Cleveland Transit System 4223

I think I will split the Wednesday work into two reports this time, since we had a large and productive crew working almost exclusively on the Cleveland PCC.

Rear Interior Trim

Simon Harrison was taking no chances as he is geared up to removing old paint from a piece of sheet metal to go on the left rear interior of the PCC.

Preparation

There are a lot of old broken off screw stubs inside the PCC.  Dave Diaz took a turn at removing them, Simon did more in the afternoon.  We are doing that now as it will soon be time to mount more of the interior panels.

Out in the Barn

Out in the Barn on a workbench, Jim Leonard processed several of the curved ad card panels, removing dirt, rust, and paint from the back side of these.

Priming

As fast as they were cleaned, Jonathan Soucek was priming them, along with a sign box, and some of the other trim panels.

A Straight Shot

Many of these ad card panels suffered through years of storage and had some bent corners or other dings in them.  Dave Diaz did a very good job of taking all those out.

Wow

By the end of the day all these seven were primed, and three more, two other miscellaneous panels, and the sign box.

We will start with some views of the new work going on in the Cleveland Transit System 4223 PCC car.  In the old reports we explained how there are many layers of parts for the interior and windows which must go in a specific order.  The critical delay was to have new window post caps made, after it was determined the old ones could not be salvaged and repaired to look and perform well.  They have arrived and the team has wasted no time in installing.

Right Side

Lorne Tweed is working on the right side of the car, forward of the center door.  It is easy to see the finished look and large improvement.  If only it was not so cold and damp in the barn I bet you would see more speed.

Right Side Rear

Eric Lorenz was just as busy working on the post caps on the right side, to the rear of the center door.

Left Side

Then Eric moved to the left side and began working his way forward.  Six in a row installed in this image.  At the very front and rear of the car and alongside the center door, these sheet metal caps are 'special' requiring more fitting and fussing.

I have a number of images for one project today, Cleveland Transit System 4223, a PCC car.  Lorne Tweed took several of these so I will split this weeks news into two BLOG entries

Switch Cabinet

Dave Diaz is painting a new switch cabinet for the car.  It has been fabricated new, and a lot of prep work has gone into adding the needed attachments and holes for mounting under the front dash of the car.

Left Rear

The next few images were taken inside the car, left side rear.  We have all the panels and trim for the car, but they have been out of it for many years.  It is like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle without benefit of the picture on the box.  Wise advice to budding restorationists:  Take a lot of pics, mark each piece where it came from with a paper tag, and write the id on each piece.  Surely one of those pieces of information will be lost to memory or time.

Wall Panel

There are wide wall panels to be mounted below the row of standee windows and above the ordinary passenger windows.  Simon Harrison is holding the first one, working from the rear to front on the left side.

Upper Trim

Simon Harrison is now fitting a piece of trim above the row of standee windows.  Many of these pieces appear to be the same, but have subtle differences, different hole patterns.  You really need to lay out and sort out each group of pieces.

Side Windows

In the shop the seemingly endless task of preparing the side windows, passenger windows, goes on.  For this car there is an upper and lower for each opening.  Simon is applying a clear protective finish to the cleaned aluminum frames, in this case one of the lower sash.

Here is a report from Lorne Tweed who has been working over one year with the crew on CTS 4223.

Assembly

Eric Lorenz is at work assembling the many pieces for the roof trolley boards and electrical, the trolley base.  You see him in the "well" which is a depression in  the shroud that is the roof monitor on this PCC.  It is a shame that all the fine work is basically hidden from the ground.

Done

This is the view of the completed work.

Lorne says: This weekend, Eric Lorenz (pictured) and Lorne Tweed were able to get the trolley pole base, fuse box, and lightning arrestor all installed on the top of the Cleveland Transit System 4223.   Except for the trolley pole installation and some electrical connections, this finishes the work on this sub project.   Many thanks to all of the volunteers that cleaned, painted, rebuilt, and fabricated these parts.

Work continues along on this project, even if I had not been able to catch some quick images on the shop work.

Pressing Work

On the Drill Press, that is.  Lorne Tweed is involved with a boring job, boring many holes in the new trolley board timbers.  Then Lorne sent me two images (seen below) to include here.  Keep them coming, Lorne!

More Parts

Simon Harrison was applying the finish paint to still more parts that have been prepped or fabricated for the trolley board assembly.

Here It Is

Here is the first view of the fairly complex trolley board assembly as each part is tested for fit.  A good sized chunk of this will be lifted to the roof in one piece to avoid as much as possible, the same work up on the roof.  Yes, this is seemingly a small part of the overall project, but many parts and pieces are needed, each to be fit in a particular place.

Trim Panels

Dick Cubbage and Dave Rogan are discussing methods to remove many layers of paint (and rust below that) for two trim panels that go over the last two side windows at the rear of the car.

Sparks Flying

Dick is not one much inclined to 'watching'.  In short order he was out in the barn and the sparks were flying!

A Tutorial

Simon Harrison watches as Dick gives a tutorial on the finer points of this work.  No, it is not simple grunt work!

It Takes Two

To Tango?  Maybe for the dance but more hands here make for fast work.  Simon and Dave were both in a sort of competition cleaning the sheet metal so it can be prime painted this weekend.

Glistening

These are barely recognizable compared to how they were a few hours ago.  See the first image in this entry.  These have almost a mirror finish and are typical to the ten items completely stripped today.  Not that I was counting - they may have done more than that.

This entry will be picture heavy - we accomplished something with the reinvigorated and larger project team that has been in the works for some time.  Inside the car body is a large sheet metal ceiling panel for the rear end of the car.  We have been tripping over it, moving it, and even cleaning and priming it.  But it is too large to remove from the car for storage elsewhere, so the logical step is to install it where it belongs.

Up in the Air

Here the so called 'clamshell' is already up in the air.  Shown is Frank Sirinek fastening new screws into the rear margin while Dave Rogan mans a brace to keep it in position.  The exciting part was getting six guys into a cramped space to do the heavy lifting and wrestle the ungainly piece into place.  Lorne Tweed, Dave Rogan, Frank Sirinek, Buzz Morisette, Victor Humphreys, and Bob Kutella helped.

Screwed

There are a precious few screws holding the rear edge into place, while Dave Rogan and Lorne Tweed try to align and place some fasteners along the front edge.

Advice

Lorne is adding more screws while Frank Sirinek offers advice.  Frank might justifiably be nicknamed "Mr PCC" on site and he cheerfully stopped what he was working on and joined the crew.

Almost There

I said I took too many pics, this one from the outside through a window while Frank, Lorne and Dave add more screws.

Priming

In the shop, Simon Harrison was applying new primer to some of the panels cleaned last weekend and is explaining the finer points to Dave Rogan.

Done

So here it is, looking for all the world like it has been there all along.  But a milestone nevertheless as the restoration moves forward.  NEXT?  There is another 'clamshell' waiting for attention, to be installed in the front end.