Nice day today:

[Rob]

Well the fat man finally got off his ass at the internet chair and did some work today. Got the flywheel, pilot bearing, clutch assembly all mounted up. Also pressed a new bushing into the throwout crank arm, replaced the bushings in another clutch housing, (since I had them) and slid the new 13 speed up into the truck. Was really a sumbitch to get the ears bolted to the sides of the housing cause of all the interference items down there. Also got the driveshaft bolted back up to the companion flange on the trans. I have yet to get the carrier bearing bolted to it's mount and a floor jack holds it elevated, install the shifter, run the air lines, and a few minor things to be truckin again. Need to pick up a new suply line to the regulator as the regulator is relocated on the new trans and the former line is too short to reach. Gonna run synthetic trans oil in this gearbox, (SAE50 Delvac) and have to get that either pumped in, or dumped in through the top till is comes out the fill plug on the side. With the exception of the fasteners I removed and reused, most everything was replaced. The flywheel was surfaced, flywheel bolts replaced, drive dogs replaced, clutch relined, center plate replaced, pilot bearing replaced, throwout fork and shafts and bearings replaced, release bearing replaced, clutch brake replaced, so should be pretty good to go. Also had the power steering pump rebuilt while the truck was down and replaced the drive coupling for safe measure but I'd installed that a few weeks ago.

Been entertaining and my shoulders are paying for it. Bout busted my ass when I gave the trans output shaft a slight twist while pushing the trans against the clutch disc splines and it fell in. Everything lined up nicely except my bearing lube line was between the pressure plate and throwout fork shaft. There was enough room to feed it back by hand so was easy to fix.

Rob

[hatcity]

Damn thats a whole lotta work for one man/one day. A fat man at that. Glad to hear it all went together nicely.

How's the fuel though?

[randyp]

Well, Im glad your day went well Rob, mine was a cluster most of the day. Spent bout 6 hours working on deccelerator linkage on bulldozer, has several places bad on it, replaced a couple of bearings on it, working lil better than it was but will still need more investigating and prolly more bearings in a few other places. Its not a fun, accessable thing to work on, for some reason or other its dirty and greasy down in there,,,,hmmm,,,,,randyp

[Mike]

Rob, Did ya ever get tha roof finished on one of the R's ya got? Never saw the finished product, only saw the photo's of you cutting the roof apart and rain gutters. I sure hope momma is proud of her boy with all that work done today. What, with the arms swollen and aching tonight, how are you going to perform the late-night duties with momma? Well it is a long weekend. Ya got lucky there.

Poor Momma!

mike

[mowerman]

wow,,good for you,,all i did was fertilize my lawn,go to church,and watch TV.lol.bob

[other dog]

Wow Rob, you make me feel so worthless...I should have been working on my fuel filter- At least I had more fun than you did!..I think.

Both of my sons came over, and some other folks too. I was worried that I had too much food, then worried that I didn't have enough, turned out to be just right!

A great time was had by all!..even though Mark didn't come and tell us any truck driver stories. That was a great disapointment, but we still had a great time-everybody loved the ribs, so that made my day.

My official rib cookin' uniform-thank you Mike!

4 racks of ribs- 1 had Bone Sucking Sauce, 1 Open Pit, 1 Kraft, and 1 Sweet Baby Ray's. Cooked them all the same, then wrapped them in aluminum foil and added the barbecue sauce. I like Open Pit, but Bone Sucking Sauce was everyone's favorite by far.

I also cooked a huge batch of chicken wings, that's taters, onions, and mushrooms in the aluminum pan.

[other dog]

Well the fat man finally got off his ass at the internet chair and did some work today. Got the flywheel, pilot bearing, clutch assembly all mounted up. Also pressed a new bushing into the throwout crank arm, replaced the bushings in another clutch housing, (since I had them) and slid the new 13 speed up into the truck. Was really a sumbitch to get the ears bolted to the sides of the housing cause of all the interference items down there. Also got the driveshaft bolted back up to the companion flange on the trans. I have yet to get the carrier bearing bolted to it's mount and a floor jack holds it elevated, install the shifter, run the air lines, and a few minor things to be truckin again. Need to pick up a new suply line to the regulator as the regulator is relocated on the new trans and the former line is too short to reach. Gonna run synthetic trans oil in this gearbox, (SAE50 Delvac) and have to get that either pumped in, or dumped in through the top till is comes out the fill plug on the side. With the exception of the fasteners I removed and reused, most everything was replaced. The flywheel was surfaced, flywheel bolts replaced, drive dogs replaced, clutch relined, center plate replaced, pilot bearing replaced, throwout fork and shafts and bearings replaced, release bearing replaced, clutch brake replaced, so should be pretty good to go. Also had the power steering pump rebuilt while the truck was down and replaced the drive coupling for safe measure but I'd installed that a few weeks ago.

