Builds The Clustertruck Rides Again - Refurbishing a 1975 Chevota

[Vae Victus]

I thought I'd put the link here for the brake lines: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj40-brake-lines-and-the-potential-source.800737/

Those parts above look mighty familiar now. I was in the axle yesterday.


...via IH8MUD app

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I thought I'd put the link here for the brake lines: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj40-brake-lines-and-the-potential-source.800737/

Those parts above look mighty familiar now. I was in the axle yesterday.


...via IH8MUD app

Saw this. Unfortunately about a month too late! I already bought 50ft of hard line, so I'll be trying my hand at this myself. Most likely won't look as nice, but I'll be happy as long as it gets the job done!

I can't wait to get into my axle - getting close now!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Cleaned, prepped, painted, finally!

Time to load in the new races and figure out where all the nuts/bolts/washers in the coffee tin @Stumpalama provided go.

The tape failed in a couple places, so I'll have to sand some paint back off the sealing surfaces, but all in all, I'm happy with the paint job. It's not perfect but it seems to have adhered, and will hopefully keep the rust out of them for a couple more years.

 

[Vae Victus]

Cleaned, prepped, painted, finally!

Time to load in the new races and figure out where all the nuts/bolts/washers in the coffee tin @Stumpalama provided go.

The tape failed in a couple places, so I'll have to sand some paint back off the sealing surfaces, but all in all, I'm happy with the paint job. It's not perfect but it seems to have adhered, and will hopefully keep the rust out of them for a couple more years.

View attachment 886399

What do you mean I'm ahead? You've got this thing cleaned and painted!


...via IH8MUD app

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

What do you mean I'm ahead? You've got this thing cleaned and painted!


...via IH8MUD app

Those are just the donor parts! My 40's axles are still firmly affixed to my 40!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Cleaned, prepped, painted, finally!

Time to load in the new races and figure out where all the nuts/bolts/washers in the coffee tin @Stumpalama provided go.

Well, that was way less difficult than I thought it would be...Nuts and bolts have been categorized, split between the two wheels, bagged, and tagged. It was pretty easy once they didn't all just look like balls of grease varying in size. It's impressive how well an axle leak will preserve your hardware!

Didn't accomplish much else today - took an M6x1.0 tap to all the brass seal holes I painted over on my knuckles. Moving at a snail's pace lately. I'm running out of things to do without tearing apart the truck...

 

[DSRTRDR]

well, once you get it running, you could actually wheel it

 

[RattleCan]

Keeping the rig together is a problem of mine too. I'm always thinking- If I tear this apart, when will it be back together? Not going to do anything major to mine til after summer unless something breaks. Not waiting idle while parts are shipping is something I am just starting to get also.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

well, once you get it running, you could actually wheel it

It's not the running that's the problem...it's the stopping...

Keeping the rig together is a problem of mine too. I'm always thinking- If I tear this apart, when will it be back together? Not going to do anything major to mine til after summer unless something breaks. Not waiting idle while parts are shipping is something I am just starting to get also.

I'm hoping to get the axles out, rebuilt and back in this summer, then it will be driveable until the throw out bearing finally seizes. Of course, work has me traveling virtually every other week, so finding time is going to be tough. I pretty much have every part collected for the front and rear axles (minus Poser's kit) so I should really be able to get started soon. It's not a lack of interest, simply a lack of time!

 

[Vae Victus]

Remember to enjoy the journey. Working with your hands to restore functionality of an antique vehicle is what 85% of the posts on this forum is about. Everyone thinks it's the destination they seek, but it's the comraderie, using your brain to solve problems, and the satisfaction of seeing what you are able to do – that's the appeal.

I don't want to get too philosophical here but we men (and some women) run around looking for a purpose. Fixing a truck isn't it - but it is far better than some things that we could be doing.

I keep reminding myself of these two things.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Remember to enjoy the journey. Working with your hands to restore functionality of an antique vehicle is what 85% of the posts on this forum is about. Everyone thinks it's the destination they seek, but it's the comraderie, using your brain to solve problems, and the satisfaction of seeing what you are able to do – that's the appeal.

