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A rough drawing of what I will be doing for the rear hatch. I added an
extra cross brace on the bottom that will be used to secure the locking mechanism.
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Notching the ribs for the cross members.
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Close up of one of the notches. After notching all of the ribs, I
screwed them together to clean up the cuts in unison.
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Really rough assembly. This is more a psychological thing - just to see progress.
I still need to figure out how much space I need between the outer ribs and the trailer side. Once I get this determined, I will trim down the cross members
and start the process of glueing it all together.
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Same as above but different angle.
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Cross section drawing of the back hatch/sidewall intersection.
The aluminum trim and "L" molding sizes on the hatch are yet to be determined.
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Close up of how I set up spacers for the first glue session. I ended
up using 3/8" as the distance between the outside rib and the wall. Once the "L" bracket is put into place, I should have just enough space for clearance.
To keep everything in place, I "C" clamped the rib in place with spacers. Once those were secured, I glued and clamped the top and bottom cross brace
to the outside ribs. Once those dry, I will glue the inner ribs in place and follow with the remaining cross braces. I decided not to use any fasteners
other than the polyurethane glue (OSI Sealants' PL adhesive). I have talked about this glue before and I am very confident that it will have more than enough
holding power. Also, for those that have never used it before, make sure that you do not get any on your skin as this stuff does NOT come off!
It becomes a second skin until you can peel it off many days later.
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Now glueing the middle ribs into place.
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Glueing the first sheet of 1/8" plywood on the outside face of the hatch. Once
again, I used the reliable PL adhesive and secured with 1/2" staples (not shown in this photo) until the glue cured. After curing, I will remove the staples.
Also note that I left the left and right edges of the plywood a bit on the long side. My plan is to trim these down to size after I get
all of the hardware in place and am happy with the placement of the hatch.
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This was taken after the adhesive cured. Note my red chalk lines
denoting the ribs - I used these as a guide for staple placement.
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A rather fuzzy image of the latch bolts (x2) that I will use to lock the
hatch in place. I found these at my local hardware store and drilled the hole into the head with my handy new 12" drill press. I may have to trim the bolt
down a bit because I think that they are too long. In any case, they fit into a 3/8" hole and have a nice flange on the outer edge keeping them in place.
A built in heavy duty spring pops them back into place. These bolts are intended for use in window sills.
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A closer view of the opening mechanism. This is a standard piece of garage door
hardware.
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Using twine to lay out the placement of the holes that need to be cut. I will be
using steel cable for the final installation.
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Cut the hole for the handle. Just loosely fit for now.
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Installed 1/16" stainless steel wire for hatch bolts. It took a little time to
get both bolts aligned properly so they retract equally.
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Close up of finished mechanism. The electrical tape is only being used to keep the
loose ends from flapping around.
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Close up of finished bolt. I used 2 clamps on each side in addition to lock tight.
Since this will eventually be entombed, I want to make sure that these do not loosen at all - ever!
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Wiring hatch for a center light and speakers.
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