68 Unimog 404 Restomod

And by the way I just have to shake my first at the sky. Keeps raining on my fresh paint. Can't get all the way around the doggone truck before it rains. This is the second time, and the weatherman said no rain. I threw some tools and probably made a neighbor blush.

More paint. As always, 90 % of the work is in the prep. Took a few days to get rid of old flaking paint, fill, sand and tape. One coat done and another begun.

Paint done! I didn't do it right so I'm expecting trouble later, but for now it looks better than it did before and I at least slowed the rust down.

Pioneer kit coming together. Still designing and building but it's a start.

Pioneer kit done. I made mounting brackets out of a steel bed frame. Primed and mounted. I bedded all the screws with butyl tape. After the primer has a few days to cure I'll paint the whole shooting match sand color.

I've parked the truck pending new tires. Plenty to do in the meantime. Next step compress

Compressor I meant to say. Here's the rack.

Holy crap!



Looks like a new front fuel tank is in my future. Started PB blaster treatment of all the mounting hardware.

Saw this on Ebay today

SuperMochombo said:

Compressor I meant to say. Here's the rack.

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Great job. What's with the blue mounting hardware?

That's primer. Same on the tools just a different brand. I'm going to paint it all sand color eventually.

New tank on the way. Attempting fiberglass repair of this one. Using west system epoxy and fillers, and 4 oz boat cloth. Found many more holes sanding the bottom.

It looks like a lot of water sat in that tank for a loooooong time. the filter you shared earlier, and the amount of calcification on it was an omen.
The rear tank is perhaps in the same condition.

Yes this truck sat a long time. Not a crime I plan to repeat. The back tank is holding fuel for now but yeah you aren't kidding. The fuel pump and carb were a complete mess too. I think the cap on the fuel tank must have been left ajar -easy to do- and leaked. Also I think water got in through the carb somehow too.

Soon it will be all new, the tank is the last piece of the system. Amazing it runs so well.

Got the tank done, reinstalled and gassed up. No leaks. And the compressor back in too. Seems to be working because the brake pedal is better with more stopping power. The air pressure gauge on the dash isn't showing any pressure but the needle jumps a little when I hit the brakes. So something is going on.

Midnight tank check. No leaks.

The fuel tanks are possibly the easiest part of a Unimog 404 to work on. Everything easy to get to, and in plain sight. 14 mm for the nuts n bolts. 17 mm for the banjo.

A few weeks later and the tank repair is holding up fine. The new tank arrived and I plan to eventually install it. But for now it's ok.

I had a few problems with the fuel pump. The truck died on the way up a big steep hill. After a few hours of coaxing it ran again, then an hour later it died again. It was late, I was close to home, so I left it. Next day went and installed the electric fuel pump. While doing that I noticed the banjo bolt on top of the pump was loose, and in fact is stripped and won't torque.

Now I'm running on the electric pump. I bought a spare electric pump and several filters. Now Im covered if anything in the fuel delivery system fails.

I put the winch back on, and then started chasing the air system, hoping to improve the brake pedal. I had to get rid of the pressure regulator which was total crust, and added a pop off to the tank. I had to cut out a small section of hard line to unclog it, then suddenly had tank pressure, and then booster pressure.

What a difference! The brakes work twice as good. It's like night and day. I lucked out that it's working at all given the state of the rest of the components. But when you start the truck the dials on the air pressure gauge on the dash start to build pressure. When you hit the brake, the pedal feels firm, there's a few hissing sounds and the booster dial drops. Then if you pull the parking brake there's another hiss and the booster drops again.

I rode the brakes all the way down that big steep hill and it was no problem. Before, my leg was shaking!

Next I'll add a quick connect and see what I can do with it. I have about 8 bars of pressure in the tank, so should be able to air up the tires.

Those pics are the pressure regulator that apparently is needed for trailer brakes, which I don't plan to use. The regulator was toast, and the braided line between the tanks blew out. I cut the crimping off the fittings and replaced the hose with new hose rated 200 psi. Eliminated the regulator.

I went to a local Omni hydraulic hose making shop. They have everything you need, including adapters to get from the metric threads to NPT.

I still need to replace the antifreeze unit. I can get the original NOS from Expedition Imports, or go aftermarket. I'm planning to upgrade the compressor to a York 210 AC compressor eventually, which may need different components so I will wait on that a bit.

I will get proper pics of the whole system up.

I've made progress on the turn signals / brake lights issue, and the air brakes are working like a champ.

I'm making a diagram of the whole wiring system. I ordered diodes from amazon and replaced two of the four. No more brake light bleed to the front. I'm about to go replace the other two and see if that brings back the rear blinker when braking. If that doesn't do it, I bought a Seven Wire Turn Signal Switch that mounts on the steering column for about $17.

I'm also diagramming the air system. The brakes are working well, the pedal is stiff, and my next step is to plumb in a quick connect so I air up my tires. I have a glad hand and junction block inside the rear bumper which I have been soaking in blaster because I plan to add the quick connect there.

Speaking of tires, I ordered a set of BKT MP 567 10.5X20. I plan to mount them myself, add inner tubes and dynabeads. Clean up the rims while I'm at it. I'm going to keep the best of my current tires as the spare.

And I finally resolved the battery problems. I had bought batteries too big to fit in the box, and then forced them to fit and ended up damaging one of the batteries, which screwed the whole thing. So I got new batteries, and found a good deal on AGM so upgraded in the process. I also cleaned out the battery box and primed the tray. Added proper terminal covers and the hold down bolt. Now the door closes like it should.

The truck is running well, but smokes a lot. Today I'm planning to resolve the signal issue once and for all, then check valve clearances again. I recently changed plugs, which looked pretty good. I'm leaning towards oil rather than fuel.

I've driven about 500 miles now. Gonna check the diffs and portals again.

I finally resolved the turn signal issue by getting rid of the diode system and separate hazard system and installing a 7 wire switch. Works perfectly now, brake lights, turn signals, even at the same time! And hazards too, which are important for a vehicle that routinely drives below the speed limit.

I plumbed a quick connect off my air tank to the rear bumper.




Got my tires, and mounted them using the Maddox truck tire remover from harbor fright. Broke the spoon tool right away, but the tire remover works as advertised. Was a two day adventure but I got it done. Still want to add dynabeads.




Yes that's a tube patch kit you see. I mangled one of the tubes with the pry bar I was using as a spoon. I had to patch it 11 times no joke. Some yelling involved there. But in the end it's all worth it.