All the sheet metal in the cases has been eaten away to the point where it is no longer restorable. It will all need to be removed and replaced. Also the space in the fire station is borrowed, not permanent, so the component parts will be moved one at a time to other storage until they can be restored.
2000 7 10 9:06:12 PM To allow for moving the bases without a machine, the
first thing Dick did was remove the rivets to allow splitting them into
top and bottom sections.
2000 7 10 9:11:26 PM As you can see by looking through the case, much of
the original sheet metal has been eaten away over the years.
2000 7 10 9:13:34 PM After using the hand grinder for some time, Dick decides
that a cold chisel is the faster way to dispatch the old rivets.
2000 7 10 9:18:56 PM Dick is hoisting off the top section of the base.
Note that the vertical tie rods that have been facing the ground (right
side) have corroded away to the size of a pencil in places. Fortunately
between the two bases enough rods remain to restore one unit.
2000 7 10 9:25:28 PM This sure looks like a lot of work!
2000 7 10 9:26:40 PM Amazingly, in spite of the extensive corrosion, not
one of the nuts or studs was seized fast. Someone had cut the wires, but
apparently not been able to open the base to pull them out, so there is
enough left here to make an attempt at reconstructing the proper connections.
2000 7 10 9:28:58 PM Bud, my friend, boss, and fellow fire fighter in Florida,
stopped by to see how it was going and immediately got drafted to help
remove one of the remaining damaged vertical rods. (it needed the pipe
wrench plus the open end to remove its lower nut.)
2000 7 10 9:36:48 PM The original nameplate.
(c) Dick Bronson July 2000