Another one in the books.

This is the LAST time.  I mean it.  5 years ago we towed our ’48 Manor to Milford behind the (then new) ’51 Pontiac wagon, which had previously only been to the muffler shop, and brake shop to repair the seized up right front brake caliper.

On Thursday, we hitched the ’46 Spartan to the Diamond T, and once again headed out into the great wide open.   True, we’d towed the little “Tini-Home” canned ham trailer to Pinckney a week ago, but that hardly counted.  The truck had less than 300 miles on it, had spent the previous three weeks in body rehab and the shop (once again, my friend Ron Penny’s shop, who always seems to be able to bail me out) to make it actually run, before we hitched a 25 foot long travel trailer to it and  hit the road.

No more last-minute, down to the wire thrashing.

It performed flawlessly.  Effortlessly towing the trailer at traffic speed, and delivering, as near as I can figure, almost 16 mpg with the trailer on the hitch.

Confident of my inability fix anything that might possibly to wrong, I packed only a spare tire and lug wrench, figuring anything that happened I couldn’t fix with those things would need a roll-back, we headed out on Thursday afternoon, cell phone in my pocket and credit card in my wallet.

Which I left home in my work pants back pocket…

My eye was glued to the temp gauge, and ear to non-existent noises that would bring us to a grinding, screeching, halt, but none of the above happened.  The truck performed exactly as it should, keeping up with traffic, immune to cross-winds, bow-wake from passing semi tractor trailers, garnering “thumbs-up” from passing cars and delivering us to Milford without a single hiccup.

The truck was a big  hit at the TCT gathering, and at the Bakers Restaurant “Cruise-In” on Sunday.  Several people asked me if it had been “…some sort of fire truck…”, and more than one person asked “What did people do with them?”

Really?  What do people do with pick-up trucks nowadays?

I’m still basking the afterglow, ears ringing a little from the (glorious) exhaust note, but had to share a little of the weekend.

Enjoy!

I needed another project…

It may be big, but it sure is ugly!  Actually, I kinda, OK, I REALLY like the ’62 Del-Ray we bought from fellow TCT member Brandon.  He was kind enough to deliver it for fuel money this morning, and I was happily surprised to see the camper looks better in person than the pictures he had of it.

While it’s not the “Sky-Lounger” model, it’s still pretty tall, as the picture shows.  The front overhang has the cool panoramic windows, similar to our Spartans, which is what I like about it.  And, it’s pretty “Over the Top” in a funky, early ’60′s way.

It’s what Don Draper would go camping in, if Don Draper camped,  and there were an ample supply of Crown Royal.

We tucked in my Dad’s shop, setting on 55 gallon drums and the three jacks, until I can make some jack extensions that’ll allow me to get the GMC dually under it, then, we’re going camping somewhere!  The interior is all birch in very nice shape, the original dinette cushions are intact and useable, although the mattress in the bunk needs replaced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news, the Diamond T is all gassed up, bikes in the back, and ready to roll to Milford, Spartan in tow.  I polished some of the paint on the truck yesterday where I’d hung a curtain in the clear, and the back of the cab where the clear was orange peel-y.  It looks better.

The bikes fit the mounts very well, and the spare tire (fits truck and trailer) lays on the bed floor under them.  Plenty of room.

I filled the cab’s hide-em strip at the roof with some taupe vinyl which matches the interior this morning.  I had gotten used to seeing the open seam, with screw heads showing, and sort looked past it, but it looks MUCH better now.  I can’t think of anything else I have time to do except pack my bag, and we’re off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be ready for a G & T when we get to Milford, the official TCT beverage!

 

Brian

How to polish your vintage aluminum trailer.

Step 1.  Open your checkbook and hire someone else to do it for you.  Since I don’t have an extra $4,000 lying around, and I find myself with an extra couple of days worth of time, I’m once again tackling it myself.

It’s actually not bad, since it’s been polished three times prior to this.  It’s been two years on the last polish, and while it looks pretty good, it does look better with a quick polish.  You can see where I quit (from exhaustion) just aft of the rear wheel, where the swirl marks end.

Since 10:30 this morning I’ve done the entire street side, front below the windows, and the curb side to here.  Have yet to do the back panels and the front cap.  I’m not touching anything above the drip rail or below the side rub rail.

