Help your neighbor

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m3a1
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Help your neighbor

Unread post by m3a1 » December 3rd, 2018, 12:25 pm

I was thinking of all of us Friday night; we merry band of gear heads. I had been preparing our place for our annual Christmas party (always a monumental task and the reason why I have been away from the forum lately) and the night before the big bash I had to make a thunder run to the hardware store. A series of unfortunate events had conspired to put me way behind the eight ball on party prep; a job which involves almost completely gutting our house and transforming it into a party venue (basically, I move out and then back in every year) and the party was going to take place the following day and also complicating matters was putting the final touches on our parade float.

At Home Depot, I stepped out and here was a fellow gear head; a guy with small a trailer and upon it, a very nice home-made frame and suspension for some kind of kit car. He had driven half way across the state to pick it up (for only $100 but no small trip considering the size of Texas!) which was quite a bargain especially considering it had a fully independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, two sets of alloy wheels, and he had a MGB body to go on it at home. This got me thinking about the MUTT and all of us and some of the crazy stuff we pull off. Anyway, as it turned out, he had lost the bearings on one side of the trailer and it was 8PM, dark and chilly, and he was in a town he knew nothing about. So, I committed to trying to help him get back on the road because if I hadn't and if I just went about my business, hosting a Christmas Party would have felt rather shallow indeed.

So, we exchanged phone numbers and I became his scrounger, runner and tool-getter; provider of light, encouragement, chocolate shakes, shop rags and a lot of free advice...and when he was at the parts store, I was still there working on his trailer and vice-versa. Finally, after much work, he and I managed to salvage that spindle for one more long haul across the big state of Texas....which in this case was to be all the way back to El Paso. One of us would work, the other would check the work and dive in to make corrections...this going back and forth until both of us were completely satisfied. Our work had to be right because after another 50 miles he would be looking at a whole lot of nothing, in the darkness and the cold. Like Arizona, Texas has long stretches of nothing. These are not places where you would want to break down. So, we rolled up our sleeves and did the very best we could with what we had and what we could come up with.

There was a lot of massaging done to that spindle, mostly with a broad file and emery cloth and a lot of diligent checking for fit, because a lot of debris had welded itself to the spindle. Because of the debris, getting the inner bearing race off was a major undertaking. We ended up re-using the outer washer (badly damaged and whittled down to about 1/4" of metal rather than 1/2" breadth per side) because none could be found (NAPA closed early). Auto Zone had a bearing/seal kit, grease...but no suitable washer was to be found in our little town at that late hour. We took the hub, tapped out the chewed up bearing races, cleaned the hub thoroughly (and then cleaned it once more to make sure) and tapped in new races and seated them with a brass punch. I took the washer home, cleaned it up with a flap disc and what was left of it would have to do. At least there was enough left hold the bearing properly. To combat the threat of the grease migrating out of the outer bearing (since the largest part of the washer wouldn't be there to help keep it in) we put extra grease in the cavity in the hub between the bearings and then we packed the cap as well.

The dust/grease cap not staying put was the final kick in the crotch...or rather, it was the hub that was the offending part. When the bearings gave up, the hub dropped onto the washer, machined that off and then began settling on the nut which was also badly damaged. The result of those bearings giving up was a high speed machining process that wore off the inner face of the hub so when we though we finally had it licked, the danged cap wouldn't stay put! Grrr! :evil:

Still, we were finally at the point where we were putting everything back together, tired, filthy and very happy with our labor and our success to this point because what we had started with was simply a disaster. But here we were, just a couple of like-minded fellows only on a first name basis, getting 'er done. By that time, it was almost 11PM and getting quite chilly and we were way too dirty at this point to consider putting our jackets on. Tongue-in-cheek, I remarked. "Well, gee, this was fun experience! The only thing that would have made it more fun would have been if it had rained on us."

Yup.

You guessed it.

A few minutes later, it rained.

Not buckets, mind you, but one of those short, cold rains.... :cry: with the huge water drops.

So, we did get the' full meal deal' which made the experience nearly complete. We had that trailer up on its wheels but had no way to keep the grease cap on. I toyed with the idea of tack-welding the cap on but that seemed rather extreme considering the possibility that he might have to get back in there along the way. But, I had an idea. Once more into the breach!

I had him follow me to the house. We marched in, looking like two happy gear head hobos. I'm quite sure we were really something to see against this immaculately clean stage, which was all set for a Christmas party. After introductions all around, we cleaned ourselves up, making our spotless bathroom sinks look like they belonged in a defunct Route 66 gas station. Then we got some hot coffee to shake off the cold. Now, to the business of figuring out that cap.... and how to keep it on.

The hub was 2.5" outer diameter. A soda can is typically 2.45"-2.6" inner diameter depending upon who produces the can and so, we put the cap on, crammed a cut-down soda can over the whole shebang just to keep the cap in place, and then I put a worm-drive clamp on it. Done and DONE!

And finally, this fella went on his way, off into the cold darkness. I cleaned myself up, cleaned up the sinks and fell into bed. I received a text the following day. He made it back with no dramas whatsoever. I had to scramble like mad to finish my party preparations but I made it.... :D

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

Cheers,
TJ
Last edited by m3a1 on December 3rd, 2018, 11:27 pm, edited 5 times in total.

acudanut

Re: Help your neighbor

Unread post by acudanut » December 3rd, 2018, 3:37 pm

Your a good man Sir. Salute

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Jay Mallari
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Re: Help your neighbor

Unread post by Jay Mallari » December 3rd, 2018, 5:46 pm

You're No.1 on Santa's list this year :D

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raymond
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Re: Help your neighbor

Unread post by raymond » December 3rd, 2018, 11:09 pm

OUTSTANDING :!: 8)
Raymond


"On the day when crime puts on the apparel of innocence, through a curious reversal peculiar to our age, it is innocence that is called on to justify itself." Albert Camus

Lindsay36551
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Re: Help your neighbor

Unread post by Lindsay36551 » December 4th, 2018, 10:42 pm

It absolutely sucked when you stood strong and offered to help', it absolutely sucked for the next 6 hrs. to help this man! You stood strong, BE VERY PROUD OF YOURSELF!
Many would not have!
You where his ANGEL that night!
God has a purpose for all of use , all on a different day! All in a different way!
Step one completed!
1967 M-35-a2-D SOLD
1973 M151A2
M151 A1-SOLD
196? franken MUTT
M1oo trailer-sold
1963 M151-sold
1968 M416 trailer
1988 998 Humvee-4 man
1994 998 Humvee-up armored

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m3a1
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Re: Help your neighbor

Unread post by m3a1 » December 5th, 2018, 11:22 am

Well, I don't know about the angel part... :wink: It's just how I was raised. I think the big 'thank you' would actually have to go to my parents.

I failed to mention that my son's best buddy wanted to get in on this fixit so I brought him along. He's a young fellow who, by circumstance, has no father. So we got him filthy dirty as well mostly watching and learning since this was another man's rig (and at this stage of the game he's all thumbs). His first impression of the matter was that we wouldn't get it fixed. Well, I said, maybe we will and maybe we won't but it won't be for lack of tryin'! And, as we all know, a little adversity builds character.

Cheers,
TJ

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