Help With Lid on 1963 Bumper Locker?

[SilverHoot]

utee you beat me to it! What is that?

[DEITZ645]

I think it's called a hand brake as opposed to a full sized aluminum brake



They are both used for bending aluminum or sheet metal. One on a small scale, the other on a larger scale.

Which leads to my next question...If it bends metal, why do they call it a "brake"???

[VIKING]

I thought bending metal was what happens when you forget to brake.

[dieseleagle]

Marcus, a couple of months ago I went scrounging at a salvage yard in north Florida and came home with one of the extruded lids you first mentioned that I thought I'd use on my 63 Tradewind restoration. The original has cleaned and straightened up better that I thought it would and I'm going to keep it. If you are still interested let me know and I'll try to post a picture of the extruded one. I think I paid $10 for it.

[utee94]

de,

Sure, would like to see a picture, thanks. Also, welcome to the Forums!

Thanks,
-Marcus

[toddster]

Perfect timing for this thread! In my GTs past, someone cut the trunk down the middle and removed half of it. I recently went to a local scrap yard, Alan Steel in Redwood City, and bought a flat piece of 0.90" thick aluminum to fabricate my trunk cover. The advantage of buying the material there was that they would cut it to size - for a price of course. My total cash outlay for the material plus one cut was $25... They didn't have have cool extruded pieces, so my plan is to attempt a brushed finish using a sanding block and fine grit paper. I figure doing that and giving it a clear coat should do the trick. I opted for the thicker material to make up for a lack of nice bent stiffening features. Hopefully I can to attack the project this week, so I'll be sure to post some pictures.

One question I have is regarding the hinge rivets. It looks like the rivets that affix the hinges to the cover are solid bucked rivets. Are most trunk hinges out there pop riveted or buck riveted?

[Melody Ranch]

Marcus,
When they closed the Eagle Bus manufacturing plant in Brownsville a few years ago they sold out alot of bus siding aluminum. It was a wavy, extruded, polished, plate......about 3/8 thick. You can see it on most big busses...not plastic buses...on the road. I have see some of this material on Ebay...listed under ..of all things...aluminum. I have recently seen something similar listed in RV parts, being sold by high end motor coach manufactures.

[dieseleagle]

Hope this works as I have not posted pics before.



If you want it I'll be happy to send it to you for $10 plus shipping.

[utee94]

Thanks for the photos de, I'll check my dimensions and see if it's a match. I wonder how much shipping from FL to TX would be?

MR-- that's a good idea as well, thanks again to everyone for their input. For now I have riveted the old one back on, and it is serviceable, but not ideal.

[utee94]

Originally Posted by toddster

Perfect timing for this thread! In my GTs past, someone cut the trunk down the middle and removed half of it. I recently went to a local scrap yard, Alan Steel in Redwood City, and bought a flat piece of 0.90" thick aluminum to fabricate my trunk cover. The advantage of buying the material there was that they would cut it to size - for a price of course. My total cash outlay for the material plus one cut was $25... They didn't have have cool extruded pieces, so my plan is to attempt a brushed finish using a sanding block and fine grit paper. I figure doing that and giving it a clear coat should do the trick. I opted for the thicker material to make up for a lack of nice bent stiffening features. Hopefully I can to attack the project this week, so I'll be sure to post some pictures.

One question I have is regarding the hinge rivets. It looks like the rivets that affix the hinges to the cover are solid bucked rivets. Are most trunk hinges out there pop riveted or buck riveted?

Mine is not the original bumper, though it's pretty much the same as original. I believe Terry said that my bumper came from an Argosy. For reference, my trunk lid is buck-riveted to the hinge, and the hinge is pop-riveted to the trailer, but that arrangement could be (and likely is) a result of the removal and replacement of the original bumper.

-Marcus

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by utee94

Mine is not the original bumper, though it's pretty much the same as original. I believe Terry said that my bumper came from an Argosy. For reference, my trunk lid is buck-riveted to the hinge, and the hinge is pop-riveted to the trailer, but that arrangement could be (and likely is) a result of the removal and replacement of the original bumper.

-Marcus

The bumper on your trailer now is from Balrgn's 1973 Argosy 26 he was parting out several years ago. The pop rivets are replacements for the pop rivets that were on the cover when we got the trailer. I did move the camloc mounts slightly to take advantage of somewhat better aluminum in the new locations.
As always, there are stories behind many "normal" things, and the bumper is one of them. Andre sold me the bumper, boxed it up, and sent it via UPS from his home in new Hampshire to our home in Florida. He got a bill from UPS after I had gotten the bumper, and installed it. The bill was for about $20 more than he charged me for the bumper and shipping combined. If nothing else, it is a study in shipping costs.

[vswingfield]

If you can find a shop that installs extruded aluminum running boards like these you may be able to buy a section from them. AZ Truck Accessories | Continental Accessories*4 Inch Back Series Extruded Aluminum Running Boards* I have used scraps from these places for all sorts of projects, including mounting an electric fuel pump.