desertrat
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Post by desertrat on Feb 14, 2015 20:09:21 GMT -8
Got a little more of the streetside framing redone today, but mostly it was a shopping day. I found a place in town that would sell me the 7 feet of angle iron for the frame instead of a full 20 foot stick. Then after taking one of the pups for shots, it was off to Ace to load up on a bunch of carriage bolts, nuts and washers. No work for a few days; we have a weather system headed this way so everything is buttoned up and there's a big tarp on the trailer. I was able to take the bracing off that was using the shed to keep the trailer stable from this past weekend's crazy rush to fix rot. Comparing the old studs to the new ones is almost comical when you see the bend in the old ones.
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desertrat
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Post by desertrat on Feb 16, 2015 20:00:42 GMT -8
Discovered a sliiiiiight bend in the front frame crossmember today; it wasn't obvious at first but I noticed it when I took the tarp off the trailer. It's slight enough that I'm debating whether or not to get the crossmember replaced. I probably will because I need to have someone come in anyway to weld the second crossmember on. Also found a place in town with Birch plywood in both 1/8" and 1/4" for a reasonable price, and they stock a bunch. We've also been researching electrical wire, breakers, boxes and lights. I think we have the 110 side of things figured out, so now we need to work on the 12v. I'm also wanting to wire speakers inside the trailer as well, so between the 12v lights, outlets, and sound wiring, that'll take some figuring. I want to get that figured out soon so that I can run rough wiring when I've got framing in place. Hoping to get the welder in soon because then I can replace the floor plywood, pull the curbside skin, and really get cookin' on the framing and some paneling on that side.
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desertrat
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Post by desertrat on Mar 9, 2015 11:28:15 GMT -8
Finally got to get back to work yesterday. The first few feet of plywood and soundboard is removed. I need to cut a few more carriage bolts and clear out some more of the interior so I can get the next four feet. New frame member is cut to size, drilled for the carriage bolts, and it's clamped to the frame. The old welds that broke on the frame have been taken off with an angle grinder and the new angle iron has been hit with the wire wheel. All it needs now is to be welded. I'm going to attach helper joists to the two outside joists. Then I can put in the new plywood. Once I get the plywood down I'll feel like I've actually gotten somewhere.
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Post by vikx on Mar 9, 2015 20:24:39 GMT -8
Thanks for the update desertrat. Take some pictures of your frame improvements and share!
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desertrat
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Post by desertrat on Apr 5, 2015 22:26:14 GMT -8
Finally... some friggin' progress.
Haven't been able to work on her for a few weeks due to being busy. Today I spent about 10 hours working outside on Donna. Plywood is pulled out 8 feet back and carriage bolts to that point are now all out. I put a new 1x3 to replace the old window header, and things feel a lot more solid now. I went ahead and bought a welder since HF was having a sale on them, and after some practice I've got the fallen crossmember welded on. I welded a couple of reinforcements onto the front frame crossmember as well. Along the inside of the two edge joists there are now helper joists; I couldn't remove the old ones since the new framing was attached to them, and the wood had worn down where it met the frame crossmembers so this seemed like the best solution. They're attached with carriage bolts that are countersunk. New plywood and soundboard is down on the front! They aren't attached or bolted yet, but I got them cut and in there so all I need to do is drill and install the carriage bolts. I found asphalt impregnated soundboard at the big orange box, and it even had the same Celotex logo and labeling that the old stuff did.
Next up is to put down the next four feet of plywood and soundboard and make sure everything is attached. I'll do the back plywood when I remove the rear skin. Once I've got the next bit of flooring down, next up will be to pull the skin off on the curb side and get that reframed, and start putting the birch up there. Think I'll end up buying a table saw - at this rate I'll be able to say that I spent all this money on tools and oh, yeah, got a restored trailer out of the deal as well.
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