Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux

[Hambone]

Some of the stuff.

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[m3a1]

I'll PM you.

[m3a1]

A day of picking nits. Nothing major but all the crawling and rolling around on the ground was hard on the ol' back. Arthur Itus ain't for sissies.

Cleaned up the gasket surface on the front diff (which came out beautifully). Had a much closer look at the carrier which, after a protracted sluicing-out with PB Blaster and then left alone, well, it came out looking far better than it had been which I do Not claim as a reasonable result (because only sparkling would be considered reasonable in a carrier). But it wasn't covered in rust dust either. Soooo....I'll button it up and put the 90wt in and hope for the best....which is not UNreasonable, considering the NEXT thing I did.

Yup...the only other untouched source of liquid lubricant on the truck....

...the TRANSMISSION.

So I moved my big piece of cardboard around and crawled under the truck again and opened the filler hole. ALWAYS open the filler hole FIRST..because one never knows. One might drain out all the lube and then not be left with the means of refilling it! That done, I got my trusty old plastic tub (an escapee from a restaurant's table clearing gear) and let 'er rip. What came out was someone's concoction of diesel, MM oil, and SOME hypoid gear oil....

....and metal.

Lots and lots of metal, Not big chunky bits, mind you, but evidence that all was not well inside. And brass? Nawp. Only just a little of that. Barely noticeable but, by the time I got done fingering out whatever had settled into the sump in the transmission case (and then following up with a magnet thingy) and also running a magnet through the waste oil, I came away with about two teaspoonfuls of finely ground metal.

Now be reminded, this truck is 57 years old. I had my gall bladder removed at 57 years of age. I'm still kickin' so, comparatively, how bad off can things actually be? Best to keep things positive. As far as I'm concerned, I've done my due diligence on the matter. Like everything else, the plan is to refill and go-go-GO! So, that's exactly what I did. If it needs to be rebuilt to keep the truck mobile (as mobile as a hanger queen should be) we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

And finally, I glued the gasket to the diff cover and put the finishing touches on the differential tags; one for gear ratio and the other larger one for part number & gear ratio. These got the Evaporust treatment and several coats of paint. I really need to look into plating stuff. Yeah, I know those pretty bits will stick out but now they won't rust away to nothingness, either. Once the paint dries, I'll be in a position to close up the front diff and refill that.

Hooray!

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

Small metal bits are fairly common in a transmission that does not exactly shift like a sports car. Grind it till it fits shifting was common. these transmissions are very stout so unless the bearings get chewed up by those metal pieces then it will be fine. I would do the same thing.

What are the ratios in those rears?

[m3a1]

5.87. Like the a lot of military vehicles, these are basically tractors dressed up like trucks.

[rickf]

Yup, If they could get traction they had the gears to pull it. The biggest problem is that the engineers never figured the axle torque limits with those gears and those, and the M37, used to break axles like twigs.

[m3a1]

That's probably not going to be a problem for hobnobbing around the hangar, like a queen.

[m3a1]

Okay. Everybody has been unusually quiet, lately. Y'all are probably busy carving pumpkins and hanging Halloween decorations, right?

Well, it's Autumn and with Autumn comes our annual trek to Warrenton, the pickers paradise which is just down the road a fer piece, wayyy over yonder. For those of you seeking more definitive information, it is located in northeastern Fayette County, Texas, Located on State Highway 237 between Spencer Pool and Coon Creek, twelve miles northeast of La Grange. Yes, THAT La Grange. Mmm hmm, you know it. It's the very La Grange lauded by ZZ Top.

They gotta lotta nice girls. (a-haw haw haw-haw)

We all piled in the Doctor Car because it's got 'nice legs' (which is to say it's best for travel) but I eyeballed the trunk space as being inadequate for my needs because I have a tendency to buy bulky stuff, or larger stuff, or lots of intermediate-sized stuff when I go junkin'. We pit stopped at the new Buc-ee's in Luling because...you know...

...clean restrooms and Beaver Nuggets and fulfilling Doc's insatiable need for large cups of ice. I swear, if they made a cup large enough for an entire bag of ice, with wheels, she'd be hauling one around. Wending our way through beautiful Fayette County was nice; beautiful rolling hills, green grass, lots of happy cattle and just generally idyllic ranch land. And finally (angels chorus) Warrenton. Most notable, traffic was somewhat less than expected. Yawp. The economy rears its ugly head. Oh well....more for me.