Tomorrow I’ll finish up the side and back-end, then I have to rub those areas down with a towel sprinkled with flour, the best thing I’ve found to get the polish residue off, and then hand polish with Nuvite “Nu-Shine” final glaze.  Those two steps get rid of 90% of the swirl marks, and I can live with that.  It doesn’t have to perfect to be fun.

“Shouldn’t” you be working on the truck, now that it’s all fixed?”, you ask?

The answer to that is that I’ve exhausted my limited diagnostic skills, even with the new scan tool I bought.  I’ve replaced the MAF sensor, the plug wires, the fuel pump, the 02 sensors, cleaned the plugs, replaced 4 of them, and it still runs ragged, fussed, fuddled and worried myself sick, with no real improvement.  I give up.

This morning I drove it in to Kalamazoo to my friend Ron Penny’s shop, “Woodward’s Garage”, and left it there for them to fix whatever boneheaded thing I’ve overlooked or screwed up.  Actually, it didn’t run too badly, but following me Kim said it was occasionally puffing black smoke from the right hand side, and it was missing.  Which explains why I can actually watch the needle on the gas gauge going down…

So, it’s been left overnight in Intensive Care, while the trailer goes into rehab here in the driveway.  The Big Brown Truck delivered a shiny new bumper and the hood corner rubbers today, so when Ron is finished making it run, I can put that stuff back on.

Time for a beer.

Lazy days work.

I feel lazy.  I slept in, sat around drinking coffee, talked to a friend on the phone, and then wasted about an hour on Facebook.  By that time, it was almost 10:30.  Where does the time go?

In an effort to not totally blow the day off, I went back to the ’47 Spartan, ripped out the smelly old carpet, cleaned all the junk out and swept it out.   All the trash and carpet went on the burn-pile, and the junk went into the Herby Curby.  It looks much better, I even hung the skirts on it.  One of the roof vents had blown off, so I set it back in place, and weighted all three down with some cement patio blocks. 

There, all set for winter, while we decide what to do with it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a little lunch and rest, it was out to the shop to lay out the running board trim on the Diamond T.  Drilled and tapped all the holes in the trim, and drilled all the mounting holes in the running boards to attach them.  I got the trim for the right side sanded and polished, which is a time-consuming and dirty job, but the end result looks pretty good.  I still have the three for the left side to do, and all the hood trim, but I got a good start at it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, that’s not a bad job for a lazy day.  Now, off to the shower to get the black stuff of my face and hands so we can go to dinner!

When the cat’s away…

…the mice work all day in the garage without guilt (not that I usually feel guilty about that!)  While Kim is off camping without me, I spent today working on the Diamond T for the first time in almost 8 months!

I drove the ’36 into Auto-Zone and picked  a pair of tie-rod ends, shocks, and a steering idler.  It’s getting hard to remember what the various components came from, I’m going to have to make up a little owners manual.  The counter-girl was a little confused when we kept jumping from a ’93 G20 Chevy van to a C2500 pickup to get the pieces, but I remembered correctly and everything was correct. 

For those of you keeping track, the front crossmember and control arms are ’93 G20 3/4 ton van, the ball joints, spindles and brakes are from the same vintage 3/4 ton Chevy pickup.  You’d think that they’d share the same parts, but NOOOO.  The van has 5 lug rotors (which look the same as 1/2 ton pickup and full-size car), smaller ball joints, but much heavier tie rod ends.  Out back, the rear is a Dana 70, probably from a mid 70′s Dodge, it’s narrower than a standard dually rear, so perhaps it’s a commercial chassis unit, who knows.  I’ll have to find out when I rebuild the brakes I suppose.

Anyway, the new parts went on without a hitch.  I put the flex hoses on the front, and spent a little time noodling out how to plumb the lower radiator hose, which has to take a rather convoluted route from the right side outlet, out the fender liner, down and behind the center-link and then to the left side lower outlet on the radiator.  It’d be nice to find a pre-formed hose with the proper 90 degree bends at both ends, so I’ll have to spend a little time in the auto-parts store looking at some. 

