What are you doing today? 2018

[Charlie Chops 1940]

My first project this year is to give my 5x9 utility/swap meet trailer some fixes and upgrades. I've had it about 16 years and it spends its nonproductive life on a cement pad in the back yard. The floor and 36" tall sides and rear doors are all done with decking boards. Have always covered the top with a variety of plastic tarps which wear out quickly and take a lot  of time to rig. The wiring and tail lights have also taken a beating. Have probably pulled it a couple thousand miles a year and put it away wet every time.

I've mounted new LED tail/brake lights and moved the top three of 6 side boards down a total of about a half inch to close some air gaps. Made new 4" tall upper boards and rounded off the front cross board to provide a crowned top contour. I've cut some spare chunks of 1" marine grade plywood into hinged barn doors. I'll take a stroll through Lowes or Menards today to get hinges and some closure/locking hardware. Tomorrow  I'll visit the boat shop that did the blue tonneau covers for my track roadster and see if they will build a snap on tarp for the trailer.

Sometimes it takes a number of years to figure out how to make something work better for ya. I'll see about a couple pictures later today.

[58 Yeoman]

Charlie, I redid my 5x8 landscape trailer last year. I had a can of bedliner left over from the 41 Pontiac that I never used and painted it, as the 'powder coat' was coming off in sheets. I installed all new led lighting and wiring, new chains on the hitch, cut some osb sheets to cover the screen on the floor when I need to haul gravel, dirt or sand, and installed the spare tire on the ramp. I should be good to go for another 7 years before needing to do it again. Oh, and new tires and rims.

[enjenjo]

Tomorrow I'll visit the boat shop that did the blue tonneau covers for my track roadster and see if they will build a snap on tarp for the trailer.

I have used a local truck tarp shop to make covers for my trailers. So far none have cost me over $100. And they wear like iron.

[40 Chev Coupe]

Hi ber nating

[kb426]

^^^^^
I bet so! Winter is not many of us's friend.

[41woodie]

41woodie, it would be nice if you would post pics of the repairs. There are some of us that don't know much about wood repairs and it be enlightening. I have the intake off the 51 and I'm taking a break. Bending over the fenders is not great fun.

Well kb426 remember you asked for it.  I'm still waiting for supplies to arrive next week but thought I'd post a few photos of the damaged areas I plan on repairing.  The structural wood is Maple and hard as a rock except for where there is dry rot present.  In those areas the wood is quite soft and pulpy.

I'm using Minwax Wood Hardener (no it won't help with your personal problem).  According to their website the product soaks into side grain and works up end grain by capillary action and when cured returns most of the structural strength to the dried out wood.  I don't know if I believe the hype but I can't see where it would hurt anything to try it.

The area I'm working on is the hinge post on the drivers door.  The factory hardware had pretty much rusted away over the years and when I removed the remnants the joints simply pulled apart.  I believe the factory used hide glue to make all of the finger and lap joints and 75 years of being pounded down the road has taken it's toll.

In the photos you can see that the finger joints have deteriorated badly but the broken pieces were still in place so I'm starting out by gluing everything back together. The tenon joints have dried out and shrunken badly so it will require a lot of West Marine Epoxy to renew these joints.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

We made the early morning trip to the west side of metro Phoenix .  A monthly swap meet. Last attended this one a few months ago

I took a pile of small misc crap to sell.  A few larger items like tires, olde kerosene lizard heater, a Miller arc welder I bought new 40 yrs ago.  Sold many items at 1 to 5 dollars just to get rid of it.  Sold an olde hand crank  combo can & bottle opener for 1 dollar & listened to the story of how the guy is gonna carry it in his car

Usual stuff:  meet some long time friends, BS, listen to storys from strangers about their projects.

My truck has a small load of scrap parts I am taking in

[sirstude]

Saturday afternoon I was uptown, and I lost my 4 wheel drive on my 2001 GMC (Service 4WD message).  Managed to get it home in the snow/ice/slush and parked it.  Did some looking on the net and it shows that the dash switch is bad.  Not one to be found in town when I checked the parts houses online.  Sunday, I looked it up on Amazon and got a part number.  Checked with CARQUEST and they did have that number.  15 minutes to closing and I head out of the garage with the Wife's van and get stuck at the end of the alley.  High centered on the snow that had been plowed off the main street.  Anyway, got the van loose and headed uptown and one of the other parts houses had the switch.  Changed it out in 15 minutes and I have 4WD again.

[WZ JUNK]

I have had some success with my homemade shrinking disc removing the oil can damage in my 54 Chevy hood.  I feel that I might be able to finish it out better if I had the commercial shrinking disc and I ordered one this morning.  It should be here in a couple of days.  

It took me a few hours to learn the method but I do have some confidence now.  I joined the metal shapers site on the internet and I have spent a lot of time reading and I have watched a lot of videos.  I have determined that I started with a very small problem, and then I made it much worse into a big problem.  Then I was forced to learn how to fix the mess I made.  Now with what I know I could fix the original problem quickly and easily.   I am tiring of learning new skills but I am glad that I can.

John

[kb426]

John, I'm glad you're doing that. When you're finished, you can be my teacher.

[Bruce Dorsi]

I am tiring of learning new skills but I am glad that I can.

I have amended the old adage to, "You're never too old to learn, but sometimes you're too old to remember!"

[purplepickup]

41woody, thanks for posting the pics of the wood restoration project you're getting into. I don't know how far you're going with this but I'm sure there are a few of us interested in following along. If you want, we could move your post to a separate new thread where you could post progress and issues that pop up. Things can get lost pretty quick in this "what are you doing today" thread. Regardless, I find it interesting. It's amazing the work some people have done restoring woodies.

By the way, I have used Minwax Wood Hardener and it does what it says. It can't perform miracles if the wood is really rotten but it does soak in and harden punky, dried out wood. You might want to experiment on some scrap wood to see how it absorbs the liquid. Once it hardens it won't absorb much more.

[GPster]

'41 Woody, I'm watching your progress too. I've got a top bow in the convertible top of my JEEPSTER that was bowed backwards from time/weight of leaves from years of being in a field before I got it. I've checked around here to see if any Amish buggies might have a replacement but they all seem to be wider side-to-side. I am thinking if I could get something to add strength to the bow I could force it back into shape and treat it with some kind of epoxy so that it could retain that shape, Then I'd have to find some kind of filler to fill the tack strip where the canvas top was nailed to the top of the bow because the years in the field also rusted out the original tack-strip. With the JEEPSTER's top being chopped 2 1/2" and shortened about 6" trying to find a reproduction of an original part doesn't make sense to me and the top on this thing may end up being more like a Baja top with-out side curtains and a back window and I'm cheap enough to try to use what I nave. GPster

[kb426]

It got into the 60's here today. After work I hosed off the 51 and took it for a spin to get all the water out of the cracks. I took 2 bikes for a ride. Both had to be boosted. I'm really not keeping up with my world as good as I used to.

[chimp koose]

I have started making a swing down type bracket for an under dash master cyl mount .It is being mounted to the back of the steering column mount behind the dash , and to the square tube reinforcement around the firewall . I have walked away from fitting the T doors for a while to focus on something I can get results on in a reasonable amount of time . I had a reasonable date in mind for completion of the doors with bearclaw latches and it has long passed with completion nowhere in sight .Got too bogged down with the doors and need to feel more like  I am making progress on the car . This 90 degree m/c set up will use a remote reservoir mounted under the original gas filler door on the cowl .   I will also be using the cowl door for venting the cab , so it will be boxed in and screened , with some sort of drain to get rid of trapped moisture and some way of opening it from inside the cab .