Superthermal's M813 Build, THE BOT

[Superthermal]

Had a great outing with the local MV guys here in Utah. I had to drop out a day early due to some clutch disengagement issues. The peddle lever connects to a shaft that is mounted to the top of the frame and a shorter shaft then pushes a forked rod that connects to the actual clutch fork. I could not see that either lever was twisting on the shaft so I can only conclude that the clutch fork may have gotten bent or something. Will check it out a bit more when the BOT gets its shower.
In any case the lockers were working absolutely solid and had no issues whatsoever driving where ever I pointed the rig. Ran 25psi in the rears and 35 in the front. I could have gone down to 20ish on the rears since I don't have much weight in there but the tires were biting plenty.
The sprag style transfer case was absolutely killer in the sloppy mud. I never once noticed the front be late to engage or anything like that with the sprag.
Did bend my flag pole for the umpteenth time. I might just remove that thing when wheeling in the trees for now on .
The 1 to 4 air chuck I made was used several times to lower my/others PSI evenly and raise them back up. Liking that thing and highly recommended.

 

[Superthermal]

The rest of the drive up.

 

[Superthermal]

Friends M916 6x6 having some fun on the way out

 

[Superthermal]

Another 1300 mile round trip, this time down to LA to picka part. I was able to find through a fellow 809er an in the can 6453 transmission. This is the same transmission that is stock to my rig, the 5 speed with an overdrive, but this will be one with some synchros that actually work.
I have thought to swap out the transmission for something more exotic, like an Eaton RTO 10 or 13 speed, but that would require some heavy modifications and a fair number of custom parts. Not to mention I would have to figure out how to drive a slit case, etc... LOL, this swap is not impossible as I have read some of the builds here on SS where this has been done, but an RTO would benefit mostly the on road drive-ability, where I am more concerned with wheeling. The 5 speed seems to be flawless off-road and would keep the truck stock simple enough for my wife to drive it.




Now modifying something important that will definitely be noticed, I am contemplating on how to change out the clutch foot peddle/release for a hydraulic setup so there isn't any issue with how the cab/frame/clutch all flex and shift when wheeling. It is very obvious that the clutch linkage gets bound when the passenger side goes high and the drivers side goes low, such as when you drive trough a ditch diagonally. I have also had the transfercase get knocked out of gear with the flex. I will be looking into that too. Either way the drive-ability off-road would be enhanced with a mod like this.
Volvo has these two. Looks like near 3/4 master or so. I'll need to go out and see what the mechanical advantage is on the manual linkage and what the stroke needs to be to have some better ideas.

Volvo Amazon/1800 Clutch slave cylinder - CVR

[b]Fits: Volvo Amazon -1968 With B18 Volvo 1800 -1968 with B18 Size: 20,6 MM (Replacing both 3/4'' and 13/16'' cylinder)[/b] 673030, SC3030 Use DOT3 or DOT4 brake fluid only!

classicvolvorestoration.com

Clutch Master cylinder Volvo Amazon/1800 -1968 - CVR

[b]Fits: Volvo Amazon 1957-68 Volvo 1800 -1968 Size: 19mm [/b]

classicvolvorestoration.com

 

[Superthermal]

Pulled the transmission today. Remember clutch issue symptoms were that the clutch began to release closer and closer to the floor, also the clutch would "snag hop" significantly when attempting to ride slip the clutch when doing precision maneuvering.
In the end the clutch throw out bearing had bit the dust and was wearing away at the pressure plate fingers. No choice but to pull and replace.

The newly rebuilt transmission I bought does have a throw out bearing on it but is slopped with 20+ year old grease. I expect to remove it from the housing and clean the grease as best as I can from it and then repack it with some grease that is thick and tacky. With the Transmission, I had been running Lucas full synthetic 90w but I have read that some of the synthetic lubes are not friendly on the syncros of older transmissions and actually desolve the brass. I wasn't worried about this with the last transmission as the syncros were very much gone when I bought the rig. I'll give Lucas Oil a call and see what they recommend as I consider what to pour into the new transmission. If anyone reading this has any suggestions on this subject let me know sooner than later.

 

[Superthermal]

Today I spent a few minutes removing the old throw out bearing I noticed it actually had a zerk fitting on the bottom of it. There would be no way to lube this fitting unless you removed the inspection plate and had someone fully press the clutch so the bearing was pressed fully forward, note: if the clutch is not pressed, the zerk would be hidden behind the steel pivot rod that is just below the bearing. Only with the clutch depressed could you even dream of putting some lube into it which looks like it would be a pain to get to up in the housing, but I would highly recommend doing if you haven't ever done that on your rig. If I had known it was possible I would have done that first thing after purchasing the rig when I did all the other zerks on the truck.

Here is a pic of my new bearing where the zerk would be on the drivers side pointing down at the inspection plate.



