One Man, One Wrench - My New Chassis

[Apis Mellifera]

Truth be told, I have more than one wrench, but I am re-framing my truck all by myself. Honestly, I haven't worked out how I'm going to get through a few stages, but I'll figure it out when I get there.

Here's my Richard's fresh off the boat from England by way of New York and WV:


Notice the two cops talking in the background. The shoddy wiring meant no brakes or indicators could be used as we left the freight yard. They didn't follow.



Day One: Today I was able to work for two hours. I got the rear axle installed and gas tank removed from old chassis:

[stonefox]

Good luck Apis. No worries If I could do it anybody could

[mrdoiron]

Good luck Apis. No worries If I could do it anybody could

Agreed - look forward to watching the progress - not doubt it'll be impressive.

Best of luck Matt,
mike

[Momo]

Yeah, this will be a fun thread to follow... And Apis, nice MGA!

[LaneRover]

Good luck and have fun!!

[Apis Mellifera]

Day Two: Spent three hours this evening. Removed front wings, breakfast, radiator, and front axle. I now have a rolling chassis. Here's a bit of trivia: hitting the heel of your hand full power with a rubber mallet produces a dull lasting ache.

[RoverDover]

Real men do it in the driveway!
Garages are for wimps.

[73series88]

someday my frame and mga coupe will look like that.
aaron

[jac04]

I love a good frame swap!

[NickDawson]

wow, Apis you make it look easy!

[LaneRover]

someday my frame and mga coupe will look like that.
aaron

Someday my driveway will look like that . . .

[Apis Mellifera]

Day three: Two and a half hours spent removing floors, gearbox tunnel, seats, seat box, and hitch. Bulkhead and body unbolted/cut and ready to lift off.



What the rear of the chassis should look like:


What the (homemade) rear of my old chassis looks like:


I knocked off early this evening to watch some trains go by.


By far the most time consuming task thus far has been the removal of the hitch. I've intentionally not shown the poor condition of the old chassis. I'm saving that until it's stripped, but I will say that the rear is obviously not original. The center section is a length of 3/8" steel channel. A PO welded the hitch to this channel and it took me two attempts and several cutoff wheels to get it off. The bulkhead also put up a fight. The long bolts on the bottom were rusted in place. While cutting off the driver side, I got fragged by a disintegrating cutoff wheel. In the end, nothing but gravity is keeping the body on now.

[mrdoiron]

.....
I knocked off early this evening to watch some trains go by.


....

Gotta make time to watch the trains in life, it's not a rehearsal. Good stuff...

[stomper]

Boy, I wish I had a toy box like that! very nice

[LaneRover]

Boy, I wish I had a toy box like that! very nice

My thoughts exactly!!