65 Kaiser M35A2 project starts

[gringeltaube]

Of course...!

 

[Gunfreak25]

Another 30 miles today, took it to work. No issues, just hot as hell being 113 outside. Temp gauge barely moved past 130.

Thinking either thermostat stuck open or that sending unit is bad. If I touch sender wire to ground the gauge pegs full like it should. Unfortunately my multimeter died so I could not check ohms at sender.

 

[gringeltaube]

If 130 was true you should be able to rest your bare hand on the upper radiator tank, for longer than a few seconds. The hood itself was prob hotter than that, if it was sunny and 113 outside...

 

[Gunfreak25]

Just another trip to work, no problems and a beautiful 78 degree morning. Next will be heater restoration (from core to associated wires and air ducts) as well as finishing the front axle spare pumpkin.

 

[ToddJK]

Thank you to Will Wagner and Craig at the American Military Museum in South ark Monte Ca for selling this to me.

It’s a 65 non winch, runs and drives but needs some typical maintenance. I just brought her home today from LA to Yuma. Shout out to FASTNOVA for transporting promptly and reliably.

Truck has civilian hitch welded And bolted on as well as a civi trailer plug spliced in. Kinda ugly, will be cutting this all off. 54000 miles which is likely very accurate. This truck was driven!

Converted to SPIN ON oil filters and did its first oil change, got 7.5 gallons of very fuel diluted oil out of it. It stumbles a bit on start up and when returning to idle so I’m betting the FDC is kaput.

I bought 25 feet of DOT line in both sizes to bypass the FDC and begin replacing all fuel and eventually air lines.

Overall I’ve got my work cut out for me but I bought it as a running project. Brakes come first.
Will Wagner was kind enough to throw in a lot of spare stuff including a nice refurbed radiator and extra spare tire.

Congrats buddy! The maintenance and work put in is half the fun, lol, but it'll be worth it when you start driving it around and feel good about what you have as well as being safe while doing so! Keep us posted, I'm looking forward to see how she turns up at the end.

 

[cattlerepairman]

@Gunfreak25 That sounded almost like a "boring" update, which is excellent news after all the excitement you had. Once you have the truck where it starts and runs and stops reliably, it will hopefully continue to deliver predictable and reliable service. The rest is gravy!

 

[Floridianson]

Is there a trick to getting the bottom brake adjusters done? When torquing the lock nut the eccentric adjuster spins with it. I’ve tried compensating by turning the adjuster cam back then torquing the lock nut but they turn as a pair. It’s all been greased and cleaned.

I’m thinking an actual wrench on the locknut so I can hold the inner adjuster where I want it. Been using a socket and that just ain’t working.

Also remove the nuts and put on the never-seize put your nuts back on and adjust.
If you ever make it too Sunny Beach Fl. stop and grab two NOS windshields.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Talk about a good excuse to go to Florida, funny you noticed how badly mine are rotten. With them open for ventilation it's a wonderful exfoliant having 50mph wind blast your face with rusty window flakes. Sunglasses are a must! The brake adjusters received anti seize at reassembly, having a proper open end wrench made adjustment super easy.

I noticed the truck has a considerable lean to the right side. At least the cab does. Frame looks straight but who knows. I know it had one heck of a hit to the front in it's previous life to damage the radiator and crack the front crossmember like it did. Motor even kissed the firewall by the looks of it. I'll have to get out the measuring tape later so I can find something else to drive me nuts.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Made a civilian turn signal flasher. Thanks to Clinto for the idea!

 

[Mullaney]

Made a civilian turn signal flasher. Thanks to Clinto for the idea!

.
Really NEAT idea!

 

[cattlerepairman]

The data plate is a particularly nice touch.

M

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[Gunfreak25]

I’ve only driven 1 other M35 and it shifted very smoothly. This one is very difficult to get into 2nd. All other gears shift fine. A couple times I couldn’t get it into 2nd and had to stop and start from 1st again. Running a 90 weight mineral gear oil non sulphur based. It’s the equivalent to 40 weight non detergent in viscosity.