Next up, brake lines, measure up for the driveshaft, and get that pesky lower hose for the radiator.  I have the mid-ships driveshaft I took out of the GMC when I shortened it, and if I’m lucky, it’ll be a donor for the yokes, and if I’m REALLY lucky, it might even fit, or be able to be shortened to fit.  We’ll see.  I have the glass all cut, but need to order the windshield rubber and paint the inner frames before they go in.  Once all those little tasks are completed, I can drive it in to Muffler-Man for some pipes, and we’ll be ready to roll.  That is, after the paint is cut and buffed out, the interior completed and carpeted, and some other loose ends wrapped up.  I’m publicly stating right here I will not start another project untill this is done, so I have witness’!   

Here are a few pictures of todays garage scene, notice the thick layer of dirt from setting since last summer after it was painted, which makes me feel kind of bad.  I shouldn’t feel too bad, because in that time, I built the GMC dually, and the Tini-Home.   

Stay tuned to “Cool McCool’s Garage” for more progress, and to make sure I don’t forget I said I wouldn’t start anything else until this is done.  Keep a brother honest!

 

 

Tini Home, the Mad Dash to the Finish.

Here at Cool McCool’s Garage, there’s a mad rush to get the Tini-Home (sort of) finished for its debut at the TCT Spring Rally in Milford, MI.  Tempers are short, the list is long, and there may be a couple of things that don’t make it from the “To Do” list, to the “Finished!” column.

Today at least it’s not raining, which it did all day yesterday, and pretty hard at times.  One of the simple things I had to get done was to mount the storage box on the tongue, and figure out a propane tank mount.  The constant rain, and resultant soggy ground didn’t help this at all, coupled with the fact that my torch set and welder were both over at Dads shop.  I spent the larger part of the only rain free hour and half of the day getting those loaded up and brought home. 

By the time that was done, the rain had settled in to a steady drizzle, but things had to progress.  The tongue had been lengthened sometime in the trailers sketchy past, and was topped with a 5/16″, evidently hardened (because I later broke a tap off in it) piece of boiler plate.  The plan was to cut a chunk of this out, drop it to bottom of the tongue to use as a base for the propane tank.  This involved standing on wet grass to weld the thing back together.  Holding 220 volts in one hand, leaning on a piece of wet iron while standing in wet grass, in the rain, isn’t my idea of a fun time, but somebody had to do it.

Happily I didn’t get electrocuted, and moved on to cutting a 13″ hole in the shiney diamond plate cover.  Recalling my trouble reading a tape measure in making the cover, I was a little leery about the potential of ruining another $60 piece of aluminum, but this time the tape didn’t lie, and I stayed on the marks cutting the hole. 

The problem arose when I mounted the (very pretty, don’t you think?) storage box.  I’d put shims between the box and trailer body to keep it in position while I drilled holes through the box into the tongue.  The idea was to drill, then tap 4 holes, and just bolt it on.  The problem was two phased.  First, one of the shims fell out, which I didn’t notice because with the lid open, I couldn’t see it, and secondly the (insert colorful expletive here) —-ing  steel they used is so hard it ate one drill bit, and I broke a 5/16 tap.  The first problem led to the holes, laboriously drilled in the tongue to accept the mounting bolts,  being drilled in the wrong places, as the box was shoved up against the body on one side, but with the other side the correct 3/4″ away.  This was revealed when, cold, wet and finally sure something had gone right, I shut the lid, saw the problem and went to bang my head on the garage wall.

Evidently the colorful epithets made out cat, Milo, so upset he had to hide in the sink.  Kim did disappear for a while, and one tape measure, the one with the marks OBVIOUSLY laid out wrong is now somewhere out in the cornfield…

After I calmed down, moved box, made new holes in the rain, it was time to go get a battery and wire that up.  I was going to just borrow one from the Spartan, but we decided that was going to be a nuisance, and the drive to Tractor Supply was a good “cooling down” break. 

We focused on making a disaster of the interior next.  I’d cut and painted the vinyl quarter round trim for the corner where wall meets ceiling, and got the front two stapled on, no problem.   A couple of the other ones however broke when I stapled them.   So, we’ll be making new ones today. 

The wiring went trouble-free, happily, and we are really pleased with how the 12v lights look, and the illumination.  They’re halogen bulbs, very bright, and fixtures look nice too.  I put a switch on the dinette booth base just inside the door for the switch to light all the exterior lights, which really looks cool while the trailer is parked.  The door handle light is LED, and it is much more effective as a porch light than the one on the Spartan.  We may have to replace that one with one of the LED units.