Been entertaining and my shoulders are paying for it. Bout busted my ass when I gave the trans output shaft a slight twist while pushing the trans against the clutch disc splines and it fell in. Everything lined up nicely except my bearing lube line was between the pressure plate and throwout fort shaft. There was enough room to feed it back by hand so was easy to fix.

Rob

So, while the fat man was doing all that, what were you doing?

[Rob]

So, while the fat man was doing all that, what were you doing?

Feeling the stress and strain of the work performed. Gonna eat some ibuprofen and head to bed as tomorrow is another day.

Rob

[Mike]

Feeling the stress and strain of the work performed. Gonna eat some ibuprofen and head to bed as tomorrow is another day.

Rob

Fella's I knew he would not be eatin on anything else tonight. Too heavy on his stomach, this late.

mike

[Rob]

Rob, Did ya ever get tha roof finished on one of the R's ya got? Never saw the finished product, only saw the photo's of you cutting the roof apart and rain gutters. I sure hope momma is proud of her boy with all that work done today. What, with the arms swollen and aching tonight, how are you going to perform the late-night duties with momma? Well it is a long weekend. Ya got lucky there.

Poor Momma!

mike

"Momma" is threatening to "whack me off" tonight; I don't like the sound of it neither......

Rob

[Rob]

wow,,good for you,,all i did was fertilize my lawn,go to church,and watch TV.lol.bob

I too fertilized the lawn about four times thanks to coffee, and gatorade.

Rob

[Rob]

Rob, Did ya ever get tha roof finished on one of the R's ya got? Never saw the finished product, only saw the photo's of you cutting the roof apart and rain gutters. I sure hope momma is proud of her boy with all that work done today. What, with the arms swollen and aching tonight, how are you going to perform the late-night duties with momma? Well it is a long weekend. Ya got lucky there.

Poor Momma!

mike

No, I've not ever welded the top back down on that chassis. I just kinda shoved the project in the back of the shop, just like a few others. I have customer's cars piled up outside so not a lot of time to work on my own stuff. New grandaughter is taking up quite a bit of time too......

Rob

[fxfymn]

Glad you had a better day than I did. I replaced the pinion bearings in the rear end in the hope that they were the cause of the noise I have been trying to chase down. The rear went together fine, but the noise is still there! Oh well; at least I know the rear is good.

From there I painted the front fender that was damaged in the earthquake. It came out looking like crap, so I'm off to re-do it today. Plus the masking tape pulled some of the pinstriping off of the gold leaf.

[rhasler]

Wow Rob, you make me feel so worthless...

Shouldn't feel that way, looks like you've done some considerable upgrading to the grillin' shack.

Here's my pork loin from yesterday.

[other dog]

No, I have customer's cars piled up outside so not a lot of time to work on my own stuff. New grandaughter is taking up quite a bit of time too......

Rob

That'll keep you busy for a while- looks like you're pretty far behind!

[other dog]

Shouldn't feel that way, looks like you've done some considerable upgrading to the grillin' shack.

Here's my pork loin from yesterday.

now that looks good enough to eat!

[vision386]

Now thats quite the grillin outfit! an i agree with Rhasler,the "grillin'shack" looks to be comin'along nicely! i'm gonna take you up on that offer some of these days,i have a few truck drivin stories i'm sure i could bore everyone to death with! i havent had much of a chance to do any outdoor cookin since i been home,its either raining,or lookin' like its going to for 2 days now. kinda had my heart set on a nice thick t-bone,but after pricing them i changed my mind! settled on some nice sweet itailan sausage,with peppers and onions,homemade tater salad,an a big ol' can of bushes baked beans............Mark

[mowerman]

Wow Rob, you make me feel so worthless...I should have been working on my fuel filter- At least I had more fun than you did!..I think.

