My Teardrop Build: 2011

Garage Renovation

Not much progress on the teardrop the past week. My workshop/garage is heated and the past few years increasing heating costs has finally made me break down and insulate and finish the walls and ceilings. It had the old foil faced insualtion roll stuff that was 1/4" thick. I'm installing R-13 Kraft Faced Fiberglass and 1/2" drywall. Huge difference already and only have 2 walls done.

Since everything is being moved around selling off some stuff on Craigslist that I no longer use and rebuilding storage. I also picked up an old 1955 Shopsmith two days ago that I will restore this winter :)

Interior Cabinetry

Started the interior cabinetry. I have the area for the power converter and electrical in the upper right. The wood doesn't match but I plan to paint it black anyways just in that area. Lower middle will be a slide out for a the laptop, which will be used for tv, movies, music throughout the teardrop. I will be installing a router (Linksys runs on 12v DC) for using my iphone as a remote control through iTunes for music and movies. The rest is just general storage area.

Galley Progress

More progress on the galley, Spent alot of time setting up my work area in preperation for winter, since I will no longer have access to outside sawing etc. Got a dust collection system going and trying to clear out a few things to make more room.

I got the cooler slide and utensil drawer built and the upper cabinets finished. Temp hung the doors on clamps to see what it's gonna look like. Taking a little longer than I expected, as it's my first time doing cabinet construction. So glad I really like the shaker style cabinetry as I can;t imagine trying to do more detailed cabinet construction my first time. Also first time I've used my dado even though I've had it for many years, lol. I see alot more woodworking tools in my future as I am really enjoying this work.

Next will be the stove/grill slide out on the left side.

Galley Progress

The work on the galley is progressing over the past week. Have it all framed and the cabinet doors made now. Went with shaker style, as I like the simplicity. Started lower section today and will update with pictures later this evening

Galley Construction

The galley is starting to progress. I got some 1/4" ply with some cool spalting it and going to try and make it visible when the cabinet door is opened.

Roof Vent & Galley Framing

I got the roof vent rough in framed, you can see the clamps in the photo. I also got the beginning of the galley counter started. Pictures not the greatest this time, oh well.

Shell Assembly

The shell assembly is finally making progress. I got the main spars in place, I still am going to add a couple more at the front radius and will do that after the next trip to the lumber yard. I also got the galley divider wall started.

Galley Layout

I got the basic layout of the galley done on CAD. The pink areas are drawer slides. The green is a slide out which will house the propane stove. The blue is a shelf which comes out of the stove slide out and will house the propane grill. Both the stove and grill are the newer model Coleman's, which are very thin. I have always preferred charcoal over propane for a grill, but the height of this grill makes it the only one which will fit and leave room for other things. Adequate storage is very important in an area this small.The little cubby area on the left of the upper cabinetry is going to be a built in bread box. I plan on the center area of the lower section to be a couple of pull out drawers. One for silverware and such and another for tall bottles. Below the stove slide out I plan on storage for a cast iron dutch oven and larger things.

The "Refrigerator"

I finally found the cooler I wanted and won it on eBay. It's a 1975 Coleman Steelbelted, this is the model that is 28" long instead of 22". It took a while to find a decent one, but this one is very nice. Now that I have dimensions of the cooler I will be using, I can layout and start the galley framing.

Testing Out "Stuff"

Not much progress past couple of days. I have been testing components I removed from the popup for function. The 12 gallon water tank holds water with no leaks, the 12v power supply works, etc.
Doing all of this testing so I can finalize galley layout and such before I move forward with the galley and cabing framing. Lastly I need to decide on the cooler I will be using on the slide out.

Walls Are Going Vertical

Got 1st wall up and 2nd one skinned. Getting a wall vertical actually feels like I accomplished something. I should be able to put the 2nd wall vertical tonight which is the one laying flat with insulation. I got it glued & skinned last night.

After getting the first wall up, I wish I had room to drop the height a little but function over form. It's only 4'6" tall but 4' would have looked a little more streamlined. So glad I didn't go with 5' tall.

