Australian "Cooroibah" Build update 19th dec 2009

[synaps3]

Wow, a lot of skill going into this one. I look forward to seeing it completed!

[DasBaldGuy]

You should make a few of those winged reflectors and offer them for sale.

I'd buy a few. ;-)

[jackdaw]

I'm loving this build
I really like the carved exposed frame, and all the art work going into your build.

We have a few celtic designs burnt into our cabinet doors on our Grumman. We call it pyrography over here, I've also heard it called pokerwork.

I'm going to have a crack at makeing a pewter sign too, I just love trying out new things.

Thanks for the inspiration

Dave

[tinksdad]

Patiently waiting to see more on casting the wings. I haven't tried making my own molds yet; but do have some experience with ready-mades pouring lead head jigs for fishing. Current project is trying to pour in place a pommel and hilt for a sgian dubh that I am working on. Not happy with the results; but like you said... it re-melts easily!!

[irondance2003]

First off I should show the photo that was missing of the master when it came out of the plastercine .
This was the failure one too many air bubbles

OK now we are up to speed.
So this morning I got up rather early (for me) 6am down to the shed before 8pm (takes time to get awake and the bones working) normal shed time is 11am'ish set the little gasbottle camp cooker going and cooked me a mold.

(that's a wood fired gas bottle LOL)
After an hour or so I redid the melt and had a pour in what was to be a still wet mold but after another attempt .

With a patina to die for.
Now the bench was not level so it was a bit thicker at one end so a quick hit with the angle grinder with a flapper disc on the back and all was level.

The mold but was showing stress as I had not used reground plaster in this one (test for stress) , started to crack after what was realy only 4 pours.

Now this cast was an ideal size for some refelectors that I got at the car parts place.

Drill a quick hole in the center and we have a nice bit of BLING to add to the back of the TD.

Now step back and admire your handywork.

That's the hatch handle just below it.
Now before the mold DIES run up another .

Just to prove to myself it was not a fluke.
The bolt on the refelector will hold the whole thing with some gap filler on later after I get a few layers of clear on the boot lid.

[danlott]

Ok, so the twenty dollar question. When are you going to start producing these winged reflectors for sell and how much will they cost?

Dan

[grizz]

Amazing build.

Love the casting too.

[irondance2003]

OK Back to the build
If you are following this build with one of your own then at this point you will notice that there is a thousand and 1 things to do.
In the last real post (before I got sideways with the badge) I was working on the hatch guttering so I had better get back to the hatch.
THE HATCH.

Now the inside part of the gutter is a match for the struts that make up the form for the hatch.
So you will need to make up (in this case ) 4 of them.

The photo above was the first of mine in the vice being trimmed up so that the others could be cut the same.
Then what I did was place 2 of them next to the gutter and the other 2 equal distance apart in the hatch opening.

And I seem to have lost a photo of them before the cross struts were sorted in place and the cutouts for these cross struts were cut.
So jumping ahead just a photo the next step was the placement of the cutouts for the cross struts, 1 at the top (hinge area) another at the bottom at floor level (where the hatch closes too) and then 3 equally spaced across the leftover distance.
After you have you cutouts done we put the 2 outer hatch mains (gutter) struts in place with small wedges of 1/8in (3mm) timber.

These small wedges will give the hatch clearance when opening and closeing , now place the other 2 mains in there place and then measure the length between the 2 outer and cut the struts that fit into the cutouts.
When yo have them all cut place them into position and glue and screw them in place.




Now at this point I removed the frame from the TD and cleaned up any bits that were overhanging the main outer struts.


Now the next bit of the Hatch build was the 2 alloy "L" sections that fit from the outer Main struts over into the gutter.
What I did was useing 1 of the main struts before the hatch frame was put together was clamp this alloy section to the strut at the bottom of the curve and then just run it around the curve untill you get to the top, this gives the alloy most of the shape needed for it to be screwed onto the frame.

Sorry no photos of the bending ,
(FOUND IT)

but the one above will give you what is the minimum size of the alloy I don't know what is available at your local hardware store , this was at the very edge of being too small across the larger flat side for the job but it worked .
You will need to drill these alloy sections every 3in (75mm) along there full length so as to screw them in place BUT DRILL AFTER YOU HAVE BENT THEM if you drill these holes before you bend them they will kink at the drill holes.
Now put the frame and it's wedges back in place and then starting from the bottom place the angle section of the alloy in the gutter and screw it into place

As you can see by the above photo I did not have a lot of overhang when the angle was in the gutter ( just enough to screw into place).


