The Squidget Pop Top build is on.

[cracker39]

Almost that is. I may be a little premature with this post, but It's been so long in the planning stage, I can't help myself. My Dexter torsion axle should be ready to pick up at Redneck Trailers in Tampa by tomorrow if it's on schedule. I can't get it then, as I have an eye appointment, but by Wednesday I should be on my way to get it and stop at Tom's RV surplus store on the way back to shop for parts and equipment.

I did order my steel today and will pick it up tomorrow and start cutting and laying out the chassis as temperatures permit and we should have 69 to 74 degree highs over the next five days. My son-in-law may not be ready to weld until after Christmas, but I can frame it up and align and tack weld the parts together for him to finish welding when he can come over. This gives me a chance to practice my welding on the bottom where it people can't see how bad it looks.

I'll probably start some WEB pages for my build so as not to clog up the site's album. So, as Mr. Holmes put it, The Game's Afoot.

[Wolffarmer]

Good deal Dale. I am going to keep on eye on this one.


Randy

[doris s.]

Dale, sounds like fun. I wish it was 70 degrees in Maryland right now. Keep us posted on your progress.

Doris

[aggie79]

That's good news Dale! I look forward to following your build.

[Steve_Cox]

Dale,

Really glad to see you are soon building again. Let's go camping when you are done.

[pete42]

dale it was 71 here yesterday wait I have that backwards it was 17 here yesterday.

Great news on your build I had to cancel my trip to Florida in Jan to many people sick here and I have to help with taking them to hospital weekly for treatment schedule runs to Feb. 14.

keep us posted.

[Cliffmeister2000]

Dale, I'm glad you posted prematurely! It gave me a chance to find it and bookmark it. I won't miss a thing!

[bdosborn]

Okay I'm watching so get busy.

Bruce

[cracker39]

For Cliff and anyone else who bookmarked my page, I've created the whole set of pages. The start page is now:

http://www.thesquidget.com/ptbuild/ptbuild.html

Nothing has been added to the parts page. This evening I'll be putting on new photos of stuff I bought yesterday.

Steve, I'll be looking forward to seeing you at a campground next summer.

[vwbeamer]

Sweet

I'll be following this

[Cliffmeister2000]

I can't wait!

[cracker39]

I have my build pages set up, but no build photos yet, just parts and equipment I've bought. I cut the steel frame side and end rails, and the bumper bar on the 23rd and 24th. My Harbor Freight metal chop saw conked out while making the 4th cut. I think the Norton blade I put on it worked loose and it over-revved or something. It made a popping noise and started smoking and shut off in just a second or two and popped the circuit breaker. I couldn't find the receipt that I knew I had saved, so in order to get an exchange, I had to buy a one year extended warranty for $10. I got the new saw home on the 24th, put on my Norton Blade and continued cutting the rails and bumper with no problems.

I know, you get what you pay for and I just hoped it would last through the chassis steel cutting. I bought a HF 4 1/2" angle grinder for the first build and used it a lot for cutting as well as grinding. It quit working right at the end of the chassis build, so I guess it was worth the $17.99 for the short use I got from it. This time, I bought the HF heavy duty 4 1/2" angle grinder and some cutting disks for it as well as a new type of grinding disk. Maybe I'll get through the build and still have it working (probably not).

The weather will be too cold to work outside until Wednesday when I'll set up the frame in the carport and do some tack welding. Once it's fairly solid, I'll measure and cut my cross members and tack them in place as well as weld in my floor hold-down gussets. I may do some actual welding on the rear bumper and the "continental kit" type spare tire carrier I designed that mounts on the rear bumper with bolts so it can be removed if I need to do any work or repainting on the cabin in the future. The two front tongue boxes will also be removable for the same reason. I think the rear mounted spare will look cool with a cover on it. I wanted a solid cover with lettering on it, but haven't found one that will fit my trailer tires yet. I also ordered two quarts of Rust Bullet today so I'll have it in time to paint the chassis bottom before turning it over for final welding on top.

[cracker39]

Happy New Year to all. I've updated my chassis build pages with some progress.

http://www.thesquidget.com/ptbuild/chassis.html

[pete42]

Happy Birthday and a Happy New Year to you.

a few practice welds seem to be in order.
I worked in Maintenance for 41 years as an electrician never did master the TIG or Mig welding did ok with the stick welder wish I had one now.

good luck on your build looking good.

ol' pete but not as old as you (68 almost 69)

[cracker39]

I'm still waiting on my son-in-law to come over to do the critical welding (tongue, bumper, final frame corners). Meanwhile, I'm still trying to weld. My work still looks bad, but the welds should hold. I welded on my support pieces for the two tongue boxes and another piece of angle in front of that to further support a propane tank. I'll make the tank mount later. I got my axle brackets welded on too, at least partly welded. After the frame is turned upright, the final inside weld will be made for the brackets.

Today, my Rust Bullet arrived and yesterday my Gorilla Gripper plywood carrier came in the mail. I didn't read the details before and now I find that the minimim thickness it's supposed to carry is 3/8". Maybe it will carry two 1/4" sheets back to back. Mainly I want to use it for lifting and carrying the finished sides when I mount them on the floor.

Hopefully, My son-in-law will be here today or tomorrow to finish his welding so I can do some grinding of exposed welds, clean the metal with lacquer thinner prior to coating it with Rust Bullet. I left the Squidget's frame showing the Rust Bullet gray, but am considering painting the exposed parts of this chassis with Rustoleum silver metalflake spray paint to match my truck and cap. One or two cans should do the job for the tongue and rear bumper, which is about all of the chassis that will be exposed.

My spare tire mount is about finished. I accidentally welded the mount to the post 90 degrees off from my plan, but functionally, it changed nothing and won't be seen anyway. I drilled holes to use bolts to put it all together, but may end up using the welder on it. I'll leave that to last as my tank of argon gas is getting low and I need it to finish the job or I'll have to shell out $55 for a full tank swapout. I don't plan on doing any more welding for a while after this chassis is finished.