Thread: Roadster pickup getting closer

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Originally Posted by brianrupnow

....... along with their Sea King helicopters that won't fly!!!

So thats why one "fell" out of the sky during an air show a few miles from me 5-6 years ago?? They had to take it back to North of the Border on a couple of semi's. I've seen it on about half of the "disaster" TV shows ever since - and yep, I was there.

Brian and Dave Wikipedia has a great section devoted to what you guys are refering too. I was in Canada around the time of a Sea King crash. The people we were staying with were furious with the government.
Here is a Wikipedia exerpt..."Following a change of government in October 1993, the incoming Liberal Party ordered the Canadian Forces to immediately cancel the entire order, forcing the payment of cancellation fees of $500 million (CAD). By not purchasing the helicopters and slashing the DND budget, the government hoped to trim the deficit and become more fiscally responsible. But by canceling the New Shipboard Aircraft Project outright, the new Liberal government left itself with very little room to maneuver, as during the 1990s the Sea Kings' air frames, engines and avionics systems slowly but steadily became dated and obsolete as the Sea King entered its 30th year of service. The Sea Kings still needed replacing, but no alternative or contingency plan was offered. Some have noted that the decision to simply cancel the NSA contract in the end did not turn out to be very fiscally responsible of the government at the time.[14] Chrétien one time famously retorted during a debate that the President of the United States still flew in a Sea King, so that helicopter was still good for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Consequently, events unfolded to force the government's hand on the matter. By the mid 1990s each Sea King requires over 30 man-hours of maintenance for every hour of flying time, a figure described by the Canadian Naval Officers Association as 'grossly disproportionate'.[15] Furthermore, the helicopters are unavailable for operations 40% of the time and due to the fact that the airframes are 10-15 years older than other Sea Kings flying in allied air forces, AIRCOM is frequently forced to have spare parts custom-made as Sikorsky's supplies are either overly expensive or no longer in production. AIRCOM's Sea Kings are now widely perceived as unreliable, outdated and expensive to maintain, by observers both inside and outside the Canadian Forces. On February 27, 2003, when HMCS Iroquois was deploying to Afghanistan, a Sea King crashed within moments of takeoff, and the picture of the helicopter lying on its side on the destroyer's landing pad was embarrassing.[16]. Late that year, the entire fleet was grounded (except for essential operations) for several weeks after two aircraft coincidentally lost power within a few days of each other.

When it subsequently became clear that new helicopters were still desperately needed to replace AIRCOM's CH-124 Sea King fleet, the Liberal government began a slow, tortured procurement process that critics have accused of being deliberately tailored to prevent the EH-101 from being chosen as a candidate. One problem was that the government continued to tweak the terms of the new Sea King replacement project, dubbed the Maritime Helicopter Project. The project was divided into two sections, with distinct airframe and integrated mission systems components. The two-parts decision was attacked from all sides; opponents insisted that separating the major MHP components would only serve to drive up total costs.[17] Public Works insistence on “lowest-cost compliant” bids did not help the situation any further.[18]"......

Don sorry for the highjack!
I'm also excited to hear you'll be starting up again, and even on my limited small scale project understand totally what you mean! I was burnt with body work, and spent in the finance dept for parts, so I took a break while my savings is rebuilding! I have a deal with my wife that works well, no spending on the hot rod unless there is cash in the savings acct for it. So it is a slow process right now, as I have some big dollar things coming up, starting with remounting the engine( having a pro do this for welding skills reasons) and then welding in new lower shock mounts to the 9' transaxle. Then comes the big bucks for headers, brackets and pulleys, gauges and dash components....you know the scoop!
So longwinded response .....very happy to see you guys jump in again!

Hoorayyyy Don (and Dan). Glad to hear it. Perley

Hey, what's the latest? Any progress on Dan's RPU? How about the Dodge pickup? At the last update you were going to begin preparations for painting the frames...

Well, big progress tonight...........we loaded the frame onto the trailer for the trip to the powder coater. Plan is, they will blast it and coat it with phosphoric acid or something, then we take it home and use the Tiger Drylac EPO Strong on it (I ordered two kits this week) and we will do the filling and leveling. Then the frame goes back to them for coating.

This was the first time the frame has been outside the shop in the year we have been building it. Getting pretty excited.

Thanks for asking.


Don

Hooray! Progress... Keep us posted.

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

Hooray! Progress... Keep us posted.

Well Jim, today we took Dan's rod for a little spin............Ok, I'm lying, we took the FRAME for a little spin. We hauled it to the powder coater this morning and Dan spent some time with them explaining what he would like done. I had to run to work, but he called me later and said it should be sandblasted by tomorrow PM for pickup. That will work out pretty well because I tracked the Drylac stuff and it is due for delivery tomorrow too. If all that happens we can spend this weekend grinding and filling the frame and just maybe have it ready sometime next week to go back for the color coats.

Seemed funny following it down the road this morning, it has never seen daylight. Dan wanted me behind him because he was afraid someone would rearend him in rush hour traffic. I pity the car that hits that frame, it is one heavy Momma.

Don

Whohoo! This is inspirational! I'm as excited for Dan as for the rest of us. It will be great to see the frame when done, and see Dan driving along side you guys in his rod. I too am working on painting the frame riht now but just with por 15. Unfortunately the wet weather is here making it hard to do! Keep posting.

Lookin' good Don.---Brian

Yahoo Dan! Don't cut this frame up after it is done (inside joke)

I hid the sawzall.


Picked up the frame today on my lunch hour. It is all sandblasted and ready for us to do some grinding and maybe filling this weekend. The Tiger Drylac stuff came in today also, so we should be ready to rock and roll. Problem is, the entire can is in German . Guess I need to go to their website and see if they have directions in English.

The powder coater would like it back by Thursday of next week so that it doesn't start rusting on us.


Don

Don,

This may help in the translation...

http://www.google.com/webmasters/igoogle/translate.html

Have fun...

OK... What is Tiger Drylac? Is that some kind of filler that is heat resistant so it can withstand the baking process of powder coating?

Thanks for the German/ American translator. May have to use it.

Yep Jim, the full name is Tiger Drylac EPO Strong, and that is exactly what it is, a heat resistant "bondo." Another member, Streetwerkz, is in the powder coating business and suggested it as being superior to other brands we had heard about, like Lab metal, or All metal. I spoke to the factory rep and he confirmed that it was designed for this application and withstands something like 240 degrees of heat.

We are going to use it just as we would have done with regular filler, skim coat pretty much the entire frame and DA it down smooth. Probably ending up with 150 grit. Then it goes back to the coater for a primer coat and a couple of coats of gloss black. The Drylac is two part, but for some reason you have to wait 24 hours to sand it, so if we apply it today we should be able to start sanding tomorrow. It is warming up this weekend, so that should help.

I'll post some pictures as we go.

Don