Kuffle Creek plans were used. Kept my plans, modified drawings, receipts and manuals in this binder.

Album: Frame
Thanks Mark and Mike! Steel from General Steel. Axel, hub, drums and brakes from Dexter Axel. Tires, wheels, supports, and coupler from Colaw RV Salvage. Jack from Harbor Freight. Chains and receiver from Race Brothers.

Album: Floor
I did not like the steel frame look so I built a wooden frame outside the steel frame. Used 2 pieces of 3/4" poplar all around. Offset the frame from the side edges 3/8" so I could dado the walls into the floor. So far this has held up well and looks good.

Album: Walls
I planned on covering my walls with Aluminum so I ordered two 4' x 10' sheets of AC grade 3/4" birch plywood for my walls but it came in as AA grade maple (good two sides! BONUS!). The maple was so nice I decided to NOT cover it. Covered the outside with 3 or 4 layers of marine spar varnish.

I did not insulate my walls. All of the discussion on the forums of how much better an insulated wall is than 3/4" plywood comes from people moving down from RVs to Teardrops. I am moving up from a TENT to a teardrop and the R-value of 3/4" plywood is SO much better than tent fabric that it's not even comparable.

Dado for floor. Dado for shelf support. Dado for lower bulkhead support.

Album: Flooring
Thanks Classic Floors!

Album: Ceiling
Finished the ceiling panel (orange shellac) and then glued them to the spars. Then we installed the spars with the ceiling connected. This worked very well and was easy. Thanks Uncle Denny!

Album: Bulkheads
Built a 1x2 frame. Filled with foam insulation. Covered both sides with 1/4" plywood. Finished with amber (orange) shellac. Strong and light.

Album: Electrical
I have a pretty simple charge circuit. 12V from the car comes up from the floor into the bottom of the fuse box. I soldered all but one of the fuses to this car power. I put a 20 amp self reseting circuit breaker to the trailer battery. The battery cannot provide more than 20 amps to start the car (this is important when starting the car, you don't want to pull a lot of current from a deep-cycle battery). The car cannot provide more than 20 amps to charge the battery. When the car is disconnected, the battery current goes backwards through the circuit breaker to power the trailer. The battery cannot provide more then 20 amps to the trailer. Each circuit on the trailer is also individually fused.

Album: Roof
The insulation and roof were easy. I was going to mark the wiring location so we didn't brad nail through a wire but I forgot (excuse: the wires were covered by insulation). I would recommend marking these before installing the insulation. So far, no trouble. The power for the galley has not been checked.
We covered the masonite with 3 or 4 coats of marine spar varnish.

Album: Skin
Ron was a big help skinning the trailer. His SS tank trailer experience paid off. The trim I bought from Colaw worked (bent) really well. This experience hurt when it came to trimming the hatch. The trim was harder and I just forced it on. I should have softened it with the torch I bought.

Album: Doors
Made the driver's side door twice. Cutting the aluminum hole for the window the shears jumped upon to the door and took off cross country. Two of us worked for some time and never finished the first door. Start again. It took three of us about 3 hours to make the door the second time. It took two of us about 2 hours the make the next door. We got better with practice.

Album: Hatch
Dreaded Hatch. Trouble (trouble, trouble, trouble) We got trouble (trouble, trouble, trouble). First, the curved pieces did not do well. Then the edge trim straightened the curve. The plywood was applied before we realized the hatch had straightened. So now, it don't fit! Ken suggested using turnbuckles to help straighten it. This works but take up a lot of room.

Album: Fenders & Battery Holder
I found the fenders I wanted on my first trip to Tractor Supply. They had one. I ordered another one. It never came in. After more than a year I called the manufacturer. They don't make them anymore. I bought the one at TSC and they rain-checked the other one for me. It never came in. I finally found a pair of flat-top diamond plate aluminim fenders in town. UPDATE! The new fenders are being manufactured again. I saw them at Atwoods.

Kate helped build the first fender lining and then went off and built the second fender lining by herself. That's my daughter!

Julie & I built a frame to mount the battery box. Julie fell in love with rivets.

License

Now, its official!

Album: Cabinetry
Designed the cabinetry with Google SketchUp.

Maiden Voyage: Going to Colorado. Bike rack installed with 3 bikes on it. Last Fender got installed too.

The Teardrop made it to Colorado and back with only minor problems (if you have the tools).

Problem: The hatch popped open on the way out of town. Our tarp fell out and was stolen (as I walked back to get it).
Solution: Bungie cord (and buy a new tarp).

Problem: Later, a down vest crawled out under the hatch and was found clinging to the bicycles.
Solution: Put down into the sleeping compartment.

Problem: The bike rack pin was improperly inserted and bent and fell out as we reached camp. I had installed a precautionary bolt and it bent but held so no bike damage. Replaced the pin with another bolt which also bent.
Solution: Buy hardened bolts (they held all the way home).

Problem: Driver-side door leaked.
Temporary Solution: Installed some aluminum angle over the door to act as drip edge.
Permanent Solution: Install the actual drip edge.

Problem: Hatch leaked on the drivers-side end of the hurricane hinge.
Solution: Installed a small piece of seal.

Problem: The Police pulled us over in Canon City. He could not see our brake lights because of the bicycles. No ticket (thankfully).
Temporary Solution: Removed one wheel and turned another and the brake lights were clearly visible.
Permanent Solution: Need to add another brake light on the top of the hatch and brake light on fenders.

Problem: The trailer wiring plug fell out on the way home (improperly seated). Fortunately it flipped over the tongue before it was destroyed.
Temporary Solution: A little wire, a little solder, some heat-shrink tubing, and some electrical tape and we were on the road.
Permanent Solution: Replace this cable.