Working toward Paint , fixing the Decks

This weekend was spent repairing the decks on the front and back of the car. When the wall of the car rusted away, someone decided to fill the gap with tar. Well, that was not going to do. So.....the first thing s to remove the tar! This was a time consuming process SURPRISE!

This is what the seam of the deck, where it meets the wall of the car.

This is one of the four. Some worse than others but all needing attention

I cleaned the gap and exposed the opening.

Then I cut a piece of angle iron and fitted it to the area. I grind down the lip on the deck that once joined to the car. Then ground down the diamond pattern from the deck surface so the new piece would lay on a better surface, without gaps. This also helped the welding look nicer.

There was a overflow hose from the fill ports on the wall of the car. I cut that back in also.

All welded up! I had to wedge a 2x4 from the inside of the car to push the wall back into place and remove the gap that time and rust created.

The silver was a bit of seam sealer. It is primed and looks nice.

Three more to go!

Cleaning the underside of my dirty caboose

Today I spent the day cleaning the wheels and trucks on the bottom of the caboose.

The problem with this process is that the oil and dirt that has adhered to the wheels and the suspension had hardened over the last 50 years.

I tried to apply heat but it only caused the crud to stick even worse.

The only effective way to get this nasty stuff off was to use a hammer and chisel.

The sandblasting did not budge it.

It was a very slow process. ( big surprise )

 

I took a break from the wheels to do a bit more on the decks.

There is a tar based filler that has to be removed before I can weld the patch that will join the deck and the walls of the car.

 

 

There are four areas that will need this attention.

The days are getting longer and warmer.

Thank God.

 

 

Blast and Prime

Its done!! The blasting and the primer paint coat.

I will be doing some repairs that the blasting has exposed.

Last patch...I hope

Well the last known patch is underway. The blasting is scheduled for the week of November 16.
I know that blasting will expose more repairs. I just hope there will not be many.

The last patch started with me removing the handle so I could cut away the rust. I must seem like I enjoy working with rust. NOPE, HATE IT!

After it was off, I outlined the area that needed to be removed and started cutting.

I cleaned the area around the cut.

The surrounding steel was a mess.

It was because of that, that I decided to do a " weld-over" patch and not butt weld the new piece.

All better

Now, I picked up under the car.

The blaster will be here in a few days.

Final Window in Place

The final window was installed last weekend.

These were a pain in the butt.

I had to look back at my own posts to realize how I got them out!

Anyway...

Measure - Measure-  Measure

I centered the window to the area and then raised it a bit to avoid a brace on the interior.

Then to the cutting.

i did not bother with the " special" saw blades.

The cutoff wheel was the tool of choice.

One that was complete , I tied off the piece of steel that will be removed so it could be lowered safely to the ground.

I primed the opening and started with the rigging.

Now that is out of the way.

On to raising the window back into the hole.

A generous amount of sealer was applied to the area where the window will be attached.

This was a fun solo task.

All done. 

Now for the last patch and onto the sandblasting and primer.