Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux

[raymond]

Science = paying attention during organic chemistry class

[m3a1]

Sorry. By the time that rolled around I was distracted by several other things...and I'll leave that right there...

[m3a1]

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This is a great of example of why we do it, folks. Someone installed a radiator bypass hose (aka Hose, Pressure Relief) that was simply too large for the nipple on the thermostat housing of my M715. Of course it never quite sealed which lead to a whole host of other problems.....on an engine that doesn't allow much wriggle room when it comes to the matter of overheating.

So, when you are doing work on your vehicle and settle for "That's Good Enough" and your attitude is - to heck with the next guy - just remember two things -

There's nothing quite as permanent as a temporary solution.

and

YOU might be 'The Next Guy'!

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

An air ratchet will tighten that clamp. Go for it.

[m3a1]

There's nothing quite as enlightening as working on 'the village bicycle'....

....'cause EVERYONE has had a ride.

[m3a1]

Didn't do much today but what I DID do, counted for somethin'..

Finished detailing the thermostat housing/radiator bypass thingy by chucking up a nearly expired .45 cal bore brush and cleaning out the bolt holes and the bypass nipple. This is just one of those kinds of things that requires so little effort, I often put such work off. Not today.

While I was wandering around looking for my gun cleaning kit, I came across a box with some M-series lighting in it and BEHOLD!... a correct blackout drive light with guard which is absolutely correct for the M715. Well, that was a relief because I suspected I had one laying around but hadn't had the gumption to go look for it. That'll go on the slowly growing pile of stuff for this project. I have to make a base for it so as to be able to mount it to the hood (and where the original hood adaptor plate got off to is anyone's guess) but that's really just a matter of whipping one up with the sheet metal brake and poking some holes in the appropriate places.

I sure as heck ain't gonna to buy such a frivolous thing for $65 off the internet! NOPE. Ain't doin' it.

And, I finally sat down and put pen to paper to figure out just how much money I've spent so far. It is true, I have purchased a few things that aren't helping my project move forward in the slightest but I considered those items lucky finds and if you believe in Providence you also know it's foolish to thumb your nose at it. Mostly what I've been chasing down are new hoses for the truck in an attempt to sort of wrap up the cooling system so I can get that out of the way (rear expansion plug notwithstanding).

As for the fuel tank, I'm going to whip up some home brew Evaporust and have at it. I even found a weight watcher's scale at the local rummage store today so the chemistry will be correct. We're talking about a 28 gallon (106L) tank. I've got a really good feeling about this and I will report the results here. IF it works, our days of woe, regarding crummy fuel tanks, may well be over. No muss. No fuss. No chalky aftertaste. Keep your fingers crossed. Gotta do the math on what the appropriate amount of chemicals will cost and thinking of ways to cheat the hangman and get it accomplished with less than 30 gallons.

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

Well, I finally had a very satisfying day which culminated in some trigger time, wrenching on the ol' M715. Of late, things have really been more of a wink and a nudge and not much giggling and a pecking. Such is the nature of the doldrums of waiting on parts.

It's really rather depressing doing nothing productive on a project that is so much in need. Instead, one ends up doing really awful stuff like yard work and dealing with stupid stuff like trying to find a missing package of .08 weed whacker line that is high visibility day-glo yellow/green in color and yet, in my garage, is also amazingly INvisible. I didn't even find anything good whilst tearing the garage apart trying to find the line...other than another package of .08 clear weed whacker line down below the freezer. I'm left just shaking my head at some of this stuff.

Some days you get the bear. Some days the bear gets you.

Anyhoo, my yard (which is little more than a collection of weeds) is now all the same height which is to say I mowed that sonofagun right down to the deck. Should be good till next summer, I reckon. In the meantime, I've been pretending I'm still actively in the M715 game by wrapping up the gaskets for the thermostat housing (and they are beautiful, even if I must say so myself) and making plans to do some basic prep of reinstalling the thing.

