Moving Units... I sure miss the insulation

Thursday 13th June - Not reported in for a week so bit of news, mostly good

Over the last week I have been making yet more shelving and bolting it to the wall in the 'office'. Most of the identified boxes (the ones I labelled) are now tucked away and away from the flooding should it happen again. Some of these will need going through as they were stuffed with tat thats not listed on the outside.

Nice man from the skip hire firm dropped a little skip outside for me on Tuesday so the prevent other people from filling it up I lifted it with the engine crane and dragged it inside. 

Now I've got somewhere to dump the tat I don't need and the plasterboard from that dividing wall   

I could have just had at it with a 14lb hammer but decided that as I still have the fiesta bonnet in the office I'd not take the chance of stuff landing on it. 

I moved the double socket from waist height right in the centre of the wall to 'arms reach' next to and above the pedestrian door. I then fitted one of the larger LED flood lights next to it and wired it in on a plug. 



These won't get used very often as there is plenty of light from the overhead tubes and the two LED floods already fitted.
Using the traditional hammer and screwdriver method I punched through the plasterboard where I thought the joists went, then used a wallboard saw to follow the lines to make this.



As well as the plasterboard all the horizontal noggins have been removed apart from the one with the live circuit ring main running through it. That needs daylight as I will have to isolate all the lights in the office and all the sockets.
The horrible picture lights in the office look worse from behind, just a hammer hole in the wall and two lumps of cable  
All this has to be done with care because there is already one car in the workshop along with the tools and racking.



Plenty of room in the skip for the other side bits of plasterboard and nearly all the timbers will be repurposed so all the screws and nails are being removed as I go along, less work later that way.

The reason I'm being careful with the dust and debris is the Fiesta bonnet which is still awaiting the second clear coat.
Considering it was done with rattle cans I think this is fair for a first clear coat.



I'd like that gone so I can have at the wall but with the weather being so moist I was reluctant to do clear coats in case it bloomed.
You can see my nice tidy labelled racking in the background, luckily it was a perfect fit behind the door. 3 bays, 3 boxes per shelf, 5 shelves per bay. I have a similar layout planned for the other side of the room but may have to relocate depending to car widths and the hole in the wall. Going to move that bonnet and have that other bit of the wall down tomorrow.

With all the water that came in the other day and the unevenness of the floor I think I need to get it levelled. Either screed or self levelling compound or both. The office has one L shaped patch thats not level which should then become part of the workshop floor.

Sunday 16th June - Got a couple of hours in today.
I have been asked to vacate unit 7, the temporary storage area, by the 24th of this month. Unit 6 is not yet watertight, does not have a flat floor. Neither of those I can rectify on a Sunday afternoon with no budget If I move all my stuff into 6 I'm effectively blocking it up entirely, no way the floor is getting done once all the junk is moved. I need the floor down ASAP.

Time to finish getting that wall down then. I'd already cut the plasterboard so it just needed the electrics moving out of the way. Switched off at the consumer unit and removed the crappy wall lights which have been skipped because they were awful. Wiring was all terminated in block connectors so pulled the wires up and fixed the slack back above the ceiling. I've done the same with the socket sort of, left the socket attached and pulled that up too. With those out of the way I finished cutting the plasterboard, grabbed a crowbar and did this.





I'm a little wary about removing that many vertical joists even from a stud wall. The only bit of timber that will span the gap is supporting the joists and fixed to the floor  
Working in towards the centre I took four out, two each side, which made no perceptible difference whatsoever, nothing seemed loose so took one more out. This time the saw started to stick a little on the last 1/8th". It came out without too much bother though. Put it back in place with a small ally wedge under it to take any tension and went for the last one which again came out without even binding the saw. Left to its own devices the last wedged support was no tighter than before, still no weight resting on it so pulled that out too... not a twitch from the roof, all stayed in place. That was a releif.

The joist going across the bottom was freed off and removed, denailed and then screwed up to the stubs I left between the two bits of plasterboard.
Now it looks like this.





That'll do for now I will fit some diagonal supports at the sides, just in the corners. That'll have to wait until I decide how to make a door for it. 

All that and home before dark.

Can you see how the ceiling joists are supportive did you look in from the top? I wouldn't be putting anything on top unless there's a beam spanning that gap inside the plaster...

You could fix a bracing plate along the length of it if needed.

Thursday 20th June - Days pass so fast when you have to move loads of stuff by a deadline and have nowhere to store it

Tonights mission, to move the partly filled skip, move Project X, but first to lob some more shelves up and fill some boxes.

Collecting all the bits brought up from Brum on my last trip into boxes was fun, found a few bits that may come in useful later when I'm doing the NCF. 
With all that stuff that was lying around on the office floor moved into labelled boxes I then had space to start moving stuff. There is still a massive pile of gear next door in the temporary unit, somehow it all has to go in the unit or the skip. I don't want to block myself in and have no room to work so something will have to give.
Stuff needs to be moved...

I've reclaimed a few of the shelves and filled them. I need to take the rest down and put them out of the way. 

Rolled Project X outside to move the skip. As I'd half filled it I lifted one side with the engine crane and put a little trolley under it, they're not supposed to hold that amount of weight but apparently they do if applied gently. Moved the engine crane to the other side and managed to manhandle it across the floor, this time it's sat on the 3x2's I took out of the wall.
Wiggled the Phaeton around and reversed it back in, rolling it back into the 'office'.
Somehow the space looks SO much smaller with a car in it, Its not like the phaeton is large or anything. It only fits part way in until I move the wishdasher and that shelving... It just looks massive.







