[6pack] Ratco is here

[Jerry Shaw]

My Ratco has been a joy to put together.

I chose to paint it myself using POR-15 (it's repairable if dinged) and I had
Tony fill  all closed tubing with foam. Since I don't live very far from
Tony's facilities, he actually paid me a visit, along with his friend Anthony
and they helped me test fit the tub to the chassis before taking the tub and
all removables to the painter. I had done a number of welding repairs on the
tub while attached to the old frame, including a floor pan and rocker panel
and a B-post. I experimented with lowering the tub from the ceiling of my
garage and found that tipping the tub's nose down first and attaching two
front purchase points first then lowering the rear allowed quite acceptable
alignment to almost all mounting holes. I will need to enlarge only one or two
tub mounting holes to achieve perfect fitment.

I should note that I cross-braced both door apertures on the inside, so I will
get back a fully assembled body from the painter, which I can then lower onto
the chassis for final fitment. This avoids potential damage to any parts in
trying to reassemble piece by piece back home.  I bought an ATV/snowmobile
trailer for this job, which I will sell when I finish, so I took the fully
assembled body to the painter and will trailer it back complete. They have
already taken the parts off, primed and painted inside areas, and are now
reassembling for the final finishing.

In the meantime, I broke in the cam and tested the engine, only to find that
my spin-on filter leaks! Can't even get it out of the garage before an oil
leak!.

See pics at
http://www.triumphowners.com/registry.cgi?sectionID=111014&vehicleID=977

Jerry