M1028 A1 Contact Truck with M887 contact body and Wisconsin Generator

[Al Harvey]

Thank you for the pictures. That is a great setup with the boat tank. I like the idea of the quick disconnect to allow it to run dry for storage. Also I think I will steal your idea of adding the second tank, since I have on laying around. My box had the field mod for locking. It's just a pain to have to pull the rods out to get to one door. I do like them if I'm gonna leave the truck sitting for a while. I'm probably gonna pull on the of the cylinders and take it down to a locksmith. But for a couple days the project is on hold, we got some nasty 5-8" of ice and snow coming in so the M1009 is going in the shop. I hate having to scrape ice off so I just park it inside. Also I did order a terminal block from Grainger, they didn't have any 50amp but they did have a 60amp. The others were 30 and below so I went with a sixty.

How long will the generator run on 5gal?

 

[MatthewH]

On a 5 gal tank, it will run roughly 4 hours straight. That's based on 4 hours of strictly welding around 100 amps on a 90* day. Only stop welding to chip slag, change rods, or dress something with a grinder.

 

[Recovry4x4]

The keys are commonly available. I think mine are CH504 or something. It is nice to access one door at a time.

 

[Al Harvey]

Recovry, what wood did you use when your replaced the piece for the tailgate? I'm not a wood expert by any means, but is it from a board or plywood type?

 

[Recovry4x4]

I used PT plywood. 19/32 I think. It was right near 3/4". Works pretty good.

 

[mikev]

On my M887, the battery was located up top, within the elec components. In your second pic, there's a large empty spot between the front of the box and the silver overspeed box, battery goes there. A group 31 fits nicely.
I've seen on GSA/Forestry trucks they had cables run up front to run off the main truck battery, should work as long as your not running the Genny and the truck at the same time.
The hole in the floor is correct as well. Since it air cooled, when you operate the genny, your suppose to open the top as well, and it circulates air. I've never had issues with road grime and crap coming in mine while driving down the road, even during rain or snow no issues. I did build a plywood cover though, mainly for storing during the winter to keep critters out.
Need any pics lemme know. Mines pretty original, had 1 hour on the meter when I got it. Changed the oil/filter and she fired right up. Welds great, run awesome

On mine, my battery is located like yours and in the earlier pictures with the screwdriver is where the battery mounts.

 

[mikev]

For locks and keys to fit the Dodge SECM doors, I bought 10 sets of locks and keys - all locks keyed alike - two keys per lock.

Eberhard Manufacturing out of Strongsville, OH

Their part number: 15621-545 @ $7.03 per lock - for 10 locks was $70.30 + $15.87 ship = $86.17

 

[Al Harvey]

Well the weather is nice now, so the M1028 is back in the shop. Got the new terminal block installed. It becomes a pain crawling around in the box trying to cut wires and solder on connections, then again I don't think they designed it to be crawled in and out of by someone 6'4". lol For the motor, there is no power to the coil, started checking power and found that there is power going to the larger relay thing, but nothing coming out of it. The far left is the power input from the switch, next connection over runs to the coil on the motor. I'm bout to start reading through the TM now about the relay.

Quick question, if anyone knows, does the coil get a direct 12v or is there a resistor in the relay that drops it down some? I'm thinking about running a wire straight to the coil to see if I get some spark, but don't want to burn out the points if the voltage is suppose to be dropped.

 

[MatthewH]

The large silver box in the second photo is the overspeed relay box. I had issues with mine when I first bought it, turned out the clear relay on top was faulty. Swapped it out with one off a parts one a fellow SS'er had and she ran. Cant remember where I had found them before, but I believe there still available.

 

[Al Harvey]

Well it looks like the issue is in overspeed relay box. I took the relay out and tested it off a battery and it does click on and off. After testing the silver box, I've got ground to the terminal with the solder sticking out of it (didn't have a better "pointer" lol). But I'm not getting any power to the plug where the test light is at. I did make sure I was still getting power to the box. So now I think I'm gonna take the silver box out and open it up and see if I see anything wrong.

 

[Al Harvey]

Opened the box up. Anyone know what the piece is in the first picture with the red, blue, black, and green wires? I'm not an electrical expert by any means, but I somewhat know my way around a test light and multimeter. The green wire is the one that runs to the connection that is suppose to provide the power to the coil.

 

[86M10086.2L]

That's a transformer. They are commonly used to step down voltage to different levels. The big grey/green/white cans on the power line poles in front of your/most homes do basically the same thing. Just on a larger scale. They can also be used in circuits to change AC power to DC.

 

[Al Harvey]

Okay, maybe my theory of operation was wrong on these. When the motor is cranking, the relay closes and it provides the 12 volts to the coil. I'm still not getting any spark, but I'm thinking that is the points. With the points closed I'm not getting any ground through them. I get ground on one side but not the other with them closed. Back to the relay, I'm guessing that when the motor is running it tells the circuit to keep the relay closed. If I'm wrong please let me know, but this is my conclusion as of now.

Anyone got TM 5-2805-209-35 ? That seems to be the one that covers these motors.

 

[Al Harvey]

After some more testing, I do believe my current issue is the points. I tried cleaning them and re-gapping them but I'm not getting a ground signal through them when they are closed. Also started looking at some options for converting it to an electronic ignition, just thoughts right now. Points should be in Monday and I'll go from there.

On a side note, since I'm waiting for parts, I went ahead and installed the Go Lights I got from Gimpy. Still got to wire them up, but that's the easy part. Building a housing for the switches is gonna require some thinking as to where and how.

 

[Al Harvey]

Well got the new points in today. Tested the coil first and it was good, so I put in the new points and condenser. After gapping the points and testing to make sure they were working, I hooked it all back up and got spark. Then with a lil starter fluid she came came to life, oil pressure gauge shot straight up. Now I'm gonna pull the carb off and clean it real good. Also going to go ahead and change the oil in it, from what I've read 30 weight is what they are suppose to have in them.

I figured out the operation of the overspeed relay in case anyone is interested. With the switch on, the relay stays open but when cranking it closes the relay and sends 12V to the coil. After the motor is running, it uses the voltage created (from my understanding) to keep the relay closed. My problem was that I kept looking for voltage to the coil with the switch in the on position.

 

[Al Harvey]

Also I went ahead and got the Go Lights wired in and the switches mounted. I wanted the passenger side light to be controlled by either the driver or the passenger, so I mounted it in the dash since the plastic trim was already broke off. This week I'm planning on using the cable I got from 98G to add a 12V and 24V connectors to the rear of the truck for slaving, 24V tools, and my trailer winch.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Just in case you didn't know, the (wireless) remotes for the go lights can be programmed to operate them individually. If this is something you would like to do, I will look into how it is accomplished.

 

[Al Harvey]

I saw that in the instruction manual. I was thinking about doing that, but I haven't really decided yet.

 

[Al Harvey]

Well a fuel pump and carb rebuild later, the old Wisconsin sputtered to life. It's obvious she hasn't run in a while, my shop was filled with nice black smoke until she smoothed out. So far the body 110, panel 110, and air compressor all work. Still got a some more small stuff to check and service, but the next big thing is getting some tires on the old girl.

 

[Al Harvey]

Got some new shoes for the contact truck today. Her first trip down the road (under her own power) in many years. For the first part of the trip it smoked like a freight train, but cleared up on the return trip. Still got to adjust the vacumn modulator a little since it's shifting late. Also got check out the speedometer. The odometer is working but not the speedometer. Other then that she ran great, with only 14k miles she should. lol