No doubt about it.....I need to get a bigger garage!

Over the recent holiday weekend, I was able to pick up the newly-painted trailer frame from Roger's place.  It looks great and so it was only fitting that wood would be next.  It was over to Greg's after a visit to the lumber yard to cut the wood to dimension and then home again to wait for Saturday.

Beau-teous!  Roger does great work!

A truck to haul the wood......thanks Merrill's!

So today was the big day which I have been planning for sometime now.  From now on, January 25th should be known as Floor Day!  Let the fun begin....!!

Let there be wood...current time:  10:30am.

Last weekend, Greg and I cut the wood ribs to match the frame tubing from 10' two-by-fours.  We also cut the floor sheeting to the exact dimensions necessary.  With the wood pre-cut it seemed that assembly would be a "simple" matter...but it still took all all day.

Doubling the rim frame...clamp it...

...drill it....

...glue it...

...assemble it and repeat. 

The photo above shows all the wood frame members laid out in preparation for the cutting in of the wheelwells.  All the measurements were triple-checked for accuracy including a trip over to storage to verify the wheelwell dimensions.

Street side half first...

...then the curbside half.

At this point the rim frame was drilled, glued and screwed to the floor halves.  This went quickly as positioning was easy - flush to the outside edge.  The next step involved careful fitting of the interior frame pieces so in the end the assembled floor can be removed from the trailer frame for waterproofing.

The sun kept moving...after 2pm it was cooling off quickly. No time for lunch.

Both sides aligned and ready for the drilling-gluing-fastening routine.

Adding the last 16" to the floor.

The floor is nearly finished...good thing 'cause so is the daylight!

Fitting the trailing edge frame piece came next followed by the leading edge plate.  This was offset forward to accommodate the angle cut at the lower front edge of the roof.  This is the same place where a lot daylight was visible when I first looked at the trailer.  It will be thoroughly waterproofed when the time comes to undercoat the floor to prevent this from taking place again in the future.

Trailing edge assembled.

Fitting and clamping the leading edge plate.

Drilled, glued, and fastened together.

Finished up just in time - the day is over!  Current time:  5:30pm.

The leading edge plate and the trailing edge still need to be cut to create the angle for the roof to curve up and over from front to back.  This will take place after the glue has had plenty of time to cure and harden.  The rim frames will also be cut after the undercoating is applied.  I'm leaving them in place while the floor is being man-handled on and off the frame to maintain additional rigidity.  Once the floor is bolted down to the trailer frame, they can be trimmed to their correct length.  But I'm left with one little problem now....where do I park the car???

This is only temporary - otherwise I'll be sleeping out here!

What a day!  I'm bushed!



 Postscript:  I was able to rearrange things tonight so I won't have to sleep in the garage!

It's tight but I made it....with room to spare!

Center stage: Rembrandt, err....Roger!

Soooo......it's finally time for paint.  My friend Roger is just the man for the job.  His shop is at the ready and the frame ready for paint.  Roger will prime and paint the frame over the next few days.  I hope to have an exciting update on the weekend!

Wheels off....

....and ready for primer.

Late breaking update:  The primer was applied today and everything went well in the process.  It's time for the primer to harden overnight; the first coat of paint goes on tomorrow afternoon.  The second coat is estimated to be applied either on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.  Could flooring be on the horizon??

I Love Welding!

Sorry for the delay but there were a few holidays that had to be dealt with.  Namely.......... Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  With those out of the way, not to mention a huge work project completed, it was time to finish up the welding of the gusset plates.  An early morning text from my friend Mitch was all the advance warning I needed!

First across the trailing edge and up each corner...

...down the streetside...

...and around the curbside...

...and across the top.

I hope we don't have to flip the frame over too many more times!

The finished product

If welding could be art, this should be in the Louvre!

The frame was then hitched up and driven across town to Roger's place and placed into his shop before it began to drizzle  After all the work to get the frame cleaned and ready, rust is NOT in order.  Then, with shopping list in hand, the necessary materials were purchased.  Thanks to the folks at S & B Automotive Color.  T-minus 48 hours and counting until paint day!

Whew...the fumes are bad enough but the price of paint is more outrageous!