Posted by Don in NH [173.245.54.9] on Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 22:20:29 :
It's hard to believe this was holding together - it was like tissue paper in there. I removed the hanger and bolted a fish plate behind it, drilled the hanger holes using the old holes as the guide, cut out the bottom section of that rail and bottom flange. The frame starts the taper immediately in front of the spring hangers, so the plate has a 4 degree bend going forward.
The dwindling remains of my WC9 contributed a 10" section of frame rail to serve as a replacement on the outside so I didn't have to monkey too much with making a good looking section of rail.
I've got to wait for painting weather to button it up, but the hard stuff is done. I think I am going to over drill the hangers and install them with 7/16" rivets, and 3/8" rivets for the fish plate. I'll have to do the same to the other side, but hopefully that will go faster (less thinking!).
I also cleaned up a lot of the old welds on frame. So a few hundred more hours and this thing will be pretty nice. Nice way to wallow in the spring mud.
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