Superlegerra -ish 5x9 foamy - First Trip!

[lthomas987]

There hasn't been any progress since I got it into the garage in a spot where we can park both cars in the garage too. This is because it has rendered the garage nearly impossible to work in. Or walk in. Or get to the trash cans with the cars in the garage. So I have spent the past while on deferred indoor chores.

I am off work from 12/31 until 1/5 and while the temps outdoors will be too cold to work I am considering trying to canvas and paint my door in the house. And if that goes ok I might do the hatch next.

Otherwise I am stuck until temps come up enough to glue and paint in the garage (March if this year is any indication)

[kudzu]

Move it inside! Toss down a drop cloth & have at it. Your build looks so good & is so close to being campable it would be a shame to have to wait out the entire Winter with no work on it.

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Laura, sounds like you MAY have to take the winter off for what you want to do.....drats. Use the down time to plan a future camping route, or finishing touches to the interior. Hope you are able to keep going on it though. Best wishes on working it out!
Joanie

[lthomas987]

I don't really have much of an update or foamy news but I do have this! The foreman out for a ride in his custom bike foamy. My friend dropped by while I'm at work and hitched the trailer to her bike and took my dog out. Is she my friend? or his? Hard telling I guess.

[S. Heisley]

Love the "mud spaniel" pic!
He has grown some since the avatar pic.

[lthomas987]

Well winter is coming to an end here. And I hope to re-arrange the garage soon to get the trailer to where I can work on it. Having squeezed everything in in the most compact way all winter I am pleased to say that no damage was done to the trailer during the winter despite cars having to park within inches of it.

UNTIL.. I needed to get something out of the garage that was between the trailer and the wall last week. (I needed a big table to break down half a hog on) In this process I lost my balance and leaned on the hatch which was just barely tacked on with some screws and webbing straps to hold it in place for shaping.

I hadn't covered it yet. So it snapped off at one of the kerfs. Just cleanly all the way across. I am hoping to get after it with some gorilla glue and see if I can get it back together this weekend. If so... next weekend I'll start the canvassing process, so it is less fragile, and also so I am closer to done. Pictures will come when I do the work.

[lthomas987]

Well filial duty prevented much progress but I did get the hatch parts glued back together.

Tomorrow I hope to fix a few dings before it gets too cold to work again. Apparently first spring is over and it is time for second winter.

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Hi Laura!
I'd send you some of our end of winter if I could. We had the BEST winter ever (i.e. very dry, little to no snow pack) and the last two days of it were are warm as any of our coastal summer days can get. Now that the weekend has come bringing springtime, we got a sprinkling of rain last night, and some coming down lightly today. My husband and I have been planning our TD trips, and just this morning discussed what we need to do to the trailer.....have the wheel bearings repacked came up as number 1.

I hope you'll keep plugging away, and working around the weather. I love seeing the picture with the dog. They sure do enjoy going for rides, don't they??
ttfn,
Joanie
The Teardrop Nanny

[lthomas987]

So the weather improved and spring came and I didn't start right back in on the foamy.

I have been distracted over the winter Zeeker, aka the shop foreman, and I started taking agility classes. So spring came and I started welding weave pole bases. But not one set... 3 sets, with a sad underpowered welder, and a sad under skilled welder (me). It is getting better. So that's been taking up the garage for a while.

Also over the winter the bikedrop (linked in my signature) got dropped on the lighly tacked in place all foam hatch on the trailer. So that necssitated some repairs. While trying to get it off and ready to repair it then SPLIT entirely across a kerf.

This is what deserve for not bringing it in and canvasing at least ONE side.

Thank goodness my hatch is foam. So I glued the kerf back together and let that set for a while. Sanded teh outside, then attacked it with lightweight spackle. Got all the wear and tear patched up. And yesterday I finally canvased teh outside of the hatch.

Today I am about to go flip it over (off the forms I gently strap clamped it to overnight while the glue set) and sand out the inside and canvas that too. Prefrentially I would have done the outside first, but wit the couple of incomplete splits along other kerfs I wanted it all stablized before I moved on.

I fear this will negatively impact my wrapping of the edges, but if they don't go nicely I'll trim them back and go wth bias canvas again. It has worked great everywhere else!