Parts are dribbling in, interspersed between Doc's online orders which show up on our doorstep looking all the world like maybe they are the stuff I've been impatiently waiting for. About 95% of the time I find her name on the box and again, my hopes are dashed. It's been an emotional roller-coaster ride. But, stuff like this (image below) keeps me going. That is some really lovely stuff right there!

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In the meantime, I have been trying to keep my head in the game by watching all the stuff on YouTube related to M715s and that has begun to put me in a poor mood because now, I'm watching other, luckier kids who are actually getting to play with their trucks. So, in the interest of maintaining a good attitude I decided to branch out a bit and selected something from YouTube that couldn't have been further from a M715, whilst still being truck-ish. The guy who put the video together said he was somewhere in Texas and he began blabbing about this, that and the other thing...all of it totally unrelated to M715s....and I'm watching all this at right around midnight.... You know. When one's primary intellect is dozing, if not fast asleep. Why do you think all those infomercials are on late at night!

He mentioned Holden Brothers Diesel. Well, fellas, Holden Brothers is a stone's throw from me. On a lark, I went over to their YouTube channel and they were working on a very pretty Dodge D300 which had a suspension that was purty much shot. Somebody had gone nuts on paint and bodywork and had done nothing underneath. Somebody else bought the truck and my guess is, they found it pretty much wandered all over the highway, chiefly because the suspension was all 'wallered out' (as we say around here). But what really caught my eye was that one of the owner's plans for the truck meant getting rid of the 9:00-16 wheels and tires in favor of something more up-to-date. And guess who could really make use of some nice used 9:00-16 tires....

Yeah..... Me.

I immediately texted The Billmeister (who, at this hour, was probably sensibly abed) and informed him that there was a new development and I would explain in the morning. Now, Holden Brothers Diesel does some pretty amazing stuff and I have seen their work up close and personal several times. They had recently expanded their business into a new, mo bettah facility and I had never ever even set foot in the old place, much less the new. With the idea that I might somehow luck into a nice used set of shoes for Doug (ones that wouldn't break the bank) I decided I would go visit them. What could it hurt?

I admit, I am really nowhere near being ready to buy tires but remember what I said about Providence. In the morning Bill reached out to me and I told him the broad strokes plan. He was all in. Who doesn't love a place filled to the rafters and curbs with big diesel powered trucks; trucks that are owned by guys with more money than sense? We turned into the driveway and Bill had to turn on the headlights just so we could see through all the testosterone. The first thing that caught my gaze was a huge D500 4x4 crew cab all dressed up with a M715 bed on the back. Yeah...

....we had obviously come to the right place.

I went in the office and was immediately greeted by a very nice fella who dropped what he was doing and made me feel like I was somebody worth talking to. When I explained my purpose for being there (asking about stuff costs nothing, fellas...and you should never feel shy about reaching out for help) he said that the tires had already been spoken for and would I like to have a look around? He might have painted me a poor beggar with my pockets turned out and shown me the door. Instead, he said perhaps there would be something else suitably round and rubbery that he could help me with. And...

lo and behold...

there was another M715 on the property and perhaps the owner would see fit to part with his old tires if there was anything there worth having.

So, we passed through and around all the mechanical goodness INside the shop (and fellas, believe me when I say there was a LOT of money changing hands in that shop. DANG!!) and we went back OUTside the shop to even more trucks (waiting their turn) that were also simply DRIPPING with testosterone....and there it was. Another old lion; one very tired M715. Yikes! This truck's owner needed tires worse than I did. But, what he DID have was a complete bed with tailgate, correct tailgate hinges (which are about as weird as hinges come), correct bumperettes (which are apparently unobtainium) and a host of other little things that my truck lacked.

However, if a quick overview counted for anything, I was momentarily ahead of that owner in the many other departments, which made me feel better.

I remarked about my 715's missing goodies and my tour guide (who happens to be the father of the Holden Brothers) said I would be welcome to come back anytime to take pictures, measurements and make notes so as to be able to fabricate the necessary bits myself. Let me tell ya, that's an invitation I will most certainly take him up on. On the way out, he steered me over to one of the Brothers who was just a regular Joe who puts his pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us. As it turned out, he knew about that guy in town with all the military vehicles....and now he was finally meeting me. So, NO, I didn't luck into used tires but I managed to fall into something better; an exemplar of an M715, very VERY close to home.

