FGT No9 Aust restoration

[Keith Webb]

Good thinking Graeme, It would be a good investment I think.

Also agree re the crappy Chinese stuff - that one came with the crappy grinder.

Originally Posted by gjamo

Keith give up on that chinese rubbish and buy some German pferd wheels.
We have done tests here running all brands of cutting disks side by side.
Pferd lasted twice as long cut faster and cooler. Check Epay for some cheap prices.
For spot welds I use an air chisel its really quick but wear stout gloves the pain from sharp edges is amazing.
Make sure your tetanous shots are up to date.
Graeme

[gjamo]

Keith,
If you want to borrow my air chisel for a trial your welcome but you need a decent compressor to drive it without a lot of delays.
Graeme

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Keith,

"You're not letting any grass grow over it", as we say in Dutch. My goodness, the body is still on the trailer, you are still covered in Border Raid dust, and you've started hacking away already. Well done!

Hanno

[Snowy]

As Hanno said, can't wait to get it off the trailer so you must be keen

Re the comments on cheap grinders. Surprisingly my crappy chinese grinder long outlasted my much more expensive german Bosch one. I was doing a lot of rotary wire brushing on the Weasel hull, and the wire brush is never perfectly balanced. Owing to the constant vibration, the bearings in the angle casing got hot and subsequently the top bushing loosened and started to spin, which melted the plastic even more, which led to more vibration, and so on to the point it was shaking violently. :
I shimmed the bearing but it wasn't long before it happened again. The chinese one has an alloy gearbox that doesn't choose to melt after a bit of punishment.

I would never ever again buy an angle grinder that has a plastic/GRP gearbox casing, no matter how reputable the brand. I hope someone is reminded of this next time they are looking buy a new one.

Steve.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Keith

Nasty job you got there...... no easy way to do it....... we removed skins from the door frames and it was a mess...... because of the samll job and wanting to save the door frame as much as possible we used old screwdrivers and the oxy torch....... welds were about every 5 to 6 inches and every now and then two one inch apart...... we would pry the skin off so far..... heat up the sheet metal to stretch it some more...... tna with a very sharp small chisel cut the welds... some we had to drill the centre of the weld.....

No short cut known......

In some cases we could see the spot weld better by rubbing with a sanding block... the spotwelds then become more visible..... there is a small spot weld drill bit tool available..... but they do not last long and would never survive the repeat use you would make on that large body.

What is the Dodge engine for....ballast????

Keep us up to date of your progress.

Bob C

[Keith Webb]

Many thanks for the advice so far, seems very sensible and helpful.
So far the small Bosch angle grinder seems to be holding up OK as is the larger Ozito brand one.
I bought a cheap air chisel which seems to be working OK to open up once the panels are removed but a hand chisel is faster to cut the dags of weld remaining down to grinding size.

There are no spot welds in this body, just tacks about an inch long, and often the seam welds have penetrated beyond the outer skin. I'm finding the best way is to cut along the lines then chisel and grind once the skin has been removed. I've had some kind offers of help though so if the rain holds off there may be some serious progress tomorrow.

[Ganmain Tony]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Hi Keith

What is the Dodge engine for....ballast????

Keep us up to date of your progress.

Bob C

My guess is smuggling in a Dodge weapons carrier for the next project. Small bits at a time to remain undetected by Belinda.

Man of great vision - fan of your work Keefy

[Keith Webb]

This engine came from a Dodge Weapons Carrier owner because it doesn't fit. It is for Euan's father in law Iain's stock car.

But it does make good ballast. Heavy as pure lead.

Originally Posted by Ganmain Tony

My guess is smuggling in a Dodge weapons carrier for the next project. Small bits at a time to remain undetected by Belinda.

Man of great vision - fan of your work Keefy