2008 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

Last weekend Grant actually sand blasted the whole top assembly and gave it two coats of red primer...... now he still has a few ripples and small dings are now visible but what an improvement. Grant is a very patient and meticulous.... they will be ironed out before he is finished.

He has the updated pictures on his camera and will probably post them soon.

The big remaining job is replacing a strip of sheet metal at the joint line which has rust perforation..... we will be trying our skills at butt welding to make the seam invisible.... or nearly invisible.

Bob

[Grant Bowker]

As Bob said, there are still some areas that need work but the roof is much better now than it was a few weeks ago. Some are in places that can't be reached from behind for hammer and dolly work so I will either have to live with those or apply a thin swipe of Bondo to level the low spots, I refuse to take the reinforcing ribs off the inside of the roof so I can remove a minor ding and then create more mess as I wel the rib back on. There are also some gentle waves that might be from the original stamping process, but more likely were made worse or caused by decades of use and abuse. There was so much paint built up on the outside of the roof that I used a grinder to remove the bulk of the paint, otherwise I would have used a massive amount of sand to clean off the roof. Sandblasting followed and revealed a couple of areas (over the door, surprisingly not the drip rails) where all that had been making a smooth surface was paint, no metal. The rear lower edge of the assembly has suffered rusting where the sheet metal had water trapped by the angle iron frame. There is no cure except replacement along there. Red oxide primer was applied to preserve the metal. as the remaining dents get worked on, I'm going to have to apply more to maintain protection.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

As Bob said, there are still some areas that need work but the roof is much better now than it was a few weeks ago. Some are in places that can't be reached from behind for hammer and dolly work so I will either have to live with those or apply a thin swipe of Bondo to level the low spots, I refuse to take the reinforcing ribs off the inside of the roof so I can remove a minor ding and then create more mess as I wel the rib back on. There are also some gentle waves that might be from the original stamping process, but more likely were made worse or caused by decades of use and abuse. There was so much paint built up on the outside of the roof that I used a grinder to remove the bulk of the paint, otherwise I would have used a massive amount of sand to clean off the roof. Sandblasting followed and revealed a couple of areas (over the door, surprisingly not the drip rails) where all that had been making a smooth surface was paint, no metal. The rear lower edge of the assembly has suffered rusting where the sheet metal had water trapped by the angle iron frame. There is no cure except replacement along there. Red oxide primer was applied to preserve the metal. as the remaining dents get worked on, I'm going to have to apply more to maintain protection.

Grant
When you have little dings like you described using the red wrench with a slightly oxidizing flame,and a pin point flame envelope,start heating the ding about 1/2 inch out from the ding and using a quick movement ,start heating around the ding working your way into the center..The metal expansion and contraction should level out the ding..Works well on hail damaged vehicles..Ask any farm boy from Saskatchewan..
If that doesn't strike your fancy,screw a sheet metal screw into the center of the ding,,then grab the screw with the old vice grips ..then grab that set of VG's with another 90 degrees from the first so that you can impact it with a hammer to pull the dastardly ding out..then spot weld the hole closed and grind smooth..

"Beater" Blair

[Grant Bowker]

Alex, thanks for the suggestions, I will consider the heat and shrink method, the screw and heave method will make more mess than it will cure. The large dings are cured, I'm now looking at small dimples that weren't really obvious until I started to sand on the primer..

[Bob Carriere]

Just running at a fast idle....... no throttle..... and only using the front axle as the rear shafts were not installed yet....... will do better for BB3...

BooB

[RHClarke]

Bob's BBQ is in the bag, summer is slowly turning into fall (climate change they call it now), and the focus at the barn turns to domestic chores. Unfortunately, we did not have a chance to get up to the Bancroft area for the big show...maybe next year. Today, we rounded up more metal for the scrappers - you would be surprised at what Bob had lieing about - he was!

We wrangled a Rube Goldberg farm implement - brand name Dion, and nicknamed "Stephane" (after one of our finest liberal politicians) out of the brush and then Grant and Bob cut some odds and ends off of the device for future "artistic" welding chores. We took a break around 3 PM to quaff some of Canada's finest ales (it was quite hot - the beer evaporated rather quickly). A few short stories about CMP collecting later, we were back at it.

I ran the HUP engine again today (this time with the fan connected) and found that old engines like to leak ...everything - including water. Bob recommended that I "pipe dope" the bolts for the water pump (I'll be looking that up later on the internet). Frame clean up and a second coat of paint are in the offing - once the brakes are finally adjusted...and then the great mating of the body to the frame...check is in the mail...

Bob fiddled with his old tractor in preparation for "putting in the wood" - a chore for the upcoming weeks. Grant continued to work on his roof panel.

Between the great clean up and the day to day tinkering, it was a great day at the barn. Hopefully, the weather remains good this fall. Speaking of which, it's time to fill up the van - hurricane Gustav will be driving up the price of gas soon (oil execs love these storms...). More later.

[RHClarke]

"It's raining again..." If it's raining, it's the weekend. More of the rule than the exception here in Ottawa. Grant and Bob had plans to visit Kingston for the OMVA event on Saturday, but it looks like plans changed. Hopefully, the boys will fill in the blanks on Saturday soon.

Today, I got to spend a morning at the barn. It looks like Bob and Grant were busy - there were seven sets of rims missing their collars of 60 year old rubber...there were a bunch of sanblasted and treated rims sitting in the barn, and some wood got cut up in preparation for Lucifer. Grant's roof looks great - even in primer!

After taking stock of the boy's work, I tore down my radiator and attempted to fix the leaking waterpump housing. Taking Bob's advice, I gooped the bolts for the waterpump and retorqued. I also refilled the master cylinder and finally got some pressure (before bleeding). Unfortunately, time ran out and I had to hit the trail back to the city.

Just before leaving, I ran into Bob, who indicated that he might have a foreign visitor this week. I'll let him spill the beans on that item...more later.