There is a definite correlation between chicken grease and ease of bending. The eating was caveman style so there was plenty of grease transfer to the frame and tools.
Everything is now stripped of the tub, nothing but fiberglass remaking.
My plan is to repair the two sides and the floor first in order to get some rigidity back in the tub. Once that is complete I’ll work on the entire nose. The nose will be a significant project all by its self.
The tub is scary and ugly at this point but I keep telling myself that “God hates a coward”. Tomorrow is the beginning of the end, fiberglass repair.
Started the grinding, beveling, realigning and fiberglass work today. Used welding panel clamps to keep the pieces aligned while the fiberglass is drying. All of the cracks were stop drilled to eliminate the possibility of further cracking. The work today was fairly easy but quite messy, as expected.
Should be working on the inside of those repairs tomorrow. Working in small areas, with small batches of resin as a learning the process continues.
That is some major progress! 👍
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
So I’ve discovered that fiberglass work is much like baking. Exact measurements of ingredients and temperature are critical. Drying time has been slow due to temperature being lower than optimal. A propane space heater is now supplementing the wood stove. Today the inside of the cracks were coated in the initial repair area.
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The tub repair is now 20-25% complete. The bike side of the tub is once again in tact and rigid.
- Next week will be dedicated to the floor and right side of the tub.
- the following two weeks will be for front underside and nose. Wish I had a tub I could use to make a mold but will be making a styrofoam plug to fill in the void in the nose.
- after that will untold hours on the cosmetics/body work getting ready for paint.
The Forum has been extremely helpful in all phases of the project, especially the fiberglass repair. Get ready for boat loads of questions when it comes to mounting and set up!
Looking good! 👍 Slow tedious process, but at least you can see the progress as it goes along. 😎
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
What we did today in sidecar school.
in order to get the door lined up before fixing the fractures in the floor we used several tools around the shop and some that were made.
1. screwed the floor of the tub to the work platform
2. very gently used a port a power to move the right side of the tub forward and then released to get pieces to line up.
3. once that was done and upper door gaps checked, welded bolts on a bar and drilled holes in the tub. The bar was inserted to hold the tub in place across the upper door area.
4. drilled holes in the tub and bolted a turn buckle across the bottom to pull the tub in place and adjust the lower door area.
Remember the tub was almost broken in half and we are completely rebuilding the front half of the tub. A lot of time is being spent figuring out how to move, line up and reconnect pieces.
One thing for sure is the advice from from boat repair shops to buy a new tub would have save money if I wasn’t doing it myself with the help of a friend who is an experienced body man. He is a young 85, has all kinds of ideas and unique solutions to the problems.
Phil asked me today if I thought I could’ve rebuilt the tub without his help. I confidently told him that I could’ve rebuilt the tub but it would’ve taken me 4 years. I’m having fun a learning so much.
today we will be repairing the front floor area and the fracture that terminates at the bottom front of the door post.
Seems like you might have had a career as an orthopedic surgeon as well with the things you're doing to resurrect the tub!
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
@chloespop Dave, your patience and willingness to do new things is admirable. Congrats on some fine work!
Quick question: since you are repairing substantial structural damage to the glass, have you thought about laminaying some internal, not visible strips of aluminum lengthwise down the sides and floor to add a bit of strength across the cracks?
Maybe 1" wide (or wider) and 1/8" thick?
I'm probably just paranoid about loss of strength, that's me. 🤣
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I had not considered reinforcing with the aluminum strips as you mentioned. I think your suggestion would definitely help me in the floor where the side car mounts to the frame and the area around the floor vent.
Today we pushed much of the nose back into place, ground away loose material and screwed pieces to wood put on the inside of the tub. We worked on the floor grinding away damaged fiberglass and applying new fiberglass glass.
