair leg bumpers on both ends but the wind blew the hatch and the dowel collapsed and nearly went through the bedroom wall. So I designed this simple system that works great:


Here's a picture of the finished kitchen area as we used it on a mid-October weekend campout nearby



I got ideas for pull-down cabinet doors and a pull-out shelf from some other teardrops at that weekend. Here's what I did:



And here's a panorama shot of the finished interior


So, that's it! I hope you find what I did interesting and helpful and useful if you decide to build your own teardrop. And I hope to meet every one of you at campouts in the coming years!

[sagebrush]

Great trailer!!!!!!!! Like your hatch latches.
Will

[canned o minimum]

Wonderful job ! Did it all come in AT or UNDER budget ? How much does it weigh ?

When I git mine "modified" Imma weigh it again and see jus what weight I saved .. or gained .

She weighed 785 dry.. now she's full of camp gear and clothes..etc.. I'm certain that she weighs a bit more with all the "stuff" in her...we'll see.

[mezmo]

Hi jonw,

Congrats on your build - nice looking TD you've built there!

And a great build journal to accompany it! Your narrative and pics are a
great introduction and example for anyone wondering what a build would
entail.

Since each build has its own interesting details, I especially like your hatch
handle/lock and the hatch supports with the stow clips. But I was curious if
they are" secured" when in the opened position, so the hatch can't get
blown further upwards by a wind gust, since that is what prompted you to
change to the new 'secured for travel' supports. I really couldn't tell by
the pic.

Now, just go out and enjoy it!

Happy Camping!

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo