British Rail 12 ton vented wagon conversion

[Bravheart]

I'm looking forward to getting paint onto this.

So am I, never realised there was so much work involved in bringing one of these back to life. Good job so far though.

 

[Wildefalcon]

So am I, never realised there was so much work involved in bringing one of these back to life. Good job so far though.

Thank you. I'll be honest, it's hard work in the heat. But it will be done right, and once.

I'm still trying to figure out what @gaz1 means about bracing the structure, I think I get it, and I think he's right, but I need to work it through in my mind, especially about the drip at the door.

 

[Wildefalcon]

As part of the wagon conversion:


Wagon

I'm going to replace the vent and hood with a window.

I was going to just glue it with Tiger seal, but is there a smarter way?

A frame or brackets or somesuch?

Lacking inspiration today, must be the heat.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Glazing tape?

Edit. You need to protect the seals so a frame of sorts will be needed

 

[gaz1]

the issue your dealing with is the middle seperating which means it wont be square in vertical or at the base width

you need to lock the outside 4 spans so they dont move out when you pull the other side back in

you cant use a beam internal and 2 blocks either side as the ends will push out more than pull the middle back straight again

you can use scaffolding with a diagonal bar with an outside top bar and and 2 scaffold bars hit into the ground


this frame will push the top out while you pull the bottom back in you will have 2" of extra pull in for the steel to move back out to play with

one issue i can think of the other side will lift you need to counter this lift by extending another 2 bars over the frame

if you was using the base structure you could do it as one but that would mean your using

you can use 3-4 jack posts 2 yo pull in the structure the third one to puch the top out until square but you will need snother to do the same and you will be pulling on that bar to lengthen it but becareful it can and will drp out on you

the method is used on stone and brick walls when they are collapsing

 

[Wildefalcon]

That's comprehensive!

I don't really understand, got to confess, and don't have the space or scaffold poles.

So, I'll ratchet it together, make it roughly square, and weld in the steel flat as tie bars.

So long as the floor goes in straight, it will do fine. I'll add some diagonals in the floor and that should keep it solid.

 

[Wildefalcon]

If I ordered a bare, glazed, casement window, with no fittings, I could seal that into the gap. The glass would be central in the panel, so that would work.

 

[gaz1]

you have what you would call house wall bow

to pull it back in you need to push the top out whilst you pull the bottom in

once that is square then you can square the other wall side to it

the issue is the top push can lift the rear end up as you pull the bottom in to straigthen it

of coarse you can pull the sides in first and then push the top out

from what ive seen your going to be ratcheting 15-20mm angle iron that will take some moving even with ratchet straps

 

[Wildefalcon]

@gaz1 Gotcha! I'll check if there is bow at the top, but, as there are arch pieces tie-ing the top together, I didn't think there was any. The panelling at the roof is straight with no obvious distribution.

If that is the case then I think the ratchet straps will be enough. Especially if encouraged with a tap of the sledge.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Today features rust removal.

The needle descaler is working well, though it's testing my little toy compressors.

Shame I couldn't bring this wagon to the workshop yard, but there you go.

Two compressors certainly makes the leccy meter busy!!

 

[Wildefalcon]

All the east end interior of the wagon has had its first rust removal session.

 

[Wildefalcon]

And I've brushed on citric acid to one side and the end.

 

[Wildefalcon]

The side rails came up well.

 

[Wildefalcon]

I'll remove the vent tomorrow and finish off any spots I missed, and make a start on the outside.

Weather permitting.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Vent removal. This will be replaced with glass to allow more natural light in.

First, the inner grille. 19 rivets.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Then the hood. More rivets.

I'll dress up the inside, hoping to keep the rivet remains in the panel, so as to save filling it some other way.

 

[Wildefalcon]

I'm working on the tie pieces now. Straightening the rails may be a bit of a fool's errand, as only one of the uprights are straight. So, I'll go for Landrover chassis tolerances.

There are two obvious bends.

One at the rear door:

One at the pressing corner:

 

[Wildefalcon]

The corner bend was the one that bothered me most, but it was easy to straighten. Heat it with the propane and give it a full swing tap with the sledge.

This whilst under tension with a ratchet strap.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Happy with that.

The door bend was much harder. I ended using the mapp torch to get it hot.

It took a lot more persuasion from the sledge, but got there mostly.

Good enough, next is cutting the tie bars.

First one cut, and tested. Six more of these coming up, with lots of holes to bolt the joists to.

No welding today.

 

[Wildefalcon]

6 bars cut, and the makings of a seventh.