Just another 8274 rebuild - lots of pics

Awl_TEQ · 09-28-08, 07:12 PM

#1 before pic of the motor. I can't powder coat the motor housing without fully disassembling it and risking wrecking it. So I will spray bomb it black after blasting it. To blast it I stuffed it with rags and avoided blasting directly inside it. The end cap I covered the bushing to keep the glass bead out.

#2 after. I only had a flat black here at the house so after several coats of flat I will add some gloss black later. I masked off the two terminals and the name plate.

Awl_TEQ · 09-28-08, 07:27 PM

The following is a common problem in old equipment restoration - snapped off bolts. There a many methods to deal with this but they depend on many factors. Personal preference, available tools, personal abilities, access etc. The bolt has corroded and "welded" itself to the case. A hammer has no results because of the shoulder cast into the case (see pic). In this case I have drilled out the bolt from the snapped off side starting with a center punch and small bit (1/8" to 3/16"). Progressing to a bit the size of the snapped bolt and being careful not to wander into the aluminum case because it is much softer than the bolt and could quickly become ugly. I only had to drill through to the nut to remove the material and slide the nut out.

Awl_TEQ · 09-28-08, 08:34 PM

Soooo - on Friday I picked up most of the seals, bearings, and parts. Not everything was in stock so I ordered in the rest. The next step is to get all parts ready for various coatings. That means fixing the bad case, all the rest is blasted and ready to go. Actually as I think about it - all of the plating bound parts are ready now. So tomorrow I'll get started on the welding and make a couple of solenoid pack covers

Awl_TEQ · 09-29-08, 08:44 PM

Here is some fun stuff for ya.

This is one of our 26 station CNC punch presses. Picture a three hole punch and how the paper goes into it and the holes are punched. Same concept only computer controlled and we can punch up to a 3.5" dia hole and we have round, square, rectangle, obround and custom shaped tools. 3 of the 26 stations (tools) are auto index which means they rotate so we can cut any angle of a flat shape. we can punch up to 0.250" steel and aluminum and up to 0.104" (12 Ga) stainless.

Basically if you can draw it we can cut it out. More complicated shapes are done on a laser (we farm that out till we get one). I use software in which I draw 3 dimensional sheet metal parts and generate a flat layout that can be punched out on the machine. Then we use CNC brake presses that form it up.

#1 the first pic is of the turret with the door open - you can see the tools.

#2 this is the material that will be my solenoid covers. The machine clamps onto the material, in this case 0.100" thick 5052 aluminum, and moves it into the tools. The turret rotates to put the desired tool under the hydraulic ram. The ram can cycle 1500 hits per minute. The punch can handle a 4' x 10' sheet. The blue color is a protective PVC film for a better finish.

#3 this pic shows my material being punched.

Awl_TEQ · 09-29-08, 08:53 PM

#1 you can see the parts taking shape

#2 Three Warn solenoid covers in 25 seconds.

#3 You can't see it but the parts are held in the web with 0.012" tabs in the corners. A quick shake will free the parts.

Awl_TEQ · 09-29-08, 09:00 PM

#1 shows the flat finished part with the Warn 'W' on top.

#2 since I am doing this on my lunch and the brake presses are running jobs I'll use our 8' - 16 Ga hand brake to form up the covers. Basically you just fold up one side at a time.

#3 the next side

Awl_TEQ · 09-29-08, 09:08 PM

#1 the last side

#2 the finished box (not welded yet of course)

#3 the cover I made is the same size and thickness of the original and is tapered like the original plastic moulded part was. The 'w' will be powder coated red and the cover black. The 'w' will be held in place by two 10-32 studs I will press in (see next post)

Awl_TEQ · 09-29-08, 09:17 PM

#1 the 'W' with the self clinching PEM stud (PEM is the brand name - they make nuts, studs, standoffs etc that press into place)

#2 the stud in the hole prior to being pressed in.

#3 the finished 'W's'. These studs press in flush and with a quick touch with a random orbital sander will be invisible under the powder coating

Awl_TEQ · 09-29-08, 09:30 PM

Here is the cover with the 'W' in place. I didn't have the plug with me so I made a 1/4" center hole that i can drill to size and I'll have to drill the plug mounting screws to match the plug.

I made three out of habit. In manufacturing you always make spare or setup pieces so you don't get to the end of a 1000 part run with 999 pieces. Welding on these covers and my case will progress through the week and hopefully be done Friday afternoon. My welder is going to Europe on the 14th of October so it'll have to be done by then.

cruiserjunkie · 09-30-08, 11:28 AM

wow the things you can do with the right tools and know how. Those are sweet I hate my plastic cover I might be interested in the 3rd one if it turns out you cannt use it

Awl_TEQ · 09-30-08, 12:13 PM

Junkie

Another member beat you to it and PM'd me for the third cover.

