My M35A2 Project aka Big Betty

[TMNT]

A pretty good ending to a grueling week. When I got home this afternoon, my wife had some great homemade gumbo ready and after a bowl of that and an ice cold beer, I installed the new water pump and thermostat.




The new compressor pulley hasn't arrived yet but I'm hoping it will tomorrow.

After finishing that up, I played a little front yard football with my son and my brother. It's all good now.

 

[DeucesWild11]

Nice write up and pics, looks like you have a fine truck there.. I have had mine about a month or two longer than you but you really have gotten into some projects with her. I am pacing myself but have done a good bit of work to her. Still feel like there is allot to learn.. Best of luck with her.

 

[TMNT]

Thank you, sir. I am enjoying it for the moment. My projects seem to be multiplying like rabbits, though. For everything I fix, I discover two more things that need fixing. The penalty for being a perfectionist, I suppose.

 

[TMNT]

Well, the compressor pulley didn't show up yet, so I'm stuck. I can't install the radiator until I swap out the pulley. It might be possible but I figure, why complicate things? If I wait a day or two more, the pulley will be here and it's a cakewalk with the radiator out.

I did get the generator connected, the water pump on, new heater line shutoff valves installed, the fan back on, and the belts on. I used boiler drain valves for the heater connections. It's an experiment to see how they work out.









The clearance for the drain valves is tight, but they do just barely fit.

 

[TMNT]

Saturn was sold out of the compressor pulleys so, I'm in the hunt again. I think I've found one at TNJMurray, but we'll see when it gets here.

The compressor pulley is the first time that I've had really difficult time finding a replacement part. A word to the wise, be careful with your compressor pulley!

 

[TMNT]

After almost a month, Betty is back on the road. Well, sort of.

With my father-in-laws help today, I re-installed the radiator after improvising a temporary fix for my broken compressor pulley. It'll do until the new one eventually shows up from TNJMURRAY.

I filled her up with 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water and no leaks....yet.

I discovered a mistake I made with the generator installation. There are two hot wires, one larger and one small, about #14. The smaller wire was accidentally trapped and pinched under the little metal cover that goes over the terminals. As soon as I turned the engine over (power on, fuel off) a cloud of smoke erupted from the generator. I thought I had fried it for sure.

After a bit of troubleshooting, I found that wire pinched under the cover and severely burned. I cut out the damage and replaced it. It works just fine now. I'm not sure if that smaller wire is/was a fuse-able link or not. I'm researching the TM's tonight for that answer.

After that drama was resolved, I did a pre-ride inspection on the usual stuff and took her for a test drive about 15 miles. She did great with no leaks and no other problems. Before the work I just completed, she would run a very steady 180 degrees. Now with new thermostat, new water pump, belts and hoses, she seems to run about 175. After 15 miles at highway speed with some hills involved, she just touched 180 degrees a couple of times but quickly dropped back to just a shade under 180 by the dash mounted gauge.

I know I will have to partially disconnect the radiator to tilt it forward to swap that compressor pulley. And, I have not yet reinstalled the grill guard. I'll do that after that pulley is swapped. For now, I'm just glad she's mostly back together and running.

 

[clinto]

Really clean and nice work Scott.

I can't wait to see it filthy in October.

 

[TMNT]

Clinto, I'm sure we'll get muddy in October. Can hardly wait.

In the meantime, I've got a list of projects a mile long!

 

[TMNT]

The compressor pulley arrived today from TNJMurray. I received the entire pulley assembly (front half and back half) even though the part number I ordered and the part photo was only the front half that I needed.

I plan on using only the front half so I have a back half pulley here if anyone needs it.

I shot some Rapco 383 Green on the new front pulley and I'll install it tomorrow night.

Still on my list:

Turn up fuel a couple of flats
Adjust valves; clean and paint valve covers; new gaskets

Replace front zipper boots
Compressor clean up and new gaskets & filter
Remote brake reservoir install
Check, repack all bearings
Replace rubber brake hoses
Rebuild IP
Gotta finish installing that cab heater!

SSGA12 is right around the corner!

 

[clinto]

Check, repack all bearings

I am waiting to do my USAF truck until after the rally, so if it gets mud/water intrusion, I don't have to do it twice.

 

[RIDDLE1]

I am waiting to do my USAF truck until after the rally, so if it gets mud/water intrusion, I don't have to do it twice.

That is a great idea. Work smarter not harder!

 

[TMNT]

I am waiting to do my USAF truck until after the rally, so if it gets mud/water intrusion, I don't have to do it twice.

