E361T Progress - NEW PROJECT!

[64 engine]

As always it looks like more stellar work by the Millard crew. Please keep the updates flowing. The stuff you guys do really help a Brockway newbie like me get the smaller stuff I need to do done.

[oldspwr]

Thanks for everyone's comments!

- Ray, no reason to apologize about the radiator neck. These things happen. Half the fun of building the truck is chasing parts and making things work! I should have had the neck figured out before I painted the tank the first time, but it all worked out...

So here is a quick update from this past week....

We painted all the parts Tuesday night so on Friday night we started taking everything off the paint rack. I had a piece of wood set across the frame rails so this is where I laid out all the parts...



We then started chasing all the holes in the tank and all the brackets for the tanks...



On Sunday we started assembling all the parts. I needed somewhere to mount the lower tank, so I wound up using some of the shipping frame that my 4 post lift came with. If you can picture it, they bolt both ramps together about 2' apart and then put all the parts between the ramps for transport. So the final shipping package is about 18' x 2' x 2'. So here is where we started...



We then started working on the tank gaskets using the roll of cork material my Dad bought a while back. We cut each strip long, then marked the holes from below, and then punched each hole...



After getting the 4 strips in place we brought the core over...



42 bolts later we were finished with the lower tank!



We then moved on to the upper tank...



Another 42 bolts later both tanks were completed! The factory tank used 1" long 3/8 x 16 bolts with lock washers, but I added flat washers as well along with 1 1/4" bolts. This time I bought all the hardware from McMaster Carr and was very happy that all the bolts, washers, etc. were made in the USA. So after bolting some of the grill mounting brackets on, here was our finished product for the weekend...



So that's it for now. I still have some things to finish up but we've made good progress so far...

[oldspwr]

After we finished with the radiator I decided to finish some of the smaller things I hadn't done yet... The first was installing a new rear main seal in the Detroit. Although the bellhousing was fairly dry, we decided to install a new seal along with a speedy sleeve...



The sleeve is an interference fit so I thought if I heated it, it would expand enough to slip over the crankshaft. So I borrowed my Mom's toaster oven and fired it up...



After cooking it at 350 deg for a 1/2 hour, I grabbed it with a pair of work gloves and started to slip it over the crank. It went on about 1/2" and that was it.... I guess it was too thin and didn't hold the heat that well. So after thinking about it for awhile, I found the ring that goes between the 5/8" bolts and the flywheel. This ring, which is about 16 gauge in thickness, is slightly larger that the sleeve. So using the ring along with some shorter 5/8" bolts, I slowly tightened each up up until the sleeve was flush with the end of the crank. Then I removed the ring, set the flywheel in place, and used the flywheel to press it on the rest of the way. After that was done, we installed the new seal and called it a night...



The next night I took the flywheel outside and cleaned it up...



Then we installed a new pilot bearing...



Then we moved on to another small project. Like on my 155W, I wanted to run AN line from the air compressor to the tank. So I need to find a way to adapt the 3/4" copper to AN. I needed a new 3/4" compression sleeve and it turns out that it's unique to air systems. Plumbing systems use 5/8" and 7/8" but not 3/4". So I went to Miles Auto Parts right here in Clarks Summit and sure enough he had a box of them. I bought an #12 AN tube nut and AN to AN adapter and found 4" of 3/4" copper that was nice and straight...



When all was said and done I wound up with this...



That's it for now, more to follow...

[Emery Johnston]

Thanks Tom. Very neat and clean! That last picture makes it look like front wheel drive!!!
Emery

[oldspwr]

Over the past 2 weeks we have been working on the transmission, a 10 speed Roadranger, RTF-910. I really wanted to move on to the frame after the radiator, but we really need to wait for warmer weather.

A while back we bolted the trans to an engine stand which made moving it around a lot easier...



We then started removing the clutch linkage and bars, and everything was pretty crusty...



To make life easier I used a couple of eye hooks and used the cherry picker to move it around... This is where I got stuck with trying to remove the input shaft. With help from Richie and Stan I was able to remove it from the main housing...



After removing the bell housing I decided to remove the back half of the case. For whatever reason, half the case was extremely rusty and I had to chip it away...



Most of the work above was done last Saturday when it was farily miserable outsite. On Sunday the rain held up for awhile so I drug the trans outside and started wire brushing it...



It turns out that Fuller paint is almost as durable as Detroit Diesel paint and after a few hours I had it down to this...



While I was wire brushing the trans, my Dad was pressure washing the bell housing...



After finishing up with the main case I cleaned the rear section... You can see how badly rusted part of it was...



After wire brushing everything we thoroughly cleaned all the bearings and started to get everything ready for re-assembly. As you know I buy a lot of parts from eBay and 9 times of out 10 things work out, but here is one case where it didn’t. I would up buying a set of after-market gaskets for around $15 or so. When I started trial fitting them, I quickly realized they didn’t fit. Here is a pic of the top cover. Look at how far the upper left hand holes are off...