Dropped Doc off per her request. She does her pickin' far differently than Bill and I do. Doc looks at every little thing in minute detail. Bill and I swoop into an area looking for sellers whose interests are most like our own and then descend upon those places like wolves. I drew first blood with a Unity spot light with a roof mount fixture with a broken switch on the hand control. Alongside it, another spot light which was unique in that the head of the light was set into a full surround like an eyeball. This one looked more nautical, with a similar style mount so that the whole thing could be swiveled and the light could be made to shine up or down whilst the head remained inflexible. And I got 'em CHEAP.

Made several more attempts at buying a few things but the quoted prices were nutso. Then I realized the seller had observed me roll up in the Doctor Car which made them think I had deeper pockets than I do. Duh. I had broken a Cardinal Rule, which we all know by now

Never Let 'em See You Comin'.

And I know better! Heck, I even dress like a bum for these events with that very rule in mind. But I screwed up. Stupid mistakes like that will get you killed in Afghanistan. Here, in Warrenton, you just get your pockets picked. But, back on track, I did better the rest of the day. Park the car out of sight, stupid.

Yes. That's it.

Driving 'Texas Friendly' we idled through the small knots of pedestrians who were looking everywhere but behind them, which in this sort of place is completely understandable. What I didn't understand was how some pedestrians seemed to do all their shopping from the middle of the road and when they discovered my car was right behind their BEhind, they were startled... only when the electric radiator fans kicked in. We would get an annoyed look which quickly turned to curiosity because what they were seeing was two guys dressed like they lived under a bridge behind the wheel of a Doctor Car. Incongruous, yes, also because we weren't driving it like we stole it.

In this way, we got to the furthest reaches of the realm where a lot of pickers never go and there, the prices are unusually good no matter what sort of hoopty you rolled up in. It was in this area that I found a piece that, if it can be identified, may well have great value. It was a maquette of a tank. At first blush, it looked like it was maybe a wood toy some dutiful father made for his kid but this piece had a heckuva lot going on and it had quite a lot of detail which it not to say that it had detailed things like lifting rings and grillwork over the engine compartment but it DID have things like bullet traps and other details that suggested someone had given this design (hopeful as it may have been) great thought. Note the turret which seems very much like the Sherman, despite the overhead protective cover. The Sherman-esque turret component seems to suggest this maquette was made around that time. And finally, some solid evidence - there is a metal tag on the side embossed with roman numerals, "IV". But number four...of what?

As soon as I began thinking about what REAL tank this was supposed to be, all I could come up with was The Turtle, the T28 / T95. Perhaps this was a maquette of a separate design idea for a super tank that was simply scrubbed, or one that lead to a better design. It's very tough to logic one's way through this. I have seen a T28/ T95 in person and this maquette had such fundamental similarities that one might conclude it might very well be an early rendition of a super tank that lead to the final version. Yes, that is hopeful at best, but, if that IS the case...well...as Indiana Jones once said,

"THIS BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!"

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I am, at this very moment, slumped in my chair with my chin down and head cocked to one side, deeply rubbing my eyes with thumb and forefinger, contemplating all the phone calls and internet work this is going to require before any real information comes to light. Dang it! I HATE homework! But, with great finds comes great responsibility.

Or, I could hide it in the back of the closet and pretend I never saw it. Let me know what you think I should do.

Back to bacchanal in Warrenton. After having tucked the tank maquette safely away in the trunk, we went back to pickin'. I snagged a 1942 dated metal can-trunk thingy much like the cans meant for transporting land mines but smaller. Were you to stack two land mine cans, this can would be the approximate size of one end of a two-stack. In other words, it's twice as tall as land mine cans, but half as wide. I'm venturing a big guess that this can was meant to hold the detonators. Rare-ish, and a very nice find.

Next, a post-Vietnam Marmite can. They wanted WAY too much and there was a language barrier. We got to haggling anyway; both of us working toward the same goal. Finally, came to an agreement, $5 more than I've ever paid for a Marmite can but, it IS complete. Not pristine but not all beat up either. Basically, it is just what you'd expect to find of a Marmite that was in legitimate use. Now, the trunk space is beginning to dwindle.

