how many bolts do you need?

What ever number you think, it is wrong and you will go get more, unless you thought you needed more and now you have way too many. I spent yesterday on my back on the frozen ground tightening bolts. I enlisted my daughter Ava to help keep the elevator bolts from spinning as I tightened. See got to sit inside with a space heater, while I absorbed the frozen ground through my coveralls. Here is the process I used:

First I used a 1/16th" bit to drill up through the frame and floor. Please note that it is not possible to drill straight up due to the flange on the frame.

Next I compensated for the angle of the pilot hole and used a forstner bit to countersink for the head of the elevator bolt.
I then drilled a 1/4" hole to allow the shaft to pass through the floor.

Inserted a bolt, a lock washer, and a nut. Then I tightened it down. Finally I bent the remaining threads so the nut could only be cut off.



And now for something totally different....

Another project involved making new "C" channel. Mine is "J" shaped, but that is not important to most folks. Anyway, I ripped some 4" x 29 1/2" pieces of Lowes aluminum ( I do not know the grade or thickness, it is just labeled aluminum sheet). I then marked it at 1 1/2" and 3" from one edge.

I bent it at those marks...

And made these. They are exactly the same as the original ones , only square and not full of holes, oh, and they are not covered with corrosion. I also made the inside face taller by a 1/4".

Next I began cutting them into segments just like the curved ones are. I used the average of 2 1/4" between the cuts. I reached this spacing from the originals, even though it was not laid out evenly in 1962.