tatra 813 new owner

[duncan]

Set out to replace the air lines. Guessed the easiest place to start was the CTIS... it was rusted beyond repair anyway. With 8 tires more than half of all air lines were for the CTIS, so the system cleaned up nicely.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Nice work!

Don't be too quick to squash the old cab, you never know what may be needed (and we may want to steal the roof hatches and weld them in to something )

 

[duncan]

Not squashing anything of the old cab! Well, nothing usefull anyway. The windows have been cleanly removed including rubbers, the doors and roof hatches are coming out, all lights & indicators, removed, etc. Thinking about removing some of the mud guards and stuff too, though theyre kind of beyond repair now. Either way nothing is scrapped before the new cab is on!

How's your truck coming along

 

[FridgeFreezer]

How's your truck coming along

Well, I'm becoming intensely frustrated to be honest beginning to wonder if I'll actually manage to buy one!

The seller of the one we looked at is still away (and I suspect he's going to want a lot more for the truck than it's worth). I found another one for sale in very good condition but I suspect it's going to end up outside my budget.

I've found a few hints that they can be made to go over 100km/h (thanks John C for giving me a contact to follow up) with a modification to the overdrive, so that's promising.

I would very much like to know the spec / PCD of the wheels as I can either buy "standard" 15x21 tyres which are hard to find, or I've found a set of very good 16x20's at a local scrapyard for a good price, but would need to buy some wheels to go with them.

 

[duncan]

What's your budget for a good runner? Also whats the "specification / PCD" you need? Keep in mind the thing'sgot hub reduction and all, when getting new wheels.

 

[John C]

I've found a few hints that they can be made to go over 100km/h (thanks John C for giving me a contact to follow up) with a modification to the overdrive, so that's promising.

I would very much like to know the spec / PCD of the wheels as I can either buy "standard" 15x21 tyres which are hard to find, or I've found a set of very good 16x20's at a local scrapyard for a good price, but would need to buy some wheels to go with them.

Ooh tell me more about the overdrive plz

Re. Wheels - funny this should come up now, I was just thinking along the same lines as yourself, 21" tyres are almost imposable to get unless you go for the original type from the CZ-rep. I also have my eye on some 16.00 R20 tyres, ex-mod Michelin XZL to be exact, there seem to be quite a few around in the U.K. ATM I'm also trying to find out what other wheels will fit to take these tyres, I have a suspicion the ones from a Bedford TM will go on but not sure yet till I've got one here to try. I know 16.00 tyres will fit the 813 because I've seen them on the trials trucks but I have no idea what rims they use - perhaps they are from the later 815 - anyone know?


Regards

 

[John C]

Wow! Duncan you've been bussy. Any idea on when your new cab will arrive? Make sure you take lots of pics of it plz - If you go to pick one up yourself could you get some of the 2 door cabs as well so I can see how they fit etc

Many thanks

 

[duncan]

Im going to pick up my new cab as soon as I get an address.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

What's your budget for a good runner? Also whats the "specification / PCD" you need? Keep in mind the thing's got hub reduction and all, when getting new wheels.

Depending on condition I can go to about 8000gbp (9000eur), I know it's maybe not the best budget for one of these things but from what I've seen there are trucks out there for that sort of money - it's just that no-one seems to want to answer e-mails!

I'm not fussed about fully restored trucks, I can live with having to tidy the cab up etc. as long as the thing is in one piece. "Paulob" who's on a lot of the forums reckoned he had sources for trucks starting at 3-4k for ones which have been stood round in a yard, turned out to be Mortar Investments yard and they don't seem to be hot on answering e-mails

The truck we looked at in Denmark needed a lot of work and I don't think he'll come down to a sensible price, I suspect he's one of these guys who'll let a truck sit in a field and rot rather than sell it to someone who cares.

Worst case we can get wheels made (local place makes wheels for agricultural vehicles) but it's easier to buy these things off-the-shelf if possible.

Details of the overdrive mod (or whatever else I find) will follow as soon as I find out

 

[cranetruck]

Set out to replace the air lines.......

