Category: Seats

Saturday morning broke with the first good sunshine we’ve had in a long time, so I decided that I would take advantage of as much of it as I could. After a mile-long walk with the dog and a cup of coffee with Jen, I put on my coveralls and headed out to the garage. The first thing I wanted to tackle was pulling and inspecting each spark plug I’d installed last year to ensure they were gapped correctly and to do a compression test. I pulled the coil wire, started with the #1 cylinder and worked my way backwards on the driver’s side, then finished on the passenger side.

All of the gaps looked right at spec, and the tips were all covered in gassy-smelling oil—which I expected, considering that I haven’t been able to get her running consistently for a long period of time. The most important information was good information: all of the cylinders had excellent compression, with the lowest of any of them at 125psi. This means the rings are in great shape and have hopefully reseated themselves after their long slumber.

When that was done I pulled the passenger fender out into the sun and hit it with sanding blocks for the second time, working the high spots down and smoothing out the second skim coat. It’s really shaping up on the outside, and I’m having great luck with the new filler.

One drawback was that the inner metal collar I’d welded on to the backside of the fuel port came off as I was sanding it down; when I welded the inside edges and then sanded off the excess metal apparently I was a little too zealous and weakened those welds. So this time I predrilled a bunch of pilot holes along the outer circumference and used those to tack the collar back in place from the back side—something I should have done in the first place. I’ll fill the inside edge with seam sealer to hide the welds, which are mostly hidden anyway. Then I skimmed filler on the low spots, which are (thankfully) decreasing in number.

Sunday morning I ran up the Scout for the first time in two weeks and let it warm up in the driveway. After attaching my ghetto exhaust extender (a 5′ length of HVAC pipe attached to the tailpipe, with 20′ of PVC reaching past the side of the garage) I turned both idle mixture screws all the way back into the carb and then backed them out 1/4 turn. Adding a little starting fluid to the carb, she fired right up and idled much smoother than she had two weeks ago, but then I saw the giant clouds of white smoke coming from the end of the exhaust and figured I’d better shut her down. So the rough idle issue is mostly sorted out, but I need a good windy day to run it up and clean the Berrymans out of the fuel system.

Next, I got to work tearing the front bench seat base down to the metal. I set up a GoPro and took a bunch of pictures, then started tearing the old vinyl off the frame. Removing the foam, burlap, and reed padding, I cut the old hog rings off and wire wheeled the outside elements, and then looked it over. There were three sections that needed to be welded back together, so I set up the MIG, dialed it in for thinner metal, and put them back together. Then I brushed encapsulator on the whole thing, which was a tedious job.

There are two sections on the back side that look like they could have been welded originally, but also maybe they weren’t. I texted Jeff to see what he thought and he told me his seat is from a ’68 and doesn’t look like mine. I’m mulling over whether I should weld in a set of supports there just to keep the whole thing sturdy.

While that was drying I pulled the fender out and continued sanding the high points down. It’s getting very close. There are only about five small areas that needed to be skimmed—hopefully for the last time—so I put some filler on to cure while the weather was still warm.

This weekly update is regrettably several days past my usual Friday schedule, but given the amount of stuff I’ve been posting this year, I figure that’s OK.

With winter fast approaching and a week and a half worth of wet weather behind us, I knew I was going to have to do something about dry storage for the Travelall. Erecting a new garage is out of the question, and putting the awning up isn’t going to fly, so I went with the cheapest option: an inexpensive Suburban-sized car cover from Amazon. At first I was afraid it wasn’t going to be big enough to cover my truck’s ample backside, but once I adjusted the front, the rear fit snugly over the taillights with little to spare. It’s tight enough that I don’t even think I’d need to tie it down, although having two built-in straps is a nice feature.

