In Over My Head

[ProWelder]

I wish mine looked that good..... Gonna try to post some pics...

[Wabbiteer]

okay - that is scary.

Blocks without alternating length/width stacks topple over way too easily, rain soaked ground lets them lean a bit blah blah, something. Murphy loves Shell-offs!

The fence as a wind block is great, as is that big white Dodge.

Once the frame has been pulled: On all four concrete pylon posts.. If you can snub a vertical 2x4 against the blocks, and connect another brace to the shell cross-support beam to make a triangle brace - and stake the triangles ground corner down so it can't splay out that should keep the second inch of lateral movement from happening. Might get a inch of wiggle but not a losing balance three+ inches. No promises made, just a way to use another four 2x4's and thirty deck screws to maybe sleep a little easier.

Three or four years ago there was a photo set of a shell that got the potion-of-motion while it was off-frame in somebodies back farm lot. Not a whole lot of visible damage, no buckled ribs but I'm not sure it ever got back together afterwards.

Can you get circus-tent style stakes in to rope over the top of the trailer to? Or something with serious ballast weight?

[ProWelder]

The shell was never actually sitting on those blocks....i had them as a back up if something slid. I had it on blocks on the trailer floor. It's off , frame is out and I set the shell on 4 blocks 2 blocks high. It was'nt to bad raising it alone but it was a nerve racking job sitting it down. Post pics tomorrow...on my way to work.....gonna be a three day weekend.

[Wabbiteer]

Gee ProWeld.. Sorry for calling Wolf.

I remember making doubly sure there was no one around to witness the three-ring lift and drop circuses here! Thanks for sharing.

I envy your having steel wheel wells, the plastic set they use on this '73 are almost unusable from aging cracks and I'm sure someone will be cussing me in the future for reusing them...

[ProWelder]

No problem Wabbiteer....I should have explained the blocking.
I have the frame in my wifes favorite parking spot to remove the flooring and to start on the frame repair....i told her that it shouldn't be there more than a day or two.
I had my new frame rails fabricated out of 3/16 steel at my old job place...i had 20 foot fabricated so i would have enough to make the outriggers. Has anyone added any extra outriggers toward the rear? I thought about adding an extra back there but i dont want to cause further issues.

[mrgreen]

have you inspected the frame yet? what caused the door break bad frame or bad axles? my frame was really bad (just finished building a new one) but luckily my door frame stayed intact i am interested to see what state your frame is in.

[mrgreen]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

Heehehehe. Sorry, couldn't resist.

As long as you have the shell tautly strapped down to ground anchors, point the skinny end into the most likely prevailing wind, and avoid storm wind gusts the aerodynamic shell will shed most upsetting forces. I sat under my lifted shell in 45-55mph cross-wind gusts and was amazed how little the shell wanted to move. Nesting it beside a building and parking another vehicle alongside would hedge your bets.

$100 worth of lumber and $50 worth of screws bought the pylons I used to hold my shell up for nine weeks, I was expecting to be forced to have it separated all winter but we had an easy Fall weather wise.

Not saying this is what you should do, just saying 10-14 days separated is different than 10-14 weeks. Photo is the day I got to reinsert frame under shell - 20th Nov 2011.

i have to ask about the Turkey in your photo, friend or food!!

[ProWelder]

Well I have all of the flooring removed..all that is left is the blown insulation removal. From what i can see so far the frame is in great shape..except 2 to 3 foot on the rear street side. Alot of surface rust but no holes or rot. After 40 some years the sealant is still goo around the wheel wells.

[ProWelder]

I don't know wtf is wrong with this site....love the peeps and the info but it takes me at least 20 mins to get logged in to make a post wtf is up with this?????. I've been on 3 computers this eve just trying to do a simple response and it took me 30 mins!!!!! Is it me?

[Wabbiteer]

Cookies - log in to this site and the server sets a cookie or two on your machine that keeps the account synchronized.

