GPA 2196 Assembly Begins

[GPA2196]

Just wanted to give a quick update and thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far. I took the week off from work to head out to Oklahoma to start the assembly of GPA 2196. We built up the chassis and test drove it... Dennis actually got it up to about 40 mph in this configuration without brakes! I was less brave opting for the leisurely drive through the pasture.

Dennis Francis



Me (Tony)


The Hull looked GREAT...



Then we took the axles off of the chassis and got the forklift out


Make sure to put the drag link boot in before lowering the chassis in especially if you are going to keep the engine in place when you put it in.




We lifted the chassis then rolled the hull right under it a little further forward than the chassis so the frame rails clear the winch support frame



Choose a good center of gravity so the Chassis can be tilted forward and your straps don't slip.


Put the front frame bolts in first, then pivot the chassis down





Today, Tuesday we are going to put the axles up under it. The above took about an afternoon. You can see more pictures here:

http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/GPA2196/?start=all

Cheers,
Tony

[leo verhagen]

Tony,

That looks great :!:

Looks like building everything on the frame and then lower it in the hull works great.
Could you reach for the bolts and nuts attaching the frame to the hull easy???

Thanks for your reply.

[Dominique Cordonnier]

Outstanding work Tony :P
Never thought you could do it that way ! :shock: :roll: Congratulations to you and Dennis , ...... :wink: Good to see some faces on known names .
All my best regards to you both :D
Dominique

[bobassel]

Wonderfull Job Tony !!

I agree with Dominique!, I had my doubts about this method :roll:
I still wonder if you could reach everything with building up?
Anyway , everything looks wonderfull and I can imagine that you are looking out to the first "dive" !! :D
Succes with the work!

Bob (looking again out to my first dive !)

[David Welch]

Great Job !!!!

You make it look so easy.

[GPA2196]

Thanks to all my GPA friends. I appreciate your kind words and wishes!

Day two of assembly went pretty well. We used a come along to line up all the holes frame/tub precisely



we also used this interesting item which Dennis pulled out of his toolbox. I am going to try and convince him it would have a better home in the GPA tool kit....


A GPA doing a wheelie.....


Getting ready to put the front axle in



Just cut and punched some spring shackle seals



On the front axle with temporary bolts...



We installed Richard Sanders pin to raise the tie rods and drag link... we had to make a small modification to make it fit right. The shank of the pin didn't match up right with the axle and we had to recut a slot to accept the pin at the new spot. I believe I am a convert to grease the draglink and don't clamp it... it is a very tight fit and I think clamping it would cause a lot of stress on the boot in the straight wheel position.

I took the advice of putting the draglink boot in before assembly... but did not see how putting the front driveshaft boot in first would work.... I think in retrospect I would try to put that boot on first as well and deal with hooking up the drive shaft with the boot inside out or something... getting the bottom bolt tight took over an hour... I think we probably spent 3 hours on that boot alone! I think the rear boot should go on relatively easily... but that is for tomorrow... I'll post some pics of the front driveline boot in place tomorrow. And once again thanks for all the kind words and encouragement.

Cheers,
Tony

[richardfs]

HI Tony,
That is an incredible way to assemble your GPA.
THis puts a whole new spin on my article on how to assemble one.

You have done an incredible job on this vehicle.
I like your idear of test running the drive train with out the hull. It is such hard work to get at any of the mechanics once it is in the hull.

Please let me know what modifications you made to the extended bell crank shaft. ( I am always open to improvements).

Keep up the good work.

Best regards
Richard