Building the "Heart of Gold" - Done 3/9/2014

[drewh1]

Last work before I leave - Routing the sides was a bit nerve wracking. I also cut out the doors based on the measurements provided by Grant. Oh, AND i decided to go with the 36" Milled Aluminum doors that Grant is now offering. I want to be able to sit in the doorway without banging my head!

There were a few minor mistakes with the routing. I did most of it right though and took great care to make sure the bulkhead was perfectly aligned where the hatch joins the roof, so everything will be square (theoretically) I keep learning more and more about using a router.

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[drewh1]

I couldn't resist setting it up to see what it looks like - I am pretty happy with the layout of everything so far.

Thanks goodness for half empty paint cans.

My garage is looking small!

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Cooler fits just right!

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I am sure glad I went 5' x 9. and the layout of cabinets feels right.

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[iregan]

Looks awesome!
Have a great trip
Regan

[RandyG]

Looking good! Did those paint cans hold your weight? I know you tried to lay inside, another thing most of us can't resist.

[drewh1]

:thumbsup: Looking good! Did those paint cans hold your weight? I know you tried to lay inside, another thing most of us can't resist.

I am laughing so hard - of course, i tried it out! almost brought a couple of pillows and a pad down. I even put a board up where the shelves in the front sit, just so I could see how that felt. Now I am going to forget about it for a week or so. Hilarious, what a great group!

OH, the big news is, the trailer is on its way! That means I can really make progress when I get back.

[drewh1]

Had an awesome trip - here is a picture of a friend that I met diving.

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Me at 85'

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Look what came right after I got back! Guess you know what i'll be doing this weekend.

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[KCStudly]

Mako or Black Tip?

[drewh1]

He's a blacktip although it looks like the tip of his Dorsal fin might have been lost. Usually there is a black tip on the dorsal fin.

We were spearing lionfish and carrying large bags of them around, so the sharks were quite interested. We had a few nurse sharks that came right up to us and had to be encouraged to move on.

[drewh1]

Well I made some progress and a few mistakes. Nothing disastrous. I planned everything around the trailer being 2 x 2's. Well the NT trailer is 2 x 3's! so I had to route another inch out of my sides. that throws off the counter top placement so I have to move that up 1/2" otherwise my cooler no longer fits. Also, Router went astray on one of the sides but most of it will be under the cabinets Guess there is no other way to learn than through mistakes huh?

Now that the trailer is built and the floor is almost done, most of the heavy lifting is done and I can get on to more detailed and interesting things.

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[drewh1]

So I spent the better part of the fabricating a nice piece to fill in between the frame and the hatch closure. then I looked as some photos of hatches and decided I did this completely wrong. the way that I have set it up, I will need to cover a small 3 1/2 inch piece of wood with aluminum and trim when the area should probably be covered by the hatch. I planned on having the hatch seal on the bottom to the floor and but not go all the way to the bottom of the frame. It seems it would be much simpler to just have the hatch continue all the way down to the bottom of the frame and cut off the filler piece so the hatch can seal against it.

I'd love to get some experienced guidance on how best to do this. Hope the explanation is clear.

here are some photos of how it is now.

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[RandyG]

I think it would work the way you have it now and stop the hatch at the floor. If you ran it all the way down, your latch will be almost under the trailer. And where that bottom piece is would be a good place to mount tail lights or one of those tail light strips and licence plate. But it all depends on what other plans you have. Are you putting your lights into the hatch? What type of latch are you planning? Your hatch area is alot like mine, though I'm not even trying to finish it now, I'm curios to see what others have to say and how you go about it.

[drewh1]

hey Randy -

Having never done this before, I keep running into important details that I just couldn't plan for. So I have to keep modifying my plan. I really appreciate your feedback on this because it made me revisit the problem and see that there are advantages to doing it the way that I have. I had planned on putting the tail lights on the hatch but see a possibility for putting them on this lower section. I also have considered some type of bumper and that would work well this way. I think the latch and the seal will be much more solid ending it at the floor. The negative is the extra detail work in covering such a small section with aluminum. If I had a metal shop, I would fabricate a piece that fit in to the floor joint and became a part of the seal!

I'll sit tight for a few days and look at other plans before deciding but I am leaning towards leaving it the way it is.

[aggie79]

So I spent the better part of the fabricating a nice piece to fill in between the frame and the hatch closure. then I looked as some photos of hatches and decided I did this completely wrong. the way that I have set it up, I will need to cover a small 3 1/2 inch piece of wood with aluminum and trim when the area should probably be covered by the hatch. I planned on having the hatch seal on the bottom to the floor and but not go all the way to the bottom of the frame. It seems it would be much simpler to just have the hatch continue all the way down to the bottom of the frame and cut off the filler piece so the hatch can seal against it.

I'd love to get some experienced guidance on how best to do this. Hope the explanation is clear.

here are some photos of how it is now.

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drewh1,

I used a similar detail to build my hatch and it has worked well. The only difference is that I left the leading edge vertical rather than following the profile. Here you can see a picture of the vertical edge.



Part of the reason for leaving it vertical is that was the only way at the time I could figure out how to seal the gap between the hatch edge and the teardrop. I used a P-shaped seal and capped the flat part with trim.





On the hatch, I also used a P-shaped seal that seats against the flat part of the trim.

In hindsight, I ended up placing a piece of flat aluminum on the hatch to cover the gap. The aluminum projects beyond the edge of the hatch. I probably would have been okay just placing a seal on it rather than using the double P-seals. I don't have a good picture of the flat other than this one that shows the hatch closed and the rubber latches that I use to keep it closed while in transit.



Take care,
Tom

[drewh1]

Tom,

Your photos are super helpful. I am going to go with it the way it is. I do think I need to revisit the seal and probably route it to a vertical shape but now feel much better about the way I did it. Thanks so much for posting them. where did you get the rubber retainers?

I probably already told you this, but I love your build and used it for inspiration for my original design. AND, I need to go through your build thread again . . .

Drew

[drewh1]

More progress but not much to show. I applied the Henry's to my floor. It wasn't messy at all. The weather was about 95 degrees and 0 humidity so it dried almost as quickly as I put it on. I ended up using almost an entire gallon. I feel pretty confident my under floor is water resistant!

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At some point, I realized i needed a trailer hitch on my car. So that was another project, bolting and wiring the hitch on my Lexus. I plan on taking the trailer down and registering before I put the teardrop on it. In California, you can register a utility trailer and they don't count the camper as a permanent part of the trailer! I spent an hour or so towing the trailer around the neighborhood and practicing backing as it has been a while since I parked a trailer.

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So then I bolted the bottom down. NOW, I can get on to more interesting fun and detailed things. The roof is next and I ordered my stargazer window, fan and hatch hinge. I can't wait to start really putting this together.

Wish me luck with the DMV.

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