On Monday I finished fixing and dressing the aluminium panels to the emergency door frame, then abraded them and primed them. Next I started stripping the vertical weather strip that fits around the hinges. This was pretty rusty on the back but a wire brush wheel in the big angle grinder made short work of it. I then primed the front face and gave a second coat to the cab door weather deflector. Whilst waiting for these to dry, I removed the cab door inner panel and, after inspection, decided to cut a new one, predrilling all the holes by using the old panel as a template, screwd to the new one as I progressed with the drilling. Hopefully everything will line up square! Before starting work on Tuesday, I collected the template for the emergency door glass from Paxton’s and took it to Dunmow glass who quoted me £70 less for it! Gave the weather deflector strips another coat of primer, then an undercoat in colour. A coat of top coat on the inside face and these can be fitted. Whilst waiting for them to dry I dismantled the slam lock for the cab door. This was choked with rust and the springs had rusted solid, so I cleaned it out and replaced the springs with a single new one from stock. A small shim for the handle cam fixed a bit of roughness in operation, then it was thoroughly greased with copper grease and reassembled and painted. Whilst waiting for the paint to dry on the slam lock, I investigated why the cab door was sticking and cured it by sanding off the bottom of the frame and reshaping the lower rubber guide. It now fits as well as it is going to!
1/9/24
A late start this week due to other commitments.
25/8/24
First job this week was final painting of the emergency door window frame, this is now complete and awaiting glass. Next job was to cut the steel strip for the leading edge of the door; I had to weld a short piece on to the material I had in stock to save buying more steel but this was no problem. Next, I painted the emergency door wooden frame with primer. Whilst that dried I trimmed and drilled the steel edge strip, using the rusty original as a template. I then used the new strip to drill the holes in the emergency door frame then painted the frame side and fitted the strip to the frame. Next I cut the aluminium panel to size for the lower emergency door cladding, including the edge folds. This has to be wrapped around the steel strip edge, a bit tricky. A trial fit of the panel enabled me to mark out the cut-out for the emergency door handle and bezel. I then primed and painted the steel edge strip. When that was dry, I started to fit the external cladding, with a layer of waxoyl between the steel and the aluminium. I had pinned the top and bottom edges by the end of play. The glass for the last offside window was finally ready so we were able to collect it from Dunmow glass, an experience that leads me to think we will not buy glass there again. I finished most of the aluminium work on the emergency door by the end of Saturday, the penultimate piece is cut and folded but not yet attached. That will be the first job for next week.