Danger Ranger
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Barrman, pic number 6 is my favorite, really well done! Thanks to all for posting them!!
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New V-100
- Thread starter M813rc
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Sounds like a smart lady! Get her one...
My mum wants a go at driving mine (she is 74). She has always kept notes on what aeroplanes and trucks she has seen about so I could tell her what they were. Just gotta love mum!
Cheers
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With B3-3T's advice that there needs to be no play in the shifter bell crank, I finally had an opportunity to do something about that.
I had checked mine, found it sloppy, and on taking things apart found that the nylon bushings had returned to nature, as in there were little tiny pieces of white crud on the floor of the hull, and in the bell crank pivot.
I went looking for replacements, but didn't find what I wanted, so decided to make my own.
Sunday, Reloader64 was kind enough to fire up his lathe and we turned down some fresh nylon. With the fit in the pivot snug, off I went to my place (about 5 miles away) and installed everything. It is all tight with no side to side play at all.
Wow!! What a difference! The gears are now where they should be, no more hunt-n-crunch.
My thanks to B3 for the advice, and Reloader for the expertise and donation of his valuable time.
Cheers
I had checked mine, found it sloppy, and on taking things apart found that the nylon bushings had returned to nature, as in there were little tiny pieces of white crud on the floor of the hull, and in the bell crank pivot.
I went looking for replacements, but didn't find what I wanted, so decided to make my own.
Sunday, Reloader64 was kind enough to fire up his lathe and we turned down some fresh nylon. With the fit in the pivot snug, off I went to my place (about 5 miles away) and installed everything. It is all tight with no side to side play at all.
Wow!! What a difference! The gears are now where they should be, no more hunt-n-crunch.
My thanks to B3 for the advice, and Reloader for the expertise and donation of his valuable time.
Cheers
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I am slowly adding the interior detail parts to the V. Where I can, I like to clean up an old part and re-use that rather than buy new ones.
When I visited Gerald/WGTactical some time back, he was kind enough to give me some parts from his V to use in mine. Two of those items were the holders for the M79 grenade launcher up by the driver's position.
When these came out of his V, they were somewhat grotty and had been painted over a couple of times. Since both were rubber coated, I pondered on how to get that paint off without ruining the rubber. I know that I could have just stripped the rubber off and re-dipped them, but remember I like to re-use as much of the original stuff as possible.
I had heard that rubbing alcohol would lift some kinds of paint, so elected to try that. Worked like a charm! I soaked the pieces in a tub of alcohol (Isopropyl 91%, from the grocery store), then scrubbed them with a sponge and picked at the corner bits with a piece of wood (a Panda Express chop stick, actually), then soaked and scrubbed some more. The alcohol took the paint off the metal surfaces too.
Once cleaned up and the metal painted, I swabbed the rubber surfaces with a silicone gun cloth.
The attached pictures show how it all turned out.
Cheers
When I visited Gerald/WGTactical some time back, he was kind enough to give me some parts from his V to use in mine. Two of those items were the holders for the M79 grenade launcher up by the driver's position.
When these came out of his V, they were somewhat grotty and had been painted over a couple of times. Since both were rubber coated, I pondered on how to get that paint off without ruining the rubber. I know that I could have just stripped the rubber off and re-dipped them, but remember I like to re-use as much of the original stuff as possible.
I had heard that rubbing alcohol would lift some kinds of paint, so elected to try that. Worked like a charm! I soaked the pieces in a tub of alcohol (Isopropyl 91%, from the grocery store), then scrubbed them with a sponge and picked at the corner bits with a piece of wood (a Panda Express chop stick, actually), then soaked and scrubbed some more. The alcohol took the paint off the metal surfaces too.
Once cleaned up and the metal painted, I swabbed the rubber surfaces with a silicone gun cloth.
The attached pictures show how it all turned out.
Cheers
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reloader64
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It's not that I necessarily enjoy working on the V-100, but he keeps offering to buy me dinner at the local mexican food restaurant. Who can turn down that deal? It is one of the four major food groups.........