We both hated the way the storage bay doors looked with the frames black, so I masked them off and re-shot them with some silver “Cast Coat” I had in the garage.  This stuff, although it’s a satin finish, matches the exterior color perfectly, and the doors now look like they belong on the trailer, not like an afterthought.

Today, the stove and fridge door get painted, the new trim has to be cut, painted and installed without breaking it, the water tank gets hooked up, and some cabinet door latches installed.  I have Tuesday off next week, and would like to NOT spend every second of it frantically working on this trailer.

We’ll see  how that works out…

The Wayzless visits the Tini-Home, it’s Extreme RV right at home!

Our friends Hardy and Terry Evans stopped by today on the maiden voyage of the “Wayzless”.  They’re having a little work done on the running gear of the trailer before the TCT meet in Milford next weekend, I was really glad they stopped by.

This trailer is the replacement for the “Wayzalot”, which was totalled in an accident last spring, along with their International truck.  Luckily, they weren’t seriously hurt, the truck and one-of-a-kind trailer were demolished.  Hardy spent the past year building a replacement, which they call the “Wayzless” because it’s 9 feet shorter.  Just as cool however! 

They’ll be featured on an upcoming episode of “Extreme RV, Hardy reports it was a little un-nerving having a film crew in the shop.  He had to alter his usual work pattern, which involves setting on a stool studying a step in the build for half a day, then cutting something wrong, then doing it over, then drinking a beer.  Hey, you’re not alone Hardy!

Looks like all the hard work and effort has paid off, it’s fantastic, featuring beautiful stained glass (some salvaged from the Wayzalot), a fused glass sink that’s a work of art, and Hardy’s trademark “knob and tube” wiring throughout.  We’re looking forward to seeing more of the trailer next weekend in Milord, and on the Travel Channel as well!

Terry reports that the new F-350 is MUCH more comfortable than the old International “city tractor” they used to tow with.  Comfortable seats, air-conditioning, room for their dogs and gear, and quieter!  Almost makes me want to go shopping for a totalled one ton diesel pickup!

Meanwhile, I got the screen door finished and hung, the pantry doors on, the side trim on, and made a tongue cover that FITS!  The A/C is in for the last time (I hope) and the rear window leak problem fixed.  The list is getting shorter, it’s a  good thing as I’m rapidly running out of time to get this thing finished (or at least finished enough to LOOK finished!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to work the next two days, then over the weekend we have to get as much checked off as we can.   Let’s see, get a battery, mount the storage box on the tongue, find a place for the spare, get the quarter round trim painted and up on the inside, hook up the water, make the sink drain, cabinet door latches, wax the floor, wash the car, pack…

Tini-Home “To Do” list gets smaller.

There are lots to do yet, but I checked off some pretty big items on the Tini-Home’s to do list today.  

The most obvious is the now shiney red (no “Rat Rod” comments please!) wheels, as opposed the crusty, spray bomb aluminum painted over dirt wheels before.  I blasted the rims, with the old tires on, yesterday, primed and painted them glossy red.  True, it’s “Krylon” spray lacquer, but they look good.  If I’d been doing them for a Hot Rod, I’d have laid a little more primer on and blocked them out to fill the pits, but hey, it’s a trailer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The under-bed storage drawer is DONE as well, aside from a couple of coats of varnish on the drawer front.  This of course took WAY longer to make than I’d planned, taking up most of the afternoon. ( Maybe I’m just fussier, not slower?)  It’s on full extension, heavy-duty drawer pulls, and really makes the space under the bed useable storage, instead of a catch-all. 

The pantry doors are also made, and likewise need a couple of coats of polyurethane varnish before they get mounted.  I have yet to make the pantry shelves, but I’ll use the remainder of the 4×8 sheet of 3/4″ Birch ply that the doors and drawer were built from for that.  I thought I’d get the screen door built today as well, but have time to get started on that.  It’s probably good to save that for a day I can devote my full attention to, not having 20 other things to get done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a little time a couple of days ago picking out interior decor items and knickknacks from out stash of stuff.  Turns out, we probably don’t need to go “antiqueing” to outfit this little trailer.  We have items from both the Spartans that we aren’t using, that will fill this small trailer right up.  Arie likes it to, and seems right at home as you can see…

The wheel bearings are cleaned and packed, they looked like new, as did the brake drums and shoes.  Must be nobody pulled this thing with the brakes hooked up from day one.  I fixed the leaky rear window, turns out the weep holes in the frame were the primary source, the split in the frames seam was also contributing.  Some butyl tape temporarily “fixed” the weep hole issue, I’ll get some black silicone caulk and fill them next week. 

