Another pit trailer build thread!
#32
Alright guys, after a couple of very busy weeks and a weekend of racing i was finally able to get the flooring down in the trailer. Overall it was a pretty painless task and went down pretty easy. My first problem was the height of the flooring on top of the trailer flooring. The flooring I got was 3/8th" thick so without some type of threshold it wasn't going to look finished. The trailer flooring did have one small "L" shapped strip that ran across the top to cover the unfinished end.
As you can see this just isn't going to work...
While searching the hardware store I came across some striping made for tile flooring that fit the height of my wood perfect.
My next problem was that my tile strip was to wide across the bottom so i had to trim that back some so it would fit under my existing "L" strip.
Now that I had my new threshold cut to size I pulled the existing strip up, slid the new one underneath and screwed it back down.
Now it's ready to have the flooring installed and leave a perfect fit and a clean finished look
Once this was completed it was time to make a few corner cuts around the back corner and get my whole piece/half piece ends all together. Here are a few tips for installing the flooring:
Spend the few extra bucks to get the tool that is used to hammer the pieces together without damaging them. You can get away without the block used to hit the sides by using a scrap piece of flooring. Most of the time you can do the same when you are tapping the ends together. You will save yourself some agrivation if you go ahead and buy the metal pull bar. It will allow you to pull the ends in and also room to swing a hammer. Also if you are flooring a V-nose, I would suggest only flooring up as far as you can go and keep a straight line across. It's very hard to try to pull in the ends on a piece that is tapered to fit the nose. Much eaiser to go ahead and make the cuts for the nose and custom fit each piece. After a couple hours it all came together nicely. I did need to nail down the very edge pieces on the right side because it was just too tight to try to squeeze the narrow pieces in. All in all I'm very pleased with the finished flooring.
As you can see this just isn't going to work...
While searching the hardware store I came across some striping made for tile flooring that fit the height of my wood perfect.
My next problem was that my tile strip was to wide across the bottom so i had to trim that back some so it would fit under my existing "L" strip.
Now that I had my new threshold cut to size I pulled the existing strip up, slid the new one underneath and screwed it back down.
Now it's ready to have the flooring installed and leave a perfect fit and a clean finished look
Once this was completed it was time to make a few corner cuts around the back corner and get my whole piece/half piece ends all together. Here are a few tips for installing the flooring:
Spend the few extra bucks to get the tool that is used to hammer the pieces together without damaging them. You can get away without the block used to hit the sides by using a scrap piece of flooring. Most of the time you can do the same when you are tapping the ends together. You will save yourself some agrivation if you go ahead and buy the metal pull bar. It will allow you to pull the ends in and also room to swing a hammer. Also if you are flooring a V-nose, I would suggest only flooring up as far as you can go and keep a straight line across. It's very hard to try to pull in the ends on a piece that is tapered to fit the nose. Much eaiser to go ahead and make the cuts for the nose and custom fit each piece. After a couple hours it all came together nicely. I did need to nail down the very edge pieces on the right side because it was just too tight to try to squeeze the narrow pieces in. All in all I'm very pleased with the finished flooring.
#33
I've also already started putting the tileboard on the walls and ceiling. I don't have any pictures of that yet but I'll try to get a few tomorrow and list some details to the build. Keep the ideas coming guys....
#35
Yeah jack stands are going to be one of those "I'll do it later" kind of things. I want to go ahead and get all my interior stuff done first so I can actually start using the trailer. I got all my ceiling board up as well as the bottom part of the sides and went ahead and put a few plug covers on as well. I got one cabinet up last night so I can go ahead and get my final plug wired in and start using the trailer electricity rather than extension cords and power strips!
#36
Alright guys, got a lot more done today and finished a couple of key items. After I got the flooring down and completed it was time to start the task of putting up the white board to help finish off the inside. I first put up a full sheet on the bottom of the wall. Just as plywood, tile board comes in a 4'x8' sheet. My interior is 6' high so a full piece and a half piece is needed to complete the walls. I went ahead and put up these basically just so it would be two less pieces of board I was moving in and out every time I was ready to work in the trailer. I did make sure to use the PVC trim pieces on my edges just to continue that clean and finished look. After I had those two pieces up I moved on to the ceiling. I decided it would be eaiser to have the ceiling up before I did the top part of my walls. This would allow me to get an accurate measure from the botton board to the ceiling board and leave no gaps. On my ceiling boards I decided to run one seam up the center rather than multiple seams if I ran the across the the roof.
I tried to measure as close as I could to go around my vent and small light, again details make a huge differance. Since my trailer is slightly longer than 8' I did have to have one seam running across the front up by the nose. Again, they make lots of differant PVC trim pieces to clean up and hide all your seams...use them!
Once the ceiling was complete I was ready to hang my cabinets. I already had my cabinets stained and ready to install before I hung them.
Getting these cabinets in was a major step to completion as it allowed me to go ahead and mount my last plug under them and complete my electrical circuit. So even though my insulation and wiring was in my first few steps I still had to complete all the other steps before I could mount the cabinets and install the plug.
Remember those wires that were hanging out of the walls eariler?
With the plug in and installed, the electricty is complete and ready to use. I did go ahead and plug in the trailer and check all the plugs and switch and everything worked perfect, notice where the light is plugged in now? No more extension cords and power strips!
Also was able to start using the outside plug for my saw now too!
With all the work done today I decided to go ahead and put up a couple more pieces of tile board, finished up the right side and put the second piece up in the nose.
