restoration the restoration begins on the 969A

[42 chevy]

I have posted pictures of the new seals in the rear axle. I ended up using an air chisel to get the old ones out. The picture tells the story about that adventure.

 

So I first removed the reduction unit, then cleaned out the housing, removed the seals, cleaned up the axle shafts where the seal rides on it.

Order speedi repair sleaves for the yokes so the seals have a smooth surface to seal on.

Installed NOS seals where the yoke goes in.

 

Added gear oil and put teh reduction unit back in. So one down and one more to go.

[42 chevy]

I now have the front part of the frame painted and the shocks reinstalled. pictures will follow shortly

[N.O.S.]

Nice job John. You're using just a wire wheel in a grinder to clean the axles up? Unusual to see oil seals on 1/2 shafts, normally they just let the oil slosh about and mix in with the hub gunge.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[42 chevy]

I am using a needle scaler and wire brush on a grinder to clean up the axle housings. I used emory paper to clean up the sealing area on the axle half shafts.

 

In regards to the seals, they do a good job of keeping the gear oil in there (when they are not worn) as the hubs are lubricated by axle grease. If this job was ever done in the field, you would have to remove the axle from the truck, as there is not enough room to remove the reduction units when the bed is still on the truck.

If you have ever worked on a banjo axle GMC, the seal arrangement on the outer rear bearing nut seems like an after thought.

 

When I am done with the rear axles , I will replace the front axle seals, which involves unbolting the outer part of the axle housing. Oh Joy.

 

John Gott

[42 chevy]

Just read about YOUNGUNS problem with removing his flange. When I removed the flanges from my reduction units, I used KROIL penatrating oil, and a gear puller until my air impact gun said "no more". I then used a 5 lb sledge and tapped the yoke several times, (with the puller attached) while stading to the side and watched my flange(s) fly off and go about 3 feet.

 

John

[42 chevy]

Here are pictures of the final paint for the front part of the frame along with pictures of the shocks. If you notice the little dial on the face of the shock, this is the adjustemnt for the rebound and damping. Mine were turned all the way to the left, making the shock immobile, just s slight turn to the right and they moved freely. The TM states that "the shocks are adjusted at the facory, and no adjustments are needed, however, if you need to make an adjustment, make 1/8 turns at a time. Well, somebody in the past cranked it all the way to the left, thereby making the shock ineffective, I am surprised it did not break the shock mount on the axle.

 

 

The final picture is of the reduction unit resting comfortably in its nice clean home awaiting a topcoat of OD

 

 

John

[42 chevy]

It has been awhile since I posted. Well, since December 18 of last year, we have had 3 major snow storms, with 2 of them being blizzrds. So, the snow has almost melted away, so I now can go back to playing. I have finally gotten teh torque rods off the rigth rear. As you can see in the pictures, it took a little heat with the torch to remove teh pins out of teh upper rods. I have NOS upper rods. The lowers cleaned up nicely, so I just migth reuse them.

 

The first 4 pictures are of the torque rods and attachment poits and the last 2 of are the blizzard.

I am stil getting used to this "new" version of attaching pictures.

 

john gott

[42 chevy]

just playing around with a differant format to load up pctures.

[ohegle]

Spent the day reassembling the parking brake and putting the shift tower back on. While everything was apart I cleaned up the treansfer case.

Found a rebuild tag from 1966 on the top of the transmission. Can some decipher it?

 

The tag reads" Overhauled by the army's weaponstechnical workshop(garage)(HVK) district command west (DKV)

It is in norwegian.

 

regards

 

Oyvind

[42 chevy]

thanks for the info, so I guess that means my truck was in Norway after the war.

 

john gott

[N.O.S.]

John - I've just received some sets of data plates for Autocar U-7144T and Chev M6 bomb truck from Robert in Poland. Thanks for the recommendation - they are superb quality and very prompt service!

 

Tony

[42 chevy]

Tony;

your welcome.

Could you post some pictures of them?

 

John

[N.O.S.]

John, here is the Autocar set - less the shipping data plate which I accidently sent with a second set to Roy who is restoring the Beke U-7144T. Also the Chev M6 set.

