Want to build a teardrop... but....

[marcie10]

Newbie here, lurking and absorbing info for a while. I want to build a mid-size teardrop to pull behind a VW trike I built for my partner, (lets call him Big Man...7'-0", 300 lbs). Weight of the tear is a huge consideration, as I dont want the "tail wagging the dog".
Even started in the gathering of materials phase, found a decent utility trailer to build on, 4'-8" x 8'-0". I've been wanting to build a woodie style teardrop, sandwich style bonded 1/4" birch or oak ply/foam/white FRP on the interior for the sides, and aluminum skin for the front, roof and hatch. My problem is finding decent 1/8" (3mm) plywood to support the aluminum skin. The only 3mm luan that I've found available here in the Mobile, AL is not moisture resistant, and I'm concerned that the 5mm moisture resistant luan underlayment will be difficult or impossible to bend around the curves. Marine grade 1/8" ply shipped from Bolton is out of our budget. 1/8" or 3/16" masonite hardboard is also a consideration, although I'm concerned about moisture attacking it. I need to add that a trolly top roofline is being considered, as we want to add a small AC in the rear roof similar to the Giant teardrop that Mike built. The Giant Tear's delamination and deconstruction has concerned me greatly, as I live here in the humid sub-tropics. I've almost given up on the idea of a tear-drop completely because of this.
Thoughts and advise is greatly appreciated

Marcie

[marcie10]

I've done more thinking of the 1/8" ply situation. I could go with the cheap luan available, coat it on all sides with CPES and double coat the edges, or as a more inexpensive route, do multiple coats of the 25-75 poly/thinner mix for sealing. It will just be a sub surface for the aluminum skin, so it won't be exposed to weather or UV degradation. Maybe I'm just being too obsesive over this, but I just don't want to see big expense and a lot of effort be wasted like Mike's Giant teardrop.
I've tryed to upload photos to my gallery, but I still need to resize them. I opened a photobucket site, http://s1061.photobucket.com/albums/t471/marcieten/ but can't figure out how to get them to the gallery here.
Fabrication skills I have: grew up helping my Dad build houses, and 30+ years in metal fabrication fields. Computer skills.... not so much.
Still waiting for comments and advise

Marcie

[CliffinGA]

Welcome Marcie & Big man from another one of the big guy crowd over in GA! Using CPES or epoxy will seal real well and you would need to seal your outer skin below the AL but I would poly the inner skin for the woody interior you want. Nice trike by the way! Welcome again to the madness!

Cliff

[toypusher]

[bc toys]

welcome to site Marcie and Big good luck with your build but if you can build that trike them you can shurly build a tear drop

[marcie10]

Actually, I want the interior to be the white pebble grain FRP they sell at the big box stores. Easy to clean, extremely moisture resistant, and the white makes the small interior seem bigger. Should be pretty stiff for the sandwich style construction once it's bonded to the foam too. Stained wooden strips to cover seams and cabinets will provide a nice contrast. The cheap luan (or maybe 1/8" masonite hardboard) will be completely covered on both sides and will only be a sub-surface for the aluminum skin on the front, top and hatch area. The exterior sides I plan to be a woodie style. Profile is probably a Cub/modernistic/Grumman2, with a trolley top, however that hasn't been finalized yet. A long narrow fixed window on the front will minimize seams in the skin where the trolley top starts.

I dont have any CAD programs (or experiance), although I did have a lot of mechanical drawing drafting courses way back when I was in high school. My building plans are still in my head right now, so I cant put my design on here. I just kind of build and go with the flow, similar to how I built the trike. Thanks for the compliment on the trike. It was junk when we got it. Cut off everything from the plate welded to the torsion tubes forward and started fresh. Seven months of working every day I wasn't working at the shipyard.

Thanks again,
Marcie

[bobhenry]

My 4x7 weighed in at completion ready to camp at 525 pounds. It was built on an Apache tent trailer frame.It is FRP over 7/16 osb sidewalls and the roof was frp ceiling 1 1/2" foam insulation between spars and then just the frp for the roofing. I am a big puppy also 300+ and found it quite roomy for just me. Might be a bit tight for two?

Here is a link to the build journal if you are interested...............

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38489

[mezmo]

Hi Marcie10,

Welcome to the forum.

If you want, you could just draw up your plans/ideas on plain
paper or graph paper, scan it into the computer, save it as a jpg/jpeg
file when it asks how you want to save it, save it in your documents or pictures folder,
and then you'll be able to load it into your album here and then share it from there
in a post that way. 'Hand/Pencil CAD' is great as long as you get your point across,
and don't worry about being a "good" artist either, basic lines will do fine if
that is all you want to do.

Happy planning and building.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo