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not the beer trailer! fortunately, it's in good hands 
watching your trailer decide it's tired of following you is exciting.
watching your trailer decide it's tired of following you is exciting.
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Doing it all wrong since 1966 -
That was just a monumental screw-up. Having always had a mechanical mind I can't figure out how anyone could NOT understand how a Bulldog works - that's what I have on my car trailer. But I guess not everyone sees the world as I do. Either way, I know you'll make it better than new.
DanComment
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Some progress from this past weekend.... trimming the painted aluminum panel prior to bending the long folds
Installed.....
Added new hooks on the safety chains
....new wiring harness,
....fabricated a new handle and used a bicycle grip, replacing the duct tape repaired original....
Roof seams were sealed using mesh to help make the repairs more permanent..
All ready for some keg action.. Painted panel was owner supplied, he had ordered it to make an outfield sign at a local ball field, re-purposed it to get the keg trailer back in one piece for a large wedding this coming weekend.
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Beautiful work as always.
DanComment
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Nothing says "classy wedding" like Bud Lite
Doing it all wrong since 1966Comment
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THAT'S another issue.......Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View PostNothing says "classy wedding" like Bud Lite
DanComment
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Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View PostNothing says "classy wedding" like Bud Lite
Shit, you aint lived til you attended a Western Pa wedding. Normally held in a volunteer fire department hall, a VFW or some such venue...beer trailer and more cammo that the 1st infantry division...If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark DonohueComment
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This works to fix the photoshop BS
Doing it all wrong since 1966Comment
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incredible work--i hope someday i am half that good....Comment
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Well I think I have google images figured out now, so lets try an update on the wagon.
With the back seat rear enclosure and it's frame both sprayed in epoxy, time to assemble the two together. I didn't want to use hardware/rivets on the skin as I thought it would stay flatter under the upholstery without. Also, with the amp and bass speaker inside the enclosure, we needed something to limit vibration of the adjacent pieces. Our choice is to use some body molding adhesive tape to join the two together.
The tape is applied to the frame, and then the skin attached on top of that..
Next, we need to work on our console and the shifter inside of it. We have the console that came with the 2002 Monte Carlo interior, but it has far too much plastic that it didn't belong. In looking at other options, we decided on the horse shoe shifter used on the Chevelle. In conducting a test fit of the cable, we found it's trajectory path was much too straight where it either lifted the front of the shifter, or pulled the bulkhead fitting out of the "tunnel" mockup.
Shifter lift:
Our solution was to raise the cable exit from the shifter housing higher in order to have a better arc of the cable for entry through the floor. Here a "relocation bracket" has been added:
Bracket all welded in place, looks like this will work for our shifter, return policy officially void now, but cable path fits much better through the floor:
We also needed to finalize seat belts for the rear seats. These are 12 gauge CRS pieces that are plug welded to the floor pan, 1/2" diameter bolt holding the anchor points for inner seat belts.
The outer belts needed to be all the way out to the wheel well, and to better "anchor" we made similar 12 ga brackets, this one with a hemmed end to "hook" the pinch weld seam of the floor pan/wheel well, then plug welded in place to the wheel well. Again, a 1/2" bolt will anchor the seat belt:
While Mike and Jake started the layout of the console.........
......I fabbed up some bucket seat brackets out of 16 ga CRS for a 37 Ford. These had to be 3" high and only 1-1/2" wide, which was too high for my gooseneck die in the press brake. Chose to make them in two pieces and fusion tacked together using the TIG.
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Console fabrication
Bottom and under dash edges are hemmed, folded flanges will support the filler panel between each side..
Fitting up the corner radius
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Some sprayouts done this evening to see if we can nail down a color for the green.
Will take another video tomorrow in the Sunlight for the true test.
Color 1: Corvette Limerock Green
Color 2: Land Rover Kosrae Green
Color 3: Audi Azores Green
Color 4: H/K Organic Green Kandy BasecoatComment
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Sunlight views in same order,
Color 1: Corvette Limerock Green
Color 2: Land Rover Kosrae Green
Color 3: Audi Azores Green
Color 4: H/K Organic Green Kandy Basecoat
Didn't get pictures in overcast, but these help to show, 1-3 don't show color well at all in overcast or dim/indirect light conditions. As we'd like the car to look green regardless, we're leaning toward the H/K
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We took a short break from the wagon as we were getting set up for a metalshaping class at the shop a couple weeks ago. Here's some highlights..
Our guest instructor this year was Pat Brubaker of Custom Rides in Hastings Nebraska. We focused on minimal tools this year. A largely forgotten tool that is (was) seen in many shops is the arbor press. Pat has developed a die set to use in the arbor press that makes it an invaluable tool to have in your metalshaping arsenal.
This video shows tuck shrinking, much the same as using the stump, but here using less impact for less stress added to the panel..
Pete Hagan brought some 2002 BMW front fenders to practice with, one having a noticeable dent in the front..
Here we match up one of the dies to match the crown of the rear of the fender, and try our hand at removing a dent using the arbor press.
It did a good job of removing the majority of the damage, and more importantly, without adding any more stretch. Minimal work at this point would have this ready for paint.
We also discussed various pattern techniques, and the benefits realized with each one. One of the class participants, Laser with a Z, had brought a 1961 Impala front valance to duplicate, as it had many rust issues.
Some of the rust issues were filled with clay in order to get a more accurate pattern.
Flexible shape patterns show better the amount of shape in the panel, and paper patterns were used to get an accurate read on panel material size.
The replacement panel was made in two pieces and welded together. Laser did a nice job of welding, note the consistent width in the HAZ for minimal distortion..
Comparison:
Last edited by MP&C; December 1, 2017, 08:51 PM.Comment
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Jake's project for the class was a replacement for our practice fan shroud from last month.. The rear edge was unfinished, so we aimed to fix that, and also make it out of aluminum to better match the radiator.
To finish off the rear edge, we chose to add a bead to the edge and a hemmed flange to close it off, keeping the hem flat so as not to interfere with the fan.
The beads were added, flanges tipped to attach to the baffle panel, and the linear stretch dies in the Lennox used to stretch the correct outer radius.
We attempted various welding methods to attach the shroud to the baffle plates. The spot welder lacked the balls to make the welds, and TIG spot welds or weld passes seemed to add more distortion to our practice pieces than the precise circle we had rolled would tolerate. So we used some stainless hardware and nylock nuts to hold the parts together..
Here are some videos of the installed shroud..
Some of the tips and tricks shared at the class, here is a table "extension" for a band saw to permit cutting of crowned panels SAFELY..
Charlie has been to our class three years in a row, and he is a pretty sharp cookie. Like some of us and getting older, he has the unfortunate issue of arthritis in his hands, and finds difficulty in using hand snips. In much the same fashion as the Beverly shears, Charlie modified a pair of right angle Midwest shears to use a handle for easier operation..
Action video:
Material capacity stays the same, operation just becomes a bit easier, especially for those with arthritis conditions..Comment
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