I feel like it’s less lube related and maybe mechanical wear?

 

[Gunfreak25]

So 400 miles daily driving with zero problems. What a great truck, it continues to grow on me like a big green tumor. Gonna drive the wheels off this son of a gun all winter. Probably start doing some body work in spring.

 

[Gunfreak25]

The transfer case shifter seal has been leaking for a looooong time. A self tapper screw and a pry bar pops the old out real easy. Clean and looob your shaft and slide the new one in, a few circumferential taps with a little hammer seats her home. No more dripy puddles after a drive.

I thought I’d take a peek at the shift forks and gears while I had the tunnels off. Glad I did! Im no expert but I think I found why she shifts so terribly. Glad to know it ain’t all my perfect shifting skills at work……can anyone tell me how my forks look? They’re pretty groovy baby…..

Spicer 3053a 2nd gear wobble

youtube.com

 

[Mullaney]

The transfer case shifter seal has been leaking for a looooong time. A self tapper screw and a pry bar pops the old out real easy. Clean and looob your shaft and slide the new one in, a few circumferential taps with a little hammer seats her home. No more dripy puddles after a drive.

I thought I’d take a peek at the shift forks and gears while I had the tunnels off. Glad I did! Im no expert but I think I found why she shifts so terribly. Glad to know it ain’t all my perfect shifting skills at work……can anyone tell me how my forks look? They’re pretty groovy baby…..

Spicer 3053a 2nd gear wobble

youtube.com

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The new seal looks reall well done for sure! It is amazing how a little shade tree fixin will solve a difficult problem.

I am of the opinion that your shift forks look a bit worn...
Those little tabs at the middle of the gears where they touch could be slowing down as you try to shift.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Any harm in running her with the wear shown? Or should I decommission until fixed? Should I rebuild this one or rebuild another used one with better forks?

I want to keep her driving so I’d love to find a spare trans and built it right, get the custom machined input cover with seal installed etc…

 

[Mullaney]

Any harm in running her with the wear shown? Or should I decommission until fixed? Should I rebuild this one or rebuild another used one with better forks?

I want to keep her driving so I’d love to find a spare trans and built it right, get the custom machined input cover with seal installed etc…

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I think it would be fine as it is. OR maybe I should say I have seen much worse that was still functional.

I would look around and see what you can find for a replacement. Especially the syncros and bearings. May as well do it right!

 

[Gunfreak25]

I noticed a loose driveshaft bolt. So she got parked for a week, spent an hour with an impact and a grease gun looobing all her joints and tightening anything that looked suspicious. Just a loose driveshaft bolt, all else is good.

I pulled the rear trunnions caps to find they have the older obsolete bearings. The races are pretty bad and it was scary to find the locking rings loose and no tabs bent over.

For now I adjusted bearings, bent tabs down, fixed a broken bolt, and installed grease nips per a post by Gringeltaube. Supposedly this flushes old grease out better than just the grease nip from the bottom end.

 

[Gunfreak25]

DISASTER STRIKES! Kidding. Driving down the road today and I hear a loud WOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSHHHHHH and air pressure starts falling. Maintained 30 psi all the way home with no brake loss at all.

The culprit? The gasket for the AIR PAK inlet valve blew out. It appears the 4 little screws were not tight enough and allows weeepage of air and eventually blew her paper out.

Gotta drag the good cereal box gasket paper for this one…..

 

[Mullaney]

DISASTER STRIKES! Kidding. Driving down the road today and I hear a loud WOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSHHHHHH and air pressure starts falling. Maintained 30 psi all the way home with no brake loss at all.

The culprit? The gasket for the AIR PAK inlet valve blew out. It appears the 4 little screws were not tight enough and allows weeepage of air and eventually blew her paper out.

Gotta drag the good cereal box gasket paper for this one…..

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Nice when the bad isn't as bad as it might have been!