2022 at the Hammond Barn
 

After surviving the early 2022 storm it is time for Bob, Grant, and the rest of the Hammond Barn crew to share their restoration efforts in this year's installment of "The Hammond Barn".

Out for a spin.....
 

Hi Paul

Attended a GearHead car show on the weekend and the wife took pictures of my truck panning shot has I left the ground......... cruising at a comfortable speed of 32 MPH @ 2000 rpm....... at that speed I do not even have to look at the speedometre or the tachometer..... it just sings nicely.

Hot, uncomfortable, noisy..... but not has bad now that I have the roof top installed and the rubber roof head pads do muffle the oil canning of the sheet metal .....did I mention HOT.....engine never overheats and stays at the thermostat prescribed 165 F.

Last week Grant found and original door hooks so I could modify mine for Summer driving. He saved the original and reproduced two exact copies. My cab 11, being early never had the field modification as it stayed in Canada, reluctantly I now appreciate what a 5 inch open door can do for comfort. I have yet to carefully drill the holes in my reproduced doors. I am waiting for Grant to measure accurately where I am to drillthe holes, which will also serve for the side curtains.

I was ready to sell the truck for $5.00 after days of fiddling with replacing the switch on the starter.....had to remove the engine cover, the rigth side of the hood just to be able to take out the starter from above &^%^&##$.....
...also had to remove the Emergency brake system off the transmission.....but on re assembly I could not re install the clevis pin that attaches the ratchet of the E brake to the rear rod.....myhand were getting sore from trying and besides they are too big.... after hours lyingonmy back with arms stretched to the limit overhead....... Grant crawled underneath and did the job in a few minutes......
I had promised to kiss him but chickened out.....!!!!!

I now have a glorious total of 607 miles on the new odometre.

One of the many old visitor at the car show argued with me that his friend HAD one just like it but it was a 1937 Chev with a round hatch in the roof....I gave up and walk away from him.

Cheers

Odessa
 

Hi Bob,

It was nice to talk to you and Grant at the Odessa show. You truck looks great with the roof installed in spite of the problems you had getting it to fit. I am also glad to hear that the truck runs cool on the road and that you installed the air conditioning upgrade.

Talk again soon.

Roof trim.....
 

Thanks Paul

I am lucky to have the original roof trim molding....... now waiting for a special order of screws with the old fashion screwdriver slot......

Nexrt job will be, before Winter, to adjust the one valve that has gone from clicking to clacking to CLACKING....... the process of undoing the engine cover screw by screw nut by nut and the two hood panels to reach the valve cover is a PAIN...... It is probably only on e valve but which one. I have a special modified valve cover cut to just about 3 inches..... minimizes the engine oil from running all over the place. I read that if you stick in a regular playing card under each valve in turn.... the one that goes quiet is the offender??? Not sure if that will work or resort to doing them all every 120 degrees using the hand crank. Of course you only hear it at idle.

I found that installing the roof has reduced the noise from the T case that would clatter between the toolbox and the lower back of the cab.... now the direct path of the sound is reduced. The rubber foam pads glued to the inside of the roof seems to muffle bouncing noise and oil canning.
.....but it is hard to maintain a civilized conversation with a passenger.

The ceramic felt (about 1/4 inch) inside the engine cover has been helpful and seems to be weathering alright. It was a slow process to install using hand made and individually installed staples made from MIG stainless steel wire....all in the same staple holes....got the idea from Phil Waterman.

Wonder if Olive Drab Green carpeting might help!!!!!!

Always a pleasure seeing you.

Valve
 

Hi Bob, the noisy valve will probably be easy to spot once the valve cover is off. You may be able to tell just by feeling the slack in the rocker arm which one is making the noise. It wouldn’t hurt to check them all now that the engine has been broken in. I was asked to do a valve adjustment on a 235 in a pickup that was quite noisy. Whoever was in there before me failed to tighten up one of the lock nuts and the adjuster unscrewed to the point that the pushrod was very loose. I was surprised that the pushrod hadn’t jumped out of place.

