2010 at the Hammond Barn

[RHClarke]

The CMP sweep east of the Rockies continued this past weekend. This time the team picked up Grant's "new" Ford chassis and 3/4 ton trailer. The day proved to be the hottest to date, and the old Ford made us work to extract it from its hull down position. First we had to winch a load of metal out of the way before we winched the frame into the open.

Just to make things a little more interesting, the Ford was missing a wheel and hub on the pax side, and both rear wheels were rust welded to the brake shoes. So, the Ford went on the trailer in a rather cockeyed manner. We made a skid plate for the missing wheel and lubed up the ramps so that the tires slid a little better.

Winching the Ford onto the trailer took a long time as we had to adjust the rear of the Ford with a farmers jack to straighten it out. We set a new record for the longest load out for one frame - and I thought HUPs were obstinate...

Following the frame tie down, the trailer was winched aboard in quick time. It too was tied down and the crew retired to the airconditioned splendor of Bob's truck. More than a little sweat was spilt wrestling with the Ford, so we took a break at a local chip stand. Nothing like piping hot chips on a hot day.

Bob and Grant can comment on the off-load, as I had to duck out as my leave pass had already expired.

[cliff]

Looks like an interesting COE to the right in the first photo.

[RHClarke]

Sunday at the barn proved to be quite quiet. Bob was away on recce to southern Ontario. Grant was elsewhere. So, I decided to make some noise. Recently obtained HUP parts needed some cleaning. A "new" set of spring hangers and two sets of rims got the treatment. The spring hangers were in pretty good shape needing a bath to remove grease and then a bit of time on the wire wheel to remove the old paint. The clean up revealed that the bushings needed replacing as they were worn in a very lovely oval shape. After degreasing the cleaned parts, they were given a shot of acid and left to dry.

The rims were in fair condition - one set could be deemed safe for use, but the outer rim on the second set will be relegated to "yard use only" status. A few hours with the needle gun removed years of grease, dirt, rust and rubber. Next step - sandblasting.

This week should be interesting as Bob is expecting some "deliveries". I have some work to do on the 45 HUP as a brake fluid leak has been detected at the pax side rear wheel - the hint was the rust flaked bare spot on the bottom of the wheel flange. I hope it is just the hose...more later.

[cletrac (RIP)]

If May 26 or whatever was the hottest day yet, your CMP sweep must have been a looooong way east of the Rockies!!

[Grant Bowker]

The 23rd was toasty warm around here. Well clear of the snowy mountains but still well clear of the cool damp coast. Since there was no crawling on the ground involved, I would have prefered the snow (perhaps not all of it but some cooling would have been nice) that some western stations saw.

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by cletrac

If May 26 or whatever was the hottest day yet, your CMP sweep must have been a looooong way east of the Rockies!!

You westerners have my most heartfelt thanks - your weather kept the "global warmers" quiet while we sweated it out here in central Canada. It looks like we are getting some of that cool western weather tonight - the temp will dip to 17oC...

[RHClarke]

Bob usually gets one or two boxes of CMP goodies each month. June's deliveries were larger than normal...

[RHClarke]

We had 30oC+ weather in May, but June's weather is plain nuts! It was 10oC this morning when I arrived at the barn. The good news: the bugs were not very active, and sweating was minimal. However, one step out of the barn insured you got very very wet. Some fella named Noah was rounding up wood for his boat project.

Bob and Grant spent the day conducting various indoor tasks including the removal of broken off manifold studs. They are getting quite good at this task. Bob helped me purge the HUP brake system and verified that the HUP's bearings were properly loaded.

The next task was to fit the driver side door to the HUP. A bit of background is necessary here - one of the first bits of work I contracted out on the HUP was the repair of the driver side door. Its frame was racked and the skin was beyond economical repair. The hinges were a mess as they had been broken more than once and welded a number of times. The lower hinge was welded directly to the door itself. The upper frame side hinge was welded to the frame. I sent the work out to a recommended metal banger in the west end of Ottawa. The door came back looking like it came right off of the assembly line - less the junked hinges. A test demonstrated that the door fit the opening very well. I felt that the money spent on the door was well worth the result. That was about five years ago.

Recently, I attached a pair of newly acquired "unique to the HUP" hinges to the door and attempted to attach the door to the frame. Things did not go well. Once attached to the frame, the door would not fully close. After some head scratching, the Hammond crew moved on to other tasks.

Today, the door was put in the frame with the hinges attached to it. As the photos show below, there is a misalignment of hinges. The problem stems from my rash decision as a CMP rookie to send work off to folks who were not familiar with our trucks. The metal banger thought (as did I) that the angle on the hinge end of the door was as it should be…Wrong! The metal should be at an angle of 90o when compared to the outer skin. It isn’t.

The three of us discussed various solutions to this little problem. It was suggested that I find another 45 HUP door – easier said than done as good 45 HUP parts are getting to be as rare as rocking horse dirt. It has been almost eight years since I got the HUP, and further delays awaiting parts is not my preferred option.

The next suggestion included the removal of the door skin and banging of the metal back into position. Considering the money I paid for this door, that suggestion didn’t gain too much traction.

Next was to drill new holes in the frame, but the location of the present holes show that they are there for a good reason – they are drilled in the center of the interior cab support bar that joins the windscreen to the lower part of the cab frame. Drilling new holes through the end of the bar would weaken the structure - so no go.

The most workable suggestion we came up with is to extend the length of the frame mounted hinge part. We are looking at welding 5/16 thick metal bar stock to the end of the frame side hinge, filling the holes and then drilling new holes. The “purist” in me had reservations over this move, but I have lots of frame side hinges, and if I am lucky enough to find another driver side 45 HUP door, then a quick fix can be affected. So, that’s the path ahead.

Unless you have some reasonable suggestions??