TOO much time is being spent trying to drill out the holes that do not line up.
I really regret having the new steel prepunched.
It would have saved so much time if I just drilled them AFTER they arrived.
I have started adding bolts to the holes that did line up or that I was able to drill.
I did put a bead of sealer behind the plates to help keep water out.
My hopes are that the interior will be very nice so I want to keep out any and all water.
I have a feeling that is going to be a real task.
Drilling the plates was a pain.
The plates themselves were not so bad, it was the steel inside the caboose that makes up the support structure.
I burned up 2 expensive bits in 4 holes!
There has to be a better way.
We also had to grind off the square portion of the underside of the bolt head.
I could not get the head to sit flat enough to seal.
When I tried, I was breaking the bolts.
We heated the bolts to remove the zinc treatment. I will go back and grind off the letters on the heads of the bolts later.
WINDOWS
I removed the windows from the copula and want to repair and clean them.
The frames of the windows needed help first.
I had to weld a repair into each of the frames. The North side window frame required less repair. The North side needed the entire bottom cut off and a new piece of steel, the full length of the frame.
The repair looked really good.
I just might be getting this welding thing down!
So I moved on the aluminum windows themselves.
They had sealer around the perimeter. It was a mess.
I removed the seal and then banged out the high spots so we get a good seal on the newly straighten frames.
After I cleaned them, I had to straighten the dents in the screens.
They turned out great!
next I wanted to clean the frames. I used a wire wheel and it did a nice job.
I also made the choice to try and paint the frames.
I used a special primer that is formulated for Aluminum.
I was going top keep them white but I thought that will still look dirty ,... quick.
So I went with black.
