Both walls and doors have been skinned inside and out. I'll be adding another coat of Raka epoxy to the outside walls. Doors have been test fitted with aluminum trim and hinge. Next step will to paint the outer walls with Petitt Topside Marine paint and seal the inside skins with a clear sealer.

Passenger wall is somewhat complete, inner and outer skins are on, door has been cut, framed and skinned. I picked up a few aluminum trim pieces from So Cal Teardrop to test fit along with a sample of there door hinge. Now I'm working on the drivers side inner skin and door, this will take me about a week to complete. Then will be decision time for the outer finish skin, which I want to finish before permanently mounting the walls to the body of the trailer.I'm also not sure if I'm going to go with the paddle door or the old school type handle.

     Insulation for the walls are complete, Raka epoxy has been applied to the outside walls to seal out moisture, one coat should be sufficient but I'll apply two just to make sure I have good coverage. I'm sitting on the fence about the exterior finish, I really like the look of aluminum, but the cost of using a topside epoxy paint is very attractive price point. 

     For the 12 volt electrical system, 16 gauge stranded marine grade wire will be used along with a 12 position Blue Sea fuse block for powering the cabin and galley lights, cabin fan and 12 volt outlets.  This will be tied into a marine grade type battery along with a battery charger. For the 120 volt system I will have a couple of outlets in the galley and one in the cabin with a external 15 amp outlet to power the battery charger and 120 volt outlets.

   One outside wall has been cut a glued to the wall frame along with insulation cut and dry fit. I will work on the second outside wall and frame tomorrow and cut the insulation and mount the walls temporarily to the trailer to see how everything lines up. I also picked up some 4 x 8 birch for my inside walls. After I'm satisfied with the alignment of the walls I'll epoxy the outside walls and end grain of the walls, cut out the outside door skins then glue on the inside birch 4 x 8 plywood panels and mount to the trailer and put in my roof spars. I also found some 1/4 aluminum u-channel that I'm thinking of putting on the bottom edge of the outside wall, I think this will help the wall from absorbing moisture into the wall. I also ordered a 15 AMP power inlet plug, couple of inside reading lights that I'm going to convert to LED.

I took a drive down to San Diego with the trailer to pick up a couple of 1/4 - 4 x 10 ACX sheets of plywood, little pricey at  $54 dollars a sheet, . but this will allow my outside walls to be one solid piece and hopefully stronger than splicing two sheets of 1/4 ply together. The trailer pulled really easy, we'll see if it pulls as nice once the build is complete. This weekend should be a productive one, I'll router the notches for the ceiling spars on the wall frames and hopefully have the 4 x 10 ply sheets glued up to the frame as well. Then I'll insulate the walls and put the inside skins on, which will be 1/4 oak  or  birch.

My trailer is now registered and licensed in the State of California. The process was quite easy, a fellow teardrop builder posted a link for licensing his trailer with the California DMV and I just followed his recommendations. First I went online and printed out the forms I needed, filled those out, made an appointment online, then went to the DMV today. The whole process only took about 1.5 hours and that includes the wait time. Inspection consisted of a someone looking at the trailer and asking how much it weighed and having me sign a couple of forms. I thought they would at least check the lights, but guess not. Since I had all my paper work filled out prior to arriving, all the clerk did was go through my receipt's, had me sign some more forms and issued me my registration and plate for a mere fee of $165.00 which is for 5 years. Now I'm legal !

So its the New Year and all is well, moving along on the build, walls are on the frame to see the profile and how the fit is, I like it ! I'll have to drive down to San Diego to pick up a couple sheets of 1/4 inch 4 X10 ACX, thats the closest location I can find it. Also have an appointment to register the trailer at the DMV next week. Ordered the Hurrican hinge and the original style door latches, I'm leaning to keep it old style as much as possible, with the use of modern LED for lights and a 12 volt refrigerator instead of an ice box.

The plywood floor has been sealed with 3 coats of spar varnish and mounted to the frame with elevator bolts, these hold much better than the carriage bolts and don't spin when you tighten them. I've also started on framing the walls using 4 in x 1 in ( actually 3/4 in) pine. The framing for the door frame is Oak and Popular to add strength for mounting the door hinges and hardware. Next will be to buy some 4 x 10 ft 1/4 inch ACX plywood to attach to the outside of the frame, then insulate with 3/4 foam and then put the inner wall on, which will also be 1/4 ply, not sure what type of wood but more than likely it will be either Birch or Oak.

As you can see in the pictures I received the correct brackets for the shock kit and they have been mounted. I was not real happy about drilling a 1/2 inch hole through my frame for the mounting bolt, hopefully this will not cause my frame to weaken. Others have done the same with no ill affect that I know of. "Time will Tell". It took me about 3 hours from start to finish, excluding the trip I had to make to Lowes to pick up another  1/2 inch drill bit.