Both of my sons came over, and some other folks too. I was worried that I had too much food, then worried that I didn't have enough, turned out to be just right!

A great time was had by all!..even though Mark didn't come and tell us any truck driver stories. That was a great disapointment, but we still had a great time-everybody loved the ribs, so that made my day.

My official rib cookin' uniform-thank you Mike!

4 racks of ribs- 1 had Bone Sucking Sauce, 1 Open Pit, 1 Kraft, and 1 Sweet Baby Ray's. Cooked them all the same, then wrapped them in aluminum foil and added the barbecue sauce. I like Open Pit, but Bone Sucking Sauce was everyone's favorite by far.

I also cooked a huge batch of chicken wings, that's taters, onions, and mushrooms in the aluminum pan.

ribs look excellant,,but it looks like your plugged in,,like your outfit,,lol,,too cool,,but your legs need some more sun..lol.enjoy your time.bob

[mowerman]

I too fertilized the lawn about four times thanks to coffee, and gatorade.

Rob

hehe,,now thats hilarious.bob

[randyp]

Wow Rob, you make me feel so worthless...I should have been working on my fuel filter- At least I had more fun than you did!..I think.

Both of my sons came over, and some other folks too. I was worried that I had too much food, then worried that I didn't have enough, turned out to be just right!

A great time was had by all!..even though Mark didn't come and tell us any truck driver stories. That was a great disapointment, but we still had a great time-everybody loved the ribs, so that made my day.

My official rib cookin' uniform-thank you Mike!

4 racks of ribs- 1 had Bone Sucking Sauce, 1 Open Pit, 1 Kraft, and 1 Sweet Baby Ray's. Cooked them all the same, then wrapped them in aluminum foil and added the barbecue sauce. I like Open Pit, but Bone Sucking Sauce was everyone's favorite by far.

I also cooked a huge batch of chicken wings, that's taters, onions, and mushrooms in the aluminum pan.

heh heh,,,Tom, you need to spend some time here in Texas and get some "color" on them legs,,,I hadda put my shades on. randyp

[Rob]

Got the driveline reinstalled tonight and cut off a couple of "U" nuts the floor panels are retained by with a slice disc. I'll have to get replacements as I don't have any in 5/16-24 size. Didn't feel like arguing with the pto and drive assembly for the winch tonight so it will wait.

Rob

[rhasler]

Rob, do you have a source other than Mack for the 5/16" UNF u-nuts? I've checked several hardware vendors and never been able to find any suppliers. I know it would be possible to replace the nuts with a coarse thread u-nut instead, but I would want to change all of the remaining fasteners out as well to prevent thread mismatch later on.

[Rob]

I get them from the Lawson dealer that comes by the shop. Like you I don't want to mismatch the threads. I also use 316 stainless bolts so they come out easy later.

Rob

[Rob]

Tonight I final adjusted the clutch as I had help. Having never had a working clutch brake in anything I have a question as far as adjustment(s). I adjusted the clutch itself via the Spicer procedure and that went well. I then loosened the bellcrank arm lock bolt, and adjuster bolt adjusting the pedal for right at 3/4" free pedal travel at the top. After tightening and locking everything down I had my helper floorboard the clutch pedal and as it should the clutch brake is sandwiched between the rear of the release bearing, and the front trans bearing retainer. With the engine running and the clutch engaged and me under the truck, and then the clutch pedal is depressed to within two inches of the floorboard, the trans input shaft coasts to a stop. If the clutch pedal is "floorboarded" the input shaft immediately stops spinning due to squeezing of the clutch brake. This sounds normal in operation to me so far. The problem is that if I don't floorboard the clutch pedal, the trans spins, and if I do floorboard the pedal, I cannot readily slip the trans into gear without first easing out the clutch pedal which always slightly grinds as it slides into a gear. I have to hold pressure on the stick to make this happen. From this bad explanation does it sound like something is amiss? Like I said I've never had one of these before so I don't know what is normal.

Rob

[b61fred]

Rob, I feel that this is normal, I have always used the clutch brake only as a way to slow down the input shaft while sitting still. I guess I am trying to say is it is adjusted correctly. during operation I just tap the clutch brake to stop it for a moment and then as it releases, and the input just starts to spin from the drag of the clutch disks I will drop it into gear. This will become easier as the clutch drag become less as it breaks in.

Fred