On Sunday I had the afternoon to keep working on the seat cage, so I finished cleaning up the joins and smoothing everything out. Then I put it in the truck, taped a rectangle of cardboard to the top, and scribed out the trans tunnel. With some adjustments and a second template, I laid it on some 18 ga. steel and cut out the front section. After I trimmed it to where I liked things, I tacked it in place and did one last check before tacking the perimeter in place every inch.

When I’d ground down the welds, I cut out two rectangles for the ends and tacked those in. I did another test fit, ground some things down, and tacked each side into place.

Then I adjusted the welder settings, sealed up the top and sides, and ground everything down to smooth with the flap disc. At this point I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to arrange the two doors; currently I like the idea of countersinking them inside the cages that they’re flush with the top. I’ve got a hinge here from Grainger ready to go, but the locksets they sent me are way too small (curse you, Internet!). So I’ll spend some more time considering that solution.

The other thing that came in the mail were two 3D printed plastic visor clips, something the truck didn’t come with and that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I took a chance based on a comment from the Round-Body Travelalls group on Facebook, and I was not disappointed when they showed up. With two stainless screws from my bench stock, the clip went right into the existing holes on the driver’s side and the visor snapped into place. They need to be sanded and cleaned up, but I’m happy.

Here’s where the box stands as of last night. I put weight on the cage to set it in place, then tacked some scrap metal to the open end of each bottom bar. With both bars at the proper angle, I measured and cut two legs to meet up with the ends and tacked them to the top bar. After checking that fit, I brought the whole assembly inside and welded it all up, as well as added two sections along the bottom side of the short edge. I closed up the holes on the bottom ends and smoothed the welds out on all of the outer edges with a flap disc.

After Day 2 of Hurricane Ophelia or whatever they’re now calling this blustery rainstorm that was supposed to have leveled the East Coast, I have a report on the repairs to the Travelall. In short, everything I did to the cowl looks pretty good. I saw one drop of water from the driver’s side vent opening that I haven’t been able to figure out yet, but the rest of the seams all look like they held well. Both of the floors are damp but I suspect that’s due to leaky door seals more than water coming through the cowl. There’s water along the sills in back as well which bears this theory out a little more. Along with the weatherstripping, Today I ordered a car cover so she can overwinter without getting wet, as well as postpone a hasty respray of the roof until the weather warms up and allows paint to dry and cure properly.

Sunday afternoon it was too rainy to be working outside but too warm to not be working. So I jumped the gun on my seat locker project and got started. In the garage, I tuned the radio to the Ravens game, then cut metal down and assembled the top of the cage first, knowing that the curves on the bottom would be difficult to assemble without it.

The rectangle went together smoothly, and I used the tailgate of the Scout as a level worktable to get everything squared up. I measured the height of the step again, cut four legs and tacked them into place. I’m not getting fancy with 45˚ butt-joint welds here because everything will get covered in sheet metal when this is complete.

Then I put spacers under the legs and looked at how the bottom of the cage would come together. The floor slopes down gently from the center, and the transmission tunnel sits in the center of that area. It’s a lot shorter than I envisioned, so my original design is being modified as I go. I don’t actually have enough vertical height for a length of tube spanning the front floor, so I have to cut legs that will tie into the upper bar.

I cut two short lengths of tube for the front side of the cage and tacked them into place just short of where the tunnel starts. With those in place I can gauge the angles I’ll need to cut the legs up to the top tube. I’m going to leave the bottom of the cage off in back, and weld in some tabs that can mount directly to the step wall.

By 7PM I was losing light, and couldn’t work in the truck anymore, so I cut two short lengths and tacked them in across the top of the cage where they’ll be the supports for a set of piano hinges.

The next step will be dragging the welding gear out to the driveway, putting weight on the cage, and tacking scrap metal to the open end of each bottom bar. From there I can get a proper idea of the angle for the legs, cut them down, and weld them in. Then two tubes go at the bottom of the thin sides to complete the boxes. I’ll cap off the open ends of the tubes and grind everything down smooth, and then start bending sheet metal.