Hello!
I am building the CLC Teardrop and the Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC). I bought both kits at the same time, and decided to do the ICC first, since it goes in between the trailer and the teardrop. I have looked around for this answer on the forum but haven’t found something close to what I need.
So here is the problem: the two front panels in the middle of ICC don’t line up. Mine look like a V shape (top is farther away from each other than the bottom). I am not sure if that is because the bottom is is slightly convex forcing those two pieces apart, or if there is another issue entirely.
Up to this point, I have ligned up all my boards, placed them in the rabbits and applied epoxy and fillets. In other words, I have gotten to page 51 in the manual if you have it.
My current solution (haven’t done it yet) is to place a straight piece of wood along the bottom of the ICC and make sure that is flat, and then epoxy and fiberglass that problem joint. I only worry that it won’t be close enough. In the pictures within the manual, they are fairly close together, and it doesn’t seem like they do a lot of extra work to get the pieces in place.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Jon B
I don’t have a teardrop, nor have I seen the plans or manual, but that gap looks small enough to close up by flattening the bottom like you mention. I’d go for it if that is all it takes. I’d lean toward closing the gap rather than filling it. But again, I don’t even know what I’m looking at, so consider that 
Those panels look as if they’ve been modified since being cut by CLC. The left panel’s top corner, in particular, is rounded to the left. It is not square the way that the right panel’s is. There’s also some tear out along the edge on the left panel.
In the meantime, the right panel has what looks like a sanded away area about 1/3 of the way down from the top.
Can you give us any more history on what’s been happening to those panels since you bought them? That can help us make better suggestions.
Laszlo
I am pretty sure those spots are just bad sanding on my part (top left corner and the strip on the edge a 1/3 down on the right). Before installation I went and around each side of each part and gave a light sanding. Since I was taking of the tabs that the CNC machine leaves behind, I figured that I would just do the rest of the edge as well to make it smooth. Looks like I did that incorrectly there.
When you say tear along the left edge, are you referring the the little lines that are pretty short and perpendicular to the edge of the left piece? I am not sure what those are. They have appeared in other places as well, sometimes in the middle of a piece of wood (almost like it was guaged, but it looks the same as in the picture). I have wondered at that, but I don’t have an explanation for it. I am wondering if it is the wood decaying, but this wood is not that old.
I bought this kit last May and has stayed in a dry location and keep in a storage unit. That was my building location for a while until I recently moved. Now the assembled pieces are stored underneath a tarp, and the unassembled pieces are kept in a shed.
Jon B
Sharp eye @Laszlo_Morocz now that you’ve brought it up I can’t unsee it.
@Jonathan_Bonin as a first time kit builder myself, a sharp plane rather than a sanding block will give you precise control over how much material you remove. You just want to take the tabs down, removing nothing from the dimension of the part. I know it’s late for that now, but I am sure somebody will have good options for you.
Yes those are the tear out lines. Don’t worry, it’s not decay. It’s just splinters coming off. It’s a harmless cosmetic-only thing. The most usual cause is cutting with too much speed, force or a dull saw. That’s why I noticed it. I was looking to see if maybe the panel edges had been cut and that’s why they were out of true. You can avoid those during a manual cut by scribing the cut line with a razor or exacto knife. That cleanly cuts the fibers and prevents them from getting torn out by the saw teeth.
But to get back to your original problem. Gaps an 1/8" or less in a glassed, filleted joint are not a problem in stitch and glue construction. The epoxy/woodflour putty gives you the compressive strength and the fiberglass gives you the tensile strength needed to keep everything together. In fact, there’s a school of thought that filled gaps are actually better than no gaps because they prevent stress concentration (I haven’t seen any proof one way or another on that). If the gaps are wider, they can be closed up with shaped pieces of wood and then glassed.
The reason I was asking about the possible sanding and cutting was to see if you should try to force the gap shut or leave it alone or plug it.
If the unit is properly shaped, assembled with all the pieces at the correct angles, etc. then don’t try to force it. If the unit the unit is out of true or warped somehow, try truing it up but be gentle. Don’t break the wood.
Once you have the unit properly shaped, if the gap is still there and it’s 1/8" or less, ignore it and just putty and glass the seam. Otherwise, narrow it with filler pieces of wood and then putty and glass it.
Good luck,
Laszlo