I don't want to get too philosophical here but we men (and some women) run around looking for a purpose. Fixing a truck isn't it - but it is far better than some things that we could be doing.

I keep reminding myself of these two things.

Well put, and I totally agree. My biggest complaint isn't the journey, I love every minute of working on this truck (even when I hate it). My complaint is that life, distance to the garage it is stored in, weather, etc. keeps getting in the way! If I was making marked progress, I'd be a much happier camper. All in good time, I suppose. I appreciate the words of encouragement!

 

[DSRTRDR]

yeah, brakes would be good to have

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The latest haul from NAPA. Started buying up the parts for the rear axle disc-brake conversion as well.

From top to bottom:

1. FJ60 Brake Master Cylinder P/N M2805 - I will need to remove the residual valve in the rear circuit.
2. Rear Brake lines from a 1983 Nissan 200SX P/N 38149 - to become the rear flex lines on my rear disc conversion
3. Banjo Bolt P/N 82700 - Longer than stock GM to mate Nissan hose to Monte Carlo Calipers
4. Front Flex Line P/N - 38881 - from a 1992 Land Cruiser. (one will be my body to axle drop, the other two my axle-to-caliper flex lines)
5. Front Calipers from a 1985 Chevy Monte Carlo; P/N: LE4622/LE4623

Not pictured, but also bought:

More Sealing washers
20 inch rear body-to-axle drop line. P/N: BH381328 Source vehicle unknown.

Pretty sure that's about 6 vehicles in one braking system!

Another question for the masses:

Does the thickness of a copper sealing washer matter? I'd assume it probably doesn't. I ask because the washers included with the 200SX hoses are significantly thicker (2X) than the ones I bought separately. The bajo bolt I'll be using is a little on the short side for comfort. It seems to snug up nicely, but with the thicker washers, I can get about 3-3.5 turns into the brake caliper. With the thinner washer, I get 4-4.5. In either case, the connection seems solid and unlikely to pull out, BUT, since they are brake components, I figure it better to err on the side of caution!

The difference is about 1 thread-turn:

 

[Vae Victus]

Rick - good discussion here: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/thread-depth-recommendations-online-72760/

Summary - 2.5 to 3x Diameter of the bolt (or about 7 threads) is the recommended max strength. Anything less provides less secure strength, so you have to judge the load and the importance of the thing being secured.

Brakes = pretty important. Load = pretty hight.

Fortunately your photos show about a 1 thread diff, with 7 or 6 (EDIT - ok, maybe 6 or 5 threads respectively, recounting the threads above) full threads being available, so as long as it seals, my uneducated SWAG is that either will work great. If it were me though, thinner just makes sense that it would seal better.

 

[user42]

Remember to enjoy the journey. Working with your hands to restore functionality of an antique vehicle is what 85% of the posts on this forum is about. Everyone thinks it's the destination they seek, but it's the comraderie, using your brain to solve problems, and the satisfaction of seeing what you are able to do – that's the appeal.

I don't want to get too philosophical here but we men (and some women) run around looking for a purpose. Fixing a truck isn't it - but it is far better than some things that we could be doing.

I keep reminding myself of these two things.

Well said

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Finally moving forward!

Managed to install the new bearing races last night. This was actually way easier than I thought. Partially because I bought a race/seal driver set from harbor freight (cheap and effective).

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-bearing-race-and-seal-driver-set-95853.html

New Race to be installed:

The 72mm head from the harbor freight driver kit is a perfect fit for the smaller of the two races (out/hub side). The only tricky part was getting the race to seat straight for the first couple of hits with the hammer. I found making sure the driver was perfectly centered, and stayed that way while you hammered, was key.

Same went for the large race on the axle side. The 81mm driver fit perfectly here.

There is a pretty audible change in the sound the driver/race make once the race seats fully in the hub. In this case, it was also easy to inspect them, to make sure they were seated flush.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Once installed, I test fit the (timken) wheel bearings to make sure nothing had warped

Everything looked good. The next challenge was keeping the wheel bearings straight. All bearings are matched to their specific races, and are also fairly fragile (can't be dropped or abused). Since there are two hubs with identical bearings, I made sure to carefully pack the bearings in rags to protect them, and then bag them.

