Rick’s fall ended up being a blessing.
We came to realize that we attempted too much without providing compensating structural support. The upper shell was attached to the chassis by a couple of clecos–but we’d left the belly pan detatched. But as we pulled out wood, critical points of support got removed. It seemed manageable as [...]
What a weekend!
Saturday started off early. Stuart Natoff came over to weld the front of our frame. He fabricated a beautiful replacement segment, then welded it right in. Turns out, Rick didn’t have to recut the damaged part flush with the frame, but the new piece was so well made, it slotted in there easily. [...]
As promised, here is a diagram showing the damage to the frame. The near end of the frame bars are painted brown, while the front end (which is further away in the diagram) is grey. The remnant of the cross bars are red (although in real life, these are just rust colored). There are two [...]
Had the day off work, so made it a work day!
Slept in late and headed down to Home Depot for a couple of last minute supplies. Spent a bit of time trying to find the local Zolatone dealer, but couldn’t find it in the industrial park. So, got home, gathered up my tools and got [...]
I just realized that the photo from the inside makes it look like our hitch is also separated from the frame! It really isn’t–last summer I cleaned up the outside steel and painted it silver. Inside the trailer, however, the frame is painted black. The only thing that is missing is the crossbar and plate [...]
Well, today Rick continued cutting up to the end of the wood. This came about as a result of drilling, chiseling, sawing and plain brute force. Midway through, I pitched in and we both worked at cutting–or breaking–the bolts going from the frame, through the floor and the “U” channel (a piece of bent aluminum [...]
Yesterday’s photos don’t really show where we see the front end damage. The following diagram shows my own observation of what appears to be damaged (all pictures can be double clicked to view them larger).
