Vulcan's Forge...

After much consultation it became clear the only way to rectify the idiot decision that Pete Ritchie had made when he cut off the front sections of chassis was to weld a half-chassis underneath the original

 So it was off to Vulcan's Forge (well, George's actually) for some of this...

...this, 

 this,

this, (you gotta love big tools & it sort of beats a junior hacksaw !)

and this.

 we had these and a couple of cross-members too

I'd already exposed the original chassis, so after a good clean-up

 It was up to George and his MIG welder

 and some primeval alchemy

 Not great for my unprotected eyes but fine for the camera

 

 Starting to look the part again 

 A little more cleaning-up

 and then the steel plate (zinc-coated to stop any reaction with the aluminium) to secure the front of the body-shell is welded in place

Lovely job George.

The new chassis beams sit under and are welded to the original ones

but extend right out to meet the central beam - back to the flexible triangulation of the original. It has added to the weight a little but as much of the steel is back towards the axle, not a great deal.

 Solid & ready to buck to the front panel

 Meanwhile back at the ranch, I'd been prepping the new bumper

She came without one & much as I'd love a genuine Airstream one, they're rather prohibitive on a shipping costs 

So this is a VW Camper Van bumper cut in half with a flat C section welded in the middle (for the UK license plate  

and once she's painted up 

 I think it looks pretty original

While we're waiting for the new springs 

 time to buck in those two lines of rivets to hold the front of the body firmly to the chassis

 and time for my son, Sandy, to be on the business end of the rivets

and a fine job he did too... 

...not a smiley face amongst them !

That should hold firm over the bumps and potholes of the Devon & Cornish lanes

 Rivet Central

and a great eBay bargain - a 2yr old, 50ltr compressor

Now to prime, paint 

and refit the insulation & bellywrap

...lots to do but at least things are progressing.

Remember me ?

Hi there, remember me ? I know its been a LONG time but after a winter of no progress, things on the 53FC are moving again... AT LAST !

The Flying Cloud has emerged from cold storage and been gingerly towed to George's workshop for some remedial welding and strengthening 

First job was to fit a new steel front plate

 We used coated steel 12" x 15"

There will be a couple of lines of hard bucked rivets to stop the front panels pulling rivets loose from the bucking (horse, not rivet !) action of the trailer motion. Rather than remove the entire front inner skin panel, I cheated and cut a section out as it'll be hidden by the dinette

 Next to sort the completely inadequate EU hitch conversion that VATCO fitted

 Unfortunately that meant removing large sections of the bellypan and insulation

 to get access to the frame & chassis. Luckily the shambolic work that Pete Ritchie had done can all be fixed. I'm only sorry if this blog encouraged others to trust him - he pulled the wool over my eyes too.

Its pretty soul-destroying to have to remove your own work but it has to be done

 It was certainly a lot easier working on the bellypan with the chassis upside-down 

George's shop's door is pretty tight 

 ... some would say a perfect fit.

Hopefully in a week or so we should be rolling safely & legally down the road. 

A little late but...

Happy Christmas to all fellow Alumanuts out there in the Blogosphere.

Best wishes to you all and may 2012 be a particularly shiny one x

Happy Christmas

Yes, I know - Where have I been ?  You probably thought I'd chucked-in the alooominum towel & bought an SOB. But NO !

Despite running through a sticky patch when every decision I made seemed to be the wrong one and time  slipped through my hands, I'm still true to the Airstream faith, and best of all 

- the Flying Cloud is HOME AT LAST !

You'll know form my last (distant) post that after the VATCo meltdown, I moved her to near Tewkesbury

to the safe haven of Vintage Airstreams 

So a very big thank you to Sam Harkness who runs Vintage Airstreams - he's been extremely helpful 

and if you're looking for a fantastic restoration, I can highly recommend them, they do beautiful work.

So despite, having a haulier lined-up for the past two months, I waited & waited...

...and then finally found someone else who had an empty load coming back to Devon

... and off we went

The skin has only had the first cut with F8 but she still shines in the landscape

and on the M5 heading home

Nice shots by my son, Sandy, on the way home

Winter sun

and rain...

Even time to get ahead of the lorry & snap her from the motorway bridge...

It was just getting dark as we got home to Dartmoor

No Landrover this end, just the trusty, ancient Volvo

Overnight at our neighbour's farm

and then down the road to a secure storage unit

Now that's a view I've waited rather too long to see !

And that too !

So there she is, finally in Devon.

We're off to Australia to see family for Christmas, so she's safely locked away and the restoration will continue in the New Year.

Happy Christmas to you all. 

And hopefully see you 'down the road' in 2012.