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Patrick Tipton

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Everything posted by Patrick Tipton

  1. Patrick Tipton
    @OZM29C Thank you because I didn't know 😂. I need all the help I can get!
  2. Patrick Tipton
    More progress on the hull. I am almost finished with the bulkhead repairs and the right side passenger area overall. I am happy with the results. One little challenge I have is that this hull was sandblasted before I got it but had flash rusted. I would prefer not to sandblast the hull again, but want to get the surface well prepped. My G503/MB had been similarly sandblasted, stored and flash rusted and I used Evaporust on several areas of the tub with good results. I can't logistically dip the entire T24 hull, although that would be fantastic. The challenge with Evaporust is that a part needs to stay submerged for several hours in order for the product to be effective. I read somewhere about using a shop towel to keep a flat panel wet/covered and then using a spray bottle to keep the Evaporust/panel wet. It works great - not fast - but I am going to try and get in the rhythm of working on a small section every time I hit the shop. I still may get bored with the process and have parts of the hull media blasted before I paint it, but we shall see. I bought two gallons for $60 so it is certainly a cost effective way to go. I reuse the shop towels by placing them in a sealed container at the end of my session. They will last for a bit. The center hull panel in the first picture was covered for about 2 hours and you can see it is pretty clean. I posted a video yesterday on Youtube (Episode 53) that also shows the process and results on the very rear corner of the hull - looks pretty good. The next project is the battery tray - mine was gone. The T-24 battery tray was made out of 1 inch angle iron. The challenge is that Studebaker put a couple of roughly 1 inch "S" bends in the angle iron to ensure that the batteries sit level. I have not ever even tried to bend angle iron, but it turns out to bend pretty easily with a hydraulic press. I need to modify my tooling a bit to get the bend a little deeper but this will end up working just fine. I will post better pictures in a couple of days. This is my first attempt.
  3. Patrick Tipton
    I can probably get a kit or two over to you in a bigger shipment of books if you have some flexibility in timing. The books go to Doncaster in South Yorkshire....close to you? Regards, PBT
  4. Patrick Tipton
    I am excited about my T-24 but seeing all these T-15's is very cool! Enjoying the progress! Patrick
  5. Patrick Tipton
    Very exciting John. You are making great progress here! Thank you for taking the time to document the restoration and share it with the world. Your work is inspirational! Patrick
  6. Patrick Tipton
    Moving forward. The bulkhead restoration is coming along. I have some more welding and grinding, then concentrating on the engine compartment hat channels and details.
  7. Patrick Tipton
    I will take a look tomorrow and see what else I have specifically for the T15 - definitely have TM 11-2733....
  8. Patrick Tipton
    Finished installing the hat channels. I have one more footman loop to install but this rear right side of the hull is getting close! ....and I could not stand the ugly weld so I ground it down and redid it! @James Di Giovanni or anyone else know what the tab is that is sticking up from the tunnel hat channel on the left side of the picture. There is a mirror tab on the other side....
  9. Patrick Tipton
    Lots of progress on the seat hat channels. It took me a lot of extra time to remove the original footman loops and seat belt straps, the seat mount "band" and get everything lined up correctly, but I think the extra effort is worth it. I still need to weld the seat mount bracket/band and weld the final hat channel, but progress is progress! I welded the vertical hat channel but the backside rust really made the process difficult. The weld is some kinda ugly! 😂. I am going to grind a little and make it a little prettier. The original welds are not so pretty but Studebaker had production deadlines and a war to deal with it.....I think I need to make this one look a little better!
  10. Patrick Tipton
    Nice machine and welcome aboard!
  11. Patrick Tipton
    Welcome. I just logged in using IOS. At the bottom of the comment screen is a paper clip that says click to choose files. You click that link, select a picture from your iPhone and then click upload. Once the picture has uploaded to the site, you then click the + on the picture to add it to your comment. The picture will be inserted wherever your cursor is in your post. Hope that helps. .
  12. Patrick Tipton
    Thanks @OZM29C I test fit them a little but am going to install floor pan and make sure everything lines up nicely....
  13. Patrick Tipton
    I have seen this movie 😂. It really is not too bad at the end - you just have to jump in. Restoring the hull is a wonderful project! You are doing great work - carry on! Patrick
  14. Patrick Tipton
    Excellent John - these look great!
  15. Patrick Tipton
    I wanted to install the front gusset section before installing the seat hat channels. The seat hat channels are laying in the floor pretty well, but I will need to push the floor a bit to get the seams tight. I don't want that distortion to cause problems up front and I think the gusset should stop that. The piece fit in pretty easily. There is a little work to do making the jog and getting that angle cut - it is a lot like cutting molding. I used a compass and scribed a line. It came out just fine. I also bent up several additional front hat channels - one for this T-24l as well as for a couple of folks who expressed an interest. Send me a PM if you need one.
  16. Patrick Tipton
    Nice work Frank! I am behind you in my process so no light to shed on colors.
  17. Patrick Tipton
    I finished most of the seat hat channel fabrication. I was able to save the original hardware. I attached the footman loop and seat belt mounts by drilling holes in the hat channel and TIG welding everything in place from the inside. It looks original to my eyes. I just need to finish cleaning up the seat tab slot and add the cross band/stop and these hat channels will be ready for installation. I still need to fool around with the joggles and a few other repairs to get the hat channels to lay down right, but it is coming along. Thanks again @M29C3284 for the joggle making tip - worked out fantastically!
  18. Patrick Tipton
    Appreciate it John. I need to dig through some pictures of a very original T-24 that a friend owns.....more to follow.
  19. Patrick Tipton
    Thank you John. I don't think the T-24 has the drain holes on the sponson gusset. I will get pictures from the unmolested left side later....but there are similar drain holes in the lower hull gusset on the T-24. More details!
  20. Patrick Tipton
    I added the first gusset to the right side of the hull. I spent a few more hours flattening and fussing, but the extra work was worth it. I ended up using my MIG to do the spot welds because I wanted to protect the unpainted metal and "weldable" primer and TIG are no compatible in my shop. I punched holes in the gusset using my jogging tool, fired the MIG up on the hot side and then had my helper to ensure that the seams were very tight. I have simulated spot welds before using the MIG and I think the "secret" to getting good strong welds is starting the weld in the center of the hole and focussing on getting a puddle going on the underlying panel. Running a little higher amperage and a little slower wire speed helps to ensure that you get good penetration. Anyway, it all worked out just fine. Seat hat channels and finish welding/grinding are next.
  21. Patrick Tipton
    Looking beautiful John. I am not looking forward to finding a voltmeter for my T-24.....
  22. Patrick Tipton
    Great - ty! Less work than what I am doing.
  23. Patrick Tipton
    More fettling and fitting. Getting very close to installing the gussets and hat channels. One of the "problems" that has to be solved when doing this work is making the "jogs" - ie relief to allow the hat channels/gussets to overlap other structural members and lay flat. At the suggestion of @Rob W, I picked up a "jogging" tool from TP Tools. Several folks sell them including Harbor Freight. They work great but the jog is not deep enough for the Weasel hat channels to fit correctly.. My solution is to make a jog, cut it along the bend, bend the relieved portion of metal out of the way, add a jog, bend the moved metal back into position and then weld the seam. That is a mouthful. It works just fine. Hard to see in the pictures, but the gusset lays down pretty nicely now. There is still a little work to do, but I am getting close. I am also going to do a little more work on the square patch seam. It will all be hidden by seats and insulating panels, but I might as well repair it as well as I can....
  24. Patrick Tipton
    Welcome Fred!
  25. Patrick Tipton
    Looks great. Should clean up nicely.
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