I started this trailer build in early December 2007, with the intention of towing it behind my street rod to go to car shows. The crowds at the host hotels are getting too large, and you never get a good night's sleep for fear that some drunk will damage your car. The savings in hotel costs was also a factor. The two photos above is where I stated the build. The most complicated part was the doors. I made a jig from a piece of 3/4 inch thick particle core plywood to weld the frame around. The same jig was used for the left and right side by just flipping it. I've never done it like this, and found that the fumes from the burning wood made the welds a bit dirty.


The windows were ordered from E-Bay and were "New Old Stock". I had these for a few weeks before I started, because it determined how wide the doors were going to be. I was lucky to find these, because they saved me a few hundred bucks!! The left side is shown with some of the polystyrene insulation and ribbing. If you look closely, you can see the "T" nuts to hold the fenders on have been installed. It's little things like this that save a lot of time later on. You basically have to know exactly how the project will fit together before you start.


Once I had the sides made, I put them away and started to build the frame. I didn't know how long the frame was going to be until the sides were done. Here you can see my "Junior Apprentice" Kyle, bolting down the axle for me.The two black arms in the corner of the frame are support jacks. These are used to level the trailer, as well as to take the weight off of the suspension so the whole thing doesn't bounce when parked.


This smoky picture was taken just after final welding of the frame. The plywood floor was installed and everything got a few coats of primer and paint. I used Tremclad on most of the frame because it wont be seen, and it's a lot cheaper than automotive paint.


The sides are now being installed. They are riveted on the sides, and epoxied everywhere else. These will never come off. The green tape was to ensure that I didn't get epoxy all over the floor and walls. Kyle and "Lucky" are testing the layout to see how much room we'll have. During this whole build, I couldn't keep my dog out of it. He thinks I'm building a dog house with wheels!!!


Getting the tailgate design was a bit tricky!! It was one of the few details I hadn't engineered until it was time to build it. The basic frame was made from plywood ribs with hardwood caps.I kept it clamped and screwed in place for fear of having it not fit properly later on. I wanted a tight even gap all around.


The 3/8 plywood I used for the outer skin is called "wiggle board", because it's manufactured in such a way that it can be bent into a tight radius. This was epoxied and screwed into place. The right picture shows a rabbet that I machined into the edge of the tailgate. This is so a strip of 3/32 aluminum can be placed in so the edge will be thin. I didn't want a fat edge of the door!.


Once the aluminum was installed, I gave it a skim coat of filler, so that no imperfections would show through the skin that has yet to be put on.The hinge and struts are now now installed, and the hatch can now be lifted for the first time. You can also see the edge of the plywood has been trimmed with aluminum. This trim was made from 3/4 square tubing ripped on my table saw.


This shot shows the galley without the hatch. The most time consuming, but most rewarding, were the fenders. I made a plywood buck for the basic shape, and glued urethane foam all over it. I've always wanted to build something out of fiberglass this way, and this gave the perfect opportunity.I used urethane glue which worked well, but the glue lines were a lot harder than the foam thus making it hard to shape. If I had to do it over again, I would use one solid chunk of foam.


These two pictures show the trial fitting of the "Bucks". I had made a drill jig for the "T" nuts that I had installed at the beginning, so the holes lined up perfectly. Even before fiberglass, the fenders are looking good!!


I covered the foam shape with masking tape, so the glass could come off easier, as well as to cover up any cracks in between the foam pieces. I've used this technique in the past for making motorcycle seats, but this time I cheaped out and used plain making tape because it's 1/3 the cost. Last time I do that!! The resin soaked through the tape, and melted the adhesive. It was a big gooey mess, but the part was fine. On my first attempt at layering the glass, I had mixed the resin with 2% hardener, and my shop was too hot, so I scrapped the fender half way through. I waited for the shop to cool a bit, and mixed the resin with .75% hardener. Success!!! I was able to laminate 4 layers of 1 1/2 oz mat before the resin kicked off.


Here's the part after curing. I trimmed the edges with a router, and the part came off so nicely, I could have used the plugs over again.