I was also able to get the old input shaft out of the old transmission so I could have an alignment tool for the new clutch when I get to that step.
Took the pressure washer to the inside of the cab since the passenger bench and the floor plates were out. Cleaned up nicely.
I may get some motivation to mount the 100 amp 24 to 12 Volt step down into the cab so I can wire up a few items that require the lower voltage. I would definitly like to get the rig wired while it is warm outside.

 

[Superthermal]

Had some extra time today and pulled the pressure plate and flywheel. I was hoping the flywheel would look brand new... Which never is the case..LOL

I will need to find a shop to refresh it here locally. My clutch plate looks different than all the others I have ever seen listed for sale. I was almost interested in having it re-done due to having significantly more pads on it than the others that are for sale and it looked like it could have three more pads put on it as well. The only one that is anything close is the one on Erik's Military parts that is a full surface pad in his picture. He shows he is sold out of that model so I sent him a note asking about it.


Erik's military clutch pic:


I also put 4 of the 5 air breather stems on the axles and the T-case using the DOT hose and Stainless quick connect fittings. After getting the transmission tied in the hose will head up to the top of the engine bay where if I get around to it will be a switchable valve that will go from open vent to pushing 2-3lbs of pressurized air into the lines. This would be used for deep fording to keep any water out of the axles, trans and tcase.

 

[Superthermal]

Proper Pressure Plate adjustment M809 series with manual transmission.

I am having some issues with interpreting the "markings" in the TM on adjusting the pressure plate. My pressure plate that was removed, and worked perfectly, doesn't even come close to the spec (I am assuming here as I am struggling to understand where the measurement surfaces are) and neither...

www.steelsoldiers.com

New pressure plate and disc came from an EBAY purchase from SECO parts. Flywheel is refinished by Truck Pro here locally, They actually turn timed it in just 3 hours. Nice of them . New throw-out bearing came with the transmission and pilot bearing I had I am reusing as it has Zero play in it, both are repacked with red and tacky 540°F drop point grease, bunches of grade 8 replacement bolts and lock washers purchased, 3 gallons of new 90w Transmission Valvoline Synchromesh gear oil ordered and for fathers day I even bought me a Freight liner shifter boot cover to keep the draft from the hole in the floor as a sweet memory. I also grabbed some triple layer 3" vent tubing for the defrost as I noticed it was looking a bit rough when I was peering up under the dash.


With this being apart, I will get the front axle air disengagement switch installed since getting to the underside of the dash is a breeze right now with the floor pan and passenger side seat removed.

With the clutch, the problem I am running into has to do with the adjustment of the pressure plate. I thought I was buying the version that was NON-adjustable so I didn't have to deal with trying to figure that out. But with my luck, here I am. Wasted a fair amount of time thinking through this as the TM is garbage on this particular point of interest on what the exact relationship is being measured for the two specific adjustments. See from my post above. If I don't have some solid feedback I am just going to set the new one up same as the old one and call it good.

 

[Superthermal]

Got a response from the guys at Lucas who said that none of their oils I was looking at were good for the brass. So I purchased 3 gallons of Valvoline Syncromesh gear oil to dump into the transmission.

When getting this done I will also mount for the first time the new PTO gearbox I bought way back on my trip from Detroit.
Also packed the throw-out bearing with the Lucas Red and Tacky #2 540 degree drop point lube. I sure hope this keeps me from ever needing to do this project again. LOL.

I found out on closer inspection that the zerk on the throw-out bearing is only for the bearing sliding on the transmission throat assembly and doesn't actually pack anything into the bearing itself. Too bad.
Adjusted the new pressure plate to the same height as the original since I didn't get any info from anyone else on that. See that other thread if interested n that dilemma.

Proper Pressure Plate adjustment M809 series with manual transmission.

I am having some issues with interpreting the "markings" in the TM on adjusting the pressure plate. My pressure plate that was removed, and worked perfectly, doesn't even come close to the spec (I am assuming here as I am struggling to understand where the measurement surfaces are) and neither...

www.steelsoldiers.com

Mounted the flywheel with the original bolts with a good helping of blue lock tight. I also ensured that the flywheel was clocked the same exact way it was when I took it off just incase there was any way the flywheel was balanced with the crankshaft.
I would have replaced the flywheel bolts but couldn't find anywhere a set of these with the solid shoulder and the same length. They appeared perfect so I am crossing my fingers that was a good choice. Used new grade 8 bolts and washers for the pressure plate mounting and torqued them to spec.
Will get the new transmission mounted this weekend after I try getting the front air disconnect for the transfer-case kit installed and the air breathing lines done.
Pic below is when I was test fitting to see how much compression I was getting for the plate being so different. I ended up pulling the pressure plate back down and doing the adjustment.

 

[US6x4]

Does Lucas have any oil that's good for brass or was it just the ones you were looking at?

 

[Superthermal]

Does Lucas have any oil that's good for brass or was it just the ones you were looking at?