Body Off!

I wasn't going to do this, buuutttt....

Lots of boring winter left, and if I don't do the box this winter, it either won't get done, or it will be disassembled and laid up for yet another year.

The reason being, there is only a very brief window where I can paint in my low-tech operation.  Winter is the time for repairing, summer for painting....along with all the other work screaming to be done in summer!

So, let's have at it and get the body ready for a new paint job.  Maybe I can get all my painting done within a few weeks and be done by next spring.  Thankfully, the gear and wheels are long since done, except for a bad scrape on the hub of the far rear wheel, which I'll tend to pretty quickly.

So Here We Go!

First comes removing some peripherals, like this heavy brake.  Dashboard, steps and rub rollers also have to come off.

Considerably lightened, we were able to hoist the body off the gear by hand, after undoing 12 bolts.

I'll take this opportunity to clean and oil the 5th wheel.  Heck, maybe I should try pinstriping the gear!

Tomorrow I'll start in on the interior of the box.








Almost a Deal Breaker...

This isn't much of a picture, but what you're looking at is an excavation of beetle damage in the front end of the right hand sill, a heavy hardwood beam that runs the length of the wagon box and to which things like brakes attach.

Poking around with a screwdriver, I knew the sill would need some work, but when I took a chisel to it this morning, sections of wood crumbled away.  There is some amount of damage along the entire six or so feet of the sill.

I came very close to calling it quits on the wagon today.  The method of assembly of the wagon box is absolutely diabolical and I am dangerously outside my skill set on reproducing a timber like this.

However, we turned it upside down on the saw horses, and the fasteners started falling.  As I started dismantling it, I learned the construction technique and soon became confident that there's nothing here that can't be fixed.

Eventually the sill came free, along with the vertical side panel of the wagon box.

In order to keep the side panel from twisting, I am going to leave it attached to the damaged sill until I'm finished preparing it for refinishing.

Then I will detach the ruined sill and take it to a woodworking firm in Portland to have it reproduced.

May as well publish this post, and come back when the new sill is ready to install!