Cleaning and priming day

[cranetruck]

Nice day here in Virginia. Spent most of it cleaning and priming parts of the old XM757....

 

[Stretch44875]

Looks like progress. When do you think it will be road ready?

 

[m38inmaine]

I like the attention to detail, masking off the wires-hoses-lines, makes the end product look so much better. I always take the extra time to mask all the rubber seals, wires, etc. Great job!

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

Looking great Bjorn!

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

So the knuckles still doing well?

 

[cranetruck]

Yes Andy, I check'm every so often and they are nice and smooth, very little effort required to turn the steering wheel.

 

[OPCOM]

That is a very nice job! I noticed from the pictures you might have eschewed the top when you got the truck. Was it ruined? How will you eventually replace the top?

 

[clinto]

Very nice Bjorn I would have expected nothing less ftom you.

 

[jkelly66]

Looks good I like the attention to detail as well. That is going to be one of the most unique restorations I have seen. Congrats John

 

[cranetruck]

.......... I noticed from the pictures you might have eschewed the top when you got the truck. Was it ruined? How will you eventually replace the top?

Verb; eschew - avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of

Hmm.....you mean the top is missing? Yes it had a homebuilt job attached when I purchased it and probably a good thing, since it protected the cab very nicely. It was removed as shown below.
A new canvas one, with original frames will be made, at least a bikini style, since I simply love the openess provided by it.

 

[alphadeltaromeo]

The topic title "Cleaning and priming"...how are you cleaning...with what product or system?

 

[hippiedude]

Nice
job........

 

[cranetruck]

Andy, the "cleaning" involves the use of carpenter's wood chilsels for the layers of mud/oil, several wire brushes, scrubbing with soap and water, rinsing with garden hose and the use of a brake cleaner degreaser.
By priming with Rustoleum as I go along, the task is not so hopeless as progress is highly visible.
The torque rods are aluminum and will take a different primer, zink chromate.

I don't have a pressure washer availble at the moment, but it would probably help speed things up.

Interesting note: Cavities that may get filled with water are foam filled from factory....

 

[SierraHotel]

Cranetruck,
If you don’t want the beacons from the top, I’ll take haul them away for you/ ‘Course with gas prices today, round trip to Meadows of Dan might be as much as buying them outright…

 

[cranetruck]

Sorry SH, the man in the image had been hired to haul everything off to the scrapper. He spent about 5 months hauling everything from engines still in cans to burned out deuces and he got my top as well. It's long gone.
He has a Grove crane on the hook here....

 

[ken]

Man that's looking great! That will sure be a show stopper!

 

[OSO]

That job you are doing should get all of us motivated ! Need a few more days like yours up in the northwest, for us shopless or cover less open air garage people. OSO

 

[cranetruck]

Thanks, my primary motivation here is to make it work, functional, there is hardly a better way to learn about your beast, than to clean it. I keep finding valves, manifolds and things I never noticed when scanning the manuals. The "bogie manifold" cluster shown above was noting but a ball of clay (the light was poor when I started digging it out, so there is no "before" picture).
I also found a torque rod with a torn bushing under all the red Oklahoma dirt I brought back along with the truck. This torque rod will have to be replaced.