Vintage rides

I don't have much time during the work week, but I manage to continue work on the frame.
The belly is done.
Some small cracks welded.
Some dents fixed.


Cut yesterday new pieces for the sides of the tunnel. Today I will weld them.



Made a template for wheel axles mounting's reinforsment...



Not sure about this design... I might use the same idea Bombardier used on the later frames - just make mounting plates a bit wider like here:



Before I welded the final piece to the belly I protected the steering subframe with some rust paint... Wouldn't hurt:)


That last piece is tacked in...




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Found this today at Conservation Research Laboratory:
Great info!!!
Iron Conservation: Part II - Experimental Variable and Finals Steps

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It was busy weekend: I managed to make a lot! I didn’t spend too much time, though…
Yesterday I fabricated the small piece for the left stringer and welded it in. It’s amazing: it takes just a few second to write about it:)



Here are some more pictures of the stringer piece:




Today I was looking at the belly pan and certainly didn’t like it. Corroded way too much! So, grinder in hands – cut it out! I decided to try fabricating the new belly using the remaining as a guide.

Professional sheet metal work always hypnotizes me, but I never had much luck with it. Takes a lot of effort to learn…
Anyway, with my rubber mallets and a piece of dense foam I managed to shape the new belly pan kind of close to original…



It’s not perfect by any means, but rest of the frame is pretty beat up, so it doesn’t look odd… It took a few minutes to cut it in size and tack weld it to the frame. After that I checked the fuel tank fitment, it went in easily.



After that I welded new piece around. Looks not too bad.



One more small piece to weld in and the front end is done!!!

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