180-971 F1 Crane Truck

[Ravvin]

Well, I almost got it all done.
Cleaned, primed and painted all of the seal retainers and cover plates, pressed in new seals, cleaned the case right back, etch primed it and painted all but the bottom.
That will have to wait until I clean, prime and paint the cross-member that it bolts to, as I need it fitted to hang the whole thing from the crane. That will be the second last job.
The last is going to be filling the case with kero, giving all the drive flanges a good spin and draining it out. I'll strain the kero through a few layers of clean Chux cloths and use it for other things.
While I was cleaning the old flaky paint off, I noticed one of the rags I had blocking a bearing had come loose, letting aluminium and paint flakes get in. I tried getting it out by spraying kero in, but a full flush would be a better idea.
I'm also going to replace the drain bung with a solid one, that I will drill and fit a rare earth magnet into, same as I did for the 2 rear diff bungs.



Before and after pics.

New bolts and spring washers all round. There was no signs of wear on the sealing faces of the drive flanges, unlike the MK3.
While I was out there, I got a nice clear pic of the manufacturer's plate on the side of the transfer case.



I see it is stamped 1972, which is interesting as the plate in the cab says it was made June 1969. The REMLR ARN list shows it as 1972 though. The transfer case could have been exchanged for a rebuilt one at some point, I guess. There was a rectangular patch on the cover plate on the back of the case that turned out to be a layer of resin or araldite. I suspect there was a mod or rebuild plate there at some point.
Someone went to a lot of trouble to remove most of the rest of them from all over the truck. I found the holes where they were pinned to the gearbox, both rear diffs and chassis rails. No idea why they would remove them.

Once I finish cleaning and painting the cross-member for the transfer case, I will get in and pull out the steel air lines that run down to the tractor protection valve. I will make new ones of those and also replace the brake lines that run from the master cylinders down both chassis rails to the back axles. I also have to make new fuel lines that run from the tanks to the selector switch in the cab. I'm thinking of using flexible fuel hose instead of rigid steel pipe. It will depend on how hard it is to bend up new steel lines.

Greg.

[Chazza]

Nice work as per usual! 

Steel bundy-tube is not hard to bend, although a good bender is required to make them nice and neat.

Can you remove the old ones in one piece, so that you can make the new one on a bench? The only size I have found hard to get is 1/2",

Cheers Charlie

[Ravvin]

I have about 12m of the 1/2" tube from when I started replacing the lines on the MK3. It isn't bundy-tube though, it's thin walled (1.2mm) hydraulic line.
I have a nice solid hand bender for this size and a smaller one for the brake line, fuel line and smaller air lines.
The 2 pipes running down to the tractor protection valve should come out whole, now that the transfer case is out.
I am going to shape the new ones slightly different, to keep them up out of the bottom of the chassis rail where the dirt and water sits.
The pipe feeding air down to the tractor protection valve is 1/2" and the one coming back up to the brake treadle valve is 3/8", I think.
The pipe from the hydraulic place is hard drawn, so I heat the sections to be bent and let them cool slowly. Makes it a lot easier.
The smaller lines, for the fuel and brakes, will be replaced with coated bundy tube. In the past I had trouble getting paint to stick to the uncoated type,
even etch primer. It just seemed to slide off some areas, even though it had all been wiped down with turps. The coated stuff is better.
Not sure if it is a paint or a powdercoat, but it doesn't crack when bent.
The hydraulic pump bolted to the side of the gearbox is going to make it fun to get at the pipe fitting I need to undo to remove the 3/8" line.
It's sort of behind the pump, but under the crane base. I need an extra elbow in my arm to work in there.

Greg.

[Chazza]

... It isn't bundy-tube though, it's thin walled (1.2mm) hydraulic line.
...
The pipe from the hydraulic place is hard drawn, so I heat the sections to be bent and let them cool slowly. Makes it a lot easier.
...
Greg.

Ah Ha!

I must have been asking for the wrong material for my 200tdi S3 conversion. Thanks for the tip; I need to make two engine oil pipes, which go to the radiator heat-exchanger.

Is your hydraulic shop a franchise? I need to know where to ask the right questions,

Cheers Charlie

[Ravvin]

Yes, the place I got mine from was Hydraulink. They have outlets all over the place.
Just ask for 1/2" or 3/8" tubing, 1.2mm wall thickness. They had to order it in for me as they didn't stock the thin walled stuff, but it only took 3 days.
I think it comes in 6.6m lengths, but they sell it by the metre, if you need less.
Check what fittings you need, as they sell those too. I needed JIC flare nuts, which they couldn't source. I eventually got 10 through a tractor supply place.

Greg.

[4x4-581]

I may have missed it along the way, but what paint
And method of applying it are you using?
 Really enjoying the rebuild of your truck.

[Ravvin]

I am using a Wattyl Super Etch primer and a minimum of 2 coats of the Protec Lustreless olive drab.
I find that the pictures I take on my phone and with my little instamatic digital camera show the colour as much darker than it actually is, sometimes almost like the deep bronze green.