I did find a problem with the A/C drain set up,  and had to pull the A/C out and rework the drain pan a little.  The biggest issue was that the little A/C unit is designed to operate with about half an inch of water in its base, which, once under way, sloshes about and runs right down onto the bed.  I reluctantly drilled a couple extra holes in the base so it won’t accumulate so much condensate water, reformed the drain pan I’d made, and put it back together after dumping a 16 oz glass of water on the drain pan.  Seems to be the ticket now. 

So, we’re not quite done, but should be able to get all the little stuff (including a couple of runs in the varnish on the wall I missed), and the glaringly white frames of the storage bay doors need a coat of black paint, but it’s completely useable right now.  Let’s go CAMPING!

Area Man Returns Home After Four Months in Garage

After being “holed-up” in his shop for nearly four months, local man Brian McCool returned to his home Friday with the 1953 “Tini-Home” trailer he’d been working on in tow.  Initially reported missing by his wife when he didn’t come home after starting the project, he was discovered in the garage nearly a month into the project, after reportedly simply losing track of time.

“My wife was pretty irritated with me,” says McCool, ” and she said if I wasn’t going to bother to even come in for supper or call, I could jolly well just stay out there untill the trailer was finished.  So, that’s what I did.”

McCool said he did smooth things over at home by occasionally calling,   remembered that this weekend was his wife’s birthday and even got her a card.

“She said I could come back home, but I’d have to sleep in the trailer.  I think the Kuerig coffee maker I got for her birthday was a hit, she let me move back in after I made her coffee with it.”, said McCool from the shade of the JC Whitney awning his wife had ordered while he was away.

Said Mrs. McCool,  “I felt sorry for him in the trailer because it snowed yesterday morning and the rear window leaked onto the bed, not because he’d remembered my birthday, which, really, he should have remembered after being married 37 years.  He’s not out of the woods yet.”

The McCool’s are planning their first outing in the little trailer in 3 weeks, when they’ll attend a Tin Can Tourist meet in Milford, Michigan.  They’ll be towing the trailer with their 1951 Pontiac wagon, and are excited to have the trailer among the featured trailers this year, “Made in Michigan”.   The trailer was made in Flint Michigan, and the woody wagon built in Ionia Michigan.

When asked if his stint in the garage was over, McCool replied “Oh no.  Now I can finish the Diamond T pickup, and get the top chopped on my ’59 T’Bird.  I’ll be REALLY busy now!”

Mrs. McCool refused to comment.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Tini Home comes home.

It’s out of the shop, hitched up and could be camped in right now, provided one overlooked some small details.  The Tini-Home has lights, blinkers, stop lights, water supply, and brakes that practically slide the new body right off the frame.    A trial run after plugging the trailer plug into the Pontiac wagon quickly revealed that this thing as BRAKES!  I’m going to have to back the adjustment WAY down on the brake controller, the trailer brakes lock the tires right up.  That’s a GOOD problem to have!  It tows very well, although it’s clearly quite a bit heavier than originally built, but doesn’t stress the car at all.  Very nice, and the long, albeit ugly, tongue makes backing it up a breeze for such a short trailer.

I managed to cram the 3/4 mattress we bought from “Mattress Mart” into place, and it fits like a glove.  Pretty comfy too, I might add.  The rest of the interior is pretty much wrapped up, just have to get the mirrors on the wardrobe door,  make a little trim for the door jamb and wax the floor.  It’s pretty cozy looking.  I really like the 12V interior lights, although I managed to touch one of the (halogen) bulbs in the front fixture and it immediately burned out when I lit them up.  Darn.  The right front maker light burned out as well, no doubt I touched that bulb too.  The sink is in, I polished up the rim, it looks like new.   

I can relax a little bit now, and will shut up and let the following pictures tell the story…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If it wasn’t supposed to get down into the 20′s the next two nights, we’d be camping out in the backyard for Kim’s Birthday.  Well, soon enough.  

that’s all for now from Cool McCool’s Garage, on the edge of the cornfield, where the women are strong, the men are handsome and all the dogs are smarter than yours.