John has asked for this to be a stand-alone thread, as there is quite a lot to it, and possibly some plot twists along the way
And, as always, THIS IS NOT MY WORK, OR MY PROJECT! I'm just posting on behalf of John (aka: JVO), as his MAC PC has left the building.....
In the beginning, I needed a tailgate for my new found (Merc Unibody) project. I couldn't find one anywhere so I decided I would have to make one. James came through for me in that his friend Nic, had this tailgate he was willing to lend me for a pattern and measurements.
It was pretty rough, and bent in the middle, etc. I have had it in my possession for over 3 years now. I asked a local fellow that does computer setups for cutting laser and plasma and water jet cutting if I took a good digital photo if he could do the exact size layout to cut a die in order to stamp the Mercury letters.
It took him several months to get around to doing it, but it worked out very well. I won't get into too much detail here on that, but that is the reason I borrowed this one from Nic. I told him I would restore it in trade for lending it to me. (Nic got the better end of the deal)
It has been leaning against the wall in the shop for quite some time now, but I promised I wouldn't build one for myself before finishing this one.
Here we go. I made a cut along the bottom where I plan on installing a pipe with bronze bushings in the end for the hinges. I am hoping it will clean up inside enough that I can tap the pipe inside the bottom of the tailgate once it is straightened out somewhat.
That will help keep the bottom straight and flat. First I need to do a bunch of hammer and dolly work to straighten out everything as much as possible before I start shrinking the stretched points. I'm sure I'll be using the torch to shrink this as its 16 gauge.
So far today, I have the letters and surrounding areas pretty well flat and almost metal finished. It still has a ways to go. I used the heavy angle iron from the front of my sheet metal brake to clamp it in place along the edge of the letter surround.
That helps immensely to keep it flat as I work out all the imperfections.
More to follow from the next email...............
James
And, as always, THIS IS NOT MY WORK, OR MY PROJECT! I'm just posting on behalf of John (aka: JVO), as his MAC PC has left the building.....
In the beginning, I needed a tailgate for my new found (Merc Unibody) project. I couldn't find one anywhere so I decided I would have to make one. James came through for me in that his friend Nic, had this tailgate he was willing to lend me for a pattern and measurements.
It was pretty rough, and bent in the middle, etc. I have had it in my possession for over 3 years now. I asked a local fellow that does computer setups for cutting laser and plasma and water jet cutting if I took a good digital photo if he could do the exact size layout to cut a die in order to stamp the Mercury letters.
It took him several months to get around to doing it, but it worked out very well. I won't get into too much detail here on that, but that is the reason I borrowed this one from Nic. I told him I would restore it in trade for lending it to me. (Nic got the better end of the deal)
It has been leaning against the wall in the shop for quite some time now, but I promised I wouldn't build one for myself before finishing this one.
Here we go. I made a cut along the bottom where I plan on installing a pipe with bronze bushings in the end for the hinges. I am hoping it will clean up inside enough that I can tap the pipe inside the bottom of the tailgate once it is straightened out somewhat.
That will help keep the bottom straight and flat. First I need to do a bunch of hammer and dolly work to straighten out everything as much as possible before I start shrinking the stretched points. I'm sure I'll be using the torch to shrink this as its 16 gauge.
So far today, I have the letters and surrounding areas pretty well flat and almost metal finished. It still has a ways to go. I used the heavy angle iron from the front of my sheet metal brake to clamp it in place along the edge of the letter surround.
That helps immensely to keep it flat as I work out all the imperfections.
More to follow from the next email...............
James