Neon-Lyte becoming camp-able...

[groys02]

Mid-October, we finally had a shake-down voyage in the little rascal! Freshly painted, but not nearly all done, wiring-wise and interior finish-wise... but still.

Painted the trailer the same as the car during the week before we were to meet several couples at Ledges State Park for a Friday/Saturday camp-out. So, a little rushed, but it all went well. Just did a little final painting of the frame tonight... added a stiffening brace at the rear end of the tongue, and seam-sealed around it... in a couple days, I'll undercoat that area, and then she can sit outside for the winter. If we don't get too piled high in snow, I'll hope to get the wiring and interior finishing done over the winter, so we can do some early-season camping with it in March or April---maybe check out the dogwood blooming in southern MO.
(Other images added to my personal album today as well.)
Thanks to those who've encouraged me along the way![/img]

[Miriam C.]

You have done an amazing job on this. Whatcha gonna call it? I look forward to seeing the finish. Don't forget to let everyone in the N. Central and S. Central know when you head down.

[stbuch]

Awesome!!


Sherrie

[Sam I am]

Wow! That's cool! You did a great job on design and construction. That's gotta be a head turner on the road!

[haul-all-day-rambler]

sweet!!!!

[Ivar the Red]

That is cool and very ingenious!(sp) Congrats on the build, have fun camping.

[groys02]

Been a long time since last fall's posting. Work for me finally picked up again, so spare time limited again. Haven't camped in the trailer since the one shake-down cruise, tho planning to a couple times---later in Sept and in October.

I guess I have to change the critter's name to "Neon Lyte", since that's what I fabbed on the deck lid...


This spring, we got the windows privacy-treated, using locally printed film like one sees applied to pickup back-glasses...


A little later, got wiring added---2 120V outlets in the galley, 1 in the main compartment---and 12V reading lights and roof exhaust added. Soon, I hope to buy a 12V deep-cycle battery, and am thinking of a 12V solar panel as a means to recharge the battery during the day. Anybody used one of those???


Inside, I finished insulating the front end. Heating the 3/4" polystyrene to shape it (yes, I did wear a respirator) didn't work very well. If I used enough heat to form it, it shrunk slightly, and got even more brittle. So when I did the even more rounded front upper corners, I simply used 3 layers of 1/4" foam, which was much easier to just form to the curves by hand. Maybe I'll finish up gluing thin indoor/outdoor carpet over the insulation this weekend... then just a few metal carpet-trimming strips to screw over the 2 vertical seams, and one strip at the base, and I'll be mostly done with that. Oh, yeah, the same carpeting-type treatment on the narrow area above and to the sides of the footwell still to be done.
'And then...............


Well, back to it....

[Beachbuggy]

Thats awesome

[S. Heisley]

I was hoping to see what you did/are doing with the inside. Thanks for the pics and please keep sharing your progress. It is interesting and we are watching!

[groys02]

Well, I finally posted a few more pics in the album. Elaine and I took our first serious trip in the teardrop last spring (March 2010), when we hauled it 400 miles south to Roaring River SP in SW Missouri to "get a jump on spring". Had a good time there in the milder weather... 3 nights sleeping in the tear... pretty cozy, but quite doable, and a lot warmer than in a tent.
Towed fine behind my old Neon, too, though it knocked the gas mileage down to 33mpg or so. Still, able to keep up with traffic going 70-75, and it tracked real stable. Got the brakes a bit overworked going down the LONG hill into Roaring River SP---otherwise, no problems.

Camped twice in March this year--myself at a men's retreat where I wanted to avoid snore-ers in the camp's cabins, and Elaine a week-n-a-half later at the local state park. Temps dropped to the 20's for me, and I think 30's when Elaine used it, but with an electric blanket over the sleeping bag, it was OK. And with only 1 person aboard both times, it was plenty roomy for reading and journalling and such. Pic below of Elaine at Ledges State Park--the only brave camper there in March!


Before the trips, added carpet over the previously unfinished areas inside the tear, so now looks somewhat less "work in progress". (see album)

If the weather isn't too hot-n-muggy, we'll try to get over to Wintersett IA in August for the teardrop gathering there.

Best wishes to all... happy camping... Gary

[PcHistorian]

hope you were able to cut away lots of the excess weight.
probably nice and quiet inside too. :-)

[groys02]

Didn't really eliminate too much weight from the back 1/2 of the car when building it---there's not that much weight back there to begin with, compared to rest of car. Weighs about 800lbs altogether, with 150-175 of that on the tongue.

And it is quiet, compared to the tent-camping we've done for years previously. And warmer, when we do early spring or late fall camping. We actually camped in the local state park in January this year, when we had a warm snap... had the place entirely to ourselves! (Just wanted to be able to say we'd camped in January.) Sure is hard to leave the cuccoon the next morning, tho...

Currently working on a newer, gutsier version of the Neon tow-vehicle, which will have A/C... so maybe then we can tow it to Colorado in July/August without perishing halfway across Nebraska. (Current Neon has power nothing... no air, no PwrStrng, no cruise... very frugal model from the get-go.)

Looking forward to spring... 45 or so in central IA today.

Gary

[PcHistorian]

I am seeing crocuses sprouting (not blooming yet) and other flowers that never died through the winter, the leaves are still green. Get ready for spring. (I'm in Detroit.)

I WAS going to say "You could put tint on your windows for privacy and it would be cooler in the summer. You could put the real dark stuff on there, that is only legal for cars in florida, since it is a trailer. but then you'll miss out on all that nice warming effect from the sunshine in the winter. Too bad you can't get the tinting that changes like the glasses. :-)

Weight. are you using the brakes in the back wheels. did you get rid of all the engine related items, muffler, etc... I guess keeping the spare might be a good idea.

[groys02]

Haven't felt the need to tint the trailer windows---with the privacy film applied (see earlier posts), we're undoubtably getting some sun-screening. It's the vehicle we're pulling the trailer with that gets too hot, especially for my wife. With the roof vent running, and the front awning-type window propped out, there's a fairly decent breeze thru the unit when camping---even in summer---like last August at the Madison Co gathering.
Weight-wise, I eliminated the gastank and the remnants of the exhaust system, but kept all the stock suspension pieces---so I didn't have to reinvent that, and so tires and rims would be readily available too. I'm not using the rear brakes at present, but will probably figure a way to do that in the forseeable future. I'm hoping there's a way to link a 12V activator/solenoid to the stock emergency brake cables to do that... but haven't had tons of spare time lately to even investigate. The stock spare goes in the trunk from the top---I raised the spare well to match the sleeping platform, and then hitched the spare to the underside of the trailer, where it probably helps keep the tongue weight down.



Probably do some weekend trip south as spring gets nearer---it was real nice to see extreme SW Missouri two years ago in April. All greened up while we were still a few weeks away from that.



best wishes,

Gary

OOps---guess I need to do something different to get those picture to show... they're in my personal album, tho. Hmmmmmmmmmmm...

[PcHistorian]

Well I bet there is something stock you could use for the trailer brakes. it is too often that people use the back half of vehicles like pickup beds, that something like that should be common. You'll just have to go to the 7 pin connecting cable. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.... I once had a 1968 impala fastback is why I ask. I took out the back seat, made a plywood deck level in the trunk and used under for the spare, then had storage on the sides. Then had a flip up back for the seat, hinged at the axel hump for the back. The seat of that was plywood and I made screw in legs for the front and hooks for the back to make a single bed level.