81 BJ42 - I have to bring it home and pass inspection

[caper]

I cleaned my connection also and didn't help my problem . My shows full when I fill it and slowely goes down untill I burn about 15L from the tank at which point it drops right to empty , Guess I 'll have to pull the unit and try and figure it out. BTW anyone know how many liters these tanks hold ? I'm guessing 70-80

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

Every cruiser I have had does that: 40, 60, 80 and both gas and diesel.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Thanks for sharing gauge history guys. After more cleaning of the contacts and some dielectric grease the gauge came down to about 5/8 of a tank. That points to "the more resistance the higher the needle" which makes no sense because if you make it infinite resistance by disconnecting it the needle goes to empty. It works now so I don't care why.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Saturday's progress....

Drove it to the blaster and took it down to metal. Mostly I just wanted the inside of the wheel well cleaned out so I could start the anti-corrosion process from scratch. I want primer and sealer between the support brackets and the inner well. Then I'll apply a healthy coating of rattle can undercoating or maybe something from the autobody supplier if I don't need a special gun.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Back in the garage I fixed a few pinholes in my patches and put two coats+ inside the wells, on the support brackets and inside the tub. Then I skimmed the quarter panels with filler.

 

[alberta mac]

Gas tank on your 42 is a 84 litre tank,
Brakes : hard... your air reservoir is located under the drivers seat, the round tank, I rebuilt mine out of stainless, a friend took a plastic tank from a vw and got desired pressure.
There is a relief valve on the tank meant to occasionally drain off excess condensation build up, this however is usually over looked on diesels. So rust and holes may occurr.
Check the condition of the lines, you may want to run a long hose from the brake reservoir back to itself to see if you have one pump of pressure.
If it turns out you've covered all the above then the brushes on your vaccuum pump need to be replaced.

Cheers
Nice work !!

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Thanks Mac. I've made several stainless OEM look tanks in the past. I don't think mine has holes but we'll see when I move it for the floor repair

 

[Awl_TEQ]

This mornings festivities...

These are the last patches required in the rear tub. Careful cutting with the grinder was needed due to the hard fuel lines being in the way.

 

[subzali]

looks beautiful!

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Thanks SubZ


New question/ topic/ concern. So I'm in the sandblaster's yard early on the morning after a good hard rain and there is standing water over sand. They direct me to a blast area and as I back in I feel the right rear sink a bit. Given the water and my intent on blasting the tub I decide to move over to my left to a drier spot. Put her in first and I'm stuck. No worries right? So I jump out and lock the hubs, select 4lo and let out the clutch.... no change. Still stuck with only the right rear spinning.


I double checked the hubs and the transfer lever - all good. still no power to the front. Well I'm on the clock for $110/ hour here so no time to diagnose. Highlift, up 8", push her over, repeat.


Once I was home I did the following:

Rear is airborne, tranny in neutral, transfer in 4lo, hubs free, front is on the ground. Roll under and turn the front driveshaft to find the rear also turns = good. Transfer seems ok.

Then, same condition but locked the hubs. I can still turn the front driveshaft. = not good. I should not be able to turn the front driveshaft by hand with the front tires on the ground.

My thoughts... there is a break in the front shafts somewhere. Birfield, hub or a shaft. Because it is not an LSD, if one side is busted then the torque I apply to the shaft would be sent to the path of least resistance - the busted side in this case - and being busted I can turn the driveshaft.

there is no noise while driving when the front hubs are locked in 2H and no noise when in 4H or Lo

I have to check the brakes etc later anyway so I'll finish the bodywork and add this to my mechanical work for later.

 

[lowenbrau]

Thanks SubZ


New question/ topic/ concern. So I'm in the sandblaster's yard early on the morning after a good hard rain and there is standing water over sand. They direct me to a blast area and as I back in I feel the right rear sink a bit. Given the water and my intent on blasting the tub I decide to move over to my left to a drier spot. Put her in first and I'm stuck. No worries right? So I jump out and lock the hubs, select 4lo and let out the clutch.... no change. Still stuck with only the right rear spinning.


I double checked the hubs and the transfer lever - all good. still no power to the front. Well I'm on the clock for $110/ hour here so no time to diagnose. Highlift, up 8", push her over, repeat.


Once I was home I did the following:

Rear is airborne, tranny in neutral, transfer in 4lo, hubs free, front is on the ground. Roll under and turn the front driveshaft to find the rear also turns = good. Transfer seems ok.

Then, same condition but locked the hubs. I can still turn the front driveshaft. = not good. I should not be able to turn the front driveshaft by hand with the front tires on the ground.

My thoughts... there is a break in the front shafts somewhere. Birfield, hub or a shaft. Because it is not an LSD, if one side is busted then the torque I apply to the shaft would be sent to the path of least resistance - the busted side in this case - and being busted I can turn the driveshaft.

there is no noise while driving when the front hubs are locked in 2H and no noise when in 4H or Lo

I have to check the brakes etc later anyway so I'll finish the bodywork and add this to my mechanical work for later.

My money is on a gummed up hub. The grease gets hard if they don't get used and they simply don't engage. ten minutes/side of cleaning and re-greasing and you'll be golden.

 

[crushers]

how did you check the hubs?
busted birf. sometimes a busted birf has already grenaded enough to not make noise, sadly this can also lead to "steering lock" if a piece moves between the diff housing and the knuckle housing.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

My money is on a gummed up hub. The grease gets hard if they don't get used and they simply don't engage. ten minutes/side of cleaning and re-greasing and you'll be golden.

They turn without much resistance and were warm when I tried. I will check them first when I get there.

how did you check the hubs?
busted birf. sometimes a busted birf has already grenaded enough to not make noise, sadly this can also lead to "steering lock" if a piece moves between the diff housing and the knuckle housing.

Steering lock Great news!


As an afterthought, when I first pulled out of Rob's mothers driveway and got to a nearby gas station I found the hubs locked when I went to top up the tires. I unlocked them and drove home.

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

Definitely check the hubs first. Mine did exactly the same thing but in opposite. My hub stayed locked even when they were unlocked at the dial. I didn't even notice it until I did the transmission swap and still at the bellows off of my shifters. I looked down through the floor and saw my drive shaft spinning when in 2H.

I popped the faceplate off of my hubs and the mechanism was bent enough to prevent movement.

 

[subzali]

you could pull the fill plug off the knuckle and stick an awl down in there and see if there are any birfield chunks floating around...

 

[cody c]

ya, it would be the hub gear siezed or gummed up.

With it sitting so long, and having the spring in between the dial and the gear, sometimes you need to drive it a pinch before it moves into place with even fresh grease. Easy enough to check though.

 

[caper]

I double checked the hubs and the transfer lever - all good. still no power to the front. Well I'm on the clock for $110/ hour here so no time to diagnose. Highlift, up 8", push her over, repeat.


Wow $110 / Hr , I think I use to go to that same place when I lived in Calgary by the looks of your picture , I forget the name and address and it was $60 / hr . That was back in 99-2000.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Consolodated Compressor. Even at that price you can't beat having the right equipment. I did three FJ45 beds for an average of $60 each. On this tub I used the smaller gun so it was a bit slower but I didn't want to warp the hell out of it.

 

[crushers]

i used Consolidated for years, can't beat the price and you get to control the quality.
down here we don't have a rent a blaster ... there is portable units but they come with a guy that does the work.

although the cost is $90/hr which isn't bad at all.

 

[caper]

Yes that was the name of the place , use to love going there , it was fun and no clean up just drive away.