[VAC] Huston: we have lift off....

[Tryke@xxxxxxx]

WOOOOOOO  HOOOO!  What an intense sight !  The cealing is about ten feet 
above my head , standin inside my '53 between the saw horses and looking out 
side at the floor and frame. I had to lift the shell 3'ft from the ground to 
clear the fender wells so I could roll the frame and floor out from 
underneith the shell. I did almost all of this by myself with no lifts or 
hoists, just plenty of old fasiond biker inginuity. I had some help with 
guiding the frame out so I didn't knock over any of the horses on the way out 
, but that's it. 
 Here's one for the archivists...The floor was not tiled , it was lanoliumed 
or what ever equivalent was used back then. The flooring was glued over the 
plywood all the way to the edges, then the lower coach frame support rails 
where added. I saved a 12x 18 or so sized sample for the historians to 
enshrine in whatever way they see fit.  Gimme an address and I'll put it in a 
bubblewrap envelope and send it.
 I was a bit hesitant about removing the shell to replace the floor and was 
scecretly looking for other options to repair the floor...Git Rot, Captain 
Tooley's ,etc.... I'm glad I lifted the shell . The floor around 90% of the 
parimeter is totally rotted and about 75-80% of the over all floor is junk. 
So now my baby gets a new floor , new insulation, new belly pan, 
bla,bla,bla....Can we say , money pit? Well it's my money pit and it'll be 
almost brand new from the tires to the floor...I'm rebuilding EVERYTHING !  
I'm cleaning and rust proofing the frame , New fender wells with added 
support to protect against tire separation damage... more power more 
strength.....ARGH,ARGH, argh! 
I'm keeping the leafspring axel...gotta have something nostalgic. Those leaf 
springs are just so quaint.  
 Now it's off to Home Depot to wander around almost aimlessly while making a 
shopping list and seeing how much this is gonna cost me........    Trike 5384

'53 Cruiser 3ft off the ground , frame outside in the rain