Barry Wolk Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 5-14-2006Not much happened this week until the weekend. Bill was busy making a living so he had little time to spend on this project.During this lull I ordered stainless steel piano hinges for the floor access hatch and the doors between the cabin and lounge. I ordered the hinges from McMaster-Carr and they arrived by UPS the next day.I took the hinges to Lyndon Fabrication and supervised the modifications that met my needs.They use huge presses to form metal.These two workers worked in concert to produce perfect bends.The hinge on the left is for the floor hatch and the other is for the bulkhead doors.Installed all the floring around the new floor hatch which is hinged at the front of the trailer.The new flooring barely sticks above the door threshhold less than a 1/16".We removed the new hatch door and used it as a mandrel to bend the aluminum edging and then installed it in the floor opening.We installed the hatch planking to line up with the rest of the floor and removed the hatch again to install the hatch edge molding.Reinstalled the hatch and stood back and admired our work.Just wanted to see what the furniture will look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friartuck Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Seeing the bending capabilities of that hinge, was wondering if they can make something called "Hat" channel as described in attachment? It is needed for a running board stiffner. Also, what is the aluminum edging and the source shown in the pictures (for a differant application)? How easy is it to form around the corner how is it fastened, nailed/screwed on the side?Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Friar Tuck, It would be much cheaper to make them out of 1/2" square tubing and plug weld them to 1&1/2" flat stock. You could then seam seal the contact areas and you won't know that it is two pieces.Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 15, 2006 Author Share Posted May 15, 2006 That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I wonder of the hat molding was authentic whereas a box welded to sheet metal might not be.The shop is Lyndon Fabricating in Redford, Michigan. Jim is my contact and Mike is the shop foreman. Their number is 313-937-3540, I think.The aluminum molding came from Blakely products, also in Redford. It's an anodized aluminum that must be pure as I've never seen an alloy bend like this. All those bends were made with my thumb pressure. The material crazed slightly in the bend that compressed the small flange but bends in the opposite direction were very smooth. There are pre-punched holes every 8 inches. We simply countersunk the holes and used stainless trim screws. I suppose any carpet supply store would have this trim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friartuck Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I appreciate the square box suggestion, but as Barry hinted at, this is a place where it is easily seen and must be authentic. The box on top of the flat stock would show at each end two metal thicknesses versus none, and the curve of the box folding inward versus outward is also a problem. Seamsealer just wouldn't look right for this application.Thanks for the referral to the shop and the channel.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 Update 5-21-2006Lounge area almost finished. I selected lighting that would mimic what was in the trailer and to compliment the antique Howard Miller "Bubble Lamp".Installed aluminum trim around doors. Bill is gone for a week. His last task will be to trim the windows in poplar and I'll do the finish trim. While he's gone I'll install the rest of the cabin windows and alter and polish the rest of the furniture.We added a horizontal band of the verticle cut flooring to the material on the back wall. It worked out as a nice detail.This was shot from my perspective of the space.I really liked this shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 check this:http://public.fotki.com/wackydave/car_shows/car_shows_2006/8th_annual_vintage/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 25, 2006 Author Share Posted May 25, 2006 Nice photo site.6-25-2006Since the failure of the paint to adhere to the shined aluminum surface I decided that a vinyl application of the Royal Spartanette logo was the best way to go.Since Nick hand cut the original mats and created the vinyl from the same pattern, the new logo looks hand painted. The material he used is a bit thicker than normal and has the look of layered paint. You be the judge.I documented tha application of the three color logo. Note the face of the Spartan emblem. It is the shined surface of the aluminum skin. I have some experience with the creation and installation of vinyl lettering, but nothing of this maganatude.The first picture is the white background of the emblem and the lettering for "Royal" in original script.With the installation mask removed you can see the face and the base or the rest of the emblem.This was the trickiest part. Lining up the second layer, black vinyl, was easy because each layer has its own registration marks. The hard part was removing the mask from the lace-like black outline without ripping it.Starting to look like something.The red was applied as the last layer.The final touch replicates the lettering that was on my original logo.The finished product.Chair restoration project:This is the rust remaining after cleaning with OXYCLEAN.This is the remains after 4 treatments with WHINK.The triple bench seat I'm using at the nose of the trailer has lesgs that are too close together to sit on ither side of the floor hatch so I extended the width of the legs by 9" by adding to the center of the chair support. I'll grind down the welds and paint it flat black. Unless you're looking for it you'll never see the alteration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novaman Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 logo looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 Thanks. I thought it turned out as nice as the painted version.5-28-2006 Furniture obsession. I acquired a furniture grouping from an abandoned lobby of a CSX Railroad corporate office. I traded an energy audit of the facility for the furniture. The lobby had been locked up for 20 years when they remodeled and added a new lobby. It was like walking into a time capsule. There