Welcome to TeardropForum.com › Forums › Teardrop Builders’ Forum › Any one building in Europe ?
Tagged: @andrew-h
- This topic has 18 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 5 months ago by Claus.
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August 20, 2019 at 6:48 am #2709strikerguyParticipant
I live in The Netherlands and am curious about builds in my country, Germany, Belgium, UK, etc.
August 20, 2019 at 4:10 pm #2710jmb_buildsParticipantI am currently building, in north west Germany, and I think someone recently posted he’s completed one in the UK (at least he stated he’s using UK electrical sockets…).
Got my kit from Fyne Boat Kits in England. So far I’m happy with it (approx. half way through) and would recommend them.
I’m also curious about other builders in Europe. Quite a few in NZ and Australia, but no “verified” ones over here…
- This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by jmb_builds.
August 22, 2019 at 4:56 pm #2715strikerguyParticipantHi Johannes, thx for your reply !
I am still in the planning process and already had some conversations with Phil Smith of Fyne Boat Kits.
Need to clear out some stuff, both financially and as for space in my garage. The past decade i build a couple of Lotus Seven style kitcars. I have to sell my trackday car before i can order the kit.
Planning to add extra storage as per the Waterlust solution, and use some of the galley space for cabin storage.
I believe there is no personal message functionality on this forum. I would appreciate to hear about your experience so far. Maybe you can contact me at d.a.strikwerda@outlook.com
kind regards, Dirk
August 25, 2019 at 10:07 am #2720AndrewParticipantHi strikerguy & Johannes,
I have recently finished my build and live in the UK – I went on my first trip last weekend and was very pleased. It took me about 9 months and took many hours! I didn’t record the hours but I’m sure it was more than the stated 250. I went for the varnished wood finish which took a great deal of sanding time!
I worked with a local trailer company and we designed a trailer for it on which the teardrop sits nicely and drives really well. I only have a small car so am both relieved and pleased with how it tows.
It is a great project but not without it’s challenges – well worth it in the end though.
If I can help at all please just leave a message here. This forum is supposed to notify you of posts to threads you are involved with but I have never received one so I keep looking back periodically. I you have an email for direct (and therefore quicker communication) let me know.
Kind regards,
AndrewAugust 26, 2019 at 12:37 pm #2721jmb_buildsParticipantGreat looking camper, well done!
We made some fibreglass mistakes and will go for a paint/varnish combination. Felt bad first, now I’m really looking forward to it 🙂
For the trailer, ours is quite similar, custom made according to my specs and drawing (of course based on the dims provided by CLC). Got it from a company that builds mainly boat trailers. It was quite affordable for a specific, new trailer. So if you’re in Germany, intending to build, and want to go the same path, let me know…
August 27, 2019 at 8:04 am #2724strikerguyParticipant@Andrew, i really like the cabin storage because it makes sense to use that space. Have to rethink my ideas about using galley space…
@Johannes, that’s a nice trailer ! Sorry to hear about the fibreglass mistakes and looking forward to visit you.I am going to use a secondhand chassis/trailer from a Camplet tent trailer. Rubber torsion axle, brakes and suitable for max. 450 kg should do the job with some minor alterations. From experience i know these trailers are very smooth behind the car.
Trying to find out how Brexit effects the most suitable moment to order the kit….
- This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by strikerguy.
September 8, 2019 at 2:24 pm #2745AndrewParticipant@Johannes, that’s a good trailer. I like the large rectangle free from any cross-bars. My trailer had only small rectangular areas rather than one big area. I installed some under floor storage and that was made much harder by the limited space that I had to work with within the frame of the trailer. Having one big area would have been much better.
@strikerguy, since you mention storage space I thought I’d mention the underfloor storage that I added to my TD. This post covers my original questions to other forum members and the final photos of what I ended up doing.Something else that might be of interest in terms of saving space was the installation of my leisure battery under the caravan. I got the idea from this post and did much the same as Friz. You need a particular type of battery to mount it on its side which is more expensive, but it is out of the way and the weight is very close to the axle so doesn’t impact the balance of the teardrop much.
Below is a picture of the battery underneath the TD, though it isn’t a brilliant picture I’m afraid!
Hope your planning is going well @strikerguy and your build is going smoothly @johannes. Oh, and good luck figuring out the best time to buy with regard to Brexit! If you ever figure out what is going on please let me know!