Also decided the enclosed bunk is getting the boot. I would love to do it, but it takes up way to much cabin space in this size trailer. I'm gonna go with either a fold down bed or hanging cot at the head of the cabin.

Wall Framing Completed

Wall Framing is completed on both sides. Ready to skin and get standing upright!

Build Update

I have gotten the first wall framed and started the 2nd wall. Had a couple of things I was wondering how to solve and TT Forum helped me come up with the below designs.

Completed Wall

Idea for Tailights & Speaker Grilles

Got a great idea for tailights, convert the old Shure 55 Microphone to a tailight assembly!!! Also will use old drivein speaker fronts for the speaker grills.

Started the Shell

I started building the shell today. Got the profile done as well as started the framing. I also am going with a 4'6" height. Like the profile look alot more than 5' tall

Initial Design

Finished the initial 3D Design done now. I'm sure I'll tweak a bit as I progress. Also not sure if I like the 5' Height, may end up with 4'6" height before it's done.

I plan on starting on the shell this weekend!

Making Room in the Garage

Not much happening the past week due to cleaning out the garage to make room for the trailer frame. I don't want to have to worry about protecting it from the weather and all.

Bad news is I'm on the verge of being OCD and making room for the trailer turned into cleaning attic, rearranging everything in the entire garage. So it took two days to complete even though it could have been done in 30 minutes. Good news is the garage is cleaned out as of yesterday!

Will be moving it in and starting the assembly. I expect this to take a while as I'm in no hurry and plan on having it done buy the end of next summer at the latest. Hopefully spring but not getting my hopes up.

Waterproofing the Floor

So I removed the flooring plywood during disassembly. Once removed I noticed a light coat of black stuff on the underside. Not sure what they put on these from the factory but it protected it well for the 32 years of it's life.

Just to cover any chance of issues I got a rubberized roofcoating from the local hardware to protect it even more. The product I ended up choosing was Black Jack 6125 Coating. Covered well but dryed REALLY slow. It's fiberized rubber so should hold up better to bumps and jars. I put on 2 heavy coats so it should be well protected from rock chips and such as well.

Link to the product: http://www.gardner-gibson.com/linedetails.aspx?id=19

I also picked up stainless steel metal screws for reattaching the flooring to the frame and plan on sealing the bottom sides of the screws from the elements with the roof coating.

I will attach photos once I crawl under it and take some as I didn;t take any before I attached it >.<

Final Design Items

Here is a few items I came up with for the final design, yeah it's a little soon but whatever.

Galley countertop material

So I'm going with a total fifties theme for the counter tops in the galley area. Swirly red and grey Formica laminate and chrome metal edge banding. Reminds me of my great aunt's kitchen from when I was a kid :P

Flooring picked out

Decided on the flooring, both are commercial vinyl tile made by Armstrong. Doing the classic checkerboard pattern throughout the trailer. Colors are Sterling and Maraschino.

Color Scheme picked out

Finally decided on the color scheme for the interior and accessories, woot!

Trailer Frame Painted

Trailer is now painted! Quite a bit of grinding, sanding and cleaning to get it where it is. I used Tractor Supply's Farm Implement and Tractor Paint, worked really well and would recommend it for any trailer project. Thinned it with naphtha about 2:1 ratio of paint vs naphtha to get consistency right. Sprayed on three semi heavy coats with a HVLP sprayer.

Trailer frame had only one small area of rust through that was about the size of a nickel. Rust through was where bed support was welded to frame due to water sitting in it. I cut out the metal, and welded in new metal with wire feed, rest of the metal was good.

Disassembling the popup

Well, started dissasembly of the old popup. Stripping it down to bare frame. Lot of work in 90 degree plus heat, ugh. Accomplished all of this over a period of about a week. Have alot of extra stuff (door, bed frames, lift assembly, etc) which I can sell on craigslist to help finance more of the project.

Final dimensions of the frame are 4' 9" wide x 10' long. Should be a great sized teardrop for a 6'3" tall guy, lol. The plywood bottom ended up being in great shape and I will reuse it. Ground height is great, real low, should pull really well. The white marks on the frame is primer to cover bare metal until I can grind and sand the frame.