Paul

Some years ago......
 

....way before she was licensed but was driven in the back field looking for adjustments....

One of the pushrods, the trumpet end, shattered and a piece stayed in on the head's many depression........

It just begs to be done.....

Now that 2023 is well and truly here....
 

A report from the Barn.
The mosquitos haven't carried us away, but they are a significant nuisance.
Work on refurbishing Bob's 2B1 body for his C15A has resumed. After considerable planning sheet steel was purchased, and layout done to cut blanks for fabrication of the replacement headboard, tailgate and dropsides.

The headboard (as a less complex shape and with some room for lower precision) was the first assembly made up and attached to the lower body. Before welding the upper stiffener into place blocks of 3/4" steel were installed as reinforcements in the holes for the dropside retainer hooks. The plan is to remove and bend the hooks once the dropsides are assembled. In the meantime the hooks have ribbon to try to keep us from poking out eyes.

Then we moved on to the more complex tailgate. First cutting the blank, then bendingindividual pieces, laying them out for a dry fit and comparison to the "rough" remains of the original.

tailgate assembly
 

The first sub-parts attached to the main sheet were the diagonal braces at the top of the opening. Installing these first let us use them to position the lateral stiffening brace and confirm its fit to the hinges and reinforcement straps. When it came to riveting the hinges to the gate, several experiments were made to try techniques. Although the original rivets were probably installed cold with a squeezer set-up we had to do one at a time. We were limited by several factors - my rivet gun is only rated to 3/16" steel rivets so we had to do without the nicer teasing control and use an "ordinary" air hammer. Even the heavier air hammer wouldn't do the 5/15 rivets cold so we had to heat each rivet to a toasty red, insert it in the holes of stacked hinge, tailgate sheet and reinforcing strap then grab our home-made bucking bar (made from a cast iron snow plow wear shoe) and use the air hammer on the rivet to make the shop head. Once the rivets were installed, the braces were welded into place. The holes for taillight visibility still need layout and creation - later. Also needed are the installation of the previously made hooks and cleats for tie down of the tarp.

Thanks to Grant.....
 

....... Grant has been the real driver in this project that got started 2 years ago. He is not only reporting the progress he has been driving it. We ran into major problems with getting work done at local fabrication shop.

Initially thrilled by the fact the local shop finally got a 12 foot and 8 foot mechanical vertical brake..... we found out, the hard way, the dies they had were worn out and the operator in the early learning Phase.....time and steel was wasted...... it is only with the persistence and perseverance of Grant that we are doing any progress........ today my back went out and I am presently floating about 12 inches above my chair on codeine tablets and muscle relaxants .......

Never realized how elaborate this simple 2B1 box really is...... the basis of our project was using the best of 3 rusted old cargo box...... so as hard as we work at making parts absolutely square the cargo box base has been abused and curved, twisted and warped so Grant has been very creative in working out solutions....... thank God to the rotisserie which allows much more flexibility in positioning.

In retrospect it might have far easier starting a total rebuild from scratch.
Prices for steel and tools has become almost paralyzing and really threatens to kill the resto hobby. 3 years ago a rivet set punch for the air hammer was $39.00 now paid $190 for a 5/16 button top rivet set punch from the same supplier. But the tailgate needed rivets to look like the original.

I have more pictures to download but my newfangled "Android" camera refuses to link up to my PC........ but that is another story.....

Keep them rolling they say........

Buzzing
...... Bob C.

Great work guys; very nice. Good to see another Hammond Barn update!

