BEULA - a foam Winter Warrior with aero front

[cpowell243]

Major miscalculation of the hatch that required a rebuild of the upper doors - when swung up to storage position they added 1/ 1/2" between the hatch and body, thus not allowing the hatch to fully close. Dumb mistake but fixable with a chain saw and more vinyl spackle. Also working on the sliding A/C shelf and cargo door.

[RAYVILLIAN]

Good morning Charlie. OPPS. I see the problem in the first pic in the ones you posted last. In one of the PM's you mentioned a 3/4" strip on the hatch. could you increase that to 1 1/2" ,to give room for the top back wall, without effecting the hatch swing geometry to much. Mine has that tall a stub wall on the hatch and the back top wall is mounted just behind. the 1 1/2 stub wall gives enough room for the top back wall with the hatch down. the worst case scenario is having to shorten the back bottom wall to get things to line back up again.

Gary

[cpowell243]

Gary,
Thanks for suggestion. What I did instead is take the upper doors apart and cut an angled notch at the top that allows the door to sit flat on the top of the wall when in the raised position. Wish I could send pics but the trailer is on jacks and the rear wall is only 3' from the back of the garage. No way to get a photo of the rear wall until the trailer is weather-tight so I can roll it out onto the driveway. Been fighting the A/C cargo door, which was 1/4" too small for the unit. Everything has been very slow.
Tomorrow I canvas the upper section of the door, whic is the last of the 8 rear panels. Then paint, then install. Next up is the two side doors, which have windows and door mechanisms. Weather has been good thus far but I need to get Beula weather-tight and outside so we can get our cars in the garage.
Wish I could blame all these problems on somebody else, but they're all of my own making. Not quitting tho.
Charlie

[cpowell243]

For those still monitoring progress on Beula, I have been struggling with the upper rear panels. Had to align hinges and design a system to keep the panels secured against the ceiling when raised. Rear door is askew and need to work on squaring things. Another challenge has been to have the hatch and all five of the lower rear wall sections simultaneously land in their respective positions when the hatch is closed. This project would be so much easier if I knew what I was doing.
Also working on one of the side access doors. Slow but making progress. Once the side doors are installed and rear doors aligned I can take her off the jacks, roll her onto the driveway, and take some pics. Too cramped to get a good shot of the rear in current position.
Ch

[cpowell243]

Upper door panels not fixed and working properly. Rigged a latch system that has the panels secured to the ceiling in the travel position with broom handle hooks attached to the spars and EMT straps attached to the inside of each door. Seems secure. Removed the upper panels for finish work but will take pics when re-installed. Fantastic fan installed. Now only two holes remain before taking it out into the weather - the two side doors. Tough build since openings were not perfectly square, but finally managed to get them to fit.
Side doors built with used doors (thrifty) - doors are 1 3/4" think to allow room for rubber molding when flush with 2" walls. Built them with ripped 1X stock and two layers of Polystyrene - 3/4" and 1").

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[cpowell243]

Oops - meant to say doors are now fixed ( not "not fixed")

[OP827]

Good progress. The doors must be very light , keep it coming! BTW you can come back to your post and fix typos by clicking "edit" button on the upper right side of that post

[RAYVILLIAN]

Good to hear your still at it and making progress. Can't wait to see the pics.

GAry

[cpowell243]

All,
I have installed the side doors and the fan. All rear panels in and appear to fit. I decided to add some gas springs for the hatch after all. Weighs 55 lbs. at the rear and can be lifted but better to lighten it. I will be traveling till 1/4/16 and may pull it out just to take some pics when I get back, depending on weather.

[S. Heisley]

Can you imagine the added weight if it were all plywood?!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

[Mary C]

Good Good I am still watching...............

Mary C.

[cpowell243]

Well... after major effort to calculate force needed using engineering formulas, gas springs arrived and installed. Unfortunately, overestimated lifting power required and the force is too great. Takes too much effort to close the hatch once in the raised position. Pretty nasty weather here right now.
Also finished wiring and have 3-way switches inside each side door as well as a single switch that will operate a rear light inside the back door. Taillights in place and need to be wired.
All moving forward. Beula seems spacious in raised position. Really want to get the trailer back to the trailer shop to finish stabilizing the rear - which had too much give and would put wall-floor joint at risk - and add diamond plate.
All good, just slow and I know absence of pics is frustrating for those following this - will happen.
CH

[cpowell243]

OK- finally doing the update. Been a slog, but upper doors installed and fit. Side doors installed and fit. Lighting installed with 3-way switches on both sides of the bed pedestal. Then had the lower front coated with a rhino-lining like coat for $450.
Next up- latches to hold the top down in front - hinge raises up and creates a gap in the raised position.
Then the interior headboard, battery, gallery, etc.
Then we paint desings on the exterior.

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[cpowell243]

More pix

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[cpowell243]

With the Vortex coating to protect lower front from rocks, etc.

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