Tires, I can get anywhere.

My friends are right. I could fall into a cement mixer filled with hog sewage and pop back up with a diamond between my teeth and the way you achieve that kind of luck is ya just gotta keep tryin'...

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

So, what did I achieve on the M715? Well, after all the goofing off at Holden Brothers I decided I had better do SOMETHING productive.

Having no correct bumperettes (and no real prospect of finding correct bumperettes) I plotted a way to use the desperately chintzy bumperettes I had left over from the dwindling Great Big Box Of Everything that was once stuffed with things dedicated to M151s. Once mounted, these imposters will serve no purpose other than to be a placeholder for whatever I am able to eventually gin up from scratch. The correct bumperettes are misnamed. They are not abbreviated forms of bumpers. They are not '-ettes'. Nope. They are constructed of 1/4" steel and have none of the flexible roundness of bumperettes found on lighter weight vehicles. Nope. They are closer to those found on 6x6s and they are meant to inflect great harm on whatever they might come into contact with.

With careful measuring I determined that it would be necessary to elongate the already established bolt holes by 3/8 of an inch at the top and the bottom. That done, I would be able to bolt them straight up to the rear of the truck. Better than nuthin'. Also better than nuthin' is having at least the beginnings of a plan which is a great relief.

The weather out at Dodgeman's house was just lovely today. He's further up in the hills and his property is so located there is generally a very nice breeze blowing through there...and it was quiet. It was very relaxing just tinkering and doing the necessary prep work without a lot of chit chat. I took further measurements for the hood mount meant to hold the blackout drive light and it's guard. I removed the little metal brackets for the seat bottom pad which is little more than a bit of plywood, a series of springs and wires and a bit of padding and a seat cover. Now that I have all of that at home I can begin working on replicating it. I also removed the side-view mirror stalks which were absolutely a total write-off. I was growing tired of looking at wreckage in general so, off they came. And finally, I cleaned up the manifold where the thermostat housing was meant to go and it is squeaky clean now. Just waiting on the little rubber elbow which will be far easier to mount at the same time the housing goes on.

I came away from there feeling very good about things. Very R e L a X e D...

...and isn't that really what this is all about?

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

Okay. Nearly there on being able to mix up some home-brew rust remover. Waiting for the last bag of Citric Acid, anhydrous, to arrive. For those of you who didn't watch the video (or take notes, or fell asleep) the poster's recipe was as follows -

1 liter (litre?) of water
10 grams of Citric Acid
40 grams of Sodium Carbonate (Sodium carbonate is often referred to as soda ash or washing soda and can be found at most grocery stores in bulk)

Some very broad strokes math follows -

- 5 lbs of Citric Acid = 453.592 grams.
- Divide 453.592 grams by 10 (gram portions require to make 1 liter of home brew) and from that, we arrive at 45.3592.
- Drop the .3592 in order to maintain one's sanity and that leaves us with a final number of 45 which roughly represents the number of 10 gram portions (of Citric Acid) per 5lb bag.

So, unless my math is completely wrong, a 5lb bag of Citric Acid will yield 45 liters of home brew. Perhaps a bit more if you add in the .3592.

Yes, yes....I know. Thus far I have said nothing about the Sodium Carbonate. BUT (you know I love big BUTs) we know the ratio of Sodium Carbonate to Citric Acid is 4:1. So, in order to achieve success in this matter, for every 5 lbs of Citric Acid, you would need 20 lbs of Sodium Carbonate.

Are you keeping up?

Hopefully, Raymond is checking my math.

And, YES, before I commit to making large amounts of the stuff, I'm going to make up a single liter and see how well it behaves.

So, why all the ciphering? Well, I'm gonna be doing the fuel tank of the M715. That fuel tank is 28 gallons (which is 106 liters) and I want to do all of it at once which means filling it up completely. There's a couple of reasons for the one-and-done which I won't go into at the moment but the main thing is it should yield a better result.