I came upon a good looking Model T wheel with a quite presentable tire...presentable until you rolled it and then you would find a soup can sized hole in the tread where the tire was worn through to the tube. Cue the sad trombone! Womp-womp, womp-wommmmmp. In the depression era, this is exactly the sort of damage cured by wrapping the tire and wheel with some rawhide and burlap to keep the tube from bubbling out through the hole in the tire like a giant aneurysm. With Model T's you can get away with just about anything. Well, we'll just put that side down when it's displayed on the tire stand....

so we don't have to look at it...

just as the seller did.

Prices were generally good and the crowds were unusually small. I asked on of the sellers how things were going. Her reply was to the point. The dollar is weak and what that really meant was, the buyers were for real. If they came to Warrenton and showed an interest in an item they were ready to buy. With the smaller numbers of buyers, if the seller had a buyer in front of them, a deal could almost always be made. Next week, there will be blood in the water, as sellers try to hit their numbers and they'll try hard not to have to load all the junk back up in the trailer.

We were close to calling it a day. I was wasting time just wandering around in a small area where I was supposed to be, so Doc could find me. I decided to go in a tent that didn't look especially promising and quite by accident came upon something VERY Halloweenish. The Sultan of Scare which is a five foot tall, highly stylized, creepy guy. Right up my alley owing to my long involvement with a certain haunted house. Well, that thing pretty much used up whatever remaining space was available in Doc's car.

It was a big dog-eared and will require a lot of touch-up but there aren't many of these around anymore and I am the right guy for this particular job. Rather than burden the site with a lot of unnecessary photos, its easier to just include the link and you can see what it can be with the necessary little tidy-up. Enjoy.

Tis the season!

https://lost-animatronics.fandom.com/wi ... n_Of_Scare

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

Ohmygosh! I've leapt directly into my 'busy time' of the year.

Annnd I've run into a brake parts deficit for the M715 so, even that isn't a distraction what with all the other nonsense I have to deal with around here.

However, I DID purchase a RAPCO BRAKE RIVET TOOL RA825 which is a manual screw-type rivet setter. It came in a nice box with two sets of hardware and it is machined and finished very well. Whoever makes 'em takes great pride in their product. It's set up to be locked into a standard vise because the procedure for setting a rivets properly and uniformly requires both hands. It's also surprisingly small (which surprised and kind of worried me) but don't let that hang you up. It makes a lot of pressure and after reviewing a YouTube vid, I find the method of setting all the rivets to the same pressure to be very sensible.

In other words, any ape can do it.

Just to keep things moving forward on the M715 project (albeit at a low, slow crawl) I got the tiny brake hardware into and out of Evaporust (Harbor Freight carries little containers of the stuff that are not terribly expensive and are perfect for small jobs). Little things like brake springs are painted to help preserve them for another 57 years; bagged, tagged and ready to go on when the time comes. This sort of stuff takes a surprising amount of time to accomplish. So, it all adds up in the bonus column because time is something you can't get back.

And in the same vein of advancing the M715 project, I even lucked into someone who was selling poly liners from IBC containers and snagged one for only $10. It will be my tub for dunking the M715's fuel tank in the home brew evaporust....that is, if it comes to that. I've been giving some consideration to running a LPG system on the truck since I already have the most expensive piece of that puzzle (the tank). The real problem with having a small herd of FMVs is, they never get used as regularly as they should and keeping good fuel in good fuel tanks is a huge problem. I never cease to be amazed by the complexities of FMV ownership.

There are so many interesting ways to go with this truck since it is such a blank slate.

Along the way, Sir Billiam came back from a visit to his brother (who is moving far, far away) and he came laden with a small mountain of stuff. Because he is a minimalist, he really only picked a few things for himself and then made the rest available to his friends. I came away with most of the tools because a tool is like a penny. Any tool saved is a penny earned. But some of those tools were badly in need to a tidy-up, like the Vice-Grip brand locking pliers (one can never have enough of those) that appeared to have laid in cat urine or something rather nasty. I don't mind rolling up my sleeves to save a good tool. After a ride on the wire wheel the pliers looked great but the chrome was toast. So, I spray painted em. Why not?

Same thing with the herd of hammers. I must have 32,011 hammers (and no two alike). And screwdrivers. All got a once-over and were either painted or coated with boiled (pronounce bolled) linseed oil, before being put up. I even claimed an old axe which, when hung on the 715, looked like it really belonged there. Free is free. Free is better than free when it advances an ongoing project.

In the meantime, Xloflyr is taking great strides with the command car...sanding, sanding, and more sanding. Ugh! You know what they say,

"The bigger they are, the more sandpaper you have to use."