 

Note the variation in font style on the Chev plates. The Autocar set was produced from artwork I sourced from the tech. manuals and parts book, backed up by outline dimensions from my set of original plates which came on the truck - the set Robert produced matches this artwork exactly. Depth of etch matches that of the originals.

 

The original plates on the truck are not in great condition, and interestingly some of them show a similar variation in font style from the manual images (see comparison of two plates - the original comes a very poor second). I guess they would have been sourced in a rush from a number of suppliers who produced something that looked as if it would do the job!

 

I had one air buzzer warning plate supplied in red as per your DT set - I reckon the original would have been black, but I liked the look of your red plate!

Edited March 28, 2010 by N.O.S.

[HWade]

Hello NOS

 

Interesting about the colour of the Buzzer warning sign, the one on my Diamond T 975a was also red, and even the one on my old daf yb626 wrecker that was also in red.Just thought I would mention it,

 

Howard

[N.O.S.]

Thanks for that, Howard. It seemed logical to me for it to be red, but I've yet to find any evidence of wartime colour as yet.

[42 chevy]

Tony;

thanks for posting the pictures. Very nice work indeed. I need to send Robert my orginal shift pattern patern plate for my Chevy dump. I had a set made years ago, but the that dump shift plate was not available.

 

John

[42 chevy]

Tony;

This is Robert's latest work. These are the data plates that go on the rear axles. The originals are there for comparision. Also, I included my orginal air buzzer plate, which has a black background.

 

John

[N.O.S.]

The air plate still looks good in red! Don't you just love that MADE BY "OTHERS" on the axle plate - given all the patent detail as well, perhaps Timken insisted on installation of this plate to preserve their reputation?

[42 chevy]

Tony;

When I was cleaning up the exterior of the rear axles, I noticed some differences between the 2 axles. First, there was a TIMKEN cast into the front axle and not in the rear, however, some cast in numbers were the same on both axles, there was some other subtle differances in how the gear ratio was stamped into the top of the readuction units. I originally thought the rear axle was a replacement axle, but, I now believe it is an orginal that was made under contrract, as the axle plate states. You would never see these numbers unless you crawled under the truck.

 

John

[thierryb]

You are doing a great job on this truck, john. It will be like new !!!

 

Thierry.

[42 chevy]

I have made some graet progress latley, but I have been remiss in posting. So here we go. The right rear axles have been completed in their overhaul. New oil seals fitted in the housings, new felts installed, rebuilt brake chambers installed, nos brake blocks installed, new rubber brake hoses installed, rebuilt relay valve installed. nos upper torque arms installed and a final coat of paint.

 

The right front axle has been complety overhauled. New oil seal and felts installed, nos brake shoes fitted and a final coat of paint.

[abn deuce]

Are you doing this by yourself ? looking darn good , Wont be long then till you have the rest of the brakes done at that rate , whats the long range order of things going to be .... for example transmission then engine then ?????

[42 chevy]

The engine and transmission are "done". The previous owner had a valve job done at Mil Spec in NJ. I installed new seals and gaskets on the engine. The fuel pump was rebuilt along with the air compressor. The transmission was rebuilt in 1966, and it shifts fine, however, I have a lead on a NOS tranny and transfer case.

I am doing all the work myself with some help from a friend for the heavy stuff (ie brake drums).

Timeframe? maybe 1 year, I have been working on the truck for 2 years as time permits.

 

John Gott

[abn deuce]

Very Good John , I was wondering if you have several helpers on just yourself as it seemed a lot of heavy work for just one person . Then the question in my mind was along the lines of I wonder what sequence things will more in, if you were doing more drive line or cab or other as I have no idea of budget if you had a time line planned . Thank you for the update .

[Murrah1]

Wonderfully done! My father drove one of these, I believe, in Alaska, 1952-3. He served during the Korean war. Two months into service, they replaced the 969A with a brand new Ward la France, 360 degree boom, dual wheel base. He was so proud of both! I appreciate you posting the photos. I have not seen photos of the Ward La France that replaced it. Keep up the good work!