All thats left now is to get the final piece up on the top of the left wall and then I'll move on to some shelves and a cabinet in the nose. Got a busy Sunday planned so I'm probably finished for this weekend.
I tried to measure as close as I could to go around my vent and small light, again details make a huge differance. Since my trailer is slightly longer than 8' I did have to have one seam running across the front up by the nose. Again, they make lots of differant PVC trim pieces to clean up and hide all your seams...use them!
Once the ceiling was complete I was ready to hang my cabinets. I already had my cabinets stained and ready to install before I hung them.
Getting these cabinets in was a major step to completion as it allowed me to go ahead and mount my last plug under them and complete my electrical circuit. So even though my insulation and wiring was in my first few steps I still had to complete all the other steps before I could mount the cabinets and install the plug.
Remember those wires that were hanging out of the walls eariler?
With the plug in and installed, the electricty is complete and ready to use. I did go ahead and plug in the trailer and check all the plugs and switch and everything worked perfect, notice where the light is plugged in now? No more extension cords and power strips!
Also was able to start using the outside plug for my saw now too!
With all the work done today I decided to go ahead and put up a couple more pieces of tile board, finished up the right side and put the second piece up in the nose.
All thats left now is to get the final piece up on the top of the left wall and then I'll move on to some shelves and a cabinet in the nose. Got a busy Sunday planned so I'm probably finished for this weekend.
#37
Ok guys I need some help/suggestions. I'm about ready to start building my work bench and can't decide what to make the top of the table with. First off let me say I plan to have a 5' wide by 2' deep table and a peg board on the wall in front of me.
I either want to lay down the plywood and cover it with a low profile gray carpet or use the same white shinny tile board that I have on the walls and ceiling. I feel like the tile board will give it that nice clean look for a while but I feel like over time the scratches and dirt will really start to wear down the finish and look of the table. I plan to use a couple of pit towels if I go this way.
If I use the gray carpet I won't really need the pit towels on the table but I'm just not sure if thats the look I want....any suggestions???
I either want to lay down the plywood and cover it with a low profile gray carpet or use the same white shinny tile board that I have on the walls and ceiling. I feel like the tile board will give it that nice clean look for a while but I feel like over time the scratches and dirt will really start to wear down the finish and look of the table. I plan to use a couple of pit towels if I go this way.
If I use the gray carpet I won't really need the pit towels on the table but I'm just not sure if thats the look I want....any suggestions???
#38
Tech Master
iTrader: (4)
Ok guys I need some help/suggestions. I'm about ready to start building my work bench and can't decide what to make the top of the table with. First off let me say I plan to have a 5' wide by 2' deep table and a peg board on the wall in front of me.
I either want to lay down the plywood and cover it with a low profile gray carpet or use the same white shinny tile board that I have on the walls and ceiling. I feel like the tile board will give it that nice clean look for a while but I feel like over time the scratches and dirt will really start to wear down the finish and look of the table. I plan to use a couple of pit towels if I go this way.
If I use the gray carpet I won't really need the pit towels on the table but I'm just not sure if thats the look I want....any suggestions???
I either want to lay down the plywood and cover it with a low profile gray carpet or use the same white shinny tile board that I have on the walls and ceiling. I feel like the tile board will give it that nice clean look for a while but I feel like over time the scratches and dirt will really start to wear down the finish and look of the table. I plan to use a couple of pit towels if I go this way.
If I use the gray carpet I won't really need the pit towels on the table but I'm just not sure if thats the look I want....any suggestions???
I would go with a smooth surface similar to the walls and lay down something over them when you are working on something dirty. You can purchase the Upgrade RC pit mats but they can get expensive if you need to cover alot of space. The other option instead of a standard 'pit towel' is to buy some yoga mats. They come in 8 foot long rolls and work great as a pit mat. They stay put on the table and can be removed for cleaning when needed and are inexpensive enough to replace every few months.
#39
just make the table top with a trim/lip around the edge where your pit mat would be and the mat can sit recessed, so when its dirty enough u can pull it out and hose it off or power wash it, or if its bad enough, throw it away and put in a new piece. then the piece wont slide around and it will look all finished and flush. i personally like a soft pit area so when i drop stuff it doesnt bounce and roll off instantly, atleast id have somewhat of a chance of finding it, lol.
#40
just make the table top with a trim/lip around the edge where your pit mat would be and the mat can sit recessed, so when its dirty enough u can pull it out and hose it off or power wash it, or if its bad enough, throw it away and put in a new piece. then the piece wont slide around and it will look all finished and flush. i personally like a soft pit area so when i drop stuff it doesnt bounce and roll off instantly, atleast id have somewhat of a chance of finding it, lol.
#42
I'm not really a fan of the mica tops... they are quit heavy and usually more generic than what I'm looking for. The ones that are nicer looking are a little pricy for me!.
#43
A rugged steel sheet above the plywood base, maybe?
Btw, amazing build!! I can't figure how big it is, will you take a pic with yourself inside it when finished?
Btw, amazing build!! I can't figure how big it is, will you take a pic with yourself inside it when finished?
#44
Tech Master
iTrader: (21)
You could just use something basic for the countertop, create a lip around the edge, and use a $10 yoga mat from Target as your pit mat. That way you can cut it to cover the entire bench, it will look really nice, and you can easily clean it or swap a new one in when it wears out. Plus the yoga mat material keeps small parts from rolling away.
#45
It's a 5'x8' with an additional 1.5' in the V-nose to give me about 9.5' from the back of the doors to the nose center. It is 6' tall so standing in it really isn't a big deal. Most 5'x8' trailers are only 5' tall which just would not work.