Anyhoo, if my math is correct, a 10lb bag of Citric Acid will yield approximately 90 liters of home-brew. I have enough materials for making enough home-brew to do the whole tank at once and remember, the more home-brew I have in the tank, the more rust it can absorb before weakening. I know it seems wasteful but what I pour out of that tank will become a rust removing bath for some other items I have lined up. So, it's going to get used like crazy until it dies.

[rickf]

Now all you need is a 100 gallon open stainless steel tank with drain valve. Shouldn't be too hard to source from an old food processing place.

[m3a1]

Well, I have an IBC container with the top cut off but that's a bit much. If I do this properly, that tank itself might be all I need as it does not leak. Allowing for the possibility that it might decide to leak after the rust and other crud is broken down, having a suitable catch basin is just good business.

I have a couple of ideas running around in my head which includes a thorough cleaning of the exterior of the tank to begin with, just so that's done and out of the way. If you saw the truck you would agree with me that making the exterior of the tank look nice is a complete waste of time and goes contrary to all the other awfulness that makes the truck look wonderful. That's a look that I really want to preserve on this truck.

By the way, the 'look' this truck has is best illustrated by the following - Yesterday, my wife finally decided to have a little looky-loo and she renamed the truck right then and there. It is now, officially, 'SWAMP THING'. I must admit, it's the right name. So, that's that. Happily, Doc hasn't renamed me...

...yet.

I also have to get a few more tools lined up before we begin. Yesterday I picked up Harbor Freight's air blow gun with 1' and 2' extensions (to be used to blow out much of the rust and debris that is presently loose in the tank) and after that, I'll be scoping it to see if there are any special considerations.

I'm going to have to source a proper angled or reversed tip for my pressure washer for the final cleaning. Remember, I mentioned that the item to be de-rusted has to be cleaned afterwards so success in that matter will be key to success in the cleaning of the tank. Alas, the 4" large-mouth fuel filler on the side of the truck is not an indication of the size of the filler on the tank itself. The tube connecting the filler to the tank necks down to 3". I've no idea why it reduces but the final diameter of 3" sure limits my ability to gain full access to the inside of the tank.

So, there are these and a few other things that are going to need to be thought through....including having the tank sealer materials on hand so that I can go straight to coating the inside of the tank when it's time.

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

That ibc could come in handy, If I remember correctly they hold roughly 150 gallons. Forklift, truck.

[m3a1]

Standard IBC capacities depend upon the material of the liner, for one thing. This one is of polyethylene, so it's about 250 gallons. A bit less for having its top cut off.

With all this bold talk, I figured I had better begin dealing with the exterior of Swamp Thing's fuel tank. The last guy who had it took the sending unit out...by cutting off the studs flush with the old sending unit's top.

You just can't make this stuff up...

Two schools of thought. #1 - Say what's done is done, create a blank plate and screw it down using what's left of the studs and just go forward without a sending unit. This is never going to be an over the road rig anyway. B - Cut those studs off completely, drill new holes and tap 'em for new studs or screws or whatever fastener.

If I go without a sending unit, I save the cost of having to buy a new sending unit. If I go with option B, you know I'll have to follow through with that.

If it was easy, EVERYBODY would be doing it, right?

RIGHT?!

Pulled the pickup tube up and out of the tank. Thankfully, it was loose and it had been installed with JB Weld or similar....and it was just plain rotten at the pickup end. So, it's good to have that completely out of the way. Makes the cleaning process that much easier.

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

Also tells you what is in the tank. If those tanks are like the M-151 tank the studs do not go into the tank. It is a funky ring welded to the tank and the studs are anchored into that. Any kind of bolts or studs into the tank will leak by wicking gas up the threads. I don't then there are any sealers that gas will not attack.

[m3a1]

Well that's really the least of my worries. Plenty of sealers out there to choose from whether I'm doping up a gasket or doping up a gasket around a through and through threaded hole. Didn't take much searching to find a few products that make the claim they are up to the task. Wouldn't surprise me that some of the new body adhesives would work and I could simply glue a sending unit in place if I was crazy enough to do that. But as I said, I don't much care if I have one or not.