The Double Nickel Project - 1955 Flying Cloud

[MattB]

Used the old panel as the template for the new one. One recurring theme: it pays to take your time to see where you can deviate from the exact replication of the old panel. Often, one simply duplicates imperfections created at the factory. I should have left more overlap at the top, another inch or so.




Second recurring theme: the clamp style Cleco fasteners are expensive, and yet worth every penny. They clamp tightly for test fitting in a way I would have a lot of trouble replicating in any other way. Four is your bottom line minimum. Eight is better. Simply awesome.

[Bubba L]

MattB, thanks for the insight and heads up. I'll be test fitting the shell on the chassis next week. I know I have a long way to go, but it sure helps to have someone well ahead of me to get tips from. Keep up the good work.

[HiHoAgRV]

A heat gun peels off the black goop in the seams. Mineral spirits clean off the residue. I drilled thru the new skin and into the plywood table, then inserted clecos since I don't have clamping ones. Great looking work!!!

On edit, I wasn't drilling on the floor, I setup an outside work table.

[MattB]

Street side panel is cut to size and now I am starting to test fit. I use the clamp Clecos again to get it positioned well. As I start to drill in the permanent holes I start at the upper right corner of the panel and work across and down to ensure there are not any bunching or ill-fitting areas. Everything seems to go very smoothly.

It rapidly becomes clear that the original holes in the ribs and horizontal supports are the best holes to redrill to avoid saturation or missing. Unfortunately, as with cutting the pieces, this sometimes leads to replicating imperfections from the original. In this case, if the rivet line was meant to be straight and evenly spaced, the guys at the factory were not on their game that day.

[MattB]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

A heat gun peels off the black goop in the seams. Mineral spirits clean off the residue. I drilled thru the new skin and into the plywood table, then inserted clecos since I don't have clamping ones. Great looking work!!!

On edit, I wasn't drilling on the floor, I setup an outside work table.

A bit of a head smack, should have thought of the heat gun sooner. Fortunately, not too tough to remove. Thanks!

[MattB]

As alluded to earlier, my newest distraction. It can best be described as having fallen into my possession for the very right price. It was also in part a matter of saving it from the scrap metal facility, knowing that the shell, door and windows were in pretty good shape, although the frame is in terrible shape and will need to be rebuilt.





Fortunately the shell was reasonably well braced, but still came home at about 15 mph and very carefully. This Rube Goldberg unloading process took a few hours but was successful. I will be starting an new thread for that trailer once I can start in earnest. Still, very cool.

[MattB]

The previous owner had braced the interior well with wood, but the shell was off the frame for the 1966. Picked up the frame and wanted to get everything situated for all three trailers.

The frame will need to be almost completely rebuilt. For now the shell will rest on top.

First on the floor:


Then the hoist:


Off the ground and on the frame:



All three trailers together in the workshop:

[MattB]

Fitting and drilling the panel is only the first step. Once drilled, I first took the Clecos out of the top half, wiped off the metal shavings, and sealed with Trempro along the seams and the vertical supports. I wanted to find a way also put in some kind of thermal barrier between the two layers of metal.




And of course, when trying to get everything aligned, I remain my typical clumsy handed self and cut my knuckle in such a way it would not close. And also of course, the handyman’s secret weapon and a cotton ball solve the problem.



With the help of my younger son, we got the panel riveted over several hours.



Then went to work on the windows. It is a tough balance to ensure they are sealed and securely seated for the gaskets, with proper alignment. Then once in place, drilling through takes a while to get the hole properly sized and shaped for the rivet to go through. I also discovered that my son is better with the bucking bar than SWMBO, but keeping it to myself.



I used frosted glass for the shower window, which is where the original wet bath shower was in the original floorplan.




I left the last few rivets toward the front of the trailer with just Cleco fasteners until I can get the corner panels into place.



I also found this picture which has told me a lot about how the shell goes together, including the black sealing strip at the front and rear of the side panels where the fasten to the ends.

