2022 at the Hammond Barn

[Grant Bowker]

Yesterday I broke out the rivetting tools (4x rivet gun - originally aircraft rivets, rivet cutting pliers) and we installed the early style tarp securing points onto the 2B1 body (and a serious smile onto Bob).

This is another case of the appropriate tools making a job much easier. The rivet cutting pliers shear the rivet while keeping the shank round to fit the workpiece holes. The trigger style used on the rivet gun makes it much easier to do one or two taps on the rivet to get it started before finishing the job.
Bob had recovered every one of the brass securing points he could find on his property - and ended up with exactly the number needed, no spares. Copper flathead rivets were used as per original. Bob had bought a bag of 100 (42 needed for the job) to allow for experimentation, cutting failures, riveting failures and dropped on the floor and lost. In the end these only added up to 6 rivets so a bag of 50 would have been enough but the supplier's https://www.rivetsonline.com/copper-rivets minimum order of 100 had been a reasonable privce including prompt delivery.

[Bob Carriere]

Well never to late to learn new tricks.......

Thanks to the coaching and assistance from Grant, we have done the "hot" steel rivets on the tail gate and the soft copper rivets using his "special" aircraft riveting gun which is far more controllable than the PA air hammer.....

We even used some body shop steel glue to seal up the bulkhead of the 2B1 to the floor.......... we had used the same glue before for the re-skinning of the back cab wall skin and the inside "W" ribbing on the back of the cab....and it has not fallen off yet!!!!

Will be dormant for the next two weeks while vacationing on White lake.

Cheers

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

Yesterday I broke out the rivetting tools (4x rivet gun - originally aircraft rivets, rivet cutting pliers) and we installed the early style tarp securing points onto the 2B1 body (and a serious smile onto Bob).

This is another case of the appropriate tools making a job much easier. The rivet cutting pliers shear the rivet while keeping the shank round to fit the workpiece holes. .....

I may arrange for a shop visit with a 1950s plastic binoculars case. The vinyl hinge has come apart, and it needs ---- some copper rivets. Otherwise, it is a serviceable period artifact for my Jeep.

[Grant Bowker]

More progress.

Stffening braces adde to the inside of the headboard.
Upper mounts for the hoopsticks (to use the description form the DND Body Parts list) added to the upper side panels. The hoopsticks will definitely need the lower hoopstick brackets for stabolity but it was nice to do the test fit and have the hoopsticks just fit nicely into place with no force required. Yes, you think that carefully measured and manufactured parts should fit but it's still a good feeling when they actually do.

[Bob Carriere]

No ........Not dancing.

Grant is working on fabricating a jig to do the bottom "hoop" holders so they will all be the same style/size.

Meanwhile, I am house bound, packing for next week at a cottage......

[Grant Bowker]

In the photos above, you may have noticed that most of the hinge parts mounted on the lower body (tose at teh rear and near the wheel houses) are basiclly strip curled into a tube and welded to the body. but that those at the front of the body have longer tails (like the hinge parts mounted to the upper body). Bob and I had been puzzled why this one location was different from the others but because the body we hve been copyong had these longer hinge parts at the lower front, we reinstalled them on the ropro panels.
When we started to consider making and installing the strap fittings that secure the lower end of the hoops, we realized that there would be signiifican interference between the strap and the longer hinge parts. so it was "take a step back", remove the brass tarp tiedown pins close to the front hinges, remove the extra length on the hinge parts (and re-weld securely), dress up the lower body panels, reinstall the tarp pins and then start moving forward again. jigs wer made to help in bending the hoop securing straps, the straps were bent and welded in place.

[Ganmain Tony]

Agree with Graffiti..

Absolutely superb!

Well done lads.

[Grant Bowker]

Bob just happened to have some appropriate flathead steel rivets in stock (maybe a gift from Gilles Chartrand?) so the footman loops that had been picked up at the Weare Rally (it was nice to see Phil Waterman again) were riveted in place. Square bar stock was formed to make the pivot loops for tailgate retaining hooks. Then Bob fired up his samll hand-cranked forge to form the end of the bar to a round section. the rounded section was bent to complete the hooks and they were fitted. The forward hooks to hold the dropsides in raised position were trimmed to length. It definitely feels like progress is being made. Some of these parts will end up being painted separately from the main part of the body to better reach all sides, to ease handling and to prevent the parts getting glued in position by the paint...