The Avits

Design & Construction of anything that's not a teardrop e.g. Grasshoppers or Sunspots

The Avits

Postby DriverOne » Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:05 pm

My Festiva will see it's end soon. Due to a previous owner's accident and worsening frame rot, the car doesn't quite feel safe to drive anymore. Therein lies an opportunity, however. My good friend Jerry and I plan to dive into the art of fiberglass, and use the car as a mould for a tiny travel trailer.

Included is a picture of the car. It is my intention to use cues from the original design to create a trailer that appears to be factory OEM. The Avits (3/4 of a Festiva, spelled backwards) will be towed backwards. The slant of the windshield will be better towards the rear aerodynamically, and minus the front clip section, should give me a 6x9 enclosed area. I'll mimic the curve of the rear of the car so as to use the rear bumper and tail lights. The flared fenders will be moved to the appropriate spot amidships, and the indentation normally found on the bottom of the body between the fenders will be on either side of the solitary fender.

Something that I've noticed about some teardrop designs is that the galley hatch is prone to dripping water inside while it's raining and the hatch is open. I plan to remedy this by copying the hatch opening in the body of the car, and the hatch design as well, with adjustments made for the angle of the windshield. This way when I open the hatch, a bit of rain won't be such a problem.

I figure insulation paint will keep the interior cozy, and a bit of 1/4" foam with some nice vinyl and auto fabric will help match the TV color scheme. Possibly some lexan cut to match the stock windows will be enough to keep the weight down and give the open feeling I'm looking for. Perhaps a sunroof? The idea of a fan mounted in the roof seems like a good idea too.

I'll probably mount this body to a HF trailer, unless I score an aluminum boat trailer. I want to keep the weight down. I'd like to see my galley made up of mostly fiberglass with a few wooden doors and a bamboo countertop. Not sure yet how to go about powering the interior. I'll probably do something simple like LED on a 12v battery and one solar panel on the roof.

I figure mimicking the car will yield the benefits of the interior space and benefit airflow in transit, since the rig won't rise any higher or sit any wider than the TV, and my stock mirrors will retain optimum visibility.

I only recently downloaded sketchup, but I'll try to build a copy there.

Critiques or comments appreciated.
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DriverOne
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