Road Trip DFW to Chester IL DEC 26-JAN 9

[Speddmon]

I like it!!!!

I'm just curious about the radiator on that generator though, are you going to put a shield over it or something. Where it's sitting, I'm wondering how long it's going to take for the treads on those big 395's on the front tandem to pick up a stone or hunk of gravel and throw it through that radiator??

 

[OPCOM]

There will be a mud flap in place to protect the grille. The machine is only for use when parked. There will also be a protective panel there.

 

[tm america]

those look like 16.00s to me am i right

 

[OPCOM]

They are 16.00 x 20's - Goodyears. Hope they are fun!

Today we worked on the generator mounting and did the final work to secure the box as shown. Time is running short, and we will complete as much essential work as possible. Some of the pics there are of the front brackets for the M109 box - the ones with two springs.

It started to snow today, although it was temperate in the afternoon.

We have been working spheres to the barrier nonstop, so there have not been many pictures. I promise to put more pics of the details tomorrow.

The cummins NHC250 may be misbehaving with a miss at idle, and at light loads which makes it run uneven, this is detectable at 1000 RPM. I have been told that I need to put some new fuel in it, and drive it.. I do not know much about the NHC250 nor does Gimpy or Brian. There is no smoke from the stack when idling or fast idling, etc, so I do not know wat to think of it. Any suggestions? Note I have not put the engine under a big load yet. Thye did recover this with no issues, said it ran fine and outran the M35. Does the cummins run unevenly at no load?

 

[54reo]

Every pic you take of Jason makes him look STONED out of his gourd! Jr. hasn't even been to a "gentleman's club" yet!

 

[mckeeranger]

The cummins NHC250 may be misbehaving with a miss at idle, and at light loads which makes it run uneven, this is detectable at 1000 RPM. I have been told that I need to put some new fuel in it, and drive it.. I do not know much about the NHC250 nor does Gimpy or Brian. There is no smoke from the stack when idling or fast idling, etc, so I do not know wat to think of it. Any suggestions? Note I have not put the engine under a big load yet. Thye did recover this with no issues, said it ran fine and outran the M35. Does the cummins run unevenly at no load?

Ours used to run smooth as silk, until I replaced the injector seals. Now it runs rough and I've done everything I know to do. It's driving me nuts. (it's a short drive) As a last resort, before I roll it into the lake, I'm going to pressurize the tank and see if it's a leak sucking air somewhere. But to answer your question: It normally ran really smooth. Smoother than our deuce.

If you are used to a Deuce, the thing you have to remember about the cummins is that it's not a multifuel. It is more picky about old fuel and dirty filters. They also take a while to warm up when it's cold.

Also, when changing the fuel filter, there is something that's easy to miss. There is a little filter, more of a strainer really, in the top of the IP. (see pic)

Under cap "D" there is a spring and a small filter that is sort of like the filters in the front of old GM carburetors. If anything has made it past the fuel filter, it will get caught here. Also, if there is deterioration in the rubber fuel line from the filter, anything that breaks free will be caught here. It can be cleaned with carb cleaner and replaced. I do ours every time I replace the main filter.

 

[Srjeeper]

OPCOM,

Here's a 'Old Timers Trick' for finding a no-load miss.

When you shut the engine down, listen closely to the exhaust. If it sounds like it's sucking back on the last couple revs, it's a possible valve issue.

If it does not make that sound, it's a pretty good bet it's a fouled injector nozzle.

There you can find out which one is not working properly with one of those infa-red temp guns on the exhaust manifold.

Good luck.........

 

[OPCOM]

Today was quite a red letter day, seeing as the lift gate is now fully installed. The missing link was the 'deck' that goes between the box and the gate. Brian and Gimpy made this of 1/4" steel plate and massive C channel braces. It seems indestructible. the entire thing is closely toleranced and perfectly straight. Besides that, the job of removing the electronics etc. from the "old" M35 and packing it in the new truck has been occupying Jacob's time, and I have been getting more of the minor details done.

First thing this morning I repaired Brian's old SUN battery charger since the meter was not working. There was an intermittent connection to one side of the meter caused by a crimped wire lug. This is why I always solder after crimping, myself. No complaints, a date inside the machine says '55.

Next, check out the nice show we had, 5" of it.

The fabrication pictures are of the tailgate "deck" which is the stationary part behind the body that the gate proper rises up to meet.

Last, some pice from the heater install. The truck had no heater so one from one of Brian's old truck cabs was cleaned up and painted to serve the duty. The pictures show where the hoses go.

The hardware for the top hose is
3/8" x 3" nipple
1/2" x 3/8" bushing
1/2" ball valve
1/2" x 3" nipple

The lower hose there uses these fittings:
3/8" x 3" nipple
1/2" x 3/8" bushing
1/2" ball valve
1/2" x 2" nipple
3/4" x 1/2" bushing

It takes about 25FT of 3/4" heater hose to run the lines from the valves to the cab floor then around bhind the passenger seat and up the center to the heater core (not yet mounted) and there will be some pics of that tomorrow. Note the hoses were run well clear of the muffler. That was a bit inconvenient routing but has to be taken care of.

 

[OPCOM]

more pictures..

 

[OPCOM]

and..

 

[54reo]

Just a quick update.

Gimpy is still here and plans on leaving this morning. The hub from my M35A2 is on his truck, and he should be good to go.

Patrick is planning on leaving tomorrow, so it will be a busy day.






(then I still have to fix the van )

 

[54reo]

Thats why they now call me Tommy Boy.















(Gimpy wrote this BTW)

 

[Speddmon]

Just give Gilligan a good compass and point him East....He should hit Ohio sooner or later

 

[OPCOM]

Today the operating rod and handle for the lift gate was done and also a chain was installed to allow the get to be locked. Mud flaps were put on and braces for them were started. The heater was installed and seems to work well. A 12V lighter socket was installed for the GPS. As the day drew to a close we got into the Pabst Blue Ribbon. Then we decided to look at an old inverter welder Brian had. It was from a dumpster and so this would be interesting. Nothing like working on an unfamiliar 240V piece og gear while having a few beers with friends. There was no cabinet and it was 3-phase 480/240V. since it had a simple 6-diode bridge rectifier with capacitor filter, we connected it to to 240V single phase. It wanted to work but there is a burnt resistor on the circuit board and that will have to be replaced. However we did try it and it made some very interesting sounds as Brian test-welded.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Yum, mystery burgers. Patrick, will you still be able to drag a trailer with this rig?

 

[gimpyrobb]

Home safe! You guys, dang I missed playing with un-known power supplys?! Sucky sucky. Brian, did you hook Jason up with some hose to hook up to the heater?



































*Snicker*

 

[OPCOM]

Them burgers and brats were kool!

There is no hitch. The idea is that the box doors are big enough to load an ATV or whatever, so no trailer is needed.

The video is of the inverter welder making interesting sounds like only a malfunctioning high power inverter can. Maybe Brian can better describe how it worked, but it seemed to lack the voltage necessary to maintain a decent arc, but had plenty of current for making puddles.

 

[54reo]

Patrick will be ready to leave the winter behind him and begin to head south tomorrow. I think he is REALLY done with winter!

All that is left to do is finish packing the truck.

 

[Speddmon]

where are the pics of the finished project???

I gotta say, with the weather you guys were dealing with, I'm surprised it got done at all....I would have waited till spring.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Patrick's employer is not vacation friendly, so he had to do this at this time frame. It is unfortunate as the cold slowed things down, but everyone did the best we could. I wish him and Jr. a safe and speedy trip home.