In Progress ToM Full Resto

[Eddie Twadds]

Take one ToM, add a dose of apathy, work and other stuff that generally gets in the way and suddenly it's been sat in your garage for more than a year (or 5)

So, after stockpiling bits and bobs, decided to get really into it (after a failed start last year). Amazing what you can do in a weekend...

Tune in about once every six weeks to see more glacial progress.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Cab stripped, sanded and filling underway. Reinforced filler for the corners. @chris b for the tip.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Too late to turn back now

 

[Durzel]

Amazing how dirty these things get really. I guess it's all just coil dust and metal shavings etc?

 

[stumblor]

Cab stripped, sanded and filling underway. Reinforced filler for the corners. @chris b for the tip.

Just fibrofil and wood filler mixed? What's it like to sand?

 

[Spadge]

I’ve still got to finish one of mine (near mint restore) plus one very nice working to finish up.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Just fibrofil and wood filler mixed? What's it like to sand?

The glass fibre filler sands really smooth but it's a bit of a pain to apply because of the fibres. I don't mix the two types of filler. Wood filler for holes and dinks in the wood. Reinforced filler for corners.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Slow progress. PF almost stripped. New rotisserie under test. Knocked together with Unistrut found in the warehouse and some M12 bolts and Zebedee bolts. Seems OK so far.

 

[James]

One day I will get a rotisserie, looking great - thanks for the updates.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Shiny bits back from zinc platers. £25 all in. I am never, ever going to hand clean these types of parts ever again when it costs so little.

 

[stumblor]

£25 is unbelievable. I doubt I'd get such great prices from my local metal finishers in London!

Did you tumble them first before sending them off?

 

[Eddie Twadds]

I did absolutely nothing to them! They throw them in a degreasing solution and cleaner first and then put them through the zinc bath. Result.

 

[stumblor]

Brilliant. What company did you use?

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Yorkshire Plating Services Ltd, Unit 16-17, Alma St, Sticker Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD4 8QE, 01274 651148

Mainly electroplating for industrial parts and polishing too.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

More snail's pace progress. Cab ready for decals, rebraiding and warning sign screening. Lots of other stuff cleaned and bagged up ready to go. Important lesson, don't do this in an unheated garage in December.

 

[Deleted member 2463]

have you got the metal ramps/wireforms??

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Shiny shiny. External metal parts gold powder coated. Base coat, gold powder and a lacquer coat. Finish is exceptional although my duff pictures don't really show off the flake and the colour. Work done by LSN Coatings in Castleford (also known as Cas Vegas if you're from these parts, which is next to Ponte Carlo...)

 

[Durzel]

Nice - that looks like a real quality job.

Would be interested to know if you can find out (and can be bothered - I won't be offended if you don't) how they powder coated those bits, as in what process they used... e.g. did they blast the parts to key them or chemically treat them? I had the same bits done for my TAF and the place that did it pretty much trashed all of them except the legs and hinges.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

I actually mentioned your warped metal bits and the guy advised that neither the coating process nor the heat should cause the warping. The process used for the mild steel was shot blast, Base coat, top coat and lacquer with oven to cure. For the side rails he said these were stainless so he used a cold cure process with similar layers as above. HTH

 

[Durzel]

Thanks. That's very useful.

 

[bethamari]

Shiny shiny. External metal parts gold powder coated. Base coat, gold powder and a lacquer coat. Finish is exceptional although my duff pictures don't really show off the flake and the colour. Work done by LSN Coatings in Castleford (also known as Cas Vegas if you're from these parts, which is next to Ponte Carlo...)

And Feverly Hills! That powder coating job looks great, how much is it normally/does it take them long to do?

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Don't forget Doncatraz . Took them a couple of days to turn around. Bit more expensive than my usual place at £150 but they were helpful, patient, had the colour I wanted and also open Saturdays which is dead handy. I reckon with shopping around you could get closer to £120.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Rebuilding starts...

 

[Eddie Twadds]

Cab rebraided.