I ground the basic shape with different sized discs, and sprayed the whole surface with polyester primer. For those that are not familliar with this product, it's basically a thin body filler than can be sprayed. I use a gun with a 2.5 mm tip, and lay it on. You can build 40-50 mil with this product. It's a well kept secret that works awesome!!Once cured, I sand it to shape with 120 grit paper.You'll notice a few runs in the left photo. These were caused when I gave those spots extra material to fill in pin holes from the bodyfiller. I love sanding this stuff because the whole surface has an even hardness and sand very smooth. It only took about 45 minutes to block sand one fender. The strip of tape you see is my guide because the fenders have a "Rib" that run the whole length. I'm duplicating the shape of my street rod fenders so that the car and trailer look like one package.


Concave areas are the hardest to block sand. Here I'm using a soft foam backed block. It took longer to do this small area than the rest of the fender.


I flipped the fenders upside down and taped them together so that I could spray tinted box liner urethane.The build is very thick, and cures to a hard rubber texture, so will help with small stones hitting the surface and causing "star" fractures in the painted side surface. This is a crucial step on fibreglass fenders.


I guess I was making such great progress on these fenders, that I forgot to take pictures for a couple of days. I gave the top side surface about 3 heavy coats of high build urethane primer, and wet sanded after curing. I used 600 grit to block the primer until the surface was flawless. The base colour was then sprayed on followed by 3 coats of clear.Back to the shell, this shot shows the two front cupboard doors which access the nose cavity. It's only about 6 inches deep, but lots of cleaning supplies for the car will be stored here. The doors are made from solid birch with corrugated aluminum inserts. The inserts don't look very good in the photo, but look great in the trailer.


The picture on the left shows the rear storage cabinets. These are about 10 inches deep by 10 inches high. The cavity in the middle will have a small DVP player with a 10.2 inch LCD screen. There's a 12v power outlet also.The right photos shows the wood surface after filling all the defects like screw holes and cracks with body filler.


The skin I'm using is 5052 anodized aluminum .032" thick. I found these in Toronto and were 52"X120". I used 4 sheets for the whole trailer and were a bargain at $70 per sheet. I roughed up the one side with a D/A and 100 grit paper to get a better bite on the adhesive. There's lots of different glues I could have used, but I went with polyurethane construction adhesive. It's not available in gallon cans, so I had to buy it in large caulking tubes. After squeezing out a liberal amount on the surface, I then spread it with a 1/8 inch notched trowel. Just before applying the aluminum, I sprayed a small amout of water on the glue to get it to set quicker. Polyurethane glue is a moisture cured adhesive and needs moisture for proper curing. Once the panel was set, I trimed the edges with anodized corner trim. The trim was set in silicone RTV, and screwed with stainless oval head screws every 6 inches.


Nose panel being installed. This one was ticky to do because it was so large. I pinned half of it first, then glued the other half. While the glue was still wet, I removed the pins and glued the rest.


The left picture is out of sequence, but shows the left fender in bare fibreglass. The outside shape was done with a grinder.On the right, I'm gluing the side aluminum panel on. Since I don't have 250 clamps, I used 1 1/2" masking tape to keep the panel tight to the wood while curing. If you look at the bottom of the panel, you'll notice two short pieces of 2X4 clamped to the frame. These were used to prevent the panel from sliding down while the glue was still wet.


All the aluminum trim, including the window frames were powder coated to match the skin. This is a jig I made to fit inside a large heat treat furnace so I was able to do everything in one shot. It was difficult to get the colour dead on, but got pretty close using a chrome base colour with a satin clear on top.The right shot shows the visible portion of the frame being painted in single stage urethane paint. I didn't spray the underneath with this stuff so I could keep the cost down. This is left over paint I had from doing my car, and was well over $700 per gallon. Notice the hubs!! I use aluminum foil for hard to cover items when painting. It's quick and cheap!


With the lights installed, I checked to make sure they were wired correctly. All the lights are LED and use little current to run them. They will never burn out and worth the extra cost. My dog "Lucky" seems to like them too!! I sewed a cover for the 4" thick foam matress with vinyl on the bottom, and "era" proper jukebox patterned fabric on top. I have to keep a towel on the matress now so I don't get paw marks all over it.:-)


Finally finished !! I had extra material, so I covered a couple of pillows and made curtains for the finishing touches. With the DVD player installed, we're ready to go out and enjoy it.


I don't know what it will tow like, or the final weight, but I'm sure it will be fine. Spring can't come soon enough to get rid of the snow and salt covered roads. I was able to complete this trailer in exactly 8 weeks, and a lot cheaper than buying a commercially available one. I'm in the process of designing an air conditioning unit for it and will post pictures when it's done.