Ongoing Work
December 2014

December 3rd
Weather Proofing the Dodge Shed

In January this year, the Dodge moved a few hundred yards to a new storage site. By February, the owner had built a shelter for the Dodge which kept the worst of the weather off, but there were still a number of holes where rain could get in. I had planned to do something over the summer, but didn't have any suitable materials. Finally at the end of November I got together everything I needed, and at the beginning of December, made a start - a very cold start, with ice everywhere.

The first step was to seal up the joints in the roof panels. I bought some guttering sealant which stays a bit flexible, and forced it into the joints. The gap at the end of the roof where the sloping end meets had a plastic sheet clamped over, using wooden battens to hold it in place. The edge of the wood was then sealed with more sealant. It was the coldest day so far this winter, and there was a good 3/16 inch of ice on parts of the roof! I needed to do lots of drying with cloths where I wanted to stick the sealant. The picture below left shows some of the ice.
On the front opening of the shelter, I've added the first of a three part curtain to keep the rain out. This can be lifted by pulling two strings. Unfortunately I didn't have any plastic large enough to cover the whole opening, so will add another two smaller curtains to fill the gaps. These will hook onto the main curtain when closed, but will remain hanging when the centre opens. To finish off the day, the Dodge was given a 15 minute run and the brakes exercised. The next trip will hopefully see the shelter complete and the Dodge given one last short trip to turn the wheels and exercise all the moving parts before the battery is removed for the coldest part of the winter.
December 5th

Day two of working on the Dodge shelter. There were a number of small openings along the top edge of the roof, with a number of them on the side of the prevailing wind, and rain. More plastic sheeting was stapled along the gaps, doubled over twice where the staples go through. While there will still be holes here and there where rain will run in, it shouldn't be able to be blown in, in any quantity.

The large hole at the front of the shelter is on the leeward side, but was still covered with more plastic sheeting. I needed to add a wooden batten vertically up the side of the steel container so I had something to staple into. A large canvas groundsheet forms the door.
After the work on the shelter was complete, the Dodge was taken out for a short two mile drive. This was to rotate the wheels as it had been sitting without moving since August, but also to exercise the brakes, suspension and other moving components. The battery was then removed and brought home for the coldest part of the winter. I've added some more acid tablets and will keep it on a maintenance charger until spring.

December 12th

On the morning of the 12th the anti-freeze was topped up and should now be good for -23C.

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