1944 C-15A-Wire-5 Restoration

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Robert Bergeron

Hey Bruce. I can't find the proper hardware to clamp down the handrails and guards on the roof . Any suggestions my friend ? Thanks .

Have you looked down the holes to see what's there? Do you think maybe lag bolts onto wood? Or (horrors!!) were you supposed to use a nut before the plywood ceiling panel went in?

You might consider nutserts. They're like an oversized pop rivet but threaded on the inside. You insert them into a slightly oversized hole then a special tool draws it up from the bottom locking it in place in your roof sheet metal. When the tool is removed it leaves the threaded insert there to take your hex bolt.

[Jordan Baker]

Robert. what is in the hole as it is now? Do the fasteners just screw into the wood framing inside?

One thing I was thinking might work if the hole is somewhat contained. Mix two part casting resin and pour it in filling the hole. The just before it sets up you can screw in the lag bolt. The resin was cure and grip the bolt and fill the hole. This would only work if the area under the roof was somewhat contained, if not a lot of resin could go down the hole.

[Robert Bergeron]

Thanks very much Dennis, Bruce and Jordan. Very interesting look into the past there Dennis and Bruce. Bruce / Jordan : I ripped out the old panelling inside the box. I then primed the bare aluminium before making new plywood panels. I never saw any holes , bolts or screws coming out from the roof above. Maybe there are inserts in the steel structure supporting the aluminium sheets . If so , i could not of seen them from inside . Both Bruce and Jordan have excellent ideas . I will clean out a few of the holes on the roof and try to have a look at the bottom. Now that i think of it as i write this , it might well be metal screws driven through the aluminium sheet and the the steel frame forming the structure. More to follow and again thanks for all the good ideas fellows.