I numbered the hubs (1 & 2, since they aren't side specific) with a paint pen, and also made note of their casting number (probably worthless, since it will be covered by the brake rotor on install). Then, I labeled the bags accordingly. Hopefully when it comes time to install these, I won't manage to get it backward. The scientist in me has his way, in this case - redundancy in labeling, to the extreme!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I also tried my hand at rebuilding an Aisin locking hub. I decided not to give these guys a fresh coat of paint, since they weren't in terrible shape to begin with.

The most difficult part of that, was getting the spring, pawl, and clutch gear assembly put back together. This is a tightly wound, heavy string that you have to wrap around a dozen different things.

First: the "bend" at the top of the spring catches one of the tabs in the pawl. Then, the first "twist" must go over the two flatter tabs on the pawl. the remaining spring goes under the tabs, through the center of the pawl. I messed around for about 20 minutes and found this to be the easiest way to assemble:

1. align the bend in the spring with one of the taller "tabs." Then, slide the top hoop of the spring over the tab farthest away from bend. Not sure why this picture loads upside down, but hopefully it gets the point across:

2. This was something of a "3 hand" operation. You have to get the other side of the first loop of the spring over the second tab (in the foreground of the picture above. To do so, I held the spring in place (so it wouldn't rotate) then grabbed the bend in the spring with my index finger, and pulled it toward the center of the pawl. Simultaneously, you push up with your other hand, until the portion of the spring you are bending AWAY from the tab clears the tab. Then you let go, and hopefully find the spring and pawl properly assembled:

3. To add to the frustration, the other (not bent) end of the spring now has to be threaded into the inside of the clutch gear:

No real trick here, you just keep slowly twisting the spring into the clutch gear, trying to keep it from getting stuck on the inner teeth, and pushing the bent end of the spring backward in the pawl. Takes some doing. I found that pushing down on the area of the spring right where it leaves the pawl, and enters the clutch, while twisting, helped to keep everything aligned.

Assembled:

For the hub to work properly you need to make sure that:

1. The "bent" portion of the spring is flush with one of the "tall" tabs
2. The straight end of the pin makes one complete turn through the entire channel of the clutch gear. Note the orientation of the spring in the channel. Where the little "upper" teeth stop, is where the spring stops.

3. If both of the above are correct, the downward facing tab on the pawl should seat in the smaller gab between the outer gear teeth (See tab directly below the bent portion of the spring).

This was the toughest portion of the hub assembly, so I thought I'd outline it (again). There are plenty of additional resources available for the rest.

I used:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/rebuilding-aisin-locking-hub-locking-hub-rebuild.149776/

and

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The other sub assemblies were relatively easy:

Detent Ball and spring were reinstalled into the hub dial/handle, and a new O-ring (Toyota P/N: 43532-60010) lubed liberally, and installed into the hub face. The only trick here was aligning the detent ball with one of the "V" grooves in the hub face. Then, keeping these two pieces together (covered in grease) while I struggled to install the snap ring. Still 90% easier than threading a spring!
https://forum.ih8mud.com/tel:43532-60010

This sub-assembly can then be combined with the clutch sub-assembly. You basically just wedge the big hub spring between then (take not, the "smaller" hoop side goes around the pawl. The tabs in the pawl slide into the grooves on the hub dial. Then, I compressed the whole assembly by rotating the clutch gear until it locked in place. This is the "free" setting of the hub. All the way extended is "locked."

VERY IMPOTANT:

Set the hub dial to "free" at this point, for everything to align properly when installed.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Finally, was the inner hub gear, hub ring, and spacer. This assembly was really easy. Spacer gets sandwhiched between the hub gear and the hub ring, with the smaller C-clip holding it all together from the bottom.

From top:

From Bottom:

This whole assembly installs into the bottom of the hub body:

And is held in place by the final C-Clip:

Finally, the clutch/dial assembly installs on top of the hub body (don't forget the gasket!). The tab on the pawl on the outside of the clutch gear must install into one of the "wide" openings in the hub body.

Everything bolts down, and you're done!

NOTE: I did not install the gasket, and only installed 4 bolts, just because I was testing operation. It seems to work OK.