was the triple gang seat with a long narrow coffee table in front of it. I'm using one of the sets of legs from the coffee table in front of the triple. There were also two single chairs on either side of another coffee table that was a 3' round fiberglass drum topped by a spun aluminum disk covered with plate glass. No room for that one. I spent the last three days restoring and altering the triple as the legs were too close together and would have interfered with the floor hatch. I widened the central support by 9 inches and repainted it flat black. I had to drill two new 5/8" holes to reattach the seats. There are only two seat supports. The third seat is hung between the other two. All the aluminum pieces had a highly polished finish when new and I found the finish easy to restore to a high shine. The original fastener holding the chairs together were 1/4" roll pins at 8 critical attachment points. Many of the pins were installed on an angle so they couldn't be driven through the holes, they had to be driven back out. I had to fabricate some special tools to extract the pins. I replaced the roll pins with 12-24 flat head stainless screws countersunk flush duplicating the original appearance. I bought some vinyl convertible top cleaner. It was a slow process but you see the difference once the crud was removed. This is my new favorite picture. I spent three full days restoring the couch so I could finally put it in position and actually sit in the space. The front legs of the couch will be secured to the floor leaving about a 6" gap behind the seating. Sitting in the space I was able to formulate how the rest of it would be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Barry, Looks great. I was wondering, what is your plan for the areas of the vinyl seat where the color has been damaged? I know that there are new paints out there designed for use on upholstery in cars. And with some of these new computer color matching systems it might be possible to cover the damage the rust caused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 Susan,I think that's the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Barry, Cool. I was just wondering. It is such an awesome project. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> I really hope that someday I will get to see it in person. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 I'd love to show it off. I'm in Michigan. Where are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 We are about fourteen miles west of Charleston, W. Va. Will you have the trailer at any shows this year? Hershey maybe??? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 We had planned on doing two Concours on the East Coast but I cancelled due to the high cost of shipping the car. Once I finish the trailer I'll be in better shape to do more distant shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Well, hopefully we will be at the same show or in the same area sometime so that I can see this great looking project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 3, 2006 Author Share Posted June 3, 2006 I look forward to that.6-3-2006 Early update. I usually post on Sunday but tomorrow I am participating in the Orphan Car Show in Ypsilanti. It is the first year they are recognizing the '56-'57 Continental Mark II.Bill was gone most of the week. I restored one of the chairs and started on the last one.I installed the gas stut lifts for the cabin hatch. Now you can see why I widened the couch legs.I also built a battery rack of galvanized Unistrut. There is room for 4 batteries up front and additional space in the rear should I need to offset some front weight.I needed a means to attach multiple wire rope cables to the hinge axle. I ordered a cast aluminum pully with a 3/4" keyway bore and tapped it out to match the hinge pin thread shaft size of 7/8-14. This will allow mw to fine tune the width of the pullys.The center pulley is gets the garage door spring cable, the inner gets the cable that pulls the lower clam shell into place and the outer pully will snag the cables that restrain the opening of the upper clam-shell and draw the door closed as the ramps come to rest. It's a little Rube Goldbergish but it works consistantly.Movies of that soon.The piece of metal to the left of the pully is a stainless steel tube that decoratively covers the threaded ends of the spring bolt. The axle is a hardened truck spring clamp rod but will rust. Can't have that!The piece of metal hanging off of the axle shaft is one of four supports that will attach to two "feet" that will make contact with the ground and transfer the weight of the car off of the hinges and to the ground. I made these with my cut-off saw with 80 tooth blade, router with round-over carbide bit ans stationary belt sander for a finished appearance.The roller device that the cable passes over is a McGyver-like use of parts. The plate that mounts to the wall is an electrical fitting that is used to make a threaded 1 1/4" hub at the top of an electrical box. I used an 1 1/4" to 1/2" reduction bushing to create a mounting surface that a garage door cable pully attaches to.Bill is working on the mullions for the cabin windows. Tricky work as no two windows are the same. I'm going to work on attaching the upper clam shell permanently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debby Soucia Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 I was just wondering where in Michigan you were. We to would love to see it and we are going to the Hupmobile show in Detroit on June 18th. Any where near there. I can't believe the work you have done on this!Debby & Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 4, 2006 Author Share Posted June 4, 2006 That's the same weekend as the Motor Muster at Greenfield Village in Dearborn. I should be done with the show around 4:00 and I could meet you at the shop afterward. My shop is at 19300 Beech Daly in Redford. Do a Mapquest search and you'll see it's just outside Detroit. Where is your event being held?I did the Orphan Car Show in Ypsilanti today and I ran into "Carfreak" that posts here. It really is a small world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debby Soucia Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Ours is at the Detroit Yacht Club, Riverbank Rd, Detroit Out on belle Island. My be we can see you at the yours as we are planning to go to the Deanborn to the Henery Ford musuum on Saturday. Maybe we will stay there for a little while.Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 4, 2006 Author Share Posted June 4, 2006 The MM is a two day show. I'll be at Greenfield Village on Saturday Morning by 8:00 am to put the car on the field. If you could pick me up there and take me to my shop I could show you the trailer, pick up one of my cars and go back to GV afterwards. I might even have some extra passes to GV. Or, you could view whatever you wanted at GV or the Henry Ford Museum and hook up with me later in the day. Whatever works for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debby Soucia Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 We have 4 people and our motor home but it would be fun meeting up with you and seeing your car even if we can't see the trailer this trip. We usually go threw Michigan every two years to see cousins in Cold water. My father has never been to teh museum thats why we were going there. It's going to be great to see a show at the same time. Deby & Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 i´m a bit hurt that i was not invited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 Tommy,I told you before that my door is always open for you. Group hug! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Barry, Would that be the front door or the trap door? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> (Just kidding Tommy. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I couldn't resist.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debby Soucia Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I hope I did not hurt your feelings. I just thought you would not want 4 of us to visit, beside that my parents are not in to old cars like we are so they would not care for it. We still want to see your car. Can you tell me which one to try to find?Deby & Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 I'm confused. You didn't hurt my feelings. My car will be in special group of Mark IIs as they are celebrating the 50th year. You can't miss it. It'll be the only convertible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I've been working on my own RV project....Thanks for the invite, I've been looking for a place to stay for a few months.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 That's awesome Tommy. Love the aerodynamic shape. I'll bet that tarp cuts down on drag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debby Soucia Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 OK, we will be looking for you on that Saturday. See you there!Deby & Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novaman Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 Barry, what did you use to clean the vinyl seats? I need to clean the seat covers for my car but haven't found anything the really seems to do a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest South_paw Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 Hi Barry, If you should give up on your project don't lose hope! You just have to get one of these $422k plus options <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 9, 2006 Author Share Posted June 9, 2006 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Barry, what did you use to clean the vinyl seats? I need to clean the seat covers for my car but haven't found anything the really seems to do a great job. </div></div>I think it was 303 convertible top cleaner. It did a pretty good job. The rust stains never went away so I had all the surfaces refinished. They look like brand new now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 9, 2006 Author Share Posted June 9, 2006 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi Barry, If you should give up on your project don't lose hope! You just have to get one of these $422k plus options <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>Yeah, but anybody can have one of those. I'm the only kid on the block with one like mine.Besides, the garage space is too small. My garage space is 21 Feet. My Mark II is 18' 2 1/2". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantomcobra Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 Add two more axles at the rear end and then another 8 feet of overhang!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 11, 2006 Author Share Posted June 11, 2006 6-11-2006EUREKA!!!After six months of pondering I happened on a solution for my extending ramps. I was inspired by the movie "Back to the Future". My office manager came in Friday and told me that there was a trailer in the movie that has ramps that are identical to the mechanized ramps on my trailer. I said, "No way!" She was right! I rented the move and, sure enough, the large box truck lowers its rear door as a seconsary set of ramps kick out as the whole assembly is lowered to the ground on cables attached to the ramp hinge points, just like mine!They never really showed any of the mechanism in the movie but they either made it work, or they faked it. I went back and rethought the problem and found that the newly installed hinge support was just the answer I was looking for.I attached a compressed gas shock to the upper part of the ramp and pushed on the new hinge support. It, in turn, pushed on the lower ramp section kicking it well past the angle needed to let it roll out on its own.The piston will attach to some sliding brackets to allow for fine tune adjustments to unlevel groundBill built new window inserts. These will be painted black and trimmed in aluminum. In the front the frames will be color matched and grained to match the bamboo.Before and after the repair of the vinyl surface. I had all the seating surfaces done to match each other. I can't tell the fronts and backs apart. It was a fairly expensive repair, but the furniture is certainly worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Wolk Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 6-13-2006Found the perfect fabric for drapes, pillows, napkins, tablecloth and apparel. Since the minimum order is 15 yards, you'll be seeing a lot of it.Anyone have a source for a smaller quantity of "Big Kakuna Fabrics" products? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Barry, Now I am having nightmares about you, your wife and your whole clan outfitted in that fabric like the von Trapp kids. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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