Let There Be Light!

Yesterday, I had a guy come by and weld the angle braces to the vertical frame studs that I had to cut to put the window in. Once the angle braces were welded in, I was anxious to get the windows mounted today. I started off sawing out the exterior panelling. I started on the curb side, and after cutting the whole, I found that the base of the saw had scratched through the protective layer of masking tape, and slightly marred the paint. Most of the marring disappeared with a little rubbing compound, but before I cut the driver side out, I added a layer of tape on the bottom plate of the scroll saw.

The extra tape worked great! Here is the hole on the driver's side, with the tape still good shape.

After the hole was cut, I drilled 3 holes in the angle brace, then mounted the wood frame for the window to the brace with wood screws.

And after the wood frame was screwed to the angle bracket, I temporarily installed the window. I will have to install the wiring, insulation, and interior panelling before the final install of the window, but it was nice to see what the finished look will be.

With the windows and the vent in, the interior is nice and light, plus the breeze through the windows and up through the roof vent make it a lot nicer to work in. Tomorrow, I'll be putting in the wiring for the interior, so I can get started on the insulation, panelling, and the final window mount.

Stay tuned!

Gil

Cut, Chop, and Rebuild

Yesterday, I installed the Fan-Tastic Vent Fan in the roof. It all came out pretty good, and will look great after the completion of the roof lining over the insulation.

Nothing is quite as much fun as taking cutting wheels, drills, and jig saw to your (relatively) new toy. This morning, I started off the day by measuring up the hole for the curbside window. The old adage of "measure twice, cut once" was ringing in my head. It must have confused me, because I ended up measuring about 20 times, using every available formula to determing where the cut lines should be. Out of the 20 times, I ended up with about 4 basic cut lines. Out of the 4, I picked the one line that was the most popular among the 20 attempts, and went for it.

Someone (Prem on the Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers forum) who had done this before recommended using wide masking tape on the aluminum skin of the trailer and marking the cut line on it, then using the jig saw with a longer-than-normal metal cutting blade to cut out the hole for the window. Mark, the parts guy at Wells Cargo Trailer Manufacturing said they put the windows up as high against the top rail as possible, and put a piece of angle iron below the window to stiffen up the side of trailer after the hole is cut.

I took the advice, and marked off the outside for the final hole to fit the window:

Then, after measuring another ten or so times, I drilled a hole next to the cut mark, giving me a reference point on the inside of the trailer:

Then, I went inside and marked the vertical supports to clear the window frame and cut them off with a cutting wheel on a 4 1/2" grinder. I used wooden shims between the aluminum skin and the supports to protect them from the grinder:

Next, I'll fit some 1"angle to span across the trimmed off supports and frame in the window. This should stiffen the side walls to prevent the windows from shaking the skin and loosening the screws.

Tomorrow, I'll have a welder do the angle installation, and finish cutting out for both windows.

Stay tuned...

Gil