3 more photos showing addition of the reinforcements for the latch hook pivots, holes to permit seeing tail lights with the tailgate hanging down and adding hinges to the dropsides (to be more accurate - the second side still needs some fabrication before attaching hinges). The reinforcements for the latch had been removed from the sample tailgate so it wasn't originally something we realized would be needed. Then we saw photos... The hole saw used to make the cutouts for taillight visibility did leave a rough edge but were cleaned up both for better appearance and because the holes make an obvious grab point and would have cut fingers...
It is noticeable that Bob's smile gets a bit wider every time another part of the box gets fabricated and installed.

More 2B1 progress
 

The dropsides are now firmly welded to their hinges and the bars the tailgate latches pass through are also welded. The hinge rods for tailgate and dropsides have been cross drilled for the securing cotter pins. The washers for the cotter pins on the hinge rods are a non standard size (at least for current Canadian common practice) so the appropriate size OD washer was drilled out to fit the hinge rods. Hooks were fabricated to hold the forward ends of the dropside in the upright position. (still "as fabricated" and needing to be trimmed for length). In case you are wondering - the large "left" and "right" labels were to stop us from trying to install the dropsides on the wrong sides of the truck. They had been made to be very close to the same but we didn't want to make trouble for ourselves switching them accidentally after making minor tweaks to make each fit in place...

Remaining fabrications: attach the "capstan style" tarp hold downs to the body with copper rivets (sourced, just need a few hits with the rivet gun...) Fabricate and install the tailgate hooks. Install the internal braces on the headboard. All jobs that will take a while and not jump out as huge progress...

From the looks of the hinge "bars" and some rub rails are the only original parts.

Nice progress!


David

The floor and substructure are original (with minor repairs) along with the wheel boxes (which reminds me that the footman loops on the wheel boxes also need to be added).

Comments on metal fabrication
 

Based on Bob's experience with getting components cut/bent/fabricated for the 2B1 body and mine preparing panels for the 15 cwt GS trailer I'd like to make a few comments/suggestions:

1. Be absolutely clear in your mind what you are trying to achieve.
2. Prepare sketches (with dimensions) so you will be able to discuss with the fabricator.
3. Discuss with the fabricator to be sure they understand the standard you need them to work to and that they are able/willing to do this.
4. Confirm whether they work to inside or outside dimensions - then re-do the sketches to give them dimensions in the style they are used to. Try very hard to avoid mixing styles of dimensioning. If you must mix styles be exceptionally clear.
5. Discuss which dimensions are critical to success and which ones you can give them a little freedom on.
6. Ask the fabricator if they have suggestions or questions to give/get a better product.
7. Be willing to consider design/fabrication changes compared to original fabrications that don't affect the finished product to better suit current tooling. (the older bending brakes could do things the modern press brakes can't - and vice versa).
8. If you have the option (without making the fabricator feel you don't trust them), offer to check/confirm with the fabricator that the first few parts are coming out the way you want them to so that you don't get to the end of the job and discover that the parts can't be assembled into what you want to make.

The objective has to be to help the fabricator give you parts of a quality that will make you want to use their services in future and be willing recommend them to others while keeping the fabricators happy to have you as a future client for your next project

One more point for your list.
 

Hi Grant

Would add one particular point to discuss with your fabricator. Do they measure to the inside of the bend or outside of the bend.

When I had the replacement inside frame rails my C60L bent they confused inside with outside of the bend on the channel bends for the rails. Meant having to remove 1/4 inch down the entire length.

Cheers Phil

Very true, I recall your description of the diagonal slice to adjust the size and the amount of work it caused. Bob and I should be down to see you at Weare next month.

One other point

When providing a sample piece. Make sure they understand you want it made the same way as it was then. I’ve had a few times where the shop figured they knew best and made it how they would make it today.

A bit more progress
 

Yesterday I broke out the rivetting tools (4x rivet gun - originally aircraft rivets, rivet cutting pliers) and we installed the early style tarp securing points onto the 2B1 body (and a serious smile onto Bob).