And finally the disassembled CTIS system

Wow, that's a job!
Will you be using copper tubing for replacement or are you staying with steel? All air lines are copper on my (little) 8x8 and as good as new after 40 years, except for some kinks and dents here and there.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

I would go for push-fit nylon hose, as used on most modern stuff & in a lot of industry. It's much easier to work with (& replace if needed), cheap to buy and comes in a variety of colours so tracing things becomes much easier.

You may need to buy some new fittings but they're not expensive and can be had in stainless or plastic.

 

[duncan]

Depending on condition I can go to about 8000gbp (9000eur), I know it's maybe not the best budget for one of these things but from what I've seen there are trucks out there for that sort of money

Whoa, you should be able to get a decent runner for 5k. I didnt even pay that much and I bought it in the UK too All I did to get it running was buy batteries.

Wow, that's a job!
Will you be using copper tubing for replacement or are you staying with steel? All air lines are copper on my (little) 8x8 and as good as new after 40 years, except for some kinks and dents here and there.

Im going reinforced plastic flexible hoses I looked into copper, steel, and some really weird materials, but reinforced plastic seems to be the way to go.

The system Im going with is a proven one and used on most of the current day modern trucks and trailers. I can buy rolls of the stuff in multiple colors, cut to size and stick the connector plugs in myself. It will never rust, I dont need to bend anything... and its quite cheap. I want to change the routing of some of the air lines too, want to make it way less exposed, more tucked into the chassis. Having flexible hoses makes that an easy option.

So I'll buy a bag of plugs, connectors and T-sections, and a bunch of different colors of tube, and use a lot of tie-wraps. Will use seperate colors for main air going to tanks, brake lines, diff locks, CTIS system, pressurization system, engine brake and winch brake. Will make it a lot easier to trace lines, too

 

[duncan]

I would go for push-fit nylon hose, as used on most modern stuff & in a lot of industry. It's much easier to work with (& replace if needed), cheap to buy and comes in a variety of colours so tracing things becomes much easier.

You may need to buy some new fittings but they're not expensive and can be had in stainless or plastic.

Heh, push fit nylon, so that's what you call it in english Anyway, thats the stuff yes. Didn't see your post since it was on new page, sorry. Great minds seem to think alike though

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Whoa, you should be able to get a decent runner for 5k. I didnt even pay that much and I bought it in the UK too All I did to get it running was buy batteries.

This is the problem - everything I can find suggests I *should* be able to buy one easily, but no bugger with trucks for sale ever seems to want to answer an e-mail!

 

[duncan]

I'll see what I can do

 

[FridgeFreezer]

I'll see what I can do

You're a scholar and a gentleman

Frankly if someone showed me an 813 I could drive home for 5k I'd be there in a cloud of tyre smoke! My only real criteria are a crew cab and a multi-fuel engine.

This is the one I missed this morning:
TATRA 813 on eBay (end time 13-Sep-09 12:55:59 BST)

 

[duncan]

Thats not a multifuel though, theyre a lot harder to find I think. Willco on the crewcab!

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Thats not a multifuel though, theyre a lot harder to find I think. Willco on the crewcab!

From what I can make out from various sources (including a tech guy at Tatra) the later 19L 930-17 engine was multi-fuel, and I would have though a 1980 truck would have it? Any info on when they were actually fitted is of course very welcome!

Seems the number after the - denotes fuel type, -3 being diesel and -17 being multi.

Multi-fuel means we can run happily on bad (but very cheap) russian fuel and contaminated fuel (which can come for free, lots of the MV guys use it!). Keeps the cost of ownership down and means I can go out & enjoy it a bit more.

 

[duncan]

Im guessing they will all run on bad fuel though, no multi fuel needed for that. To be able to enjoy and drive it a bit more Im currently trying to land myself a better paid job

 

[duncan]

Rightio, new air tanks of same size cost $40 each, so thats doable, allows me to have a water drain in each of them, too. Now on the push-fit air lines, life is a bit harder. 8mm line does about $2 per metre, and with somewhere around 80 metres of that, and another 30 metres of 20mm line, plus a ton of stainless connectors....

Someone win me a lottery!