November 2017, much delayed update

Well.... certain people, you know who you, are have been asking (bugging) for an update.  I know it has been several months since I posted our progress but it is not because we have not been working.

We had hoped to go on a trip in August but at some point over the summer we realized there was no way and there was no point in trying to kill ourselves.  So we reset our expectations.  Big relief.

We also had another storm and that required attention.  Fortunately, more water than wind and our house and property is fine.  The trailer had to evacuate and we really appreciate Tim and Laurie for letting us use their garage.

Also thanks to my electrical guru Bob for his patience and Paul for continuing consultation and encouragement.

Anyway, in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and inevitable questions, here are pictures of our progress.  I think we will be really finished

Susan working on the benches in the front of the trailer.

The roof, note we chose not to put a vent up there, too paranoid about leaks!



Window installation in the front.



Back window installation.



Side window installed too.



 




We had to remake the door, we took a standard interior door, cut it down, reinforced and painted and painted and painted.   You can see what it took to even cut the door. Actually fit...... amazing.

The trailer was taken to the painter twice.  We had a "miscommunication" and the painter did not paint the roof.  The painter wanted the door and baggage compartment installed so we did.

First time to the painter, no problems towing but I went really slow and prayed for no rain.  On the way back, I had to find a gas station under cover.

The  paint job turned out okay, a bit of drama, but it got done.

So, while all this was going on Susan was at work on the interior.  A trip to Ikea helped.  Here are some images of the inside.

Susan and I in the bed for the first time - she will kill me for this.

The back, it is hard to take pictures in there.

Right side, see wiring not yet installed.

Galley, left side.

Right side.

Front with shelf on top and table showing.

Table installed, under the front seats is storage.

And finally, the outside lights are working!  I am not an electrician and Bob was there every step of the way to patiently explore all the problems.  My initial wiring was okay but I did put a screw through one of the back light wires and I had to figure out which one it was.  Anyway, they are working!

So, we have the inside wiring, fender and few other things.  Should not be long now..

Thanks for reading, Happy Thanksgiving!

So, here we are almost at the end of June and a lot has happened.  We have been working steadily and it is starting to look like a trailer.   Each part seems to take so long and is frustrating.

As a whole, we are getting there and we are now sure that we can finish it.

We found some bendable plywood up in Summerville to use for the ceiling,. It bent but those curves are tough.  "Molding is your friend", we have been saying and the creases will be underneath some.  Susan primed it, it will be painted while and looks good again the natural birch finish.

We put up the stapling rail and then insulated the front, back and top.

So I started wiring for the clearance light but as soon as I saw all the connections, I knew there had to be another way, once the skin is on, there can be no repairs.  So, I took it done, and started over. I  bought some marine wire, each light now has its own wire.

We put underlayment on the side and top so that when the metal sweats, it will not get into the wood and ceiling.  Notice the wiring, you can see the individual runs if you look closely.

Then, we started to put the skins on, amazingly, they seemed to fit.... okay we had to make a few snips there and there but they are up.

Then, the roof!

There was no way Susan and I could do this part and we asked our good and faithful friend Paul to come back (he helped us with the walls as well).  This turned out to be a major engineering project.   The roof material had to be really forced into the curves of the trailer.

To get the roofing material onto the trailer without tearing the underlayment, we ran it over a fence post.  It worked.




Then rolled the rest with PVC




Getting the wires out was a pain.




The stapling begins, the staples be covered with corner rail.  Paul came up with this spacer to make sure the staple when where they needed to be..... quite clever and I can claim no part of it.


















There's Paul with the roof stapling process beginning.



Getting the roofing material around the front curve was the hardest part of this project.

We did by ratcheting down on a fence post.  It worked but it was way beyond anything I could have done to myself.  Thanks Paul!






The last thing we have done is to trim the the excess roofing materials and make a slight overlap to reduce leaking.  This will also be covered by the corner rail, luckily, because I found the roofing difficult to cut evenly.







So, onward and upward, I have also started the wiring underneath the trailer and we are checking out painters, I think we decided this is one we have to get an expert to handle.

Thanks for looking.

We feel we are making a bit of progress

So, the best way I can describe this project is as a lifesize jigsaw puzzle.  Not only are there no borders, the edges seem to change.  These trailers were not built square and this one was so rotten that our measurements were suspect.

The metal on the outside became our template but it was likely cut after the walls were stapled on.

The problem is that nothing really fits.... add to that our basic carpentry skills and it all gets very interesting.

So we were able to get the walls up, complete the skeleton of the interior and even start the wiring.

These felt like big steps..... we think we might be able to actually finish it ..... IF all goes well.

Here are some images:

.

The walls up and wood holding them in place.




The cabinets hold the trailer together.  They are screwed to the walls and attached to the floor.



The left side will have sink and counter for a heat source.





From the front of the tailer to the rear.





The bed on the original was way too small, we expanded using an old army cot, almost a double!







I could not believe the door seemed to fit, nothing else has, a big break!  In the upper picture you can see the consequence of making the bed larger, the opening that was originally the heating vent is now blocked.



The bed area partially covered.

We are going to visit Rachael in Chattanooga this weekend and there is a man who builds and refurbishes these trailers and provides parts.  We are hoping he might be able to help us.


Thanks for looking!

Wow, time flies and we went from Winter to Spring.  We have been working on the trailer with interruptions for our usual February trip.

We are feeling some time pressure to meet our goal of an August trip.

This part of the work has been a challenge for us as our carpentry skills are pretty basic.  We have had to learn how to use new tools as well.

Here is where we are.



We finished the floor and installed the old wheel wells. The wheel wheels did not fit as well as we would have liked and we had to make some adjustments.  They were installed with stainless screws and it feels really solid.

On the left in the picture above, you can see one of the cabinets that will also support the bed.


.

Here is the front of the trailer with the two benches.  The table becomes the bed.






Another shot, this time from the front, hopefully the angle of the front bench will allow the skin to be attached, guess we will know soon enough.  Lots of hope and faith at this point.





We bought 3/4 inch birch plywood for the sides and traced the metal as a patterns.  It was cut with a jib saw, the windows seem to fit, that was a relief.




Here are the cut pieces, these were hard to work with due to their weight.




We bought a plate joiner to put the pieces together.  We had never used this tool and their was a lot of uncertainty how not only how to use it but how much glue to use, etc.  It seems to be okay.




We were able to gently move the now completed walls into an upright position.  You can't see it but we reinforced the other side to reduce flex.  I can't imagine what would happen it they broke.

This weekend we put the completed cabinets on the trailer and our plan for next week is put the walls in place, this is a big moment.