In celebration of getting the #62 running..... 5-12-14

Literally minutes after we got the 62 fired up - I was helping Dad pull the roof of BAR 18, his M14 motorcar. 

Here is the 18 after the roof removal.

The next day, Dad had replaced the rivets that were missing from the roof

While giving the roof a once over, Dad found this written in pencil inside the roof. BAR X3403. 

Dad posted this picture on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad Facebook Group. In response to this, group members Larry Curtis and Warren Cain put together that the BAR X3403 being a ballast car indicated that this car, BAR 18 was most likely the speeder assigned to the ballast gang. 

More come!

The Culmination of 5 months of effort! - 5-11-14

This was the day that it all came together. After months of effort - the 62 was rolled outside in one piece for the first time in a LONG while. The video says it all:

More to come!

Hitches mounted and painted - 5-10-14

With his usual speed and quality....

Dad has gotten the primed rear hitch painted and mounted

Here is the front - It might look off center, but it is centered on the frame, not the engine. \

More to come!

Getting Hitched Up - 5-9-14

Dad's skills extend far further than the paint and body work that this project has focused on. 

These are the two hitches Dad has designed, cut, drilled and had welded

This is the other side of the front hitch

And here they are both primed.

More to come!

Sweeping Hitches... 5/8/14

Today Dad got busy with the Sweeps...

After being sandblasted, primed and painted

Here they are installed.

In addition, these new flaps were fabricated from some material Dad had. 

These are the cardboard patterns and the steel pieces cut from them for the front and rear hitches for towing and being towed. 

More to come!

The Sweeps Day - 5-5-14

With the major projects winding down - the 62 is looking better and better but the little projects are starting to take center stage. 

This morning Dad put on a new fuel line. This afternoon's project was the Sweepers:

Here they are torn apart

And here they are welded up and prepared for sandblasting, priming and paint. 

What isn't obvious is the amount of straightening Dad had to do to get them to look this good. 

With the big (and small) projects winding down, we're going get this car wired up, fired up and on the rail soon!

 More to come!

Carb Cleanup - 5-4-14

We've done an awful lot of cosmetic restoration - but haven't really touched on the mechanics.. 

This day, Dad made a good call and decided to clean up the Carburetor, along with the air cleaner mount.  

In his own words: 

"I disassembled the entire carb and found it to be really pretty clean.
One of the compensating valves was stuck on its shaft, the other one
was free. After degreasing and blowing everything out,  the needle
valve was cleaned, everything was lubed up and reassembled. I was able
to reuse the original gaskets but I replaced the thin aluminum washers
with new copper ones.
Next was to de-grease the aluminum air cleaner holder and elbow. This is
a 2 part piece. The air cleaner is sandwiched between and it is made
of metal screening. I took the dimensions and K & N makes one that
will fit. I did a slight modification to the metal  top and bottom
covers to allow the new air filter to fit,  cleaned them up and
treated them for rust. I will prime and paint these two pieces. I will
pick up a new air cleaner and a new piece of rubber hose to make the
connection between the carb and the air cleaner. I cleaned up the
original hose clamps and will re-use these."

As a side note - if you look behind the air cleaner mount - just inside the firewall, you'll see the cleaned up timer installed and wired in. 

As usual - a HUGE thank you goes out to Dad for this one!

More to come!