Just curious

- - how many of you out there would pay like $25.00 for one that was powder coated with a textured black and a gloss red "W"??? This cover fits my older M8274 model and I have no idea if it will fit others. Keep in mind I am in Canada so would likely mail them parcel post. Canada posts website quotes $10.70 to ship ground 6-12 business days to the lower 48. Somewhere in this forum someone said that Warn wanted $37.00 US for their replacement cover.

POST UP IF INTERESTED If I get 10 or 20 requests I'd go ahead and make them. PayPal would be my preference for payment.

Theycallmenica · 09-30-08, 04:56 PM

you can count me in

Poser · 09-30-08, 05:14 PM

I am betting there is a reason why Warn decided to make those covers out of a non-conductive material years ago, and continue to do so today....

Awl_TEQ · 09-30-08, 06:09 PM

Yeah I thought of that too. If you smash something into the cover and crush it into the solenoids you could ground out the system. But a similar thing could happen with plastic. The plastic is much weaker and allows more force to impact the solenoids potentially grounding them out on the bracket they are mounted to. I figure my cover would take a harder hit to deform than just the solenoids - that plastic cover wouldn't stop anything. Also - my bumper protects my winch from anything other than the butt end of a log taken head on which would damage more than just the winch. A cutoff in cab or on the front of the truck was in my plans as well to de-energize the entire winch.

Awl_TEQ · 09-30-08, 06:11 PM

Also - an afterthought - the reason they went plastic likely had more to do with cost than anything else.

LCSODIVER · 09-30-08, 11:24 PM

I would gladly pay 35-37 for a metal cover. I hate the cheap plastic on a otherwise great winch.

Awl_TEQ · 10-01-08, 07:51 AM

That's two covers

Awl_TEQ · 10-01-08, 10:47 PM

My welder and I have been repairing the case during breaks and at lunch for the last couple of days. Slow progress at 15 min intervals. The case is cast aluminum and we are using 4043 rod. The cast is porous and it is difficult to get the filler rod to mix well. The technique is to heat the area being worked on with the TIG until the outgassing and popping subsides and then adding a bit of rod then moving slowly along the desired path. Once the 4043 is laid down you can move faster when adding more filler over the previous pass.

#1 Here is the case before starting the welding - notice the patch job on the left side of the case. There is a quarter sized hole under a 1.5" square piece of 1/4" patch material. I ground off the patch job revealing the hole (no pic). "We" closed the hole by filling it with rod from inside and outside then ground both sides flush.

#2 After dressing the surface of the case we rebuilt the structural ribs (two out of three so far)

#3 Here is the case with the two ribs dressed to look original. The third one will be tougher because it angles toward the finished one - thats why we did the other two first.

photogod · 10-04-08, 05:01 PM

Man, you guys are artists! Nice job.

flintknapper · 10-05-08, 08:58 AM

Very nice work. You might consider welding in a "boss" to accept a drain plug while you are at it. As you already know, the case is rather thin and only allows for a few threads. A "boss" or "bung" would help tremendously.

Great job, great thread!

Flint.

Awl_TEQ · 10-05-08, 06:28 PM

Ooooh - good idea. I almost forgot about the drain/ fill plugs.

Awl_TEQ · 10-05-08, 06:51 PM

#1 Friday my welder friend finished welding cracks and building up missing pieces with new metal. He applies more metal than needed and then I sculpt and shape the finished piece. I had already dressed most of the welded areas at work before this picture was taken.

#2 These are the tools I'm using. The 1/2" wide belt sander does 90% of the work with an 80 grit belt. The 2" angle grinder with a maroon scotchbrite pad does well to put the final polish on. Also, I used a dremel tool with a 1/8" carbide burr to cut the grooves in the top case and the mating surface.

#3 The finished product - save for the drain and fill plugs as per flintknapper's post above.

Awl_TEQ · 10-05-08, 07:04 PM

#1 This is the case before I started. The welds you see were from the PO had no penetration and were very weak.

#2 Here is the case now.

#3 Welded one on the left and good one on the right.

Awl_TEQ · 10-05-08, 07:15 PM

#1 I also got the solenoid covers welded and dressed - ready for powder.

#2 The pile of parts nearly ready for powder and plating. I just have to put in the fill and drain plugs.

#3 Also put on a few coats of gloss black on the motor.

Awl_TEQ · 10-05-08, 07:33 PM

Tomorrow/ next day or two
- I will have material added to the cases in the form of a bung for drain and fill plugs.
- I will do a final polish and dress of all powder destined pieces.
- I will send all steel pieces save for the gears to be zinc plated.
- I will pick up my motor and shaft from Warn.
- I will pick up the bearing and seal I had ordered in.

There is light at the end of the tunnel

Awl_TEQ · 10-09-08, 09:28 PM

Update

I've got the fill and drain plugs drilled and tapped. I'm just prepping for powder with some high temp masking tape I borrowed from the powder coater. I'm going to try and get everything to powder and plating tomorrow.