This is another case of the appropriate tools making a job much easier. The rivet cutting pliers shear the rivet while keeping the shank round to fit the workpiece holes. The trigger style used on the rivet gun makes it much easier to do one or two taps on the rivet to get it started before finishing the job.
Bob had recovered every one of the brass securing points he could find on his property - and ended up with exactly the number needed, no spares. Copper flathead rivets were used as per original. Bob had bought a bag of 100 (42 needed for the job) to allow for experimentation, cutting failures, riveting failures and dropped on the floor and lost. In the end these only added up to 6 rivets so a bag of 50 would have been enough but the supplier's https://www.rivetsonline.com/copper-rivets minimum order of 100 had been a reasonable privce including prompt delivery.

Rivetting experience......
 

Well never to late to learn new tricks.......

Thanks to the coaching and assistance from Grant, we have done the "hot" steel rivets on the tail gate and the soft copper rivets using his "special" aircraft riveting gun which is far more controllable than the PA air hammer.....

We even used some body shop steel glue to seal up the bulkhead of the 2B1 to the floor.......... we had used the same glue before for the re-skinning of the back cab wall skin and the inside "W" ribbing on the back of the cab....and it has not fallen off yet!!!!

Will be dormant for the next two weeks while vacationing on White lake.

Cheers

I may arrange for a shop visit with a 1950s plastic binoculars case. The vinyl hinge has come apart, and it needs ---- some copper rivets. Otherwise, it is a serviceable period artifact for my Jeep.

More progress.

Stffening braces adde to the inside of the headboard.
Upper mounts for the hoopsticks (to use the description form the DND Body Parts list) added to the upper side panels. The hoopsticks will definitely need the lower hoopstick brackets for stabolity but it was nice to do the test fit and have the hoopsticks just fit nicely into place with no force required. Yes, you think that carefully measured and manufactured parts should fit but it's still a good feeling when they actually do.

Can you do a jig......?
 

No ........Not dancing.

Grant is working on fabricating a jig to do the bottom "hoop" holders so they will all be the same style/size.

Meanwhile, I am house bound, packing for next week at a cottage......

In the photos above, you may have noticed that most of the hinge parts mounted on the lower body (tose at teh rear and near the wheel houses) are basiclly strip curled into a tube and welded to the body. but that those at the front of the body have longer tails (like the hinge parts mounted to the upper body). Bob and I had been puzzled why this one location was different from the others but because the body we hve been copyong had these longer hinge parts at the lower front, we reinstalled them on the ropro panels.
When we started to consider making and installing the strap fittings that secure the lower end of the hoops, we realized that there would be signiifican interference between the strap and the longer hinge parts. so it was "take a step back", remove the brass tarp tiedown pins close to the front hinges, remove the extra length on the hinge parts (and re-weld securely), dress up the lower body panels, reinstall the tarp pins and then start moving forward again. jigs wer made to help in bending the hoop securing straps, the straps were bent and welded in place.

Wow!
 

Agree with Graffiti..

Absolutely superb!

Well done lads.

A bit more progress...
 

Bob just happened to have some appropriate flathead steel rivets in stock (maybe a gift from Gilles Chartrand?) so the footman loops that had been picked up at the Weare Rally (it was nice to see Phil Waterman again) were riveted in place. Square bar stock was formed to make the pivot loops for tailgate retaining hooks. Then Bob fired up his samll hand-cranked forge to form the end of the bar to a round section. the rounded section was bent to complete the hooks and they were fitted. The forward hooks to hold the dropsides in raised position were trimmed to length. It definitely feels like progress is being made. Some of these parts will end up being painted separately from the main part of the body to better reach all sides, to ease handling and to prevent the parts getting glued in position by the paint...

If three quarters of the work when painting is in the preparation, Bob still has a fair way to go before adding colour to the 2B1 body. Scuffing to promote adhesion...
If anyone's wondering, the screw jacks at the front corners are more for stability than weight carrying - they do make the body much more stable and comfortable when climbing into it to work.