Kind regards,
AndrewDecember 3, 2019 at 4:50 pm #2818Barbara and UlrichParticipantHi,
we are living in southern Germany and just started to build our camper 2 weeks ago. So still long way to go.
@Johannes, how is it going? You must be close to ready now. We also plan to have a custom made trailer so we are very interested in yours. Could you give us some information, that would be great. You can contact us directly at barbara(at)pantow.deDecember 8, 2019 at 9:42 am #2825jmb_buildsParticipantHi & welcome to the community!
I sent you a rather extensive E-Mail Friday night. Maybe you have to check your spam filter, as I already attached some files (drawing & images).
BR Johannes
January 19, 2020 at 6:43 am #2855wirewigglerParticipantAndrew,
I can see why you passed the 250 hr build as your finish is outstanding. Mounting the lead acid battery low like that instead of on the galley floor makes good sense, however I built my trailer with Timbren axel-less suspension, this lowered my frame about 3-4 inches and I was concerned with battery getting hit underneath so I went with a much more expensive lithium battery in the galley box. The primary reason for the Timben axels was to lower the overall height to compensate adding the ICC module however I should also be rewarded with a smoother ride. I will let you guys know how that works out when I complete my build I will open a thread outlining my unique changes and how they have worked out.
Bill
January 19, 2020 at 6:43 am #2856wirewigglerParticipantAndrew,
I can see why you passed the 250 hr build as your finish is outstanding. Mounting the lead acid battery low like that instead of on the galley floor makes good sense, however I built my trailer with Timbren axel-less suspension, this lowered my frame about 3-4 inches and I was concerned with battery getting hit underneath so I went with a much more expensive lithium battery in the galley box. The primary reason for the Timben axels was to lower the overall height to compensate adding the ICC module however I should also be rewarded with a smoother ride. I will let you guys know how that works out when I complete my build I will open a thread outlining my unique changes and how they have worked out.
Bill
January 19, 2020 at 3:05 pm #2860AndrewParticipantHi Bill,
Thanks for your kind words on the build finish – I think I must have exceeded 250 hrs but I didn’t keep a log so have no proof. I also think I experienced some strange distortion in the time-space continuum, possibly triggered by my orbital sander. Whenever I was sanding, time seemed to pass incredibly slowly and progress with the project appeared almost imperceptible!
Your trailer sounds good and anything that gives a smoother ride will be a great bonus. After my first couple of trips I had to re-think the galley in order to devise methods of keeping everything in place during transit. The bumpy ride caused absolutely everything to find a new home, mostly in the gap between the galley module and teardrop wall.
The lithium battery is probably a sound investment too. They are supposed to last a lot longer than conventional ones so pay off better in the long run. I had to buy an AGM battery to mount it on it’s side underneath the trailer and that was pretty expensive compared to a standard lead-acid, so your choice of lithium ion is a good one I think.
Good luck with your build and I’d love to see your mods when you are ready to share them.
Andrew
July 26, 2020 at 5:19 am #3151MarieParticipantHi
@ Andrew.
I am almost done with my Teardrop, made in UK 🙂
Would you mind to let me know which brand and references of Varnish and Bottom paint you have purchased ?
Thanks a lot
Marie
August 5, 2020 at 2:42 am #3166AndrewParticipantHi Marie,
Sorry for the delay in replying, I posted a response a few days ago but on looking at this post again it doesn’t seem to have registered!
Congratulations for getting this far, you must feel good to be on the home straight now!
In the end I got the teardrop sprayed with clear car lacquer. Factors that made me go this way:
- Cost of the marine varnish for the whole teardrop looked pretty high so having it sprayed looked less costly.
- The number of varnish coats required – the tin says 7!
- The permanence of car lacquer – the varnish would need sanding & re coating periodically (don’t think I’ve ever repainted any of my cars!).
- My sanity – 7 coats with sanding in between would have pushed me over the edge!
- The quality of the finish – it is like a car, but you have to put the effort into the sanding to achieve this.
I had to do some research on the lacquer to get a high UV protection product and that was £70 which bought more than enough I did varnish all the inside surfaces and used the attached varnish tin photo, and for the underside used the second attached photo.
If I can be of any help & you want to correspond directly just let me know. Where about are you in the UK?
Andrew
August 5, 2020 at 2:43 am #3167AndrewParticipant -
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