In the photo above you can see some strips of ply 1/8thin (3mm) these were needed as the alloy added to the side height of the main side struts.

OK
Now you can undo the clamps and remove the wedges at the top as the plywood will now be placed on the frame.
My plywood, This time was ran sideways compared to the rest of the roof the reason being that the ply would bend very easy running this way and there is a tight bend at the bottom of the hatch and I did not want to put undue stress on the frame for the rest of it's life.
Here is a trick.
Whatever you are useing for a himge will need to be screwed down to the hatch after you have put the sheet of plywood on so if yoy place the ply in place and then whatever is your hinge on top and mark on the ply where the fixing holes will need to be , you will be able to fix the ply to the frame without messing up the hinge screws.

The photo above is a bit weird as I had not cut the ply at this point and the marks are for the missed hinge screw placement(where the hinge screws are not going to be)

As you can see I could not get around the bend to fix on the plywood , while it was mounted on the TD so I had to get it off and finish it on the bench (OH NO) Yes it did break a bit so I cut the section off and placed an infill on the bottom .




This meant another strut had to be made to infill the bottom of the hatch as the cut section was too short to reach the whole way down.
This is not a worry as there is another layer that will go over this section of the hatch.
"THE I CAN SEE YOU IN THE DARK BIT."
There was always going to be an alloy sheet over the bottom of the hatch (same as my other builds) This gives a more robust hatch leading edge and will be easy to see if being followed at night on the road.
I took some alloy sheet that is embossed cut it 2in (50mm) longer than the width of the hatch and about the distance of the first strut up the hatch wide (the strut gives me something to screw the alloy sheet too)
I put this sheet on the side of my bench with about 1in (25mm) overhang and then clamped it into place and then useing a block of wood bent it down and then turned it over and using a leftover section of the hatch covering ply bent it down till it was almost touching the ply.




This was then mounted on the hatch and the folded section was pushed into place on the hatch ply and (check that you have the 1in (25mm) overhang at either end ) then block and hammer it into place as tight on the ply as possible.
Cut the corners of the alloy at the corners of the hatch and then very gently fold the alloy over the sides.
At some point in the middle of all this I decided that the hatch handle was going to be on this strut as well, And I decided that it would not look good with the alloy sheet under it so I cut the top edge of the alloy sheet out so that there was room for the handle.

Now I have a Jenny (a tinsmans tool for putting a jumpup on the edge of light sheet steel and alloy ,Like on the edge of your number plate) so I ran the Jenny across the top of the alloy sheet.


I don't expect for you to have a Jenny in the back shed but the local sheetmetal worker will have one so have a talk to him (needed also for the Number plate backing plate ) so take them both down at the same time.
Yes I know ......Number plate holder will be the next post...
OK here are the photos of the alloy sheet .


then screw it down


WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next step is the Hinge
I will post this now in case I lose it...

[irondance2003]

OK ...I never lost it .
The Hinge
I am using a Piano Hinge on this build so I needed a seal between the Hinge and the TD to stop water getting in.
There is a plastic that is used in making outdoor eating areas screens it is clear and as tough as nails.
I put a strip of this under my hinge held in place by the hinge and a small amount of sealer for the screws, But I also left a section on the leading edge of the hinge and under this I placed a bead of sealer than over the top I placed a strip of plywood that ,
A: holds down the plastic
B: spreads the sealer out under the plastic
C: hides the plastic



A bead of the filler at the front of the plywood and that was the hinge in place .
Now the BIG test , will it open and close again?

YES OPEN

DON'T YA LOVE IT?????
Now the handle
I had one left over from a kitchen build that was a fine little stainless steel model.
Two drill holes and TA DA!!!!


OK by that photo you will tell that the handle was on there before the alloy sheet.
I had to do that so I could work out where the alloy sheet was to be cut.
Now what I don't have is a photo of the rear finished at this point so you will have to wait untill I upload 1 or read on and it will be in the next bit, I'm sure.

[Classic Finn]

Wow that is some impressive as well as detailed work you have done. I really enjoy looking and reading your thread. Very nice

[irondance2003]

First off
Thanks for the encouragement

You may notice there is a bit of Fudging going on.
The hatch build has the alloy going on and then the handle is in a later post without the alloy.
well it is a bit hard to keep up with the photos and the thread as well as build and put it all on here.
Another thing is the hatch open shows a kitchen that has not been built yet
(not in here yet that is)
and the next photo below shows the rear hatch finished with the handle and the alloy and the rear bumper ( that's another post again)
Oh and I have to take this TD 1000 miles (2000k's) in 30 days.