So yesterday I took a trip to Truck Parts in Scranton and picked up a set of genuine Fuller gaskets. $27 later I had the correct gaskets... here’s another example of the Eaton gasket laid over the aftermarket gasket...



So that’s it for now... more to follow...

[BorinquenSpecial]

Looking good!!! Tom, how do you strip the transmission? look as if was sandblasted.

[H762TL]

Looking good!!! Tom, how do you strip the transmission? look as if was sandblasted.

He wirebrushed it.

[oldspwr]

One of the last things I needed to finish up for the Detroit was the blower. I understand that the seals get dry after sitting for so long, so after talking to Stephen I decided to rebuild it. Here is what I started with...



Like I mentioned in the past, the Detroit paint is like iron, but it did come off of the aluminum a little easier. I used a medium 4" cup brush and the small one on the drill in the picture...



I then started disassembling some of the easier parts, like the end cap...



The wire brush wasn't touching the paint on this part so I decided to blast it with glass beads...



I also removed the snoot and the front end plate...



And here they are after bead blasting and then going them over lightly with the 6" wire brush...



I talked to Stephen several times about the Detroit and he mentioned he could help out rebuilding the blower since special tools were required to install the bearings, etc. We also discussed using high pressure seals since we would like to add a turbo in the future. So after we decided to go that route, Stephen mentioned he could take to blower to Texas with him the next time he went to visit his Dad. So as we speak the blower in half way across the country in Texas!

Last night we spent some more time on the transmission. It turns out I got the wrong rear oil seal, so I had to go back yesterday at lunch an pick up the right one. I also picked up a speedy sleeve since I figured the yoke was wore.

We finished the rear main section and I installed the new rear oil seal...



We then tried to install the rear plate. With the trans laying flat, we could not get it to slid in all the way without the gears binding. The rebuild manual noted that another option was to put the trans on end and lower the end plate in from above. So after several failed attempts we turned the trans on end and used the cherry picker to lower the the piece in place...



Since we did not plan on using the PTO that came on the trans, I decided to make my own cover plate. I used a piece of 1/8" plate and used the gasket as a template...



I also drilled a hole for a sending unit for a trans temperature gauge and used an extra fitting I had left over from the 155W...



Well that's it for now... I also picked up the paint for the frame yesterday so over the Holiday weekend we plan on painting the trans. Pics to follow!

[oldspwr]

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend and having a nice Easter! Our plans were to paint the trans yesterday so over the past week we were getting everything ready.

I realized I had the wrong rear seal for the yoke, so I went to Truck Parts in Scranton and picked up the correct seal along with a speedy sleeve. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of shape the yoke was in, but I figured I could always return it is it was good.

Sure enough the yoke was in rough shape and pitted pretty bad...



The sleeve came with the tool to install it and it worked perfect...



One of the things I almost forgot about was the air filter for the trans. This is what we started with... It's a Purolator FP-2007 and the filter was tagged "FP-200". After some checking I was able to find a Wix replacement filter which I should be able to get from Napa. Any thoughts on reusing this filter assembly? The regulator was pretty rough as well so I plugged the ports and bead blasted it.




Then we moved onto the bell housing. Even though we pressure washed it, it still needed to be cleaned and I wanted to put it in my parts cleaner. My parts cleaner really needed to be cleaned, so we decided to drain it and clean out 8 years of sludge...



Then we were finally able to wash the bell housing off...



I was off on Friday but had to work for a few hours in the morning. When I got home I took the top plate outside and finished wire brushing it. This was the last piece that needed to be wire brushed...



I then jumped back to the air filter. When I started to take everything apart, the two bolts in the aluminum housing broke...



Fortunately they were still stick up an 1/8" or so, so using (2) 1/4" nuts I weld them right to the studs. With the excessive heat from the welder, they came right out...



After that was done we went back to work on the bell housing. The bushings were completely wiped out and sure enough McMaster had the right bushings in stock.



And after installing them we reamed them back to 1"...



And finally here is a few pics of some good Ebay scores... I broke the ball switch for reverse and I found one on Ebay for $1.79, and it's military grade, made in the USA.



And one more good score, a genuine Fuller range selector to replace my extremely rusty one. I don't remember how much I paid because I bought that in 2004!



That's it for now, more to follow!!!

[oldspwr]

Ok, part 2 for this weekend...

Over the week I had been sandblasting parts and lightly went over them again Saturday morning...



When I was done with that I realized that I forget to fix the worn holes in the clutch linkage pieces. You can see from this pic how worn the holes were...



So I drilled both worn holes out to 5/8" and bushed them with some bronze bushings I had...



We also decided to shoot the visor for the 761. This is the one I picked up from Clarence at the last Spring Fling. On a side note, when I went to trial fit it on the truck the day we bought it, we discovered all the holes were already drilled, so we mounted it and left it on for the summer. Boy did we get a lot of questions on why the visor was yellow! So we wet sanded it and figured we would paint it along with the trans. Although the red is a different shade, the 761 will eventually be that color red



After getting the visor ready I started hanging the rest of the parts...




Then we started again with the self etching primer...