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- Spring Branch, TX
We have a mighty fine Tex/Mex restaurant in our area and the M37 is much easier to navigate around (not the cool factor of a V but everything is lighter). Besides, Nessie has made it to a couple of shows now while the 37 has been sitting in my shop for 3 years. Just because it takes 90+ minutes to get to my place is no excuse not to be here on a regular basis.
reloader64
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Mark, you also have a pretty darn good burger joint close by, but it's gonna have to cool down some before I start making day trips down there. Besides, I already told Rory I'd help him fix his brakes. We definitely want that big son-of-a-gun to be able to stop.
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It's going to be 4 degrees cooler here this week than Austin but of course what's 104 compared to 108? Still danged hot! But I do have A/C in my shop that'll knock it down to the mid-90s.
TexAndy and Keith_J are doing a mighty fine job of helping me out though. I'll get it to a show before you guys name it Sasquatch or something.
TexAndy and Keith_J are doing a mighty fine job of helping me out though. I'll get it to a show before you guys name it Sasquatch or something.
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Hey Mark, can I put the V in your air conditioned shop??? 
In truth, this 50 days straight of 104+ temperatures has significantly slowed my progress on the V. Being a heat weenie, I can only manage a couple of hours before my g/f is dragging me off to an air conditioned space. She claims to have not enjoyed my last trip to the hospital...
One funny note was me working away inside the V at about 3:30 one morning, because it was only 93 then. I'm happily messing with some fiddly bits of the intercom when a deer stuck its head in through the side hatch. I'm not sure who jumped more! I know I yelled nastier things at it as it was beating a hasty retreat.
Tuning the brakes is the next major project as the V has developed a tendency to veer left when braking at road speed. Quite alarming, and unfit brakes are not something I will accept. I have no desire to ever know what it feels like to run over someones family!
Linx, thanks for the advice, I put some stuff on there that should protect the rubber. If it cracks, I will re-dip them, but at least I will know I tried to stay original!
Cheers
In truth, this 50 days straight of 104+ temperatures has significantly slowed my progress on the V. Being a heat weenie, I can only manage a couple of hours before my g/f is dragging me off to an air conditioned space. She claims to have not enjoyed my last trip to the hospital...
One funny note was me working away inside the V at about 3:30 one morning, because it was only 93 then. I'm happily messing with some fiddly bits of the intercom when a deer stuck its head in through the side hatch. I'm not sure who jumped more! I know I yelled nastier things at it as it was beating a hasty retreat.
Tuning the brakes is the next major project as the V has developed a tendency to veer left when braking at road speed. Quite alarming, and unfit brakes are not something I will accept. I have no desire to ever know what it feels like to run over someones family!
Linx, thanks for the advice, I put some stuff on there that should protect the rubber. If it cracks, I will re-dip them, but at least I will know I tried to stay original!
Cheers
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Absolutely! Just make sure the keys are with it
Barrman
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Is it M35 wheel cylinders and shoes Rory? I might have some good spares if you need them.
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Yessir. The problem with taking so long to rebuild the thing is that stuff that was new when it went in sat around unmoving for a couple of years, and we know what that does... As soon as you start driving it, things begin to fail.
The good thing is it is not tough to troubleshoot, and parts are available. Thanks for the offer, I'll holler at you.
Cheers
islandguydon
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Good for you, I am drooling as well. Good luck with the rest of the restoration.
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It is so very useful to have advice from folks who have experience with a certain type of vehicle. In this case, the "slop" in the shifter really didn't seem that significant, and it is surprising that it is what caused so much difficulty. But given the sheer length of the entire shift setup everything gets magnified, so it makes sense.
And indeed yes, you once owned my M79 mounts! I'm thinking the one at far left in your avatar was the donor? What fun to see that many preserved V's together in one place...
Thanks IslandguyDon.
Cheers
PS- For those not familiar with the V shifter, the picture should help. The red arrow points to the pivot that was giving the trouble. The one to the right of it has good bushings and was very tight. The bell cranks are as long below the pivot point as they are above. At the lower point they are attached to long rods that go through the central tunnel to the gear shift lever up by the drivers seat.
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To those who have restored a vehicle (or other item) this is already known, but those who haven't done it might be surprised how much labour goes into tidying a fairly small original piece.
