My M35A2 Project aka Big Betty

TMNT · Feb 26, 2012

Well, looks like I'm buying a new flasher relay. I fixed the wiring, cleaned the bolt hole locations, verified there was good supply voltage and verified a good ground/return path and the relay won't flash. I get a constant "ON" with the turn signals activated. The relay module is cracked and the mounting ears broke off. I tried to baby it back to life but no dice.

TMNT · Feb 26, 2012

TMNT said:
I stopped by that guys house on Saturday afternoon but he didn't answer the door. The truck was there as was the other vehicle and there was smoke coming from the chimney but all I got was dogs barking at me. I get the feeling that he is not very social, but I'm going to try again in the next few days.

Ok, I have to take back that last assessment of the man with the mystery truck. I drove by there is afternoon and he threw up a hand to wave as I passed. I turned around and went back to meet the man and we had a nice chat. He's a great guy and he's here on SS. I could swear he said "cbarnett" but I don't see that user name anywhere here.

I invited him to join us at the 57th Fighter Group on the 11th and he's a possible maybe. Anyway, I enjoyed the conversation and I'm glad there's another deuce owner that close to me. His truck has some good mods, including 12V inverter, civilian trailer hitch, CB, pyro and it's turned up. He can pull the big S-curves on Knox Bridge Hwy in 5th, where I'm down to 4th at 35 MPH. I really need to get my pyro ordered so I can start experimenting with turning up the pump a little.

Mystery solved and I have a new acquaintance with a deuce. I'm glad I pursued this as it turned up a good thing.

joeM62 · Feb 26, 2012

Its good that mystery is solved I had tried to stop by but with deliveries keeping me busy
it makes it hard when I'm in the area. I am interested in the 12volt he did on his duce.

clinto · Feb 26, 2012

There is a good thread somewhere that details a way to troubleshoot the flasher so you can verify it isn't a ground issue.

If you can't find, let me know.

TMNT · Feb 26, 2012

I'll search for it, Clinto. I'm curious if I might have missed anything. I'm certain it's the solid-state relay unit. I checked resistance from the ground point on the fender to the body, frame, and engine block and the return path is solid. I ran a temporary ground jumper to the engine block and the flasher still won't flash with left, right, or hazards on. The lights come on and stay on instead of blinking.

The supply voltage is good (25.2V) and the continuity through the turn signal switch to the lights is good.

I'll let you know what else I find.

TMNT · Feb 29, 2012

While I'm waiting for the new turn signal relay to arrive, I fixed the leaking fuel return line. At some point in Betty's past, something got tangled in those lines and pulled a pretty severe kink in the copper line and the rubber hose was cracked and dripping fuel. That hose was tagged 5/72 so it's been on there a while. I got a new one made at Royal Brass in Woodstock for $21. I cut the copper line back and used a flare union to add a new piece of copper tubing back to the original stopping point. The new hose connected perfectly and the leak is no more.

I ordered a new headlight switch (3-lever switch) and I still have the driver's windshield to strip, paint and install the new rubber seal.

I'll upload a couple of photos of the fuel line repair tomorrow morning.

TMNT · Mar 1, 2012

So, here a some photos of the the fuel return line repair from last night. The original rubber hose and the dented/crimped original copper line are in the first photo. It was leaking from the connector where the rubber hose joined the copper line.

I drove the truck to work this morning (about 15 miles) and no leaks.

I need to degrease the area where the leak splattered fuel around and I think there's another small leak somewhere above this point that I haven't tracked down yet.

TMNT · Mar 2, 2012

Wow, its a stormy night in Georgia! UPS and FedEx were good to me today, so I had several goodies waiting for me when I got home from work.

Before the weather deteriorated, I got the remote air-drain valves installed, though I still have some work to do to be happy with the cable securing and routing.

I also swapped out the headlight 3-lever switch with the new one and re-painted the Master Power switch. Its drying in the garage and I'll re-install it in the morning.

And finally, I swapped out the directional signal flasher relay for a new one and it works great. I have turn-signals and emergency flashers again.

I finished that and ran for the garage just as the rain started and the tornado sirens started up. It went to the north of us, but there's more coming through the night.

Regarding my heater install, its still in the works. The warmer than usual weather has pushed that project down the priority list. Heck, I had frogs singing in my front yard fountain and I've been wearing T-shirts at night; In late February and early March! Who needs a heater?

And now for something completely different:

For those of you with divorces in your past, never assume its all over. I've been divorced for over 10 years (no kids) and I got served today. Of course she wants more money. Just when you think its safe to get back in the water.......

What a day!

TMNT · Mar 17, 2012

I've been really busy for a couple of weeks now with limited time to spend on Betty. I drove her around a bit and we managed to make it to the 57th Fighter Group for breakfast on the 11th.

Other than that I've fixed the leak in the fuel return line, cleaned and painted my spare tire/wheel, and started my pyro install.

My son and I took Betty to lunch and to Lowes today and then we drove her over to a buddy's house for his wife's birthday. No problems at all today with probably adding 100 miles on the odo today.

I've got the pyro mounted and all of the wiring pulled. I just need to connect the wiring now and the drill and tap for the temperature probe. I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going drill and tap the exhaust manifold, or have my neighbor drill and weld it into the turbo down pipe. Maybe I can get that sorted out tomorrow.

