The inventory is, one new white oak sill...
...five new fir floorboards...
And one new white oak plank for the center of the seat.
Not until I began installing the sill and drilling critical holes did I realize the challenge I had presented Woodcrafters!
The old boards were so rustic, unevenly sawn and bowed, that the task of milling something "matching" took a whole lot of intuition! Especially in light of the fact that the lad who did the work had never been up close to a horsedrawn wagon, and was pretty much "flying blind" except for the old pieces I'd supplied as patterns.
Several bolt holes had to be drilled into the new sill, by drilling down through pre-existing holes in the old wood, through the new sill, then hitting a pre-existing hole in the crossbeams under the sill.
Somehow, I managed to hit the target holes in every case!
In this picture, I'm using a long "aviation" drill bit to bore through the existing rod hole in the side wall, down through the new sill, and into the crossbeam at the front of the wagon.
Floor boards trimmed to fit and carefully spaced. The original boards varied in width!
Once I got the floorboards temporarily bolted down, I tried fitting up the tailgate, only to discover that the hinge pieces on the original threshold, bolted into their original holes, did NOT want to line up with the hinge pieces on the tailgate - ALSO bolted into the original wood and holes!
The problem I think, stems from the fact that the original bolts were slightly smaller than 1/4", and when I replaced them with 1/4" carriage bolts, I had to drill out the holes in the tailgate just a little. Apparently, just enough to slightly misalign the hinges. I did get them together, by loosening the nuts on the tailgate, but I'll deal with it more directly when I turn the box upside down.
This morning's tasks begin with bolting the new floorboards - which were coated with clear wood sealer last night - to the crossbeams. After that, I had some fun checking fit on certain items (it was fun because everything fit!)
The dashboard fits!
Close up of the dashboard bolt going through the corner brace.
The bolts for the corner brace had to be bent like those on the left side, to thread them through all the layers of uneven holes. Now the bolts can come out to have the heads "customized" to look more original.
The pivot for the brake handle bolts to the underside of the new sill. I had a fair bit of room for error, drilling those bolt holes!
But the handle bolts on just fine. The ratchet mounts in original holes on the side board.
One final dismantling of the right side, to surface and seal the new sill, then "final" reassembly can begin!
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