Frame Welding

[Kenn]

Today I lifted off the floor and roof frames. I bolted the 1600# casters to the underside and streched a tarp over it and rolled it out of the shop. It will sit outside until I finish the lower unit and paint the truck.

[Kenn]

Today was a good day, my sister helped me lift the lower unit off the truck without any drama. It took a while to find a balance point and I had to use a nylon strap to keep it level. The first picture is of the new Harbor Freight 2 ton chainfall, next is a shot from the rear with the lower unit all the way up and the truck ready to be moved out. The third picture is of me lowering it with all the finesse I can muster. And at last it is sitting on the three saw horses. I have gained a lot of room, four feet at the rear and seven feet in front. Next up is to do all of the finish welding, rivet all the sheet steel on and then paint.

[Dragonslayer140]

Great job Kenn, good thing that 5.9 earthquake out off your coast today didn't happen any closer when you had that hanging..lol. you seem to be making great progress, and looking forward to seeing it when you get that lower half painted.

Dave

[Kenn]

It took a few weeks of neck straining work but the underside is almost done. It was much easier to weld all of the gussets in and weld the many tube ends and brackets with the lower unit off the truck. After all the welding, I spent several hours removing rust and dirt. I used wire wheels on a small grinders for most of it. Next I primed the hole thing with Rustoleum (white). I used gloss black Rustoleum for the final coat. I brushed the paint on all of the parts that were not large sheets (fender liners and inside of the fuel compartment) and used a roller on the panels. It is hard to tell you how many pieces of steel caused me to bend my old body into funny positions. Now that it is done my neck is getting better. I used a truck bedliner called Grizzly Grip to do the inside of the fender liners. I also put in on the back and end of the holding tank. I now have all of the sheet steel riveted to the frame except for the rear panel. The Harbor Freight air riveter worked great.
Next up is to prep for paint and hope the rain stops soon. I will include some pictures and I hope you can tell what you are looking at.

[Kenn]

More pictures

[Kenn]

I think I pushed the wrong button.

[andyg]

Sweet, keep us up to date on your progress. You will take special pleasure using a coach that you built yourself.

[Dragonslayer140]

Kenn, looks like you are making great progress, when you get to the point of putting on your wall panels, and or lifting the upper unit onto the floor unit, let me know if you need an additional set of hands for a day or so. Michelle and I would be happy to stop by for a day or so. We are looking for an excuse to come down and visit the air museum anyway..lol

Dave

[Kenn]

well after some difficulty with the primer, I finally got the lower unit primed and painted. I started to prime it on Wednesday and the primer shot out of the gun in ways I have never seen before. I tried every trick I know with no luck. I called the paint store and found out they gave me the wrong primer. I had to drive an hour to exchange it for the right one and then an hour home. The new primer sprayed great and I was able to do the topcoat two hours later. I will post some pictures but as always it is hard to get good shots in the shop. I mounted a blower on the outside of the shop and blew air in through heater filters and then out a window on the other side of the door. I hung tarps from the roof down one side of the shop to make a curtain wall. The curtain wall moves the incoming air to the back of the shop and then it makes it's way back to the front window. It worked great with very littel overspray.

[Kenn]

I mounted the holding tank and put the doors on with the help of my sister. I had to mill some relife in the holding tank mounts because the rolled up door was to close when the door is open. I now have 1/2" space between the door and the mounts. I will be happy to be able to see the paint with the base outside of the shop. It is hard to get any good pictures in the shop.

[Kenn]

pictures of the doors. It looks like the door paint is a good match with my body paint.

[Oscarvan]

Very cool....two questions. Are those rollup doors? Do you have a link to them? And the rivets, are those solid head? or is there a hole in them which you filled prior to painting?

Thanks....

[Kenn]

Oscarvan the doors are roll up and I got them from Gortite Rollup Doors. You can find them at www.gortitrdoors.com. If you go back and look at pages 4 and 5 of this thread I had the cost listed. Total was just over 3 K with paint and shipping. They have been good to work with and I would recommend them. The rivets are pop rivets that I filled and sanded prior to paint. I filled them with Bondo. I now have another new skill (filling and sanding rivets) that will get filed in the back of my mind. It was a lot of work but I like the finished look. Time will tell if they hold up. I still need to rivet the rear panle and that will be around 80 more.

[Oscarvan]

Very cool..... thanks a bunch.

For those that come after, there's a typo in that link....it's:

Roll Up Doors ? Gortite Doors

[Dragonslayer140]

Hi Kenn, Your base is looking great, The roll ups look really good and match well. Hoping we get a chance to head down you way for a visit again soon, We just got back from our trip to the manufactures (we learned a lot from visiting the various manufactures) and it will probably be a few weeks before my work schedule and pocket book will allow a trip down, but defiantly want to check on your progress. Keep up the good work.

[Don Mcl]

Kenn,

looking good.

you may find this build interestingStacker Trailer Build

re: frp install

don

[Kenn]

I finished the first compartment except for doing some minor caulking. I used aluminum for one end and the top and used "Newood" for the floor and backwall. I also found two used Peterbilt fuel tanks. I will use one or both tanks to hold a 55 gal plastic water tank. I plan to mount the water pump onto the back of the Pete tank.

[mmmc101]

kenn
Somewhere on this site there was a discussion on shaveable rivets. I also like the solid rivet look and deceided to try them. Greatest thing since apple pie. Takes a little practice to get tool adjusted just right and the tool is a little pricey but the finished product comes out nice. Your rig is looking great. Michael

[Oscarvan]

You have more info on the solid rivets?

[mmmc101]

Oscarvan, the rivets are actually "blind" pop rivets with a shaveable head. After installing the rivet, the tool is used to shave the stem/head to give the appearance of a solid rivet. I purchased the rivets and tool online from Olympic Fastening Systems. The tool is $200 and the rivets are a little higher than standard pop rivets. MMM