I had great plans for yesterday but not much happened.  That lurking beast (work) needed some attention so I did my website development thing for about 10 hours.

Senior Management and I did get the floor on the trailer and I got some paperwork taken care of for tomorrow’s inspection.

Today, I got my temporary transport license to transport the chassis to be inspected by the State Patrol.  Once, this process is over, I am tempted to post all of the steps required to get a home-made trailer licensed and titled in the state of Washington.  In my planning for this project, I never found a good resource on this.

I plan to cut out the walls today, do a last minuite inspection of the trailer chassis to make sure it will pass tomorrow’s inspection, and perhaps work more on my electrical schematic.

Yesterday I got quite a lot done (although it doesn’t look like much).  I went through the cycle of painting the bottom of the floor four times with Rust-oleum and then putting automotive undercoat on it.  It turned out quite well. I have added photos of the process to Body:External.

I also finished a wiring issue I had with the chassis and replaced the wire nuts that came with my light kit with splice clips.  The clips are much more secure and reliable.

I started diagramming the electrical for the body.  I’ve had it in my head but I need to get it on paper so when I start wiring I won’t screw something up.  When my diagram is done, I’ll post it.

Last night, I went to enjoy two of my other passions.  Bicycles and photography.  My neighbor (and one of my former students) is on a race team.  He is quite a good rider (avg about 25 mph).  He had a race last night and I went and shot about 500 photos.  He was in the same race as someone who I will have as a student this coming school year.  My future student actually won the race and changed categories to Elite.  It was a fun night.

Crit ride

Today, I have some paperwork to finish for the chassis inspection on Friday, I’d also like to start cutting out the profile in the wall pieces and putting in the wall framework.  We’ll see how it goes.

I am having a pretty bad reaction to the airborne wheat this morning and I’m feeling sluggish.  It is time for lots of medicine and something to make the medicine work faster.  That means it is Hammer Time.

Hammer Time

The jPod build had its share of surprises yesterday.  We got the floor all glued up and drilled for bolts to the chassis and I glued up both sidewalls.

At one point, I chose to go to lunch.  Since I was hungry and it was 92 degrees outside, I took an hour for lunch.  When I came back, there was a sprinkler on the neighbor’s lawn that had soaked all of my stuff.  The trailer floor was soaked and warping, one of the walls was soaked, my router sat in a pool of water with my clamps and a saw.  Luckily the chassis is completely ready for weather because it too was dripping.

I was a bit peeved (understatement).  I shut off the sprinkler and let my gear dry out.  No one lives in that house right now and there are people taking care of the yard.  I let them know what I thought of their plan to water the lawn (“good it needs it”) and then what I thought of their plan to water my router (“[insert what you would be thinking here]“.

The good surprise is that I straightened the floor and it turned out good (after its watering) and it even fits the chassis of the trailer perfectly.  Excellent.

I’ll test my tools today.  I left them out on the hot concrete to dry.  I also plan to start painting the floor, route some countersink holes for my chassis-to-floor bolts, and draw my profile out on the walls.  At some point, I need to sit down and do a bit more diagramming for the electrical aspect of the trailer.

Hopefully, today goes better than yesterday.  If it doesn’t, someone is going to get hit by an actual flying hammer and then I’ll have some more medicine and coffee.

My blog has seen a dramatic increase in traffic since last Thursday.  This is because I finally exposed myself to the largest forum of teardrop builders in the world.  Welcome to all of the mikenchell viewers.  This forum has been invaluable in the planning of the jPod and I thought I’d share it with the world (find my thread here.  I am the greekspeedoman – long story).  To give a small example of the activity…

Last Thursday night I had about 75 hits on this blog.  This morning (Monday) I have 1,032 hits.  These tear droppers are serious and I am happy to show them the project they helped inspire.  Now for something completely different…

Yesterday, I glued the floor together.  You can see the latest on Body: External.

My mother, Senior Management, and I found a tear for sale in Spokane and went to see it.  It was really worn out, bent frame and pretty frightening inside.  The owners have been storing their motorcycles in it and it is trashed.  Now I have a goal: Make a trailer that is better than that one.

Some of the Mikenchell people have been asking for my drawings of what I think I want the trailer to look like.  I have posted the external body drawing on Body:External and my final chassis drawing  on Chassis .  This is the plan that Senior Management and I have discussed and come up with.  It may change but this seems to be the definite direction we are going.  There are many drawings out there that are made with CAD.  I wanted to do that but I also want to build a trailer.  You’ll have to be conent with my drawings.  The only drawing that is to scale, so far, is on the Body:External page.  To bait your interest, here is a preliminary plan for the jPod (it is not to scale).

I finished the Chassis today.  I got the lights hooked up and working on the first try and put all of the hardware, that didn’t need painting, on.  I need to tie up the wires and I am done.

Washington State Patrol called today to get a trailer inspection done next week.  I am very pleased with their turn around time (much faster than I expected).  So I have a bunch of work to do before I can have it inspected.  You can read more about this inspection on the Chassis page.

So…On to the Body.  I’m taking tomorrow off and then I’m right back to it on Sunday.

I bought most of the wood for the basic trailer and brought it home.  I am pleased that I could haul it all on or in the Jeep without the back end of the Jeep sagging too much.

Loaded with all of the wood for the basic trailer

Today, I finished painting the chassis (4 coats).  I decided to put 5 coats on the fenders since they each stick out 9 inches on either side of the Jeep are are likely to take a beating.  I also decided to undercoat the fenders.  I put in brackets for the lights and plan to wire it up tomorrow.

It has been really windy today (50+) and there is a lot of wheat in the air so I have called it a day, taken all my drugs, and put on my dust mask for the evening.

I got a big shipment of components today (Pictured).  It feels like christmas and it also feels like I have a lot of work to get done.  It looks promising that the trailer chassis will be completely painted today and wired for lights.

The new order from Poorman's Bargain Barn

I purchased a switch and some 10 gauge wire to wire the Jeep so we can charge the jPod while we drive.  I need to find a time to run those wires.

It is about 90 degrees out right now and almost too hot to think.  I plan to weather out the heat inside by doing some research for our up coming anniversary (6 years).  If things go well, I will decide what Senior Management will get as an anniversary gift.  This time may also let my body recover from being outside in the wheat-toxic environment.  Two birds with one stone.

Yesterday I shopped for all sorts of supplies.  I live an hour from town so I wanted to get everything I’d need at once.  When I start my build of the Body, I don’t want to have to worry about supplies. I also think I have figured out a way to make my Jeep hubcaps fit on the wheels so I purchased that hardware as well.

Our Green Bluff Strawberries

I was a bit delayed yesterday because Senior Management and I decided to go pick strawberries.  We picked 25 lbs of berries and followed it up with some milkshakes.  Then I had to do all of those normal tasks (change the oil in two cars and two lawn mowers etc).  I got one more coat of paint on the trailer last night.  It looks good.

Today, I hope to get some more housework and yard work done while I paint the trailer again.  I also hope to have the trailer lights on by the end of the day.

I finally made a blog of this project.  It is -in part- to document the process like many other people out there have done and partly for my dad.  He is currently riding his bicycle across the United States to raise money for American Lung.  This blog can be a way for him to keep up on the progress I may or may not be making on the jPod.  If you’d like to help sponsor my dad’s trip, his site is found here.

Mom came out to see it today.  She liked it, which is good.

So far, I have finished all of the welding on the Chassis and plan to put the chains and lights on it and paint it today.  I may also start the floor.  We’ll see…