Jan. 22, 2013

I forget what Cowboy star it was that originally sang it, but I have been humming "I'm back in the saddle again" for a couple days now.  After almost a year of hurry up and wait, we finally have forward progress. 
My father in law, gotta love him, came over and taught me how to weld- and voila... a bumper.  He did most of the welding (mine were pretty sorry, to say the least), but it is exactly what I was going for.  Got all the rust cleaned off (again), painted with rust preventative, a coat of primer, and a coat of anti- rust paint to finish.  We opted for the grey instead of black since we really don't have a clue what the finished tin will look like. 
I am reading up on how to do a brake job before I start with reconstruction of the trailer itself, although I am chomping at the bit to get these walls out of my garage that I assembled over a year ago. More to come  :)

Aug. 2, 2012...I think I need to learn how to weld

Still sitting as a frame.  I located all the metal I would need for a bumper (and also replacing the bent piece of frame in back).  I talked to a buddy that does welding for a living- he politely said- maybe next month- everyone is so busy, and it is still so hot. I'm thinking I should start another indoor project in the shop.  My wife would like it if I got the cabinets off the back patio- might be a good time to refinish them before they go back in.  I had also planned to make another one to go above the bed in back.  At least it's forward progress.  More to come...

July 26, 2012

Ok, back yard is done- all the flagstone is out of the way, and I look at this trailer from a daily wanting to get back to work.  It has been a year now since we started this project....hmmmm.  Got a new motivation today to go find metal and get this bumper welded on and get back to work (that, and all the cabinets and materials are STILL sitting on my back patio gathering cobwebs).  I'm on a mission now.

March 1st- Welder wanted

I'm kind of at a stand still and it's driving me crazy.  I need to find some metal and form a bumper to weld on - I have tons of welder friends..it's just putting it all together.  Can't really start putting everything back together until I can finish the frame.  Hopefully in a couple weeks when work slows down.  Better to be busy than not busy.

Feb. 4th- Cleaning the frame

Well, most of the afternoon and one wire wheel down.  I have it set in my mind to get the frame ready for "whatever" needs to be done with it.  I am forever indebted to my next door neighbor.  He always has "just what I need' whenever I get puzzled.  I went to HD this morning and bought several metal grinding wheel to fit my side armed grinder.  Was just about to set into it, and I thought to ask my neighbor his opinion.  The guy has a tool for everything-  larger side armed grinder and a huge wire wheel brush- my grinding pads would have taken too much metal off, and this thing cleaned the rust off right to a clean frame.  My arms are still vibrating from this thing, but I got 2/3 of the trailer done today.  I am going to take some paint stripper to the white paint at the front hitch, and then clean it up from there.  It is really cleaning up nice.  It also makes it easier to see where the welds are on the original frame.  The back doesn't seem to be very well supported, and the rear support weld is almost at the very back, so if I add a bumper the way it is, it would probably fall off at some future point in time.  Time to bring in my welder friends and re support this thing.  One more little step to do it right or pay for it later.  I still see it.

...A couple side notes- much appreciation to my wife, because every time I make a step forward, I take two steps back to fix something else.  It will come together...I promise!
One other thing- GO GIANTS!!!

Jan. 31st- Next phase

The walls are finished...finally.  The right side was much easier to do with the old frame underneath.  I used as much pressure treated wood as possible when near anything that would be exposed.  Now on to the trailer.  First step is to get it cleaned up to see what's underneath the dirt and grime, and then get the rust off.  I am "working on" the welding part, but that isn't my forte.  Neither are the brakes or tires, but I've learned as I go on this thing every step of the way, so might get to learn a little more once we take the tires off (I want to paint the rims anyway).  So far...still confident.

Jan. 29th- In for a penny, in for a pound

Really...I built the left side from a rotted frame and upside down tin.  Why not redo it all while it's out there.  This one is soooo much easier.  I just laid the imprint down on the existing frame.  Looks like I need to redo the wheel well while I'm at it, but I have the template from the left side. 
I am starting to weigh possibilities on what to do with the front and back of the frame..  I want to add a bumper on the back, and also a trailer hitch to add a bike rack if we want, but I need to find a place for a spare tire.  I really never paid attention, but after looking at several of these trailer sites, most of this era of trailer have NO spare tire. I will be figuring this one out over the course of the week while I rebuild the wall.