Dutton Dementia

[peterux]

Enjoying your updates, thanks for posting them 👍

[Mick O'Malley]

Yesterday I delivered a couple of post items to my pal who lives on a 'continuously cruising' Dutch Barge. This involves a few miles' drive, a small hike down the towpath, and putting the world to rights at length over cups of coffee. By the time I got home my get-up-and-go had got up and gone, so I took the afternoon off. This is the tub as photographed by its previous owner.



This morning I pitched in with marking and drilling the necessary holes in the mountings. Reference to those in the old cross member guided me in how long the ovals needed to be and it proved a doddle with the box g-clamped to the workmate. In my excitement at putting the bits together and offering them up to the frame I neglected to take step-by-step pictures. Balancing my creation on the trolley jack, loosely clamping one end to the frame (the cave's floor is far from level!), and sliding the mounts outwards on their oval holes until they butted up to the diagonal frame members resulted in an encouragingly acceptable fit. Miracle!



Thoroughly pleased with this outcome I quit while I was ahead .

Regards, Mick

p.s. Many thanks Peter for encouragement!

[Mick O'Malley]

Since my last post I have made the 'spanner access' diagonal cuts to the inboard ends of the mountings and pondered how their proposed diagonal braces up to a frame tube could be made. I found a rusty old piece of 1" angle and offered it up to TDW's side diagonal frame brace. The old mountings were braced to these so I reasoned that mine would be OK. I bought on Ebay a one metre length of 30x30x3mm mild steel angle (which the delivery guy simply rammed though my letter box) and wondered how best to cut the necessary angle where it met the mounting. Its top end will simply rest over the box section diagonal, possibly needing a belt with the lump hammer to open its angle up a little with it resting against one jaw of the open vice. I hit on the idea of making a cardboard template, found some stout card, cut it 60mm wide to the length-ish needed, and folded it to replicate the angle. Snipping off small amounts at a time with repeated offerings-up soon had it nestling snugly at both ends.



The mounting was both tied on and bridged to the frame with a magnet to ensure its correct location.

Together with the rear seat belt mounting frame, the rear fuel tank support, and the headlamp mounting stubs, that's now all the metal cut for the welding sortie, towed behind the Jazz using the Dutton towing gismo. I discovered the other week that there is a legal requirement to have a safety line in case the massively strong towball should snap off . I bought and fitted one to the gismo as the frame as towed will probably weigh almost 100 kilogrammes/two hundredweight. One can't be too careful...

I scan Ebay each morning for a Hillman Imp sport cylinder head and yesterday I snapped up for a thoroughly acceptable sum a tubular steel sport exhaust manifold for said head. I'm sure this can be pressed into service with a side silencer for that distant 'firing up' day

Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

Once the sun was high enough, I wandered down to the warming cave and grabbed the necessary to fashion my first diagonal brace. Transferring the angles from my card template to the steel angle, I set to with the hacksaw and, after discovering that I'd made the RH brace, offered it up. The cut lower ends needed bevelling into the V - I used a coarse flap wheel in my angle grinder. The top angle needed to be closed a little, rather than opened as I'd imagined. A couple of lump hammer blows with the angle in the vice did the job . So, onto its LH mirror image twin . Clamping the RH one to the angle made marking the cuts a doddle.



Once cut and offered up, it needed similar attention from both flap wheel and lump hammer. Here's the RH one sitting in position. Excuse milky picture, the camera decided flash was necessary as the sun went behind a cloud



Now I need to cut the fillets and possibly some flat steel straps to bridge each side of what is probably the weakest part of my design. I can then clean all mating areas back to bare metal, drill out the remains of the pop rivets and deliver the skeleton for welding. I'll arrange this rather than just show up as the guys have real work to do, and could well be very busy.

Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

This morning, as the rain lashed down, I performed some internet research regarding towing both a trailer and a car, in anticipation of delivering the project for welding activity. I learned that a trailer needed mudguards, as does a 'broken down car' so, either way, the skeleton would need its back body replacing. I dug it out of the GRP heap behind my front hedge and hosed it down. Before offering it up I decided to check for any loose remaining gubbins on the back end, and cable tied the offending disconnected brake lines/cables I found securely to the axle. Whilst it was half way out of the cave and eminently accessible in this afternoon's sunshine, I dug out my smallest cold chisel and with it lump hammered off the remains of the many body attachment pop rivets, knocking the bits left through their holes into the frame with a punch. There must have been at least 50 and the job was strangely satisfying . I shall have the holes filled with weld.



At the moment I'm leaning towards towing it as a 'broken down car' with the back number plate in place and an ON TOW sign. I'll have its log book with me to prove its provenance should a zealous boy or girl in blue take an interest.

Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

This morning I carried the rear body down to the cave and heaved it into position on the frame. I thought I'd make it look a bit more like a car by putting the back lights in. Digging them out of my shed and examining them revealed that they would need quite a bit of work in the location department, so I quickly abandoned the 'car' option and reverted to 'trailer'. Using a length of the ever handy paracord I tied the trailer board securely in the number plate recess of the body moulding, where it sat nicely. Threading the seven pin plug and its lead through to the frame's front, and admiring my handiwork, it dawned on me that reflective triangles would be needed .



I thought I could use tech screws into the newly cleared rivet holes to secure the moulding, but the holes were too big for the 5.5 mm items I had. A search revealed that 6.3mm ones were available, but in a minimum of 100, and as I would only need eight I decided to run a tap through the holes and screw it home that way pro-tem. I lashed out the almost four quid for the triangles and called it a day.

Regards, Mick

[Dpaz]

Mick, I may be wrong but, if you are towing something you need the towing vehicle's reg on the trailer and the towed vehicle covered so that your untaxed " trailer" doesn't trigger the ANPR cameras and get you tickets for 2 vehicles.
It is coming on well.