I ordered the wrong mounting brackets for the Monroe retro shock kit, I ordered part RB512 and should of ordered RB511, the replacement should be here this week. I also will be using elevator bolts instead of carriage bolts to attach the floor to the frame, the carriage bolts have a small head which kept spinning as I tried to tighten it down, had to use a clamp to stop the bolt from spinning, the elevator bolts are flatter and have a bigger head, hopefully these will work better and not spin when I tighten them down. I'm starting to layout the galley area with my fridge on the right and batteries / fuse panel on the left. In between will be some drawers and a counter top across the width, above the counter top will probably be a couple of cabinets or cubbys to hold other stuff. The top off the floor has been coated with a couple coats of spar varnish and sanded, I'll add a couple more coats before the floor is complete.

The floor has been insulated with 1.5 inch foam, top and bottom of the sub-frame covered with plywood. The bottom has been sealed with 2 coats of Raka epoxy, it will then be painted with 2 coats of Pettit EasyPoxy and then bolted to the frame, next is to start on the side walls. The  inner fender wells have been coated with 3 coats of  undercoating, outer fenders painted with a couple coats of primer until I can decide what color to paint them, I'm kinda liking the flat black look.  Shock kit has been orderd and will put on prior to mounting the floor, hopefully by next week.

The sub frame is 2 X 6 inch pressure treated fir mounted to the frame with 14 3 inch stainless steel bolts, 5 on each side and 2 at the front and 2 at the back. Arauco  ACX  .451 ply will be used for the floor. I used a router with a bottom bearing bit to get it flush with the sub-frame, it worked great, fast and precise. Next step is to take the sub-frame off of the trailer frame and glue and screw the flooring in place with PL 2000 adhesive. I also ordered some Pettit Easy Poxy Platinum paint to cover the underside of the sub-frame plywood floor, this will be used after a coat or two of Raka epoxy.

Fenders and mounts for propane tank and NATO water / gas cans have been fabricated. ( Thanks Steve : )I also have the tail lights and running lights mounted and working as well. I used a 7 pin preconnectorized cable and terminated it in a junction box then ran my wiring from my lights and electric brakes to the j-box. Next step is to mount the wooden sub-frame and attach the plywood to it. Not sure what method to use for water-proofing the underside of the floor, more than likely it will be to seal with Rakka epoxy and then a couple coats of Pettite epoxy paint.

Frame has been painted with 3 coats of high gloss Rust Bullet, the paint is similar to Por 15. It seems to stick well and is hard as nails, we'll see how well it holds up. I also picked up my rear stabilizer scissor jacks and front tongue jack. Next is to take it back to the fabricator to have him weld the stabilizers in place as well as the light mounts, NATO can mount and 11 gallon propane tank mount.

I ordered some electrical items from etrailer.com. LED surface mount taillights, junction box, 7 pin 8 ft cable that will connect from the junction box to my 4Runner, wiring for the lights and electric brakes and front amber running lights. Once I have the trailer frame back from the fabricator and paint it, I'll be able to move forward with the electrical then take it to get it registered with the DMV.

I received my axle, hubs and leaf springs last week. I had to use wheel adapters from the hub to my wheels, this was the easiest solution, the only other option would be to replace the studs in the hubs with metric studs  that would fit my 4-Runner wheels. I also took the steel  and axle assembly to a fabricator I found on Craigslist, he is experienced in making off road trailers, local and very accommodating, he even lent me his trailer to transport my parts to his shop. Paint has been ordered for the frame, so my next step will be to paint the frame when I get it back from the fabricator.

  I've cut out the template for the profile design, I used a couple sheets of 4 x 8 x 1/8 Luan that I got from a big box store for $10.00 per sheet. This will only be used as a pattern / template for the build. Since the profile is 4 x 8 I had to attached the two sheets together and I did this by butting them end to end and taking another piece of Luan that I cut  to 18 in x 4 feet and glued it to the 2 pieces and let it set over night to dry. Then I laid my paper template I got from Lil Bear ( Grant Whipp) over the top of the Luan then traced it with a Sharpie and then cut it out with a jig saw.
 I've gathered most of my information from the Teardrop forum, it has a wealth of information and some very nice and knowledgeable builders that are always willing to provide advice and encouragement. For more detailed information on the actual construction process I purchased the manual from Steve Frederick, it is a little pricey but well worth the money in my opinion, especially since I'm a first time builder, the more I read through the manual the more sense his building method makes and I will be less likely to make costly mistakes.

The axle was ordered yesterday, it is a Dexter 3500 lbs, 74 inch hub to hub with 6 lug with a 5.5 pattern with electric brakes and the springs derated to 1500 lbs to soften the ride a bit. Next step after I get the axle is to change out the wheel studs on the axle to fit the 16.5 wheel lug nuts of the Toyota 4-runner wheels.

I've cut the steel for the frame yesterday, I rented a chop saw for $25.00, The frame is approximately 10 feet long by 54 inches wide using 2 x 2 in square tubing. The tongue is 8 ft long and 3 x 3 in square tubing. Next step is to order the axle, then I'll be able to have everything welded.

So I decided to go with the Benroy design since it has more room and will be more practical and I think the profile will fit the profile of my tow vehicle better. I also purchased a couple of vintage type windows and my steel to build my frame. Next will be my axle which will be a 3,500 lb Dexter with 6 lugs on 5.5 with electric brakes