Home Up Join MVPA! Flag Code 45th/Thunderbirds A Major Mess Sgt. Mess Pvt. Mess General Mess Mini MB

 

Home
Up

Jeez, I've got to get all these "messes" figured out someday!

Well, here's yet another project involving a bbq pit and trailer.  As you've probably read, Pvt. Mess was my trailered bbq pit that was stolen.  I had a lot of good cooks on that with friends, family and the historic military vehicle club I belong to.  When that was stolen, I got pretty bummed out and didn't think about building another one until a club member recently mentioned they couldn't wait until the Spring Burnet air-show, and asked what I'd be cooking.  When I heard that, I just had to spring into action and build another to keep the guys happy.

So I bring you Sgt. Mess, making me the "Mess Sergeant"!

02/07/2006 (Tuesday - 5.00hrs/5.00hrs total)
Today was the day I decided to just 'get her done'.  My goal was to fabricate everything so all I would have to do is wait for the next warm, sunny day to sand, prime and paint.

craig100.JPG (121503 bytes) craig101.JPG (123982 bytes) craig103.JPG (122314 bytes) craig104.JPG (125188 bytes) craig105.JPG (124732 bytes)
Naked trailer and base rack The $50 used pit with all the racks! Trailer and pit Trailer/pit mockup The base rack cut to fit
craig106.JPG (124512 bytes) craig107.JPG (122164 bytes) craig108.JPG (125830 bytes) craig109.JPG (127097 bytes) craig110.JPG (125256 bytes)
Fenders mocked up Angle for leg attachment cut and mocked up Pit legs cut to keep the same handle hgt. Pit mocked up on the trailer
craig111.JPG (123486 bytes) craig112.JPG (128019 bytes) craig113.JPG (126408 bytes) craig114.JPG (125357 bytes) craig115.JPG (123330 bytes)
Center align Left align Went with the left align Allows for a cooler and wood
craig116.JPG (128453 bytes) craig117.JPG (130331 bytes) craig118.JPG (123584 bytes) craig119.JPG (120639 bytes)
Angle in place with leg bolts Fabricated the 20mm box supports A good day's work Still need to fab the landing leg

02/11/2006 (Saturday - 1.00hr/6.00hrs total)
Today's goal was to fabricate the landing leg support.  Scrounging around I found a 4" pc of 2"ID tube as well as a good stock of 2"OD tube that would work as the insert or leg.  I had a few trailer hitch pins in the truck toolbox that worked as the pins to hold the leg in place during cooks and/or transport.   I've got a whopping 6.00 hours in the project now.

craig120.JPG (133509 bytes) craig121.JPG (132017 bytes)
Fabricated the landing leg Ready for sand/prime and paint!

03/02/2006 (Thursday - 3.00hrs/9.00hrs total)
Today's goal was to get the new project sanded, primed and painted.  That said, I did a quick sandblast to knock off the big stuff, and hit some spots that could easily be seen in addition to where there was a lot of rusty spots.  I taped off the tires and shot it with a two-part epoxy red-oxide primer (PPG's DP-74LF) that I just love 'cause it's durable as hell and you can paint on it within an hour and no sanding is necessary.  I had some left over from the last project and used it all up.  After about an hour, I shot it with what's referred to as OD#24087 or the late Korean war/early Vietnam war paint code from a gallon I had in the garage waiting for yet another project. This is a semi-gloss paint that gets cut with 4oz zylene to 28oz paint and it all goes in the Imperial Tool Palace (Harbor Freight) 'quart pot' spray rig running about 20psi. It sat in the sun about an hour and I shot it a second time. I'll let this dry under a barn for several days (supposed to rain anyway this weekend) before applying any markings for grins.

 

craig122.JPG (131169 bytes) craig123.JPG (130426 bytes) craig124.JPG (130077 bytes)
2-Part Epoxy Primer Taped and painted #24087 Ready for graphics and then attack the pit clean-up & paint

03/04/2006 (Saturday - 2.00hrs/11.00hrs total)
After finishing the Texas Independence Day parade, I headed over to Kaiserville to do some more work on the pit.

craig125.JPG (128972 bytes) craig127.JPG (125923 bytes) craig128.JPG (125796 bytes) craig129.JPG (125106 bytes) craig130.JPG (125587 bytes)
Stencils on, door oiled Yuck!  Cleaning the inside Horizontal cleaned and oiled All that remains is paint the firebox

03/06/2006 (Monday - 1.00hrs/12.00hrs total)
Yet another bright, sunny day with little wind!  So, I took my high-temp bbq spray paint and went after the firebox.  After first blowing it with high-pressure compressed air, I shot two coats inside and outside.  The can showed more of a black gloss, but what came out was more of a light gray flat.  Oh well.  I'm not going to change it other than to oil the firebox down in a few days.  That should darken it up some.  And the overspray primer?  I'm leaving it.

craig132.JPG (133037 bytes) craig134.JPG (130714 bytes) craig135.JPG (131009 bytes) craig136.JPG (132683 bytes) craig138.JPG (130231 bytes)
It's done! All opened up.  The pit came with all the racks! Cook's side Storage side Firebox side

Costs to Date: (including tax)

09/13/2005 Small trailer (donated by a good friend) 0.00
02/06/2006 Used New Braunfels "Black Diamond" off-set smoker 50.00
03/04/2006 Two cans 1200*F black bbq paint for firebox 8.98

Project expenses to date:

$58.98
 

 

 

Copyright 1997-2010, All Rights Reserved
 Privacy     Webmaster