1957 30' Sovereign of the Road
1959 28' Ambassador
1949 24' Limited
Peru
, New York
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 745
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkR
Matt, I'm soon to receive an axle from Colin and am wondering if 2 people can lift it? I'm picking it up at a Freight Terminal and am thinking I want to remove it from the pallet and slide it into the bed of my pick up, and want to know if it's going to be possible.
Thanks, Mark
Yeah, its doable with two people, & yes they are heavy.
Colin
Colin beat me to the punch. But truthfully I would not have known if I had not gone only to check. Colin shipped it straight to the welder, and the driver unloaded it. .
BTW, thanks for the tip on the nameplate article! I'll pick IP a bottle next time I go to the hardware store along with the other pile of stuff that I need.
Last question for today: does anyone know the exact blue shade for the original 50’s art deco style sign? Mine is completely faded, and I took it off last night, hoping to restore it to its former glory.
I did mine (a little different lettering) but see here ; post 44
Frame work goings on. Excited to see it come together. The welder installed the axle and has the work about 90% complete. I have attached the list of improvements to the frame, but also added a new Bulldog 5000lb. hitch coupler, because the old one was getting mighty thin. It also adds about 4” of length to the front of the A-frame without looking odd. As many of you know the A frames are short on those 50s trailers.
Many of the photos were of mocking up the tanks to ensure we could make them work, and many more were provided by my son playing with the phone. Needed to make some modifications to accommodate the shocks and wheel wells. And the welder seemed to come up with some clever ways to mount the tanks and hold them in place. I extended the frame down two inches in depth to accommodate a deeper black tank, the axles, and to add a bit of strength
I will finally add a word of caution, this is not the final version, and there will be some changes in the final product that we figured out today.
The spare tire holder is one of the last things being attached to the trailer, either yesterday or today by the welder. I am planning on putting it in the same place as the ones on the modern trailers right underneath the front of the trailer. We need to work out the last bit of engineering for the front edge of the belly pan, but I think that we have it. My frame did not require modification to accommodate the spare tire up there.
I am adding a front hold down plate as well. Small item, and so it was also one of the last items to go on as well. I picked up a majority of the holding tank plumbing today, so after we finish the painting hopefully Wednesday and Thursday, we can begin fitting it in and order the plywood for the floor as well as the split A/C unit. It will be nice to see things going back together.
The last window for disassembly, repair, and initial polishing is the front window. As I take it apart I realize that it has been replaced before. This also the only window frame that has any real damage. Generally it is cosmetic, but I still don’t like it. Does anyone have any ideas on ways to fix it? Maybe hit it with some aluminum weld to fill in the holes and then sand it off smooth again?
One of the previous owners improvised his own window gasket when replacing the glass, and made the spacing work by adding in another thin, sticky, foam gasket. It seemed to work.
It’s all apart now, and almost done polishing the initial cut on the windows. Time to get the glass cut. I am thinking that I will get it 3/32” thick, with safety glass in the front and rear, and tinted glass for the rest, save for the kitchen area. Any lessons learned here?
Looking at the first pic the metal doesn't look great and I can't really tell but it looks like the crack extends beyond the stop drill relief hole. I don't have the same style of windows but wondered if you could do a flush skin repair there? Add a landing doubler behind the skin (1 gauge thicker) cut our the damage and replace with the exact same material, dimple and flush rivet with 3/32's. Once polished up you would only see the .030" gap around the repair but I don't know how it would work for the back of the frame; anyhow just thinking out load in case it helps.
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1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
A few shots of the last of the window frames, rear storage door, and wheel wells.
The rear storage door will get a new locking mechanism, already ordered from VTS, and a new interior panel, built from some leftover 2024T3 that I have.
I will polish the rear sign and repaint it. Thanks for the tip on the Royal Blue paint!
The wheel wells are still in great shape, minus one minor crack, but the galvanized sheeting that it is made from is otherwise as good as new, though the original sealant is not. I have removed about half of the old black gunk, and will Vulkem and re-seal with automotive undercoating for re-installation.
William, I will definitely look into it. To be forthright, I haven't done anything to it but a little sanding to clean in up, no crack relief drill hole or anything. I have some extra sheeting that I might be able to put in there, and we'll see if it works.
More pictures of the new and improved, and much upgraded frame to follow.
The rear door will be tough to make from 2024T3. To fold overs will probably crack. I've used .032 3003 with success.
What is the size of your busted up window frame? If got a couple of reproduction ones in different levels of 'done' left over.
I also need to tell you I had a laugh this week. I heard a rattle in my truck and realized it was a stash of window glass clamp trim that I built and forgot about. I recall that you were having issues with yours.
On edit, I see that you only need the inside panel, the 90's will work with 2024T3
The welding is complete and the chassis is home! There will be a few follow up items down the road, but I am very excited to be able to start painting and putting this thing back together. Follow up items include a mount for the A/C condenser, which I need to order this morning or early next week, and possibly one front piece of L bracket between the main frame rails in front of the spare tire holder in order to add a small piece of belly pan right in front of the spare tire holder.
