Work on My F8, No. 11

[king of obsolete]

i was wonder where you went, you still have gotten lots done is the last little bit. has the temperature cooled down so you can work all day????

thansk
KoO
Published Author

[Jim Price]

Had another short week. I had reserved two vendor tables at a local gun show and was there for 4 days starting on this past Thursday. Sales were good. Saved most of my earnings for the truck resto! In any case, we did accomplish the following:

Finished the cleaning and painting of the engine early in the week and installed it this past Wednesday.

Completed all the hooking up of all lines, hoses and wiring today. (Second time around!) Didn't have enough oil for the crankcase and no gasoline so will try to start up the engine tomorrow. No water leaks this time!

Got good news from my attorney that the seller of the engine with the holes in the cylinder walls has refunded the entire amount I'd paid for the engine. He picked up his engine this past Saturday. Was glad to have that sad affair behind me!

Used a round-over bit on the wood planking and cover for the gas tank to avoid having splintering and sharp corners. Used a hole cutter to cut the hole for the tank drain but have yet to cut the 5" holes in the top planking for access to the filler cap and spare tank switch and fuel line.

Purchased 5 tires from a tire wholesaler in Australia and arranged for them to be shipped in a conainer destined to another military vehicle collector/restorer here in my community. The tires are the MRF Sandgrip and they should arrive here early next year.

Picked up the fenders and braces today from the fabricator. Need to have the fenders panels arched and they'll be ready for the painter. (Thanks, Mike, for all the drawings and pictures!)

It's been 6 months since the truck arrived and I had hoped to have it finished by now. Have learned a lot in the intervening time and understand and appreciate all that goes into a restoration! However, it's been fun! The heat is gone and has been replaced with days in the low 70's F, much easier climate to work it!

That's it for now!

Regards,
Jim

[king of obsolete]

glad it has cooooooled down for you. of course we will need more pictures. you are on the toughest part of a project, "completion".

-37C as i type this.

thansk
KoO
Published Author

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Jim Price

It's been xxxx months since the truck arrived and I had hoped to have it finished by now.

This is a quotation that is writ large on the walls of garages, sheds and workshops the world over. If you look closely at some pics on MLU, you can almost see it painted above the main door!

[Jim Price]

Aah, Tony, you are so correct! I'm strongly considering having such a sign made up and hung on my garage wall!

We, however, have persevered and over the past several days have completed the following:

Finished the installation of the engine and started it up. Runs like a clock! Idles perfectly with no roughnest at all! No blue smoke out the exhaust! If the project had to stop now and all I had was this engine, I'd sit out in the garage and just listen to it! Well, maybe not for long! (Note: The wiring will be cleaned up! )

By the way, we jacked up the rear wheels and placed a pair of jack stands under the rear axles so that we could test the transmission. Kept the speed down so as not to jar off the stands! We also had to alter the filler tube for the tranny. Picked up one for the C4 we installed, did some bending and welding and now one can check and fill the tranny through the same access used to add oil to the engine.

When the truck arrived the linkage between the accelerator pedal and the carbuerator was no where to be found. A review of the parts and maintenance manuals found no pictorial reference to how this linkage should look. We've come up with a plan for a bracket and arm system for attaching the linkage rods to but would certainly appreciate some pictures or drawings of how the linkage system should appear in a F8.

Inserted replacement insulation into all the engine compartment walls. I got this from Mac's and it is fairly thick and is covered on both sides by a moderately heavy reflective aluminum skin.

Bolted on the seat rails. The seats will need to be put in place before the back bottom body panel is installed.

Installed the floor for the last time. Don't know how many times we had that floor in and out but more than I wish to remember! Placed beaded welting around the inside of the wheel well wall where it meets the floor.

Installed the passenger side of the engine compartment. Used copious amounts of frame webbing!

Fixed the leak in a transmission cooler fitting. The leak was my reward for not using some teflon tape when installing the cooler fittings.

Called the painter and the remainder of the body parts should be ready for pickup this coming Friday or Saturday. More to follow!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

The painter called and the remainder of my parts will be ready for pickup on this Saturday. Since we won't be working tomorrow I decided to provide you all with an update on our activities this week.

Finished installing the driver's side engine compartment wall with the exception of the top panel above the steering column. Am leaving it open for the moment until the wiring is complete.

Installed the emergency brake and boot. The original was bolted to a bracket which was in turn was bolted to the standard transmission. Because we installed an automatic tranny it was necessary to weld a piece of angle iron just under the edge of the floor for attaching the lever. We then attached the original rod to the bottom of the lever and the yoke. All lined up fine and functioned well with little adjustment! See the pictures.

I obtained the services of another neighbor, Terry, to assist Bob. I promised them I'd put their picture in the thread so here they are!

Installed the seats. A previous post showed my efforts at upolstery.

Earlier this week we had drained and then flushed the radiator. We also removed it in order to install the gas pedal-to-carbuerator linkage. (Commentary and pictures of this linkage follow in a separate post as there are four pictures showing we did.) After reinstallation we bungee-corded the battery and gas can to the floor and Bob and Terry drove the truck on it's first road trip! They had to have driven around the block at least three times, their grins getting bigger each drive by! Everything from brakes to steering to tranny worked well! I still have a grin on my face while I write about this major milestone!

That's it for now!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

Not finding anything regarding this linkage we proceeded with the idea which we had designed earlier. Pictures illustrating the results of each step are attached.

The first step was to weld at about a 45 degree angle a 7" long, 1/2 inch square pipe to a 4" piece of 1 1/2" angle iron. Two holes were drilled into the angle iron for attachment to the engine through the use of two head bolts. The front end of the head appeared to be the best location for alignment with the pertinent points of attachment.

Bob then welded a 4" long 1/2" piece of pipe with an inside i.d. of 1/4" to the top of the square pipe to form a "T".

He inserted a smaller i.d. bolt through the pipe and then welded a 3" piece of 1" flat strap to each end of the bolt to form a pair of "arms" that would turn freely on the "T" pipe.

A swivel post was bolted to the end of each piece of flat strap and the rods to the pedal ball and carbuerator were attached to their respective "arms".

Bob did such a great job with the welding that the only thing else he needed to do was to bend the "spoon" on the gas pedal down so that the sole of his foot touched the flat of the "spoon" instead of the edge!

All functioned great!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

Although it's only been four days since I posted, it's be two weeks before I do again. Am off tomorrow to California to visit my daughter and her family for week!

We did accomplish a few things in the interim:

Bob repaired the front panel on the engine compartment. The bottom "step" that is bolted to the floor was badly rusted had to be replaced.

Saturday, I rounded up Bob, Terry and Dylan along with another friend, Scott, and we hitched up my trailer and went over to the painter's and picked up all the remaining parts with the exception of the roof/rear window body panel and the windshield frame.

Unloaded all into every room of the house (The weather forecast was for rain which proved to be right on!) with the exception of the truck bed which we installed on the truck. Good thing I'm not married!

Bob and Dylan took a couple of spins around the block and we called it a day.

Today, we fitted the rear fenders to the bed and drilled all the holes in the fenders and supports. Will install them week after next. Pictures to follow.

Was a successful eBay bidder for some voltage reducers (Runtz) for the 6 volt gauges; they arrived as well. Will need to get a stouter one for the horn!

Was the successful eBay bidder and received today an original horn to replace the fully rusted-out one that came with the truck. Works great! Needs to be painted and installed with the voltage reducer.

That's it for now! Enjoy your holiday!

Regards,
Jim