55 Wagon Progress

[Cape Codder]

That' way up on the cool scale. Cresent wrenches are still the go to tool for changing torch gas bottles. And handy for bending stuff

[FarmerSid]

Never seen that before. Cool!

[Advanced Design]

Very interesting....from the day when we repaired items instead of buying a new one.

[MP&C]

More progress on the welding cart tonight, the rear axle was made from a piece of angle and two 3/4-10 bolts..











Rear bottle tray made from some 12 gauge, and welded on using about 3/8 diameter plug welds..











Top shelf added along with some gussets made of 12 gauge..







Bottle relief and pull handle added....

[FarmerSid]

Nice! That bottle must last you some time.

[MP&C]

They normally last a year or so..


Here's the rivnut installation video!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jrrf_VbTsc






.

[MP&C]

More progress this evening on the welder cart, these studs are added to make use of the bottle bracket that came off the old welder. My brother in law had borrowed it at one time, and it came back with the fancy bracket. He retired the ratchet strap I had around the two bottles. This worked pretty well, so rather than reinvent the wheel.... Reminds me, I have some other things needing finishing I should lend him...











Then a bracket for the clip is added to hold the Mig torch..











Holders for the various cables....

















.....and a test fit before we throw some paint on it...








Looks like I have some room left, may have to add one more....

[Advanced Design]

Robert- great video on the rivnut installation tool. Thanks for posting that. Really nice cart you put together too. Well done.

[swamp rat]

Nice cart!

[MP&C]

OK, one last welder to add and I promise I'm done...




















Now to disassemble and paint it...

[FarmerSid]

Sweet! What colour?

[MP&C]

Looking through the flam locker, here's what I have in LOUD. The neons typically don't like UV and are quick to fade, so I think it's between the Chrome Yellow and the Scarlet Red. I'm leaning toward the red...

[Advanced Design]

Red, closer match to the Lincoln....

[swamp rat]

Besides its a Harley color..

[MP&C]

Kyle worked this evening to repair the remaining damaged threaded holes in the inner fenders. A couple of the ones for the core support were stripped, so he changed those out to 5/16-18 rivet nuts.





For the welded on clip nuts for the sheet metal style fasteners, we had drilled them out and installed 1/4-20 rivet nuts to be able to use machine screws instead. A couple of them popped off while drilling, and these were welded back on with the Miller spot welder to keep a good backing support for the rivet nut..








While he was working on that, I got busy adding some color to the welding cart. It was a toss up between some bright red (HD color) which was acrylic lacquer, or a bright yellow (H/K Lemon Yellow basecoat). As I didn't have any lacquer thinner in stock for the red, yellow it is...followed by clearcoat









Along with the purple E-wheel, this should help to brighten up the shop!

[duallyjams]

skittles

[swamp rat]

Well it was ether that or Patina then.. It will shine down a little with use.

[MP&C]

Okay, got things together today. Here's the total conglomeration...







Welded rings to hold the Tig rod tubes......







Retaining clip so the Mig torch doesn't have to lay on the floor...










As you can see, not much for wasted space. Here's the outlet box for the Mig....







and Tig.....







Bottle bracket.....







I did give it a good shove to see how top heavy it was, and with the two bottles directly over the rear wheels it's very stable. Don't think I'll need worry about any accidental turnovers...

[FarmerSid]

Nice! Great way of organizing all those tools in one ice nifty package.

[duallyjams]

I like the yellow it looks good.

[swamp rat]

Probably about 250 lbs worth huh? how does it roll? pretty easy?

[MP&C]

I was assembling the welding cart yesterday, as Kyle tried his hand at the rocker panel roller on the driver's side. It had a poor match to the fender, just as the passenger side did.





This made a noticeable improvement, and the front edge was tweaked using the door skin hammer..





With a more consistent contour across the gap, we can start getting the front end ready for some epoxy..

[MP&C]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Probably about 250 lbs worth huh? how does it roll? pretty easy?

Sorry, missed your question, it rolls pretty easy. Well worth the "space savings"..


Well I thought we were done spraying yellow paint when the welding cart was complete, but I guess it's been long overdue. It's been quite a while that we've seen any bus repairs, but one got the side skirt panel mangled up enough that the county's transportation dept took it out of service.
















Picked up some stainless #12 screws and Kyle media blasted the heads for adhesion for paint...





SPI Epoxy primer mixed as sealer...











Some BASF Urethane applied...











The rub strip at the bottom of the skirt panel was pretty mangled as well, the new comes in a stock 10' length, so it was cut to size and drilled per the original. (had to straighten it a bit to transfer the holes) We also have a brace behind the skirt that was pushed back a ways, it will need to be pulled out and re-welded.


Here's the SPI epoxy:








....and the black urethane..








Should get all the parts put back together tomorrow, all ready for inspection..

[MP&C]

Parts all re-assembled, ready for inspection..

[duallyjams]

it's definitely yellow