With any luck at all by the time I have to leave to take the foreman to flyball practice the inside will be ready for canvas and tonight I can do that before bed.

[lthomas987]

Well it hasn't been the most productive of summers in regards to the trailer, but I did make a bunch of progress in the last two weeks. My all foam hatch is fully painted. For those who have forgotten (I wouldn't blame you... I sort of have.) My whole hatch is made of 1.5" foam, which I kerfed and glued into shape. I covered it in floral linen like the rest of the project. Then bias linen tape for the edges. This is one act I might regret, not for construction reasons but for "Dang it I am getting done!" reasons. I went and cut my tape all sloppy and freehand while sitting in my living room this time and it really shows. It's got bits of not wide enough and bits of wobbly edge and bleh.. but it is on and covered. Done is better than perfect. Also I have some doubts about the survivability of a 99% foam and fabric hatch. I have some backing blocks in it where screws are going but I wonder strongly about how it will hold up in the wind. Over the past two days I have primed and painted. Blue on the outside, white on the inside, just like the rest of the trailer.

Next up getting the hinge ready and installed. I have the plastic living hinge stuff. So I need to go pre-drill my aluminum backer strips, then the hinge. Then it's RV putty tape, and screws and the hatch will be on.

Test fitting indicated that it is going to seal really well. I just have to figure out the bottom lip meeting the bumper area. (which seals light tight ok but there is no seal there yet and the hatch wasn't REALLY screwed on and blah blah

Then I just need a door to be campable.

I am considering my door options. I have one built of foam and wood blocks and shaped to fit the opening pretty well. But I don't have an interior jam. So I am considering the option of putting some plywood on the outside larger than the opening, putting the seals on there, and calling it a day. Anybody got thoughts on that? Or really easy door ideas? (alternately I forgo a mattress for the trailer this year and buy a door. (I have a $20 queen sized inflatable air bed I could use in there anyhow)

Pictures tomorrow I hope!

[S. Heisley]

Glad to see you're back on it!

[GPW]

Interior trim pieces around the door might serve as a door jamb ... Got current pictures ... ???

QUOTE: "Also I have some doubts about the survivability of a 99% foam and fabric hatch. “ (Doubting Thomas) Sometimes I have my doubts about ANY unsecured hatch in the wind ...

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Hi Laura, Glad to see your update:
And, No, I haven't forgotten...... Life just has a way to happening to get in the way of building sometimes!!
Not an expert on doors, but if that's what it takes to get you through it, (your alternate suggestions in the above post), then do what you can to have it ready, especially if you don't mind sleeping on a blow up mattress!!
Best to you, and keep pushing on,
Joanie
TDN

[lthomas987]

I took my foam cut out from the hole, and trimmed it down, added wood on both edges, as well as a wood block for the lock set and wood plugs for the hinge leaf.

I then sanded and punctured both sides.



Glued a piece of plywood over it that overlaps on 3 of the 4 sides (not the hinge side). The foreman graciously allowed me to use his kibble as weight.


The door was then canvassed (no photos of that process because it was super tricky to get all the corners folded.



It fits a bit snugger than I would ideally like before paint. I hope to paint this week and give it a nice long dry time before installing it.

I don't think I have posted pictures of my hatch yet either have I? I built it all out of foam you know!

[lthomas987]

Here's some updated but not fully up to date photos of my hatch

Here it is covered in linen. You can see I did a really mediocre job cutting my bias strips...I just wasn't into it for some reason that night an I should have just let it go. But in the end wobbly edges won't matter as long as the foam is covered (and it is)




It got primed with Glidden Gripper.


And painted to match blue outside, white inside.


I'm using this double bulb seal from McMaster to seal the edges. It is just about as wide as the wall of the foamy it's stuck to. I am very happy with it thus far anyhow.


The whole thing is actually installed now with a living hinge, grey putty tape, and aluminum strips and all. I will try for some photos of that soon. I was surprised I didn't have any actually. The only problem so far is that the hatch weighs so little that it doesn't compress the seal with its own weight. So it will be the job of the latches to hold it closed. Right now the seal pushes up on it enough that it is about 3-4" away at the bottom when just hanging unsupported. It does close with a very small amount of pressure to compress the seal.