After I get the pyro installed, I plan to do some test drives to see how hot the EGT runs as it is setup now. After that, I plan to slowly turn the IP up to see what I can get out of her without getting too hot.

Recy Mech · Mar 18, 2012

Another fantastic thread - read it all. Always great reading someones story from ab initio about the Deuce. I too want to have a story to tell. At the moment it's reading threads such as yours TMNT, and not wanting to sound too much like w*nk gives me some inspiration.

Realistically, I've got two (2) years waiting time - missus wants to build her dream home. By then I should at least learnt a bit (I hope), then over to the States combining a holiday and hopeful purchase (export back to Australia) of a Deuce. Going to drive the Deuce to Portland Oregon (missus's brother lives there) then to export shippers for arrival in Oz.

Subscribed.

TMNT · Mar 18, 2012

Thanks Recy Mech. The best of luck to you with the house, and the deuce.

Maybe I can save others some trouble by passing along an account of my trials and errors.

mudman · Mar 18, 2012

TMNT said:
It was pouring rain pretty much all day today. I loaded a bunch of trash and scrap from the on-going home flooring project into the Deuce and hauled it to the big roll-off at my warehouse. Good thing I had on my frog-togs, I think it was almost as wet inside the cab as it was outside!

My drivers side wiper motor stopped working so I had to use the manual mode all morning. Maybe tomorrow I can pull that motor out and troubleshoot it. I noticed the red button is depressed and won't pop out like the other one does. The passenger side is working like a champ.

I installed my new radiation cap and she didn't burp coolant out at any point today.

I also gave her a good bath. I figured why not, as I was already in my togs and the rain would help rinse her off. I used a strong solution of KrudCutter house and siding cleaner and bleach to attack the dark stains from tree sap and mildew. It worked great. It almost looks like fresh paint! It was raining too much to get pictures, but I hope to take some tomorrow after the fog clears.

My son and I are going to brunch at The 57th Fighter Group restaurant at Peachtree-Dekalb airport in the morning. It's a cool WW2 themed restaurant with some old MV's around for decoration. Michael thought it would be cool to take our deuce there for breakfast and I agreed. I hope to get some good photos there if the fog will lift early enough.

Here's the one photo I took today while eating lunch and waiting for the rain to pass.

Oh, I see you like hooters too....They have a great lunch!!

TMNT · Mar 18, 2012

mudman said:
Oh, I see you like hooters too....They have a great lunch!!

Yeah, the time passes a little faster at Hooters than at the Wendy's across the street for some reason. I'm not sure why. Maybe more research is required.

TMNT · Mar 18, 2012

Went over to a buddy's house to check out his new 1970 Chevelle 396SS that he just picked up on Friday. Very nice clean car.

I didn't think about it until now, but I should have gotten a photo with Betty and the Chevelle together. They're both the same age.

Anyway, here's a few photos from the visit. I mixed in a few photos of my incomplete pyro install. I still need to make the connections to make it work.

Recy Mech · Mar 18, 2012

I dunno which is the better looking vehicle :lol:

The heart says Betty, the head says the Chevelle. Pffffffft, what has my head ever done for me that's right. The Deuce (Betty) wins all the time. [thumbzup]

TMNT · Mar 25, 2012

Had a good time today with Betty. I took my neighbor up to Lowe's and hauled a load of 16 foot lumber back for him. That 12 foot bed is nice to have.

After that I took my son and his buddy to town for a late lunch. My son loves those trips and it was his buddy's first trip in the Deuce. On the way back we took a detour on a dirt road and played just a little at a construction site where there was some dirt piled up.

I learned that my spare makes a heck of wheel chock! I climbed a steep bank a bottomed out when the front tires crested the top. It was just a soft bump into some soft dirt but it dislodged my spare tire.

After I backed down the slope and started forward I heard a really nasty scrubbing noise and the truck definitely felt like it was dragging something. My mind immediately jumped to things like broken springs and dropped dog bones, but it was just my spare tire stuck under the mid-rear tires.

It didn't break anything so I just winched the tire back into place and made very certain it was secured.

Clinto, I think that's how the damage to the original spare tire carrier and pioneer rack happened. If the spare drops, the rear tire immediately climbs up on it and of course it pulls everything else down with it.

Fortunately I noticed it within just a few feet and the ground was loose so the tire slid a bit. Lesson learned for me, make double sure the spare tire is securely in place before every trip.

clinto · Mar 25, 2012

TMNT said:
Clinto, I think that's how the damage to the original spare tire carrier and pioneer rack happened. If the spare drops, the rear tire immediately climbs up on it and of course it pulls everything else down with it.

I never considered that, but it makes sense.

Is your carrier ok?

sandman7655 · Mar 25, 2012

great thread,hope to have my new deuce in the next 2 weeks.

TMNT · Mar 26, 2012

clinto said:
I never considered that, but it makes sense.

Is your carrier ok?

Clinto, yeah it's fine. I stopped as soon as I heard/felt the problem and it was a very low speed event. The damage was limited to getting dirt and scuffs on my freshly cleaned and painted spare!

TMNT · Apr 1, 2012

Spent a couple of hours playing around at a friend's house on Saturday. He's got few acres and a pond there. We've been talking about getting the deuce over there for a trip down to the pond and I finally made it over there this weekend. Nothing severe, but it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours and then it was beer time.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HLgJBAnDWA&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/media]

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