Question on Traveller Frame Assembly

[panky]

A question for those who have replaced the traveller timber frame.
I've assembled and treated the timber sides and will soon be permanently mounting them on the car, are the rear pillars screwed and glued to the ladder section or is it just the coach bolts that hold it in place? Similarly is the rear top rail held in just with screws into the pillars and nails through the roof edge?





Thanks in anticipation

[ManyMinors]

Originally the frames were screwed together from the inside. Of course, the complete rear body frame was built up off the car as a separate entity, so access to do this wasn't a problem. I assembled my Traveller the same way as you. On the car. Which means that you don't have the access to get the screws in. I think I loosely bolted my ladder section on and then applied an adhesive (such as Tiger Seal) to the ends of it and then fitted the sides. I had already done a few dry runs/trials first of course!
Make sure you apply plenty of sealant between the metal wheelarch flange and the wood frame prior to final assembly too. I'm sure you have worked that sort of thing out already, but worth mentioning. Water (and exhaust fumes) can get in through SO many places on a Traveller!
Your car is starting to look very good now A Traveller with fresh wood really takes some beating doesn't it.

[simmitc]

The rear top rail should have internal metal corner braces - you should have removed those and saved them somewhere safe when you took the car apart - hopefully you cleaned and painted them at the same time ready to refit. They are "handed", so male sure that you fit them the correct way round.

[panky]

Oh yes the sides have been on and off that many times I'm expecting them to have fitted themselves this morning. Yep plenty of butyl sealant tape available and already used to fit the alloy panels to the frames and will add some more to the front pillars and wheel arches. I used Aerolite on the frame joints but I'll go for the Tigerseal option on the ladder to post joints as you have suggested, I usually get that stuff everywhere so I'll be extra careful. I have saved the internal braces which are cleaned and painted ready to fit again There were metal braces fitted between the front top rail and cant rails too but these seemed to be a bit home made and warped, were there brackets there originally?
Thank you for the positive comments

[ManyMinors]

I can remember a smaller angled bracket which fitted at the front of the top rail and attached to the front roof rail. Of course these were also screwed together. This bracket (I have pictured a spare one from the drivers side) is impossible to fit if the roof is already in position

[panky]

That's the fella, I'll attempt the straighten them out an re-fit them.

[ManyMinors]

I'm going from memory but the one in my picture will be for the drivers side. The flat section screws down into the top of the top rail at the front.
The curved section follows the shape of the wooden front roof rail. There are 3 holes in that section: The little countersunk one must be a locating screw. The next one is probably one of the long 1/4" bolts which join the rear timber frame to the steel cab roof and the remaining one must be where the wiring runs through for the interior light? Just my memory and educated guesswork though

[simmitc]

Here's the right hand front bracket fitted to the roof section:

Bracket.jpg (890.04 KiB) Viewed 2024 times

What should happen is that the bracket is fixed to the top of the side section, then the roof is fitted, and then the whole back end is joined to the cab assembly, and the bolts fitted. Without a jig, trial fitting of the frame to the cab is essential to get the position of the bracket correct before fitting the roof.

What typically happens is that people fit a new side without removing the roof. To get the old side off, they just twist the rotten wood and pull it away, which bends the bracket, resulting in what you see in the photo. Another give-away to a less than thorough restoration is that the wooden roof braces are loose instead of being attached to hold the frame in shape.

There are some great photos of the factory where the assembled rear is being "flown" onto the cab assembly. I'll post one if I can find it - won;t help you assemble yours, just interesting.

[panky]

Thank you both for the great info. The brackets on Ted were twisted up before I got to them and not even secured to the cab just floating about on a rusty screw or two , someone had obviously been there before me I remembered the rear floor support frame needed new rear post brackets welding on so no woodwork today.
The production line photos would be brilliant thank you.

[simmitc]

I've managed to find a couple of Nuffield photos that I picked up at an autojumble:

T1A.jpg (37.06 KiB) Viewed 1961 times

T2A.jpg (39.55 KiB) Viewed 1961 times

These haven't got the roof in place, but do show clearly that the frame is assembled off the car, and the roof support beams are glued/screwed in place. The photo that I really wanted to show was one with a complete section in mid air being moved onto the cab section. I know it's in the collection somewhere, and I will post it if I eventually find it.

[panky]

They're brilliant thank you
An extra pair of hands and a bit more space to assemble it all and it's the ideal way of putting it together

[ManyMinors]

Interesting photos. Taken fairly late in production looking at the laminated rear pillars.
The little forward brackets we have been discussing can be seen in the later photo, taken prior to fitting the roof.

[Mark Wilson]

Was this the photo you were looking for?

Regarding the front brackets, the Ray Newell/Steve Foreman book says "they should be removed and discarded. These brackets serve no useful purpose, unless the complete wood frame is being assembled off the car, as it would have been at the factory."

[panky]

Great picture thank you. The brackets are on and will soon disappear behind the head lining so no going back now