Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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We had an early schedule today to try and miss the weather.. As I still hadn't finished blocking the front end, rather than pull the core support just yet, Kyle will start on the rear of the wagon in wrapping up some details there. Before pulling the tailgate, there was one gap that was inconsistent, so I gave him a hand with the rework before he got welding..








First to unfold the flange a bit...








Next, some 14 gauge steel was cut out and a strengthening bend added to use for some friendly persuasion..








Refolded...





For comparison, before:





After:





Then we tweaked the twist of the tailgate for good fitment to the opening and Kyle added three plug welds down each side to lock the skin to the inner tail gate.








...Then we removed the tail gate so he could finish the plug welds for the top flange of the tail pan, I had only tacked it in place when the tailpan was installed, so this should help check off another item from the list......

Meanwhile I continued blocking out the front end..

Nice work. Mr.Customer should love this thing.

Ms. Customer....

Well Kyle skipped out on me tonight, something about a birthday and his parents taking him out to dinner.. and here he could have been welding!


So I took the opportunity to have dinner with the family, so tonight was a short night...


One of the other areas I skipped over at the rear of the wagon was when the tail pan was installed. The factory version with the pinch welded flanges has a gap in the crimp seam for the rear bumper seal:





As I got rid of all the pinch weld seams at the rear of the wagon to eliminate those rust traps, the gap at the crimp seam will be filled in. To assist in filling in the wide gap, a piece of copper flat bar is used as a backer..








Next, as the reproduction tail pan has a rounded crimp seam and the area on the original quarters is more of a square, we'll add some hammer action here. The remaining piece of the flat bar is clamped in and used as an anvil..











Continuing welding...











.....and a repeat on the driver's side...

Skipped out?

Well you should replace him immediately!

What say you to an old war vet with fair welding skills, 20 years experience dinking with cars as a hobby, and a bad back?

Then there'd be two of us with a bad back

Well then, tell Kyle Happy Birthday from the gang here at CHR!

and as always thank you for sharing the pics and the lessons.

That is a nice piece of copper there. You just don't find scrap pieces like that anymore to use as tools. Nice work there. I admire your grinding and finishing skills!

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

That is a nice piece of copper there. You just don't find scrap pieces like that anymore to use as tools.

Hi, my name's Robert, and I'm a hoarder...

Hello Robert!

Today Kyle finished up another loose end, tying in the bottom of the NOS quarter panel.. A bit of hammer bumping to get the panels aligned...





Plug weld holes drilled and filled.....














Then he turned his attention to duplicating a second half for the front divider panel for the rear seat.














Using the Erco kick shrinker....





Needs a bit of fine tuning still but he's getting there...





And I was making progress on more blocking of the front end body parts, at least until an emergency phone call from one of our tenants indicated some water pipe issues from the recent low temps... This is what I was greeted with....





The hole to the left is where the plumber had put the pipe through, right against the outside wall. Then the brainiac insulators failed to caulk, and then put insulation over TOP of the pipes, keeping them well acclimated to any outside temps. I cut some access holes in the wall and relocated the one pipe farther away from the outer wall board where insulation could go between the pipe and the wall, as it should have been done from the get go.











And here's the culprit...








I'll let things dry out overnight, and finish tomorrow with adding a bit of caulk and insulation. Drywall/painter due in early this week to close things up..

Shame about the house.. make sure the plumber is informed, even if he won't or doesn't offer a refund - he needs to learn that he made a mistake and caused serious damage.

Wow you do houses tooo! Nice resolution, to a poorly thought out placement on the plumbers part. We are fortunate not to be so affected by the elements as to get freezing pipes, but my friends who live in colder climates including my brother, seem to have major problems with water pipes, sewer lines and sump pumps. My brothers house was so poorly designed, that heavy rainstorms have left his Finished basement flooded several times over the last few years!

Yeah, I wish the better half would stop buying them... Like I don't have enough to do!


Here's the insulation installed on the correct side...











While removing the soggy drywall we also noticed the installation of the ceiling boxes for the two light fixtures was shaky at best. Electrician must have been related to the plumber... So we pulled down the old and also installed some new ceiling boxes as well, moving the center light fixture closer to the stove where it should have been..



All cleaned up, ready for the drywall..

That stinks to see the damage, at least it wasn't worse. Nice repairs on it too!