M51A2 Dump Truck – Tractor restoration thread part two: Czech Republic.

[Robo McDuff]

Time to get on with it.



After a hiatus of more than five years, I now finally am getting back to restoring our M51A2. I had a Dutch student (living in Portugal) over as volunteer, so I finally had the sorely missed Soldier B at my disposal for a few days.




First thing I did was reading back my own threads on SS to get things sharp again (links at the end of the post) and reading up on the TM-20. The little white car in the back is an old Trabant station wagon, I am reading the TM-10.


Then we tried starting the truck. By now, my Hawker Armasafes had given up completely, so we had to try something. One tractor battery and one car battery does not really get it done (it was close). In the end, with two fully charged 140 Ah batteries with cca 850 A and some ether, we managed and got the truck running. And boy, did it ran smooth and, to our big surprise, without much black or any exhaust smoke. Once I figure out how to upload video, I will post it.

Now we were sure it was running, we had to get it to my son's workshop. While I helped prepare the workshop, soldier B decided to continue removing the last three bolts for the bumper and get it off. He almost smashed his finger while trying to do too many things together without help. Hopefully, my new impact toy (Milwaukee M18 Fuel impact wrench) will help avoid that.

We managed to get the truck to the workshop, as distance of 300m, while driving about one or two mph, without brakes and needing soldier B at every left turn to get ANY movement in the steering wheel.




The truck at its new place. The red boiler-like tank is the tank for the 20-ton steam hammer standing just out of sight. The dog is called Aras and it is guarding the property. Its a Central Asian Shepard. If you enter the property, he will kill you by slobbering all over you. We have a 5 feet high fence with a shock wire on the inside to keep him inside (electra is off most of the time). Then again, when he once escaped, he caught a wild pig and killed it without a second thought or serious fight. Just opened those jaws and bite!


The truck is at its place for now, time to start work.

Highest priority:
1) Remove the left fender so I have room to work. That fender has to be repaired as well.

2) Removing the entire steering assembly, check, repack, and overhaul all bearings, steering house, valve systems etc etc to get rid of this problem. I might end up buying a complete new steering assembly from REOMIE if this does not work (last time I asked they had a set for $ 200)

I cleaned and repaired the valve system two years ago (link below). It worked a bit better but still was problematic. Now, without having driven, the wheel will not turn left even with two people hanging on the wheel. That makes it probably a rust problem.

3) Brakes. No movement in the brake pedal at all, then suddenly it broke free and went completely to the floor.
First thing is to take out the MC and airpack and overhaul them. Now 7 years without any maintenance is too long to hope that with a bit of flushing, everything will be OK.

Then same with all wheel hubs and brake cylinders. The lines themselves have been replaced four years ago.

4) I have a second airpack laying here from the 2014 GA Rally, so its time to look at making a dual circuit as well.

5) Body work: doors need repairs, fenders need repairs,

6) everything has to be repainted in original colors ... but what are the original colors. The history and age of the truck is not completely clear. Once I know more I can decide on the best color. I then have to find a European quality equivalent of the Behr paints.

7) Unit history: I am starting up my efforts to find more about the history fo this truck again. Despite a previous indication from 1973, it probably is an older truck from 1965-1968. The Engine definitely is from 1965, the serial number points at that earlier period, in 1973 Kaiser Jeep Corporation did not exist anymore etc.


Some interesting old links

Restoration part I: the Netherlands and street legal

Dump truck to tractor and back: multi-use M51-M52 combo street legal to 93 000 lbs GVW

Markings and colors and age: what should be the real colors after restoration: spoiler: definitely NOT camo.

Front coupling discussion: interesting thread on how to make an alternative front coupling/towing system

Power steering: first effort in the Czech Republic to repair the Ross Hydrapower steering

 

[Robo McDuff]

Let's see if the video works.

https://youtu.be/2MyLTl0aTKw

This is after a three-year hiatus. Is this a smooth running engine or what? I was surprised how good it ran and how little exhaust smoke there was.

The language spoken is Dutch

The red tank behind the truck is the planned air tank for the historic "steam" hammer. Using steam is too problematic and its easy to run afoul of authorities, especially safety inspectors.

 

[71DeuceAK]

This is great! Watching even the video of it running is great for knowing what the one I might be scoring for free/cheap might be like. It'll be a bit of a project to get running, probably a similar situation to this one.

 

[pmramsey]

The Mack ENDT-673 engine is one sweet running engine and yours is no exception.

 

[tobyS]

Robo....that's a NICE truck. I love that style. I had an 817 and probably should have kept it, but found an 929A2 at a good price.
Your truck looks straight and the bed or gate not abused or badly rusted. How far are you going to rebuild it? Do you have Behr paint available?

I worked in a boiler manufacturing company engineering 77-80. My boss was the ASME section 7 Chairman. We had extensive talks about steam powered cars and machinery. I'd like to hear more about your steam hammer project. How about gasification?

 

[Robo McDuff]

Actually, the truck is in rather decent shape for its age. The steering and brakes are the biggest problem, but that can be easily solved. Body work: its not really that great, but can be restored without major problems. The frame is hard. One or two air lines to the front connectors are leaking, but I was going to replace the entire line anyway, so piece of cake.

Restoring: to one color, probably the old late 1960s matte or semi, but with black lettering (all the trucks I saw in depots have black marking).

Steam hammer: I will probably put some pics on a half-public part of our websites, so people who know can see it, but it is not completely public (privacy protection for my son to avoid too many unwanted visitors). I will put a link to it later, he is still restoring it. He has to get rid of the actual steam completely, not only for safety but also for efficiency: no gas there, heating up enough steam for this thing takes a lot of $$ time and energy, and it will be used only occasionally and then only for a few times. Pressed air is cheaper, safer, and more efficient. Remember, he is not only restoring a historic piece of work, he is restoring something he plans to work with when possible or needed: he will be the only one who has that amount of power and that wide range of power hammers to do highly specialized jobs with.

 

[pmramsey]

Has the steering been converted to the M809 series steering or is it the original type? Also, does the transmission have the 5th gear overdrive or does it have the direct drive version?

 

[tobyS]

Here is how I repaired my 817 and the newer M929A2.

I'm switching to the 395's, have put them on the rear, but if I had my choice, I'd have dual 12.00's on tubeless rims. The 817 was a more stable ride with a load than the 929.

 

[Robo McDuff]

Has the steering been converted to the M809 series steering or is it the original type? Also, does the transmission have the 5th gear overdrive or does it have the direct drive version?

I think its still how it came from the military. Knowing what little of the history of the truck, I think after the military the owners did little more than keep the thing running and paint RAMBO on the nose.



As far as I can see, it definitely is the original Ross Hydrapower. As to overdrive or not, it probably is the direct drive unless the military put over-drive in standard. In both cases, how do I know the difference?

Don't let the nice color in the video and earlier pics mislead you: I just painted the cheapest stuff on top of everything after cleaning only with water, on top of all the rust, so I got some nice pictures for asking for Veteran Tags (never got around to doing that).

 

[71DeuceAK]

tobyS, I love that M929A2!