I'm in the process of doing some more work on the 04946 and had a few questions for those that have worked on these cars. I'm finally at a point where I can start doing more than what was originally just meant to be enough to keep the car from deteriorating further (i.e., a metal roof to replace, well, not much...).
My goal is to only remove/replace that which on the car is beyond usability for a non-operational car and preserve as much as possible of the original car (this will probably be to my detriment and I'll probably try to save what can't be, but that's in my nature), and where replacement is needed, at least keep the spirit of the original item if I can't find/make one. I won't even try to compare what I'll be doing with the wonderful restorations done on cars like the 04255, 04414 and 04953 to date, but I'll at least be preserving and using it, which is a better fate than what it would have suffered had it still been in the Reed scrapyard, so appreciate any insights that those of you who have worked on wooden cars.
1 - I'm replacing the now 7-year old "temporary" metal roof with some roll roofing material to more properly reflect the original roof on the car and I'm coming back to exactly what to do with the roof walk bolts? When I got the car, the old roof was totally shot and rotted, and about half the roof walk was gone and most of the roof walk supports rotted. I saved a few that were in better shape as patterns in case I decide to go that far someday, but, anyone have any suggestions how I can best seal up the bolts in the roof if they will just be protruding from the roof without the additional protection of the roofwalk supports and roofwalk? Is the answer that I should attempt to remove/unscrew and save for later? As bad as the top roof was, the sub-roof on top of the car lines is actually still in pretty good shape and I'd hate to get any water damage in there - the metal roof didn't look fantastic, but it did it's job these 7 years.
2 - Does anyone have a good close up shot of the door hardware used on these cars for the side/end doors? I only have one original door left and the hardware was at some point removed from the car. I'd like to at least find something close to original that was used, but not even sure what shape the hardware was.
3 - The interior, despite serving as an animal shelter and literally covered with about 2-4 inches of dirt when I got it, is actually in decent shape for what I need it to be now having finished shoveling the worst of it out. Some of the floor boards are pretty rough and bowed (read: dirt got underneath), but I think with some abatron they'll be perhaps good enough for a non-working car. The wall and ceiling beadboards are in fairly good shape. I'm hesitant to repaint as there is some vintage "graffiti" on the walls apparently written by some of the Spanish and Italian roadway crews (I have to document further, but have seen Durango dates in 1934/1936 and McPhee from 1942 as examples) I'm trying to determine if there's any sealant I can reasonably apply to the walls to cover up the old paint so it doesn't flake or chip, if I should leave it alone or if the only good option is to repaint?
I'll plan on posting a few interior shots of the car this weekend to show you all where things sit currently.
