New Kitten, Steak and Headliner

It's been a few days since my last update - we've been so busy with the trailer and honestly I've been so exhausted every night, I haven't had the energy to post. But, I've found some tonight. 

First, as you may have heard from other social media, I've adopted a new kitten from my dad's brood and will be taking her home to Ohio with the rest of my kids. Her name is Tupelo, she's probably 3-4 months old and is a Siamese mix. Integrating her didn't immediately go as smooth as I expected since Simon (8 months) was quite jealous but by putting Statler (1 yr.) in the middle, they've learned to accept each other. 

I haven't done any fishing yet - which is a shame since there's a nice lake bordering my dad's property. I have enjoyed a few tasty local-ish brews on the dock though. 

Friday night we also visited one of my dad's favorite restaurants - the Mohawk Tavern where we enjoyed amazingly delicious raw oysters, Rib Eyes and seafood. (No food photo because it was in my belly so fast!) It looks like a hole in the wall place but it's actually really good, if you're ever in the Monroe, LA area. 

Saturday morning we were set to start on the headliner and wiring but I realized that the 2.5" long 12v socket outlets I bought were certainly not going to sit properly in the 3/4" ply walls - even with 1/2" insulation and 5mm luan over them. So, we used a newly purchase piece of "amazingly beautiful birch" (1/2") to construct some small outlet boxes for the cabin and galley. The remainder of the birch will be for cabinet doors. 

Then, we got to work on installing the headliner. This is a full 8'x4' sheet of luan with another 21"x4' piece glued on. It runs the length of the trailer from the front to just behind the galley hinge area. It was quite a pain to install. 

We'd originally planned to insert it - mark the 14.5"x 14.5" square for the vent fan - then remove it to make a nice easy cut with the jig saw before reinstalling. However, once we managed to jam the damned thing in there, we decided to just leave it and cut the square in place (as originally suggested in the plans).

Of course, my measurements were a bit off - the 21" piece should've been about 16.25" so we ended up trimming it anyway but in an easier way than removing it entirely. 

So far, the headliner install has been the most difficult and frustrating portion of the build. I walked away several times but eventually we got it done. It was late and pretty dark but here's what it looked like after the install. 

Another view from inside the cabin after installing the headliner. 

We decided to call it a night but I took Amos back out for a nightcap and a test run on the mattress (which was also inserted Saturday before we finalized the headliner). He and I both almost fell asleep, we were so exhausted.

Another view of the interior of the cabin with headliner in the morning. 

It was very rainy Sunday morning - time for some additional photos, some review of the plans and a bit of shopping. Here's the trailer with headliner installed. 

Along with installing the headliner on Saturday - I also ran a good bit of the wiring for the cabin - at least the portions that will be up front and needed to be routed above the headliner and back into the galley to get to the raceway. The bundle below includes 2 strands of Romex (aka "pain the the butt stiff wire with casing") for the bedside light and 12v socket, along with wire for the front running light, vent fan and solar panel. 

The photo below shows the wiring for the aforementioned pieces from above - routed through the roof support spars and out and/or down to the appropriate locations. 

So - since we decided not to try and remove the headliner, I had the pleasure of laying on my back and using the jig saw above my head to cut out a 14.5" x 14.5" square in the luan for the vent fan. It was fairly easy to mark - using a drilled hole in each corner from above but I ended up with saw dust in all sorts of interesting places. Then, I installed the vent fan temporarily just to make sure it fit okay. And I opened it just because.

The vent fan from the interior of the cabin. It will be permanently installed and wired up soon.

Sunday afternoon/evening - after more big box home improvement shopping, we also ran PVC conduit behind the galley cabinets to get all of that wiring down into the raceway. We used 2 3/4" pipes and the third will be used to get the necessary wiring from the raceway into the hatch for the tail lights, rear running light and license plate light. 

I'm waiting to receive a nice fuse box that I ordered online to complete the wiring but for now, here's the mess of wires down from the headliner into the raceway.

Finally, I installed the insulation in between the roof spars - attached with glue and temporarily held in place with tape. 

