Sawtooth XL Build

[DanCooper]

Too Hot To Work

The ambient temperature the last three days has been above 80 during the day, which is too hot to apply the Monstaliner. Today, it was 98 in the direct sun at 1:30. I am hoping it will cool off tomorrow so I can get the coating on. I will start very early in the morning and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, the trailer is ready for the final coatings in terms of sanding, etc, I am going with what I have because, not being a '56 Chevy, it doesn't need to be perfect.

Here it is in its winter house, ready for tomorrow morning.

 

[DanCooper]

Two coats of Monstaliner on it today, and I am headed home in the morning.











I was tempted to stay and finish it, but the Monstaliner is really supposed to cure for 7-10 days. My brother will finish the "garage" and secure it firmly against the wind and other weather.

Thanks for watching, and I will be back next summer to get it finished and on the road.

 

[DT75FLH]

It's almost summer....when will you get back to it?....

Looks like it's coming along great

 

[DanCooper]

I am planning to head back down to the Small States on June 3rd. Travel conditions permitting, I should be back on it no later than the 10th.

I haven't been doing much to further the project this winter. I made some brackets to hold the lights on the sides of the trailer near the doors, bought a converter, etc. I'm trying to finish up the rebuild of a 1980 BMW R80/7 that is taking far too long and far too much money. But it has been very interesting, not to mention a lot of fun. Here is the build thread on that.

And here is its current state:

 

[Quietas]

Watching with interest. Once you get back to Anchorage I'd love to see the trailer in person. A friend and I are planning to build a couple teardrops and Sawtooth has been in the back of my mind quite a while.

 

[DanCooper]

Watching with interest. Once you get back to Anchorage I'd love to see the trailer in person. A friend and I are planning to build a couple teardrops and Sawtooth has been in the back of my mind quite a while.

Thank you. I'm leaving June 3 to get it finished. I plan to take it to the NW Overland Rally in Plain, WA on June 15 (I've scheduled its licensing inspection for that morning in Port Angeles). I have a lot of work to do on it in a very short time.

 

[DanCooper]

Arrived back in Poulsbo to finish the trailer today. When I arrived at the site where I left it, I was met with some baaaaad news: mold. Every surface except that covered by Monstaliner has mold at least on the surface. That includes all the interior surfaces covered with Varathane and the galley areas which were covered with epoxy.

My plan is to order some RMR-86 tomorrow with expedited shipping so I can get it quickly. I had hoped to have it done enough to take it to the NW Overland Rally on the 15th, but this may set me back. Meanwhile, I will try to get all the wiring done which is mostly what I need for the vehicle inspection and registration process.

I will take some photos tomorrow of the interior and galley. Kind of a bummer, but not the end of the world.

 

[stomperxj]

If the wood is sealed already won't bleach take care of that Dan?

 

[DanCooper]

Building a trailer is a great teaching experience in how little one can actually control in their life. I ordered the mold remediation product with expedited delivery for yesterday. And yesterday I started searching for a full face respirator to wear while applying it in the confines of a teardrop trailer. I mean chlorine vapors, who wants THAT in their eyes or lungs.

UPS had a "UPS Trailer delay" so no product yesterday. Likewise, searching the local area revealed that, at least in the local area, all full face respirators are special order. So I ordered one. Maybe today, more likely tomorrow.

The only reason the above is painful is that I am dragging this thing to the NW Overland Rally on Thursday, and I would have liked it to be further along/nearly finished by then. It is what it is. However, yesterday I obtained the Washington State Patrol Inspection request and trip ticket yesterday to get it weighed on Wednesday and inspected on Thursday. (I also had a tire repaired on the Subaru. Everything seems to be a time suck).

While waiting, I am wrapping up other items. The doors are finished and ready to hang.



And I am working on the wiring. After building a seven wire pigtail and dragging it through some conduit under the trailer, I wired up the fuse box for the cabin electrical items.





I will clean up the dangling wires with some wire loom in a bit.

I will take some photos of the rest of the wiring today while waiting to get on the mold remediation. And I will do some before and after photos on the mold situation. Also on the rear galley hatch on which I have been working installing more galley lights etc. Hoping for lots of progress today with more photos. As we all know, if there are no photos, it did not happen.

 

[stomperxj]

Doors look good Dan. Hopefully all your ordered items show up tomorrow-

 

[DanCooper]

Mold.