Have those cookies deleted by privacy settings or paranoid PC software.... and there is no continuity each time the PC browser runs. I think the last time I was forced to log-in at airforums.com was five or eight months ago. So, my two-bits is on a software setting that erases this website's tracks.

Also, the advertising servers, the sources of any ads on the browser page, may be tossing up their cookies with slooow timing etc. into the mess. Try Mozilla Firefox browser with 'do not track plus' add-on. Silences those beggars standing outside the theater ticket booth so to speak.

mrgreen - thats a wild turkey lured by hunger to the song bird feeder.

ProWelder - looks like 'spray' insulation, mix part A & B in the sprayer nozzle and Joe Somewhen effortlessly tripled the work you face now to undo it

Okay - on adding outriggers in the back, I've read Andy saying sure put some stubbies on. But with the consequences of the extended lever of the rear frame and the 'static' eggshell 'holding up the frame' and the slight weakness of the shell at the wheel wells, and nine other litters of kittens built-in not readily apparent - the plywood spring tension goes way up as the curve reduces, etc. kind of makes the stubriggers like adding an extra little toe on your foot, if five are good then six are better.

All that being said with the shell off it take a 32nd degree mason and a coupler of 5th-graders to perfectly meander-establish the plywood curves in relation to the shell curve, without having accurate* old floor templates. And to locate the stubriggers perfectly, unless you wait until the shell is landed to size them and weld them on, would probably involve quantum mechanics and time travel.

On my '73 there is a battery locker cutout notch in the floor (sits both over/under where the floor should) be on one side and a hot water heater shell cut-out on the other side - both have missing C-channel sections on/at the curve of the end cap. If they wanted the rear shell to be welded down they sure wouldn't have accessorized it with those add-on cut-outs.

[ProWelder]

Thank you Wabbiteer, I'm sorry for getting upset. Somedays I think the computer is here just to drive us insane...

[ProWelder]

The past few days I have'nt made much progress....still trying to remove the spray foam from the frame rails. I removed the biggest part with a screwdriver but it's taking forever. Does anyone know a better way to remove this stuff and the sealer for the wheel wells? Pressure washer?

[wahoonc]

I would use a power wire brush to get the spray foam off the frame section. Wear a face shield and gauntlets and have at it. FWIW I have used a 9" grinder for the task before and it makes short work of it...makes a helluva mess too.

Aaron

[Wabbiteer]

I got used to 4500-5000psi diesel fired steam pressure washers working for a subway system - a 3000 PSI unit I was forced to buy last fall is like painting a house with a toothbrush in comparison. If you can get on the old-boy network and find a real steam cleaner by all means go for it, a good cold-water cleaner will certainly do a lot of work but not quickly or evenly.

After that you are still going to have to mechanically strip the dregs of the original paint off sometime - maybe the angle grinder with twisted-bristle wire wheels could make the foam go elsewhere. Would also reduce the units of time Joe Welder needs to burn some rod/wire when its his time to 'shine'.

Sand blasting with cheap coal slag grit is satisfying but extremely aggressive, it will eat good and bad metal just the same. Screening & reusing most types of once-shot abrasive stretches it. Make a moving backstop and tarp collector. Dispose of all the slag/rust/paint dust safely off site.

[ProWelder]

Well i have the frame cleaned from the spray foam crap. I need to remove the belly pan and i'll b ready for some frame repair.
I notice something wrong with this thing everytime i look at it. Today i was looking at the outrigger alignment from side to side when i noticed the frame is bent behind the streetside tire. I knew this trailer has had some major reconstruction in it's life but it keeps going.
I'm getting ready for shoulder surgery so things will be coming to a stop for 8-12 weeks.....

[purman]

Hey proWelder, I'm just taking my floor off today. I already have the belly pan off As I needed it off to get the wraps off. That spray in foam sucks, I'm dealing with it too.

I used gantry's to lift mine. They worked really slick and I will use them to lift and rotate the frame to work on, and spray my Por15 on the frame when all the surface rust if removed..
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...ml#post1155817 Here's my project..