Oh - we also got a battery and battery box on Friday. Originally we'd planned to install it in the galley next to the cooler because the tongue was pretty short but after some consideration on the weight of the galley (aka we put the battery back there and the whole trailer tilted backwards), Dad constructed some rails out of angle iron and we're going to install it up front after all. It's dropped down a bit to make sure that the Jeep's tailgate will open fully. 

Next up - installing the roof panels, building and wiring the hatch and painting the exterior. I also need to complete the interior finishing for which the plans have changed slightly to allow for more storage. Hoping to finish up on Tuesday or Wednesday before heading home to Ohio. 

Wall Insulation and Cabinet Install

We've gotten a lot more done since the last update. First, I framed the insides of the walls with 1x2 "studs" and 3/4" R-Max 3 insulation. 

Lots of measuring and cutting with the miter saw. 

Insulation in place and attached with Gorilla Glue. (There will be 1/8" luan over the interior of the side panels once the wiring is done.)

I also finished staining the cabinets, counter top and shelves. Again, the red is called Cayenne and the black is Midnight. So far only a small bit of black on the upper shelf bottoms but the cabinet doors will be the same shade (once we actually make those). 

This morning, I cleaned off the trailer from all of our tools and empty Sonic cups, then used the leaf blower to remove the random dirt and sawdust that had accumulated. After that, we installed the marble looking linoleum tiles that my dad had left over from another project. (I also stained the 2x2 side rails Cayenne the other day since they'll be visible inside.)

And then it was time to reattach the side walls. (They're slightly lighter now that the door and window are cut out.)

Looking in through the door and out the other side's window. 

The view from a different angle. 

Next, I started working on installing the cabinets while my dad ran some errands. This is the bulkhead in place from the galley.

This is the bulkhead from the cabin.

Amos worked so hard today that he drank half of my Coke. I think he only stopped there because he couldn't reach any lower in the cup. I've never seen him drink soda before but he's old, so whatever he wants. 

When Dad returned, he helped me finish up the cabinet install which turned into a bit of a jigsaw puzzle with having to trim some pieces because of the framing and insulation on the interior walls. This is the view from the galley, sans cabinet doors. I have room for the battery and cooler on the bottom, a good 16-18" of counter top and cabinets up top that have about 5 1/2" of depth - plenty of room for spices, canned food and whatever else I need.

The cabin side, midway through cabinet installation. The black panel is the bottom of the shelf for storage and TV (someday). Below that, you can see the raceway - which is about 5" tall and will keep the soon to be tangle of wires hidden from view. I attached it with only two screws in the face so I can easily remove it if/when I need to do electrical work.

The cabin cabinet face was installed last - part of it sort of temporary since we'll have to remove a few screws to slide the luan in between the studs/insulation and the cabinet face. We also may need to add some sort of height extension to the cabin cabinet face and the divider that's right behind it, as it appears I made a slight miscalculation when adjusting the original plans for our modifications. (Oops!)

And finally, another view of the interior cabinets from the doorway. 

Next up is wiring, luan paneling the side walls, then working on the headliner.

This has been a lot of fun to do - very challenging and exhausting - but I'm so happy to see it coming together. It's a shame it's below 30 outside or I might just go nap in it now.

Shopping, Cabinets and Stain

Friday was a bit of a shopping day - getting a longer trailer hitch for the Jeep so I can actually open the back gate, looking at electrical components like fuse blocks and bus bars, ordering the interior electrical components (lights, sockets and a 12v electric blanket) and lunch at Waffle House where I gorged myself on Cheese N' Eggs (with cheese grits, bacon and raisin toast) and a side of hash browns, Scattered, Smothered and Covered. 

Later in the afternoon, I enjoyed my standard Friday Happy Hour remotely with friends back in Ohio. 

We also made progress on cutting out the openings in the cabinet pieces. The one pictured here will have a door on the left and house the battery. The opening on the right is for my Coleman cooler to slide in. 

I've gotten quite used to the jigsaw. I'm not sure if I have one at home or not but think I'll be buying one soon if I don't. I've been enjoying the process of building this trailer and have been thinking of all sorts of projects for the house that I'd love to do.

