More Ant Work

Aaron Milligan

I should have bought a saws-all much earlier. It took me an hour to finish what is been working on for the last two weeks. The entire side has it’s sheathing removed and I’m ready to replace the base plate.

On Saturday and Sunday, we hauled three loads to the dump: two of just yard waste and one from the shop, so I have room to work again. Last night, I got the rotten base plate cut out and started wrapping vapor barrier between the studs so I can use the un-faced fiberglass battens that I have. The goal is to have both sides insulated. I’m not quite ready to insulate the front, because it’s covered in tongue and groove.

Ants

Aaron Milligan

Much of this summer was spent getting the house ready to paint. Once that was done, we started to work on the garage. I got three sides pressure washed and primed, but the back side was filled with blackberry vines.

So I’m back there digging, and see fine wood dust coming out from behind the siding. Dirt was piled up right up to the siding, so I started digging that out, with more dust coming out. It’s a narrow space, so I was using a 5 gallon bucket to get the dirt out. After two evenings of working on it, I knocked on the inside wall to see if any more stuff would come out, and I heard the rustle of a hundred bodies. I’d seen an ant or two, but never in the numbers that would scare me. The window sill on the outside was a bit soft though, so I gave it a tug.

The whole area below the window was filled with ants. Two 2x4s that were under the window sill were swiss cheese. So I started removing siding. So far I have the entire side stripped from the bottom to about the 8 foot mark. I’m still uncovering a few ants, but the worst is above and below the window. Most of the studs look fine, and the base board is good everywhere except under the window, so it doesn’t look like there will be too much to replace.

I have the center beam supported from the inside of the shop, and a diagonal brace on the outside as I chase these ants. I think that I won’t have to go any further than this side of the shop. Once eradicated, I’m going to put a vapor barrier between the studs and put fiberglass insulation battens in, then 3/4 OSB sheathing and some outer vapor barrier, then hopefully I’ll be able to reuse most of the original cedar siding. Not a project that I thought I’d be working on right now, but it needs to be done.

POWER!!!

Aaron Milligan

Two weeks ago, my electrician finished up with the new panel on the house, and I started digging a trench to the garage. The goal is a 100 amp sub panel to power just about any welder that I could use as a hobbyist. Certainly big enough for my little MIG welder.

  • Big ditch
  • Sweet Pabst lamp
  • Lots of power

Garage Remodel

Aaron Milligan
 
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I’ve been working on my garage lately. First on the To-Do list is to remove the wall going down the middle of the garage. It’s covered in this really cool beaded tongue and groove. It looks like it was salvaged from something when the garage was built in the early 30s. The whole garage looks like it was made from salvaged wood in fact. This particular wall has an amazing blue and white patina, so I’m saving it for other projects.

Trying to work on it every week.

Trying to work on it every week.

aaron

I’ve been making some headway lately on the floor pans. I bought them a while back from House of Ghia, and the owner brought them to a VW show locally so that I didn’t have to pay for shipping. They require some cutting and welding to fit properly, and one side is just about done now.

For a change of pace this week, I decided to tear apart my transaxle. I wasn’t very careful when I removed it, so dirt got inside. Before things got too bad, I decided to tear it down and make sure everything was clean.

As is the norm for me, I’ll soon be distracted by my motorcycle. I just got a new tire for my Suzuki and a box of parts for my CB400f.

 
Parts Car!

Parts Car!

aaron

Saturday, if all goes well, I’m picking up a ’63 Ghia for parts. It only costs $$ and there’s enough good metal on this thing to take care of just about all the rest of the stuff I need.

It looks pretty crusty, but the body is very straight. The nose is perfect, as are the fenders. My 62 has a pretty messed up front end. One fender is not salvageable even by the most talented metal workers, and the nose isn’t in the best shape either.

I would use this body except that someone has made some strange cuts to it, going from the rear parcel shelf through the window lip to the engine compartment, and another couple of strange cuts on the right rear fender.

But if you’ll notice, two good straight sets of bumpers ($$$), and the container next to the car has seats in good condition ($), straight, rust free decklid and bonnet lid (mine aren’t quite so nice), a real swan neck mirror ($$$), and some other misc. parts, like a rear view mirror and visor from an early ’50s bug ($$$$) and some pop-outs that I might stick in my ’74 Super.

So cost of this Ghia is $$, and the total value of all the stuff I’ll get with it is at least $$$$$$$$, so I’ll be money ahead. It looks crusty, but it’ll be worth it.

Oh, and my pans arrived on Tuesday!

Cut the Pans Off!

aaron

Cutting wheel? When through one wheel in 3 feet.

Nibbler? Can’t go through bends.

Air Shears? Useless.

$15 Harbor Freight body saw? One blade per side, done in 20 minutes.

That’s it. I need to get a spot weld cutter and remove what’s left on the flanges. Meanwhile, I wait for the new pans to arrive from KGPR. I’ll take pics next time I work on it.

Quarter Pans? Half Pans?

aaron

I went to the shop with my newly arrived clamps, and decided that I wouldn’t need them just yet. I realized that I have too much rust repair to make 1/4 pans worth it. I’m going to sell them and get full 1/2 pans from KGPR. It will make my job much easier, and look much better in the end. I ordered today.

Anyone need some 1/4 pans? They’re the good ones!

Showing off

Showing off

aaron

I’ve got some Eastwood style butt welding clamps on order (8 for the same price as their four on eBay). Hopefully going to work on it tonight some more.

I was at my parents house for dinner on Sunday, and was showing off to my sister’s boyfriend. Found the steering wheel this time.