I haven't forgotten about my blog!

Just thought I'd post up a pic I took recently, now the ramps are properly fixed on and the galvanising has had a chance to weather a bit:

Hooray it's finally done!!!

Here it is outside the galvanisers just after I had finished assembling it. The nickel is still nice and shiny!

The loading ramps need a little adjustment as I forgot to account for the light board on the back. Not difficult to fix though. I towed it home, about a 40 minute drive, and it towed fine.

I need to replace the tyres as a matter of course before I use it to carry a car (they are the original caravan tyres and I don't know how old they are, although there is loads of tread on them, I want to change them as a precaution).

Here's what it cost me in total:

Chassis - £62 from ebay

Steel - £150 from ultimate steel, Cardiff

Nuts and bolts - £15 from FES, Cowbridge

Galvanising - £170 by Cardiff Galvanisers (very poor customer service - I will not be using them again)

Light board with 7m cable and fog lamp - £15 from ebay

Jockey wheel - £12 from ebay

Winch - £12 from ebay

So all totalled that's £446, bargain.

(the only parts not accounted for are the loading ramps, as I made these from materials I had in the garage already, and they were given to me for free, or bought as part of larger batch for another project)

Went down again yesterday, guess what, STILL not done.

Really fed up - will never use Cardiff galvanising again, could not reccomend them to anyone.

Their level of customer service and organisation is truly abysmal.

Ok it's now Friday. I called the galvanisers last night to check that the order would be complete and ready for collection this morning. A manager came on the phone and assured me that this was so.

I towed the bare chassis down there this morning (it's about a half hour drive) and duly paid them for the work they had done. When I went into the yard to collect my steelwork, first, they couldn't find it. When they finally did, they had only galvanised the chassis parts, but not the main decks. Not happy is an understatement. They have now assured me again that they will be done today and ready to be collected tomorrow.

So while i was there, I assembled the chassis parts (crossmembers) onto the chassis, added the light board, and towed it home.

The quality of the galvanised parts I have is really good, the quality of service I have experienced though, is not. In case anybody is reading this and wondering who I'm talking about, it's Cardiff Galvanising. I'm sure they are wonderful to their regular, high volume customers. My order just isn't big enough to be important.

Again, maybe tomorrow???

Steelwork not ready today.

Had a call from the galvanisers to say they has found some tar-like substance on the bottom of one of the decks. I wasn't aware that it was there. They tell me they will have to shot blast it off, which is going to cost more money.

Not happy with them right now, but I'm sure I'll feel much better about it when it's all done and i can go pick it up.

Maybe tomorrow?

Ok loads of progress since last week.

I've made the ladder frames, completed both decks, and this morning taken everything to the galvanisers down in Cardiff. I even had time to have a major clear out of the garage.

It's all going to be galvanised today so hopefully I'll pick it up tomorrow or the day after, reassemble the trailer on site and tow it home. I'll take loads of pictures and post them up.

Ok so far off that last list I have trimmed and welded on one of the mudguards, then I ran out of welding wire. I'll pick up some more today and hopefully get it finished over the weekend.

I have also fabricated the loading ramps, and ran into a problem with them. They were too long to fit in the metal folder I have access to so i had to cut them down, also they don't seem to be sufficiently strong, so to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, so to speak, I am going to make a small ladder fram to support each one, and this will also reconnect the sections I had to cut off.

The other achievement I have done this week is secured the use of another car transporter trailer to carry all the steel pieces down to the galvanisers in Cardiff.