In this case, I illustrate with the first aid kit and bracket. The bracket was saved (with permission) from a former police V100 that met its fate with the scrapper (despite laudable efforts to save it for a museum).
The bracket had at least three coats of slightly different shades of seafoam green, and was rather wriggly up the side that would have been closest to the door.
I stripped it to bare metal to get rid of the rust, straightened the edges with a vise, and repainted it. Then I sewed on a new strap.
The first aid kit itself was courtesy of HellonwheelsV100, who very decently cleaned it up and painted it before sending it to me. All I had to do was make some red cross stickers and put them on (cut them out of reflective tape, modeled on one I saw in a V150). I still have the lettering to add before it is completely finished.
Cheers
.
In this case, I illustrate with the first aid kit and bracket. The bracket was saved (with permission) from a former police V100 that met its fate with the scrapper (despite laudable efforts to save it for a museum).
The bracket had at least three coats of slightly different shades of seafoam green, and was rather wriggly up the side that would have been closest to the door.
I stripped it to bare metal to get rid of the rust, straightened the edges with a vise, and repainted it. Then I sewed on a new strap.
The first aid kit itself was courtesy of HellonwheelsV100, who very decently cleaned it up and painted it before sending it to me. All I had to do was make some red cross stickers and put them on (cut them out of reflective tape, modeled on one I saw in a V150). I still have the lettering to add before it is completely finished.
Cheers
.
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- Near Austin, Texas
I had been looking around for some fire extinguishers that would work in the V. I had some functional new ones in there, loose under the seats, and an original, but expended, 1972 dated bottle in the rear wheel well bracket for show.
What I wanted was something that looked right, would fit in the bracket, and would put out a fire. I had unpleasant visions of the V catching fire and someone grabbing the first fire bottle they saw- the empty one by the door!
I went to an old individually owned fire company I had spotted in Austin, to see what they might have. They had all sorts of ancient extinguishers in a cage out back, which was encouraging. I took my original in as an example of what I was looking for.
The owner looked it over and said- "Hmmm... old military bottle. If it passes the pressure test, you want this one refilled?".
Me- "You can do that with this old bottle?!? Yes!!!!!".
He also said he thought he might have another one about, would I want that one too?
I have two brackets in the V, so "Yes!!!!!".
In due course I had two almost identical and period-correct bottles. Both passed hydro and inspection and are now fully recharged and functional.
The "new" bottle is actually older, being 1970 dated, but is quite a bit prettier than my original bottle. It will go by the door where it is most visible. The not-so-attractive one will go up on the right front wheel well where it is harder to see.
I do have the complete, and functional, CO2 system for engine bay fire suppression
Cheers
Pic 1- "New" 1970 bottle on top, my old 1972 one is below it.
Pic 2/3- Installed
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What I wanted was something that looked right, would fit in the bracket, and would put out a fire. I had unpleasant visions of the V catching fire and someone grabbing the first fire bottle they saw- the empty one by the door!
I went to an old individually owned fire company I had spotted in Austin, to see what they might have. They had all sorts of ancient extinguishers in a cage out back, which was encouraging. I took my original in as an example of what I was looking for.
The owner looked it over and said- "Hmmm... old military bottle. If it passes the pressure test, you want this one refilled?".
Me- "You can do that with this old bottle?!? Yes!!!!!".
He also said he thought he might have another one about, would I want that one too?
I have two brackets in the V, so "Yes!!!!!".
In due course I had two almost identical and period-correct bottles. Both passed hydro and inspection and are now fully recharged and functional.
The "new" bottle is actually older, being 1970 dated, but is quite a bit prettier than my original bottle. It will go by the door where it is most visible. The not-so-attractive one will go up on the right front wheel well where it is harder to see.
I do have the complete, and functional, CO2 system for engine bay fire suppression
Cheers
Pic 1- "New" 1970 bottle on top, my old 1972 one is below it.
Pic 2/3- Installed
.
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Rory,
I've got a Spartan Mil-E dated 12/70 in case you need another one.
I've got a Spartan Mil-E dated 12/70 in case you need another one.
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