Hello! And thanks in advance for the guidance

[windybob]

If you want that to work at all, it needs a rebuild, or at least a disassembly, good clean up, and everything checked.

Start by either having a REALLY good memory, or take a lot of pictures, and close-ups. You won't regret it. Start taking the outside stuff off. then work your way in to the head. Wheel comes apart in 6 sections. Sections come apart by grinding a hundred or two rivets, straightening, and drilling everything to 1/4 inch and bolting back together. The tail, maybe toss up on the dining room table and use your sheet metal skills. Hurry before the wife gets home....

[mtblah]

Kyle , that tail vane is in wonderfull condition !
It's all there , you should see some examples of a "poor " condition tail .
A simple sheet metal ( body ) hammer and a small dolly ( backup tool ) is all it will take to fold the metal back into the bullett holes , a little at a time .
I see about 2 hours worth of time to streighten the tail.
Keep us posted on your progress , photos are good .
Mike B

[Oldwindmill]

Thank you!

So the suggestion is to grind out the rivets drill the holes out and replace them with 1/4 inch bolts?

Thank you for the tail vane suggestion. Would you straighten the “arms” of the vane or purchase a new set of arms?

Regarding the tower, any tips on straightening the metal legs? They are a bit thicker metal. Also the tower has what appears to be tensioners. Do you guys recommend just tightening the tensioners or is there a method to the madness?

I will probably start this project in late January. Thank you!

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Oldwindmill what I found out that works best for me when it comes to disassembling the wheel is drilling the rivets out with a 1/4 inch bit. When you grind them out usually you end up grinding into the sails, ties,or wheel and then you have to touch up the bare metal with galvanized paint.Also grinding galvanized parts can make you sick if not well ventilation i found out the hard way

[windybob]

If you do get sick from zinc, it feels like you caught the flu in the last 5 minutes. Get you a half gallon of milk, and get as much down as possible. That helped me in about 10 minutes.

I grind them, but am pretty good at staying away from the clips or sails. I took a ball peen hammer and ground the round end down to about 3/16 round by 1/2 in long. This is much easier than using a punch for the rivet stubs. Of course, the quality of aim is commensurate with the number of rivet hits. I also spread the vise jaws maybe 1/2 inch or so to lay the rivet over for support. The rivets in the rails need ground flush, then drilled. They hardly ever punch out easy.
I use 1/4 X 5/8 grade 5 bolts on the wheel. ALWAYS use locking items, or things will start flying apart later.
The rails you can hammer straight on an anvil, or RR rail section. The arms should be checked also. All that stuff is malleable, so you can work with it. I find a 2 lb hammer is good. The sails, not so much with the 2 lb. But they can be straightened fairly easy. Don't forget your foot and the floor are good tools for sails, for a start. The tail bone ( frame) is also malleable.

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Windy how much Kahlua did you mix with the gallon of milk to make you feel better in 10 minutes

[mtblah]

Kyle , take heed of what windy and Dan are saying , except , windy uses big words like malleable .
that really means you can use a hammer to straighten .
We're simple talk here in south TX .

[windybob]

To both of you.

[Oldwindmill]

Awesome thank you all! I’m going to start with disassembly and straightening in January. Then I will post up some photos of the box itself to be sure there’s nothing I need to do before reassembly. Will keep everybody posted, thank you all!

[Oldwindmill]

Oh If anybody has any guidance regarding the tower!

“ Regarding the tower, any tips on straightening the metal legs? They are a bit thicker metal. Also the tower has what appears to be tensioners. Do you guys recommend just tightening the tensioners or is there a method to the madness?”