The first pic is my Canon Powershot and the second with the Canon EOS 650D SLR. Huge difference in colour in the pic but identical to the eye.

The Protec paint dries quickly, but it very soft. You can scratch it with your fingernail. After a few days in the sun, it cures and is much tougher.
The only problem I have found is that the etch primer needs thinners for brush cleaning, while the Protec paint uses turps. The thinners evaporates really fast and the fumes aren't good for you.
If I am painting a large area, I keep a tin with turps in it nearby as the Protec paint starts to harden on the brush after a few minutes. Just a dip in the turps and it goes soft again.
The Protec paint is available in spray packs as well. Any time you start a new can, you need to shake it really well. A couple of minutes minimum. If you don't, you tend to find things you paint first end up being a different colour to stuff painted later.
Be careful using the Protec paint and always wear a good quality mask designed for particles and fumes, as the paint is an alkyd finishing enamel, really nasty.
One thing to note is that on some parts that needed a really heavy duty protection, I used a Zinc Epoxy Primer. You can't use Alkyd based paints over this. I painted the tank support brackets and one of the fuel tanks with it, then panted the primer over that, then the Protec paint. The Zinc Epoxy is a thick high-build coat and it absorbs the next coat. It took close to 3x the normal amount of primer to cover it, but it came out really good.

Greg.

[Mick]

Hi All,

To add to Greg's mention of the Protec spray cans, he is spot on with the cans needing very very very good shaking before use. In addition to that , cans should be stored upside down.  This alleviates the paint settling at the bottom of the can and allows the balls some freedom so they don't block the pick up tube.

I think we can all relate to that 🤔

Cheers,

Mick

[Philthy]

If you don’t finish a spray can turn it up side down and clear as per normal as you do  , then pull the white spray tip straight up and off the can. Then keep the tips in a jar of turpentine. I also keep the ones that spray better as they aren’t all the same. If the paint starts to splatter pull the tip off, press down on the tube to clear it and change it for one in the jar. Works a treat. You’ll only press them back on facing you once 

Trucks looking great!

[Mick_Marsh]

You’ll only press them back on facing you once 

Not quite true.

[Chazza]

Pleasing to know that I am not the only one 

[303Gunner]

You’ll only press them back on facing you once 

Not quite true.

Don't you get cranky when that happens?.

[Ford Blitz]

I got a can shaker that fits onto a reciprocating saw to deal with protec cans. Wouldn't you think they could sort this problem out or am i missing something

[Mick_Marsh]

I got a can shaker that fits onto a reciprocating saw to deal with protec cans. Wouldn't you think they could sort this problem out or am i missing something

I think it's because of the sediment in the lusterless paint.

[Ravvin]

Been busy lately, lots of small things like removing the rusted out brake and air pipes, but nothing worthy of a before and after shot.
I found a local place that sells the Brake Safe flexible tubing and fittings, so just need to make a list.

Today I started cleaning the rust out of the gap between the 2 chassis rail layers. From what I found, I think sand and mud got between the layers and trapped moisture.
This made the 2 layers of steel start to spall. These layers of rust eventually met in the middle and started forcing the 2 layers of the rail apart.
I don't have a photo, but when you look along the rail, wherever a tray tie-down U-bolt was, the metal layers are still tight together.
This makes it look like the outer layer has a series of kinks,as if it was impacted from below.



This is a pic of the very worst section. You can see the multiple layers of rust. Note the bolt hole just above where the transfer case brace attaches.

I bought a pair of fox wedges yesterday and found that the best way of removing the rust was to belt them in between the layers, about 6" apart.
I then used a 4lb hammer to belt the underside of the rail, starting at the back and working across to the front edge. The rust broke into chunks and fell out.
I used the compressor to blow the chunks out and kept working that small section until it was clear. I have a paint scraper with a hook on one corner and found it useful for snagging out bigger pieces that jammed.
Once the heavy pieces were out, I found a compacted layer of yellow coarse sand right at the back.



As you can see, it came up really clean. I can't get a wire brush in to give it a good scrub but I was thinking that it might be worth wedging short sections open and give it a blast with the sand blaster.
The guys next door at work do materials testing and have to check the garnet grit waste from repainting bridges and structures for lead.
They usually have lots of it laying around and because its free, I don't feel so bad about using it for this job, where I can't catch it and reuse it.
By doing it in small sections while wedged open, I figure I can clean the metal and still blow out any grit that gets stuck. Once cleaned, I can prime and paint it.

With the rust and  wedges removed, the gap closes  up a bit but not fully. I will try putting a jack on a block of wood and see if I can jack it closed.
I'm not sure it will stay closed though. I'd like to close it and then run a bead of weld along to seal the gap, then grind it off smooth.
Being a chassis though, do you think they would be concerned when I get it checked over for rego? I'll ask the DTHT club president about it, as I think he can certify vehicles for club rego.
I'm a bit hesitant to ask the engineering guys who will do the actual certification for rego as they may have a fit over there being rust there at all, even though I cleaned it out.

What do you all think?

Greg.