Yep, good idea. I want to at least inspect the hubs, bearings, and brakes since I'll be making a 130 mile highway trip there and back. I haven't inspected the hubs yet since I've had no operating temperature problems and no visible leaks. I'll feel better about it if I pop them open and take a look. If everything looks healthy, I'll wait until after the rally to do the service.

 

[Capt.Marion]

I have found that while my pass. side windshield wiper motor works like a charm, the driver's side one [naturally] is stuck pretty good. Did you wind up rebuilding your wiper motors, replacing them, or some combination thereof?

Glad your compressor pulley finally came in--now you should be all the way back in action.

 

[TMNT]

Ken, I initially had the plastic wiper motors and I tried cleaning them up lubing them. That yielded some improvement, but they were still unreliable and sporadic.

I eventually replaced them with new metal motors that have been far more reliable. I think they were about $95 each though, so not a cheap fix.

I also experimented a lot with different wiper arms and blades. I think I ended up with the ANCO arms and Saturn blades, but honestly I rotated through so many combinations, I'm not sure what's on there now. First, I had a lot of trouble getting the arms reliably attached to the wiper motor shaft. After solving that problem, I had trouble with the blades flinging off of the arms. The plastic connectors just didn't attach to the arms with enough force to keep them on when the wipers were working at anything faster than medium-slow.

The wiper blades that I have now have metal clips that clip onto the wiper arms. After driving in several rain storms over the past few months, they're still working just fine.

 

[Capt.Marion]

If I can't get reliable functionality from the driver's side motor with a little bit of tinkering, I think a metal replacement will be the best avenue. If I do that, I'd probably only replace the driver's side as it is the most important. Hopefully the passenger side one doesn't crap out on me right after that.

Did you get the metal replacement from Erik's, or somewhere else?

Thanks for the info.

 

[clinto]

The metal wiper motors are the only way to fly, unless you have the 24V A3 upgrade.

My '87 came with them and I have scrounged a set for the '67 that will go in it when I am done.

Between the metal motors and the civvy arm/blade upgrade I did, the last thunderstorm I drove through actually made it pleasant to use the wipers!

 

[TMNT]

I got mine from Erik's. THe description/part number is "Wiper Motor, Air Operated, 7539696 / 22191." I also did the "one at a time" thing and kept one plastic motor and installed one metal motor. The problem was that the air demand is different between trhe two motors. It takes (at least in my case) a good bit more air flow to operate the plastic motor. So, when I adjusted the wiper air flow high enough to get fairly constant operation out of the plastic motor, the metal motor was banging away at double-speed. If I reduced the air flow to accomodate the metal motor, the plastic motor would stop or operate only intermittently. I pretty quickly ordered another metal motor and now I'm pretty happy with the wiper system. An electric system would perform better, but I like the authenticity of the air-powered system. That's my 2 cents worth anyway.

 

[Capt.Marion]

Good to know--I will keep that in mind going forward. Better to know that now than to learn it in the rain going down through the mountains (which is when I found out my driver's side motor was stuck).

 

[TMNT]

I discovered that my Saturday schedule is not the relaxed, spend all day on the deuce kind of day that I planned.

I rushed home after work today, and swapped out the compressor pulley and adjusted the compressor belt. That was a pain with the radiator installed, but I got it done with a lot of sweat, a little blood, and the usual grease. Is there any other way?

I don't know why, but since I was already sweaty and dirty and the IP was right there in front of me, decided to go ahead and turn it up. I have been reading and studying the related TM's and I felt pretty confident at this point.

I found the security wire with the seal stamped with "US" still intact, so no one has made any adjustment since the last government work on the truck. I quickly found the adjusting rod/nuts and turned it up 3 flats (after I turned a standard wrench into a thin wrench with a grinder). I had read that a bypassed FDC was equal to a full turn and I knew that the EGTs were running below 900 degrees under the hardest pulls. I also checked the adjuster rod and it measured the standard setting beyond the nut, so I went ahead and bumped it up 3 flats.

A test drive revealed much improved performance, and a more smoke when pulling. I didn't need to downshift on any of the hills that had previously pulled it down to 35 MPH and 4th gear. I maintained 43-45 MPH in 5th with EGT a good solid 900 but not higher. I'm very pleased with that. I could turn it up more, but I'm going to hold it there for a while and see how it goes.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll get her washed and looking right for a party tomorrow night.

 

[TMNT]

Betty's bringin' sexy back today! She looks good and she knows it.