The chassis - part 1!

Two general views of the chassis, slightly out of sequence as the front suspension has also dissapeared! so I shall begin with that below... or above as it will be!

The body.

Having made the ash frame strong enough, it was time to lift the body from the chassis. As a precaution angle iron braces were screwed to the door apertures to prevent any movement, and a few willing helpers selected to help lift the frame off, though not a heavy structure, it is none the less large and needs to be lifted high enough to clear the rear chassis.
That done, the frame was rested on two wheeled dollies which would allow the structure to be moved if neccessary. (Which always seems to happen!)

Attention now turned to the chassis, it is now time to photograph the various fittings, and start to remove everything!

Note also in the photograph, the inner wheel arches have been refinished and screwed back onto the body to provide additional strength, you can also see the bracing across the door aperture.

January snowtime!

Its January 2010, there will be a photograph shortly of the view from the warm workshop, now that is snow- for the uk anyway!











Thinks - this may be a good image for a watercolour, or even next years christmas card...

Hi all, things have been a little hectic lately, hence no recent posts!
The current stage in real time is the engine is assembled, and sitting back in its proper home, so I thought I would give you a view into the future as a way of keeping your saliva glands working well!
Simon

Trim, Frame & Body Pt 7

Hoisting the engine from the chassis

More woodwork

Having now replaced the door sill area on both sides of the ash frame, the next area to go under scrutiny is the upper rear cockpit area. This forms the mounting rail for the hood and because of various nail holes and fatner holes, the ash here had become weak and some rot had set in due to water ingress.

The plywood platform under this area was also weakened and would need replacing.













The photograph above illustrates the area next in line for restoration.

Having now replaced the plywood base, the inner wheel arches have been removed. The woodwork on each side of the rear bulkhead will now be replaced by cutting away the rotten wood and replacing the section with laminated plywood.















The photograph above shows the area in question. The aluminium side piece will also be removed to clean it up and allow access to the wood at its rear, so the ash can be thinned down to allow the laminated plywood to replace it.
By usin 1/8" play four layers can be laid up, and each layer can be tapered or thinned in section to allow the finished repair to taper in section into the area supported by the aluminium.

















The plywood tapered and glued and clamped in place. Resting on the plywood platform, just to the left of the small plane is the section of timber that has been cut out, it is possible to see the curvature of the wood in this area, one of the reasons to use laminated ply, the other is to create a stronger replacement than the original.















The same section after having been trimmed and cut down to follow the correct line into the side area, you will note the aluminium side piece has been removed to enable this piece to be trimmed.














The finished area looking from the rear, you will also see that the top of the centre section has also bee replaced with laminated ply.

When refitting the hood fastenings I now can be sure that the pins and screws will hold!













Still in the same area, the boot aperture corner has been replaced, thye screws are stainless steel. A short section of the side has also bee replaced - the clamps holding the piece in place whilst the glue sets.














As you can see the inner wheel arch has been refinished and screwed back in place, a small section linking the back and side has been replaced. The clamps are holding a plywood section in place, this finishes the repairs in the rear cockpit area.

More Ash frame repairs

Continuing with the ash repairs, the next area tackled was the "B" Post or the back of the door aperture if you prefer. The Right hand side post was unscrewed and take to the bench.
The picture above shows the removed "B" Post with its lower half replaced with new timber, the notch at the base sits over the sill , which is screwed together. The old piece of timber can be seen on the bench, its condition is quite poor having rotted at its base. The replacement piece is glued and screwed at its joint using Extraphen boat builders glue and stainless screws.














The scarf joint is quite high up, the reason being that's how far I had to cut beack to get to good solid wood.

The replaced post after having a coat of black wood preservative painted over areas which are not glued later.











Still on the same side, a replacement section of sill, partly shaped has been offered up to the frame, and a corner block has bee added to allow pencil lines to be added to illustrate where further trimming is neccessary before gluing up. Traditional rebate and block planes were used to remake this replacement piece.












The same piece after gluing and screwing in place.
The rebate for the door skin and aluminium sill cladding has been cutaway, and the corner block is finished too.

Where the piece has been attached to the old wood, the joint was reinforced with a 3/8" thick tongue of ply fitted through the centre of the wood, running parallel with the door bottom.

The final shape was achieved by sanding to a pencil line using power tools after planing the wood.