[MattB]

I was not happy with the way three things on the door:

1) The curvature on the non-hinge side was not right, having been slammed by a previous owner or whomever. It left a small gap at the top and bottom on that side. It did not match the hinge side, which did still seal properly. Further, there was a crack in the frame of the door just above and below the latch mechanism from being slammed.

2) The deadbolt did not fit as I wanted it to. I looked neat from the outside, but I had to butcher the bolt itself to make it fit. It wasn’t going to last.

3) The door handle had been pushed in so much from being slammed that the front panel was warped, and looked rough.




I took the panels off the front and back. The bottom inside piece needed to be fabricated as well.



Test fitting the hole cut for the door handle. This was obviously done by hand at the factory. Or it looked to me like it had been gnawed or something to shape. I experimented by drilling holes at the top and bottom, and then used my nibbler attachment for the drill to gnaw it myself generally to shape and then used the dremel to smooth it to shape. I’ve probably got this all out of order, so more on this probably later.

[MattB]

Fabricated the bottom piece with an improvised brake. Clamped between two pieces of angle iron, and board.






A combination of clamping and hammering brought them into shape. I try not to work too hard during these projects.





Checked it against the original panel.

[MattB]

… and the screen trimmed into place.

[MattB]

The door frame was cracked just above and below the door latch, and needed to be reinforced and bent back to shape.



Clamped the new outside panel into place with the spring clamp. Laid over a board and carefully measured and aligned. Then gingerly bent it back to be even curve on both sides.



Once back into shape, I riveted the new outside piece into place to help reinforce the curve. I also cut a curved piece of sheet aluminum to match the curve of the door, and riveted it into the inside of the door frame. I did need to cut a small part out for the latch itself.

[MattB]

More panels go on the door.

[MattB]

Had to put together a new panel for the locking tabs for the door within a door. Cleaned up the tabs as well. The placement of the slots was a bit troublesome. Careful measure to mark the location. Then I drilled two holes to mark the ends of each of the slots, with one in the middle. Then the cutting disk with the dremel made short work of the rest of the slot.

[calais66]

Nice, dude. For all the things I've done on my rig (subfloor, plumbing, etc.) I've dreaded, and put off, the door in a door the most.

[MattB]

Originally Posted by calais66

Nice, dude. For all the things I've done on my rig (subfloor, plumbing, etc.) I've dreaded, and put off, the door in a door the most.

Thanks, but take heart. The door within a door was easier to align than the door itself. However, I feel the same way about the tail lights...which I have been putting off and may get to this weekend.

[MattB]

With the interior pieces all in place.

[MattB]

I wanted to install a spare tire area up front under the front, just behind the A frame in the same way the modern trailers are set up. As mentioned before, I had my welder fabricate a spare tire holder. I also installed a center bar running lengthwise longitudinally which with I could attach a retention bolt opposite the hinge.




I previously measured and cut to shape a template from the original belly plan. Measured a new piece, cut to shape the prepared for test fit. Checked the position of the attachment bar behind the insulation. When installing the initial belly plan pieces I fitted two pieces of aluminum on the face of the crossmember at the rear of the tire.

[MattB]

The last component to go together was the brackets on the interior of the wheel well, and then over the edge of the belly skin over the bottom of the main frame rail. I fabricated the interior pieces and used extruded pieces on the bottom of the rail.



Once in place, it was just a matter of ripping out the plastic covers off of the aluminum sheeting.





Once I test fitted the tire, I realized that the bolt was not long enough to reach through the bracket. This was disheartening after feeling clever about the whole thing.

[MattB]

Some cleanup on the roof after taking the vents off. The old butyl tape was stuck in place like no one's business. I also wanted to remove the vent covers for the fridge and the holding tanks.

I scraped the large pieces of the butyl tape off as much as possible. The rest would need to come off with some chemical assistance.



The vent covers had to come off for clean up and a proper seal. It was clear from the water marks on the inside that the original screws had leaked significantly.



I wanted to keep the original vent covers because I like them much better than alternatives available. The low profile look is just better.

I also took the chance to scrub out 50+ years of grease and debris from the stove vent, though I think I forgot to take a picture of the polished vent cover.