And then the tinted primer / sealer...



And here are the final results after color and clear...







And that's it for now. Next week I hope to get the 5th wheel mounted back on the 761 as well as installing the visor. Then it's on to the frame!!!

[oldspwr]

Ok, it's finally time for another update... When we last left off, we had just finished painting the transmission and all the brackets, linkage, etc, that go along with it. After they were done, I decided to start cleaning up all the stuff that had collected around the frame.

Under the frame I hand a handful of brackets, etc. that we had primered when we primered the frame. I quickly realized I had enough parts for a full nights worth of painting. So I laid everything out on the table just to take a quick inventory of what I had and what needed to be painted...



There were a few brackets that I decided to paint on the frame in case I decide to change them, and they included the fender mounts and the bumper mounts. So I had Tommy remove those for me...



Then Tommy held the wrench on some of the 'harder to reach' bolts for my Dad...



When all was said and done with, this is what I wound up with...



So then I assembled the paint rack and started hanging everything. This load of parts included the battery box mounts, all the fender mounts, front bumper mounts, the lower crossmember side brackets that the crossover fuel lines attach to, etc.



One thing that was bugging me was the part that the air ride level valve bolts to. I'm not sure if someone dropped something on it, but it wasn't straight, so i decided to fix it.



It's hard to see in the pic, but the flat service where it bolts to the crossmember was bowed. So using a piece of 1 1/2" angle, I cut the tweaked piece off and welded a new one on...



So this past Thursday night we decided to paint everything. The first thing we did was scuff the primer with scotch brite pad and then wipe everything down with wax and silicone remover...



We then shot another coat of tinted primer and followed it up with the basecoat...





So after two coats of color and two coats of clear we were done for the night...



After letting everything hang for a few days, on Saturday we laid everything out on the table...



This past Saturday I also went and bought the driver side aluminum fuel tank off of the 361 we bought the jake from. I knew the tank was damaged, but in case I couldn't find another one, I figured I should buy it. The owner was just getting ready to cut it off to scap it, so I called him just in time...



Unfortunately this tank is waffled pretty hard on top. Looks like someone dropped something on the fuel fill. My guess would be a log!



It seems that at the end of every post I say "on to the frame next!" and I always wind up working on something else. But this time it's true! We spent last night re-torquing all the frame bolts and it looks like we are going to shoot it on Sunday, May 22, the day after the Fling.

That's it for now!

[FirstEliminator]

Did you MIG or TIG weld those spouts on the radiator? The welds came out really nice.

[STRETCH]

Tom, great stuff!
I still am reminded if when I built models as a kid...painting and laying out the parts just like you do. Pretty cool.
Thanks for the photos.


Stretch

[oldspwr]

Thanks for everyones comments.... First Eliminator, I mig welded the radiator filler neck on... Sometimes I get lucky and the welds look great!

The past few weeks have been crazy busy and last weekend we had our local truck club meeting at our of our members (Bill Nagy) garages. Everyone was meeting at my garage to travel to Bill's so we took a few days to get everything cleaned up.

So yesterday we decided to move the frame. We used a cherry picker for the rear and the fork lift for the front.



We moved it into the middle bay where we usually paint...



Then we wiped all the dust, etc. off of it with wax & silicone remover...



Then we scuffed the primer down with scotch brite pads to get it ready for another coat of primer. This last coat of tinted primer will cover the new bolts, etc.



So tonight we'll blow it off again and then wipe it down one last time. Saturday we're heading up to the spring fling and then Sunday the frame will finally see some paint!!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

[Emery Johnston]

Frame looks good (so does the garage!) What's goin on with the "T" sedan?

[oldspwr]

Emery... The T sedan is the next project after the 361...

So after coming home from the Spring Fling Saturday night we blew the frame off one more time and swept the garage out. Then Sunday morning we started shooting the frame. The first thing we did was give it another coat of primer. My friend Mike came over to help out...



This coat covered all the new bolts, etc. that was installed on the frame after the first few coats of primer...



I shot some of the inside of the frame and was using a fluorescent drop light to make sure I got paint inside all of the tights spaces.



After we were done with the primer, we waited a 1/2 hour, scuffed it again, then hit it with a tack rag, and then finally the red color...



Here I am in the middle working on the 2nd coat of color... Not much room to move around!



And then we shot the clear, and this is the final product. We're really glad to be wrapped up with this and next weekend we'll set the motor and trans in and hopefully the radiator.

[Huskiedrive361]

Things will really take off from this point Tom! Now that you got some place to mount all the completed projects, you'll gain some shop space. Looks real good. If you need some help with the input shaft or setting the motor let me know and I'll drive down. Stan

[Emery Johnston]

" If you need some help with the input shaft or setting the motor let me know and I'll drive down. Stan"

Hey Stan, I'm ready to set my engine! How about dropping by here? I'm just a bit south of Tom!

Emery

[Huskiedrive361]

Be glad to help Em! Please send plane fare! Stan

[Emery Johnston]

Bring your own sun screen!! This ain't Cortland!