Dam!! the bumper was not on that shot ....Good I'll build it next week.

THE KITCHEN

Sorry that is the kitchen in the house (it had to be done as well at the same time but it is finished)
Most of the rest of the home kitchen was done by a fellow up the hill (it's his living) but I lay claim to some of it and you will see why in a sec.
The kitchen in a TD is a very personal thing and it will be about the most varied thing you will find in any set of TD's .
So I am not going to go into full detail with what is done on this one.
Here it will be a large bench with a few shelves, a slide out small fridge, some water storage and the battery box.
First off I measured 6ft 2in (*****)(tape is in the shed so will figure it out later) from the front wall and put up a wall on top of this was the kitchen bench that projects into the cabin space 4in (100mm) then above this is the back wall of the cabin space and the kitchen.







Then the bench sits on top


The bench is a section of heavy board covered with Bamboo Click Flooring.
This stuff was leftover from the house kitchen and is as hard as nails and solid with a shine to die for.
Next was the back wall.
2 speaker holes were cut into it and then a bit of Poker Art was done.
The Poker Art is a drawing of the TD with the future owners car, a Morris Minor Van (blue colour !! you need to know this as it is the colour used later for the gards etc.)



A close UP

Then I put in 4 small shelves (photo coming)
Just previewed tis post and some of the photos are huge will fix later

[irondance2003]

Yellow/Honey

That is the colour of fine old pine when it has aged a few years it gets a glow about it that is hard to define.
But it can be copied.
Shellac.
Shellac is some excreatment from a beatle it comes in flakes and is mixed with Metho (in my case).

I brew mine like this
Take a container with a airtight lid
3/4 fill it with the flakes of Shellac
Then fill with the metho.
Put on the lit and shake it silly
Wait an hour and shake again
Repeat above
Next day I pour the top brown layer off and use this to stain my wood.
A few Notes
This stuff will go off in a short time (few weeks) so just make enough for the job you have on hand.(soaks up moisture from the air and dies)
6 to 9 coats of this put on in a special way is French Polish (sock full of cotton wool and rub hard FOREVER).
Dry Flakes in the sealed tin will last till ya grand kid's need it.
Another usefull reason for this stuff is that if you put a coat on some sanded enamel you can cover this coat with a water based paint (NICE).

In the above photo you can see the brown that has been decanted from the jar, and in the jar you can see the sedement , when you use up the good stuff JUST REFILL THE JAR with more Metho and you have a new batch (just a bit weaker than the first)
If you want a weaker brew to start with just don't add as much flakes (say 50% of the jar)
1 coat and white pine goes like this.

The little Dragon was my 57th birthday pressy last week.
HAPPY birthday to me .
OK now go down to the paint shop get some and play and when you have the level of Yellow/Honey you want on your timber give it a coat of clear and stand back.

[irondance2003]

The rear bumper on this TD is just a 2in (50mm) square section of hollow stainless steel held onto the chassis by (WAIT FOR IT)

Yep ..Remember the square washers used to build the chassis well here is 1 reason I used them at the back of the chassis.

That is a 6in (150mm) bolt with 2 nuts the first nut was ran down to the end of the thread 2in (50mm) (lucky there) and the second nut was ran on to hold it in place then I placed the bumper section on top of the bolts ,centered it and tacked it into place.


Now when i explained this to the owner he though that the bolts would have to be very special to weld to stainless steel ..NO.. just plain old bolts zinc coated (not gal as it makes a nasty weld) and plain mig wire.
You just need to give the weld a coat of chrome or silver to coat it as the mig wire allows oxygen into the Stainless steel and it will (the weld ) rust.

Now that is all at this point to the bumper (I may let the rear tail lights into it yet) but the idea is that if you are hit from behind or back into something the bumper or the Square washers will give and it is an easy job to replace the bumper not some large section of the TD back end.

[2fry]

I love this build,and that's not because i have a moggy as well.
The details are fantastic.
Well done sir..

[Classic Finn]

I love this build,and that's not because i have a moggy as well.
The details are fantastic.
Well done sir..

I dont want to hijack this thread but your tear is awesome looking too there Scotland Anymore pics of it?