C.P. Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 (edited) Hi, You have a nice forum so I decided to register. I work with all sorts of vehicles for living, from custom motorbikes, classic cars to big trucks. I have lots of different private projects going on - although not sure when I'm going to finish them as my work takes most of my time :sweat:Most satisfying is of course working with own vehicles. I run a small one man Coachbuilding company, so time is always a problem. Maybe later I can post some project photos - athough I believe not talking too much before I'm done - first finish the project and then show :-D (so it will take eternity). Thanks! Coen Edited November 29, 2009 by C.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff66 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 welcome , mate .is it snowing there?:sweat: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protruck Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Hi C.P. welcome to the forum, I look forward too seeing some pics.:-D Enjoy Clive .................................. protruckservices.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Welcome C.P.. we would love to see some photos if you have the time. :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.P. Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 (edited) Hi Guys & Thanks, Haven't seen snow so far, I live above the Alpine region (ie. North of Switzerland) - snow would be a good reason to dig up my trusty old snowcat :cool2: (last year I didn't get a chance to drive at all). I guess its raining cats and dogs in the UK... I will post some photos when one of my trucks gets a new paint, I'm still in the process of fabricating new sides for the cabin (50x30x3 & 30x20x3 profile) and new floors from 2.5mm steel. This will be a transporter for the other stuff and will occasionally serve as the company work horse. The truck is a Swiss-made FBW (Franz Brozincevic Wetzikon) and 15 were made - otherwise it is in excellent condition but I had to fabricate most of the cabin from new steel... I'm not sure if anyone is interested of that project but I can update something when its done I guess I have about 2000 photos of the rebuild of that damn truck Edited November 29, 2009 by C.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Works in progress are a learning tool all in them selves so dont hold back until its done ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Welcome CP, you'll be inundated with questions. Most of us have bits falling off, and on the vehicles as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.P. Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 (edited) Guys, as you know working with steel is never-ending learning process. I've been in the business since 1993 (although my first job in a truck paintshop was in 1987) and still learning (and sometimes banging my head on the wall or hitting a hammer on my finger). With the trucks and military stuff the problem is the thickness of the material (at least your hand gets fast tired hammering the stuff in shape) - even then you have to be careful as the heat from welding tends to pull the panels or profiles in different directions - you still want a good penetration for the welds so heat is unavoidable. Therefore I often choose to fabricate a new part or sections, this can be done in a controlled way - if you are just repairing the old one you'll notice how big tolerances they often had - then you find yourself trying to fix them, which usually takes a lot of time. Most things seems to have 5-10mm tolerance from factory, or even more (I've seen over 50mm tolerances quite often). If you can build new parts or cabin, bed etc. on a body jig or good welding table - you propably create better work than the factory did. Luckily, Olive Drab is a very forgiving colour :-D With the FBW I have had quite a lot of work, mainly due the reason that it sat so many years outside (when I found it the door was unlocked and open) and as part of the front of the cabin is made from glassfibre - the moist had found its way in between the panels. Talk about crispy. As I'm now fabricating new sides for the cabin, I can't do any other progress - I will propably also have to replace the whole front of the truck with new metal and lower section of the rear wall - but at the moment its impossible because that would weaken the structure too much. I'm just hoping that after all the new metal the old door structures still fit well after all that work (the outer panels I anyway routinely replace because its quite fast and you uncover the possible probs behind the panel (there's always something, or if you are lucky - a penny!). Right now there's just a lot of air where the doors should be. I just finished four doors for an off-road truck which had to be completely fabricated from straight steel. I should still fabricate two more doors for similar truck, so I'm not that enthusiastic at the moment to create doors :-D Good rule - Where there's an opening, there will be lot of work... I have seen many nice projects on this website, really interesting to read about them. Nice work! Edited November 30, 2009 by C.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I guess its raining cats and dogs in the UK... I'm not sure if anyone is interested of that project Yes and YES! Would love to see photos. :yay: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Welcome aboard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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