I am really liking the spare tire holder design itself, which was fabricated by the welder, and I think it looks very slick with the hinge and the attachment design. We used just flat pieces on the outriggers for support in order to save weight and provide a surface for the belly skin to attach to. I have plenty of aluminum pieces to add in as sacrificial between the outriggers and the belly skin. I also really like the frame rail extensions in order to facilitate a deeper black tank, as well as insulation in the belly pan, and strength for the frame itself with the torsion axle and the tanks. I think I hit the balance of additional strength without too much weight as much as possible. I was still able to simply pick up the front of the trailer and move it around my hand, hitch it up, etc., without lifting too much. The big question is whether I will be able to get it flipped for the belly pan installation. Should be.
Speaking of belly pan, my options were trying to put four-foot wide sections of 5052 from Airparts, Inc. laterally across the bottom from frame rail to frame rail in succession from front to back, or my welder can provide 5’ x 10’ sections of 5052 that I can install longitudinally from front to back. I think I am going with the latter, because it reduces the number of pieces. It is .055” thickness, but I think it will work, and it should definitely resist dents.
The tanks are partially mock fitted, and will be fully mocked and installed after the frame is painted. The welder and I came up with a system of removable brackets that support the existing cross members that allow removal and service of all the tanks. One never knows, I may be the next guy that has to get in there and fix things.
I also had the welder put on the wheel guards below the axle. Basically, as much safety as I could into this frame. We left just a sliver of space available in the axle mount in order to fit the belly skin in, but it can be tightened as much as needed. BTW, the shocks fit into the original shock mount hole and bolt well.
As I look at the belly pan, I would like to put in one large piece of 5052 that spans across from main frame rail to main frame rail, and then smaller piece that work in the banana wrap areas around the outriggers. Of course, that is problematic, because most of the major aluminum sellers that folks are familiar with on this forum, Airparts, Inc., Aircraft Spruce, etc, only make sheets four feet wide. However, I have found a local source that can get a piece of 5052 that is 60” x 120” in .055” thickness. That seems awfully thick, but it should definitely resist denting better, and since it will only be a simple flat piece with square corners, it should be easy to manipulate. Does anyone see an issue with this before I commit to buying? Weight maybe?
Vernon, I will need to take some measurements to know for sure. It's the front window on the trailer. I am debating about just leaving well enough alone on this one, and keeping the repair as minor as possible in order to avoid the risk of making it worse.
I think I got the retention brackets to work. I will know in the next week or two once I am able to get back to the windows and wrap them up.
Well, I still may hit you up if the ones I have don't cut it. I probably won't be able to wrap them up for a few weeks. I need to get on the frame and get the holding tanks in place and then the sub-floor and belly skin so that I can get the shell back on by this summer. Hopefully painting complete by next weekend, and holding tanks fitted by the weekend after.
Still not 100% on whether to buy the thicker belly skin material, but I think I will because it's cheaper, and should save a lot of cutting and fitting.
Also, still hoping I could sort of figure a way to have a little aluminum weld put in and sand it down, but I will leave well enough alone it I can't find something I am very confident in.
Quite a weekend. Boys to their first holy communion, which partly seems to be a racket for the photographer, and is partly very special. Spent some quality time trying to keep their shirts tucked in and solemn looks on their faces, until one skipped to the priest for his communion.
Then after church, prepping the chassis. Take off the shocks, tongue jack, safety skids. Go over it with the paint remover and wire wheel to get the last of the paint I missed. Then POR-15 degreaser/cleaner, which seems to work rather well. Then the metal prep solution. Seemed to work really well, but...if you need to do this, rinse the crap out of it to get rid of all the zinc phosphate powder residue. I missed some and you will see in the photos how it affected the application of the paint. Not as smooth as I would like. Took care of of most of it, and the rest will get a bit of sanding, POR-15 primer and another top coat. And I still have top coat to go.
I ended up spaying it on. With the welding work, there was just too many nooks and crannies to deal with. And after spraying on the silver, I am very glad that I did. One quart equaled one coat for the black, with a bit left over. I quart equaled exactly one coat for the silver, even after thinning as recommended by the manufacturer. I did not see the yellow that some people claim. Lots of solids in the silver, and it goes on well. But no extra, and just short for the mounting brackets for the holding tanks. No worries though with the primer and rattle cans.
So just a bit of sanding and prepping for the tongue and rear bumper, add on the hammered silver to those and the step and wheel well areas and we are in business for mounting holding tanks.
Although spraying makes it easier, it is a full and very tiring day to metal prep, mount and dismount axles, and put on three coats of paint. Thankfully it was raining outside, and with the door of the shop open, lots of humidity got in and cured the paint fairly quickly. It now looks fantastic!
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