I'm sure I'll manage to squeeze all the stuff I want to keep into the space, in the mean time I guess it might just get put on pallets in the workshop. 

The dust levels are decreasing too, possibly down to sweeping up everytime I go in there.

I had enough space in the old unit but it won't fit in this one. Roof is a lot lower, square area seems smaller. there will always be that one leg in the way in the middle of the room.

I really wanted to get the floor done before I had to move everything into the space but in keeping with tradition, I have to comply with the letting agent / Landlord's decision and move in a rush.

Neglected to do this for a bit as I've been tied up doing other stuff.

I was going to do a massive update but...
From the beginning of this thread I have been using Tinypic to host the photo's. Well it turns out that actually belongs to photophuket and as from the 29th of August access from 3rd party websites (such as retrorides:( ) will be stopped, what a surprise.

Now I have to open a second Flickr account, move loads of images from one site to another, re-do all the links Grrrrr.

Massive update will have to wait until I sort a new photohost.

That was fun, still got to move the old ones from tinypic but I now have room on Flickr for a few so here goes.
This may start a little randomly but I will edit stuff in tomorrow.

First off, meet my new assistant. Bit nervous, won't come withing 20 ft of me but is happy to grab the odd treat off the floor outside.
Despite being a cat person I don't really want to encourage the local moggies inside in case they stay in when I lock up, there are an awful lot of boxes lying around and anyone with a cat knows what happens if you leave a cat and a box alone in the same room



This is the best shot I have of my primary assistant and currently chief critic. I've take to calling him Shadow (think it's a him... not going to worry about checking) I've had to still frame a video to get one as every time I get the phone out he comes and butts it with his head. He is quite happy to be close when I'm banging and grinding so either completely deaf or doesn't give a fig. I'll go with the latter as he answers when I talk to him. ( I work alone... see what happens ) 



Shadow turns up pretty much every time I go round now, especially when I'm in the Transit. This is going to get awkward as I don't want to shoo him out or scare him off. At some point he will need medical attention as he looks like he's been on the rough end of a beating, There's not enough trust yet to capture him but it will come. A proper yard cat, I'll have to train him to look the other way when i'm welding. He follows me round, meows away like a nutter until I get the treats out then I can entice him outside, leave a few treats and shut the door.

Project 1 update - well on it's way to being restored, suspension, engine, gearbox and part of the body refitted. I'll edit in pictures when they arrive.

Project 2 update -  the dinghy. went away and on it's second or third trip had an argument with the trailer tie down loop. This involved more fibreglass and an angry grinder, followed by welding the loop back on in a different location. Adding two sets of twin rollers to assist with loading. Thats been tested and all seems fine so hopefully thats finished now.

Project 3 update - the paint suppliers gave us some sort of scratch resistant 'memory' clear coat. Sadly it would appear that sanding it down then mopping out means it will forever return to a flat state. I don't understand how but thats what's happening, looks like i'll be doing the job again but with a different clear coat. 

Project X - The Dutton Phaeton.
Last time we left it like this with 2 inches of rubber poking outside the front arches and nearly 3 inches at the back. I've not done the back yet as i'm having a set of extentions laminated up using the original moulds. The front however has undergone a slight alteration.





Theres more temporary bracing on there than a buck tooth teenager. Wheel radius and arch radius matched, lowered by 30-50mm and widened by 100 mm in total. I'll go into more detail as I put it back together. I've not quite finished chopping bits off yet. The bonnet is series 4 Dutton Phaeton, the replacement body skin is Eagle P21. Now essentially they are the same on the surface however where the bonnet rests on the body skin it's all wrong. The bonnet needs bracing into shape then altering to fit the body skin. Once the back is matched it'll improve. 

I'll write more tomorrow, been a long day and it's 1.30 am or near enough.

The bonnet section became very flexible when I sliced the wings off it. I decided it needed some structure so I've got 2 22mm alloy tubes curved into the edges of the long part. They're just clamped in at the moment but will be glassed in along with a couple of cross braces. If I'm feeling really brave I'll break out the ally mig and weld the frame up once its got all the bits cut in.



Here you can see just how far it's been stretched. 



I'm hoping to retain all of the elements on the front that define it as a Phaeton. The air intake area will be larger and the indicators will be replaced with LED DRL's. I'm hoping to use the LED headlights with the built in angel eyes that turn amber when the indicator is engaged but we'll see.
The section to the rear of the wing will be ducted into the engine bay to evacuate some of the hot air from the radiator.

If you're not into compressors skip this bit.

This is the plate on the tank of the 'new' compressor.



It has a date stamp of 31st June 1968 which makes is 5 and a bit years younger than me or 51 years old depending on how you look at it.
It weighs a lot. I haven't tried moving the pallet yet but it's gonna be some lump to manoeuvre.

I've been told it switches off before 200psi which is scrawled on the side as the safe working pressure. I'll see when I fire it up I guess.



No pressure there then



So apparently it's an Ingersoll Rand type 30 and the motor is...



The motor must weigh a bit, it's got its own lifting eye.



The actual compressor engine is massive and has two odd sized cylinders.



But you only get a proper idea of scale when it's sat next to a 24l 2hp modern compressor.



I think that'll do to whizz round a few airtools