In the continuing saga of the not-yet-received RMR-86, United Parcel Service still has not delivered. Hmmm. 2 Day Air is now in its 4th day. This is starting to be like the time I shipped a motorcycle battery to Kyrgyzstan via DHL and it went to every DHL hub in Europe at least twice before it was ejected from the whirlpool three weeks later in Osh. Have you noticed that it is impossible to find a person with whom you can correspond about these types of issue, much less actually talk too? Of course being angry or upset will not cause the stuff to be delivered any sooner, and the delivery date is completely out of my control.

I've been working on the electrical systems most of the day. The underside.





Rear distribution bar and a shot of the rear with taillights in and wired. The only wiring left in the rear is for the license plate light and the power to the upper fuse panel. I have to run the wire for that inside the cabin, so I can't do that until I remediate the mold.



View attachment 405028



Front fuse panel for all the running/tail/turn lights and brakes.



The battery goes in next and the ACR and converter. Then I will finish up the galley hatch and lower rear hatch. I'm stymied by the late delivery. I can't do anything involving the cabin interior until I get rid of the mold. Major bummer.

Sorry that there are two sideways photos. Can't figure out how they get that way, nor how to fix them.

 

[stomperxj]

So sorry to see that Dan. Hopefully it scrubs off easy.

 

[DanCooper]

I put in a solid 12 hours yesterday trying to get ready to take the trailer to the NW Overland Rally today. That is not going to happen. The best I can hope for is tomorrow.

In the "good news" department all the electrical for the running gear went in and works very well. All of the cabin wiring is in except for the fixtures as I'm still hanging fire on the mold remediation. It also tows very well. I taped the transit permit on the back and towed it into Bremerton for its weigh-in: 1080 pounds. The doors are on and all the hatches installed. However, the weather stripping has yet to be installed (the mold issue again) for final fit. Finally, in the "good news" section, the RMR-86 for the mold remediation arrived at 5:15 last night.

In the "not-so-good" news, the full face respirator did not arrive yesterday so I couldn't start spraying right away. I inadvertently confirmed that a full face respirator is required when opening the packaging. The bottle leaked a small amount during transit (well contained by at least six levels of plastic bagging) and when I opened the final bag, some of the vapors got into my eye. That is some strong stuff. ANoher not-so-good discovery is that the windows are too deep for the wall thickness, so I will make spacers today to make the wall thicker. I looked at Home Depot for a wall embiggening tool, but couldn't find one. I did not get the t-molding and weather seal on the rear hatch either. That's not so good because today I have to drag the trailer to Port Angeles for its Washington State Patrol inspection. I will put some Gorilla Tape on the seams to keep the moisture out because, yes, it is raining here today.

Only two photos today, as yesterday I was just too busy to stop. The first is the rear with the lower hatch on. The second is after its weigh-in. The car still has Alaska Highway dirt on it.

 

[DanCooper]

Inspection and Registration

Yesterday we, the trailer and I took a drive in the rain to the Washington State Patrol in Port Angeles for inspection and registration. I had to tape up the seams where the t-moulding has not been installed. During the drive, I had plastic over the windows too. At the inspection.



Headed back to Poulsbo, I encountered the only sunshine of the day. Fortunately, it was in a rest area.



Right after this I stopped at a Home Depot and bought some Gorilla Tape and resealed everything for the rainy drive home.

It rained the rest of the day. I put the trailer back in its shelter so it could drip dry. Later in the afternoon, I received a call from Peninsula Fire and Safety that the full face respirator was in so I drove into town and bought it. All pieces are in place for mold remediation today. I need a rain break so I can roll it outside the shelter before I start pumping chlorine vapors all around.

 

[DanCooper]

. . . when a plan comes together.

So you don't have to scroll up, here is the before:



I prepare to apply RMR-86.



After application of the RMR-86 followed by the application of the "botanical" odor eliminator.







The mold remover worked just as advertised. The whole process from start to finish was about an hour. If I had used a tank sprayer instead of the little hand sprayer it would have been much faster. I used most of a 32oz. bottle of the RMR-86.

Tomorrow the entire inside gets a coat or two of either KILZ or varathane, depending on what the final finish will be. No more mold if I can help it.

Meanwhile, I also worked on the weather proofing for the galley hatch which I hope to finish tomorrow.