Rock Guard From Fabric and Foam

April, 2013

Watchful eyes protect from road debris

I try to keep these blog posts organized in the order they happened, but sometimes that means I'm writing about things I worked on months or years before. Please bear with any fogginess on the details.

I don't remember my exact steps for making this rock guard, so this isn't big on details. Besides, a full narration of my two steps forward, one step  back technique on this could get tedious. So I'll make it a summary of what our rock guard looks like now, what went into some of the decisions, and what aspects of it work well for us.

Flamingo Flag

How do you get home to the right trailer when camping in a sea of silver?
How do you give someone directions so that they can stop by for a visit?

Home Sweet Pickled Flamingo

With a flag, of course.

Do you have a flag?

 It's not too difficult to make one. The hardest part can be finding or making an image that identifies the trailer as yours.

Our flamingo logo formed itself about a year ago, as the confluence of the retro feel we seemed to be getting with our progressive remodeling. The top hat hearkens back to an earlier, classier era of travel, the martini glass represents the relaxation that the Tin Pickle brings and the flamingo because...

...well, flamingos and Airstreams just go together, like campy and trailer camping.

Making it fly well and show from both sides took a bit of planning and some tricks of execution. Bear with me below for some tricks I learned along the way.

New Awning - sewing and metal repair

It works!

We have a new awning! 

We have a functional awning!

 After years of not quite being able to get the Tin Pickle's awning to deploy properly, we did some investigating. What we discovered gave us a list of Things To Do Differently.

 Before we had even ordered fabric for making the replacement awning, we knew to 1) install the awning right side up, 2) be sure not to over crimp the channel that holds it at the top, 3) use a fabric that can withstand the sun, 4) use non-cotton thread to avoid rotting, 5) make the awning long enough so that it the upper awning support bars can actually reach the sides of the roller tube, 6) replace the missing left bar claw with a mirror image, not a copy, of the right bar claw, and 7) tension the awning pole enough so that the awning rolls up under the metal cover rather than sitting on top of it. That's quite an education that we have the previous owner(s) to thank for.

Rear Dinette and Bunk

It's tough to put a "finish" date on this, since there always seem to be a few loose ends to tidy up. This dinette had seats and cushions enough to for us to use in Death Valley in April, and to have its first guest at Casini a week later. We had the bunk bed ready for Alison to use at Burning Man in August while Brian used the bottom bunk. It wasn't until November that I finally got it looking sort of finished. And there are a few more possible improvements that may still show up.

Before

Pullman style dining

On the right is the original gaucho. The construction is clever and lightweight. But the naugahyde was sloppy, the bed made it difficult to get to the bathroom when extended, and it wouldn't sleep our two adult children.

Also, with the main dinette area permanently taken up with our bed, we needed a place for our morning coffee and croissants. The finished design is modeled vaguely after a Pullman train sleeper car I had access to as a child.

The construction details developed as a response to the odd requirements of the space.

Front dinette/Double bed

When we designed this dinette, we had delusions of converting it from bed to dinette and back again each day. Every inch of space under and behind it can be reached somehow. Drawers provide accessible storage space even when it is set up as a bed. That has been a lifesaver.

This is our overflow social space at home.

After we tried sleeping on the 5" high density foam cushion, we added 2 inches of memory foam for comfort. With the extra foam and the quilt bedspread, the bedding is too cumbersome to remove and too bulky to store. We only set it up as seating when we're home and we need the space for extra social space or for working on further Pickle projects.

Curtains

The naugahyde covered gaucho hide-a-beds were removed in February when we pulled out the old carpet and started floor repairs. Selecting a muted green and blue color scheme set the stage for future color and design decisions. Discount drapery fabric came from newtoto.com.

Pulling out one thread across the fabric leaves a clear cutting guide.

Flat felled seam detail