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The galley in temporary positioning - storage below and above and a nice big counter top for my propane stove and food prep. 

Saturday we went to Lowe's to visit their resident paint expert SJ. He helped us find a nice glossy red and a flat black for the exterior paint which will match the Jeep fairly closely. We also got a gallon of Kilz to use for the undercoat and hopefully waterproofing the plywood. 

The glossy red for the exterior can be seen on the left side of the photo below. On the other side (ignore that brownish grey color on the far right) are the stain colors for the cabinets - Cayenne is the red color and the black one is called Midnight. 

The second most challenging cut was the door. Since the piece we cut out will be the actual door, there wasn't a lot of room for error or for cutting into it to get a good angle. A few special drill bits and some precision cutting worked out well though. 

The door will be on the passenger side and have a window - we tested the windows that arrived the other day to make sure they fit. I also had to crank it open just for fun. 

Then we layed the driver's side on top of the passenger side wall, inserted the door and traced the window cut out for that side. I'm only going with one door since this will be a one sleeper but still want a window on both sides for a slight bit of cross breeze. 

Today, I spent nearly the entire day staining the cabinet pieces. It was about 45 degrees out but very rainy so the carport cover was nice but the dampness and wind made it chillier than it actually was. Here's my awesome staining attire.

 The first coat of stain went on well and really brought out the grain in the cabinet grade plywood.

Cabinet pieces after the second coat of Cayenne - a bit shadowy but trust me, they look great!

More cabinet pieces drying from stain. 

I still need to do a second coat of Cayenne on some of the edges and interior edges of the cabinet pieces. One of the shelf bottoms was done in the Midnight color (which kind of looks like burnt wood) and then the cabinet doors and some other minor trim will probably be that color too. 

I also have some work to do on the interior of each side panel - installing 1x2 studs and insulation before we re-mount the sides and install the cabinets permanently. After that, we have wiring, roof/ceiling and the hatch to complete. 

Visible Progress!

After two days of mostly structural work, Rolbak is finally starting to look like a Teardrop. You'll have to wade through the structural stuff like we did before you can see the good stuff. (Or scroll down, if you're lazy.)

Wiring of the rear running lights (red) completed, grounded and clipped up well.

Then we countersank the flooring/subfloor to fit over the 3/8" bolts in the trailer frame.

Frito was very helpful through the floor installation part. She held everything down and only required pets for payment. 

Sometimes you have to fix the tools ... the miter saw had quite a jam of sawdust that was preventing it from lifting up. (Amos was helping.)

We added 2x4 supports under both ends to round out where the trailer frame ends and where the floor extends in each direction. A little extra support, at least in the front. 

We ended up with quite the sandwich - 1/2" ply floor, 1x2 framed subfloor and 2x4s as support/evening out the frame.

Then we started drill and countersinking holes to attach the side walls to the frame and for the roof spars. (Again, Amos is helping.)

The next morning, we were ready to put the sides on temporarily to make sure they're even and to start measuring, cutting and dry fitting cabinets. First side is up!

Both sides, with two temporary spars holding them apart 48". 

Looking through ... 

The cabin, with Amos for scale. 

Next, we started cutting 3/4" plywood for the cabinets, galley and bulkhead. The circular saw proved to be a complete pain so we used the jigsaw and came up with some clever guides to ensure we had straight lines. By the end of the 7 or 8 pieces we had it down to a science. 

The bulkhead in place (ugly side out towards the galley since it will be the cabinet back). 

Making sure there's room for the cooler and battery box in the lower galley cabinets. 

That lower cabinet face will get cut out to allow the cooler to slide in and out. Then we'll make a door on the left side for access to the battery. The counter is also in place as well as the front of the upper galley cabinets which will also be cut for cabinets and doors. 

The view from the cabin, showing the electrical raceway (that small shelf in the middle). The bulkhead will show through to the cabin and the portion above the raceway will have another piece (or two?) in front of it for the cabin cabinets which will be above my feet. 

Another view from inside the cabin with the raceway positioned in place. 

Now, onto sanding down the cabinet edges, marking their final locations and then we'll take the sides down to finish the insides of them and cut templates for the hatch ribs.