45. (A) Utility box

Joe found this utility box on sale at Gebo's for $99. He thought about painting it silver or blue, but we all kind of like the way it matches the black trailer frame and shell trim.

44. (B) Hatch

Ron fabricated and installed the hatch on Bravo. He'd been dreading this part of the project but made pretty short work of it. He used hardwood for the rails and birch ply for the skin, and will cover the exterior w/aluminum.

43. (C) Top

I got the top installed on the Charlie Model. It was cut oversized 2" on each side to allow for error in alignment, then trimmed with snips.

42.Fourth Texas Tear Drop started.

Fourth Texas Tear Drop started

Stan, a friend of Joe’s, has started the fourth teardrop. Stan has been watching Rodney’s Blog and decided that he wanted to join in on the fun. Stan has a great shop for the project. He was bitten by the Teardrop Bug and could not wait to get started on the construction of the frame. He and Joe purchased the metal and axel just a few days ago. Stan has started framing the trailer.

Stan was showing us around the shop and gave us a lesson with a plasma cutter. “WOW, that is one great tool” said Joe. He was going to have to get a little more milk out of the cows before he can afford a new plasma cutter.

41. Alpha Trailer test drive

Joe is pretty much finished with this project. Yesterday, he hooked it up and pulled it around the block for a test spin. This is a beautiful trailer.

40. Charlie gets skinned

Today was a pretty big day for my trailer (the Charlie Model). With Ron & Joe's help, I got the interior hull liner finished out, I got the insulation shaved down smooth, and cut and installed the aluminum skin to the trailer front and top. Here, Ron is welding lugs to the bottom of my trailer for the skin brackets to bolt to.

We are using the same innovative skin attachment system that Ron developed for the Bravo Model. (see post #34). Today, his system finally made sense to me.

39. Antique tin snips

Today Joe & Ron introduced me to an old family heirloom. Some time ago they inherited Grandpa's tin snips, which are highly prized as they have been in the family for generations. Joe brushed off some rust and found some Egyptian heiroglyphics which we couldn't decipher. They worked pretty good, and I was able to get the aluminum cut, but by the time we were done, my hands and knees felt like antiques.

38. License plate recess

We thought it would be a nice detail to recess the license plate holder into the body. All three trailers will get this treatment.

37. Tailgates

Took advantage of the beautiful weather on Saturday and worked outdoors, building tailgates and license plate recesses until way past dark.

36. Happy New Year

Here's a comparison between the Charlie and Alpha interiors. I just got the side walls up on the Charlie model, and Alpha is almost completed.

Our good friend Gary Guinn stopped by and kicked the tires and gave a brief guitar lesson.