DOUBLE UGH!

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated...

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[m3a1]

Well, today I had an experience worth sharing. You see, my birthday is coming up and Doc wanted gift ideas from me so I told her I wanted a new carburetor for my Ford 2000 tractor. I selected a cheap, Chinese Holley clone from Steiner because it had a guarantee and the price was reasonable (reasonable for a temporary fix 'cause I'm also gonna re-rebuild my Holley) but apparently Doc felt I needed something more (something about this being my 65th birthday). Now most of you guys probably already understand that a 65th birthday isn't actually a very big deal to the person having it...considering the sum total of all the OTHER birthdays you've already had. But, hey, when the wife says pick something ELSE out...you're a fool if you don't take her up on it.

So I told her I wanted to buy the new front wheel bearings for the M715...

...which is way better than a Norelco beard trimmer or a gift box of Old Spice.

Yeah, I know, I KNOW... YES, the M715 project has been put on hold (which is why I've been lurking and not posting) owing to this being the part of the year where I am unwillingly hitched to the Christmas Party Prep Wagon. But all that aside...

Today, I headed down to San Antonio with the idea that I would scoop up a set of bearings and add them to the slowly growing Pile-O-Parts so that when it's finally time to get back to work on the M715, it will be clear sailing. Which brings us to the 'experience worth sharing'.

A lot of my parts hunting has been shaped by my auto shop experiences which is to say, when a vehicle needs this, that, or the other, I begin looking for the specific parts and the error I routinely make is, I fail to look for bundled parts being offered. I make that mistake because my auto shop time was BEFORE the internet. I habitually try to source individual parts (in this specific case, individual bearings and seals) and while that is MOSTLY doable it's not what I'd call a 'Best Practice'....and in fact, NOT following 'Best Practice' is exactly what I was doing today. I was ignoring Best Practice and just putting my head down and trying to bull my way through 'Johnny Cash Style'. You know. One piece at a time. And, in fact, I had successfully managed to find NOS grease seals in that way.

Which, since we are dealing with a M715, was strangely tough to do.

Previously, I had taken images of my old wheel bearings down to the bearing emporium and the counterman wrote me up a ticket that listed all the bearings and races I would need...based upon what he THOUGHT my bearing numbers were but that was more than a month ago. So, today I showed up with my ticket and he pulled the bearings and races out and....uhmmmm....no bueno. Those definitely AREN'T the droids I was looking for.

Phooey! I would be heading home without my birthday present.

On the way home, with BillyBoi busily playing some nonsense game on his 'smart' phone, I decided that perhaps I might be able to find the correct bearing numbers on some M715 blog and perhaps even find another source for said parts. But honestly, NO. NOPE. I wasn't looking to find another source for said parts. I was just hoping for the bearing numbers so I could turn the car around, go back to the counterman and say, "HERE...these are the correct numbers."

I put Hundert Dollah Bill to work and almost immediately up popped a bundled set of M715/M725 bearings and races, along with seals for a very reasonable price, WITH brand name bearings, free shipping and no sales tax....at less than half the price I would have paid locally...even before they added sales tax onto the total. OH BOY! This would mean that I could and would be doing both front hubs for the money I would have paid for just one side (plus scoring another bonus set of grease seals) and this only happened because under the circumstances, I was forced to put myself in the position of accidentally finding other means of rounding up those parts. And when I got home fellas, you know I ordered them immediately.

Happy Birthday to me.

For an out-and-out accident, I would have to say things worked out very nicely. The lesson is, try not to be too single-minded about how you go about doing some things. There's often a better way. Bundled parts sales (kits) is one of them. Patiently surfing the web is another way. All sorts of things pop up.

The other lesson (more of an opinion, actually) is it's important that we continue to support our brick and mortar stores. Being able to talk to real live people, face to face, and have the help from people who know what they know because they make their living at it...well, that's really very important. But things are tough all over and especially tough for brick and mortar establishments. So, it's in our long-term best interests to give them a shot from time to time even if it costs a little more....

....but I draw the line at paying more than twice the cost of the other guy selling on the internet.

Cheers,
TJ

[rickf]

Oh man, I thought for sure when she offered more you were going to ask for a script for a box of Viagra due to your advanced age.

[m3a1]

STAND BY FOR A VERY SUBTLE JOKE

I've never tried the stuff.

Is it good, Rick?

[rickf]

Don't know, they were giving it to me for cancer recovery. It did not work.