M1008 Build

[Mullaney]

That's great to know thanks! My son and I were able to get a great bleed done yesterday and when all was said and done we went through about 3 quarts of DOT 3. That's about a hundred and twenty bucks worth of fluid if I was using DOT 5!

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That makes my wallet cry...
On the other hand, it isn't like that has to be done that often.

 

[cucvrus]

Don't you recover the fluid. I use a mighty vac brake bleeder and I recover all the fluid.

I just bought a large bottle of DOT 5 for trailers and CUCV's it was $27. , That is the correct fluid and I have no choice. At one time I had a 5 gallon pail of DOT 5 that was outdated. I used it for 20 years. Every drop. I still have grease and 10w30 motor in OD cans dated 1968. I bleed until I get the new fluid and call it a day. You don't want brake fluid in a shop you are painting in.

 

[Mullaney]

Don't you recover the fluid. I use a mighty vac brake bleeder and I recover all the fluid.

I just bought a large bottle of DOT 5 for trailers and CUCV's it was $27. , That is the correct fluid and I have no choice. At one time I had a 5 gallon pail of DOT 5 that was outdated. I used it for 20 years. Every drop. I still have grease and 10w30 motor in OD cans dated 1968. I bleed until I get the new fluid and call it a day. You don't want brake fluid in a shop you are painting in.

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I thought maybe I was a weirdo... I have always used a small metal can to capture the brake fluid when bleeding brakes. Then I would pour it through a paint strainer back into a can marked USED. I am somewhat meticulous on being clean when bleeding brakes - so I know I am not pouring dirt into the brake system.

Not hard - and the idea about using the Mighty Vac is a heck of a plan! That catch basin beside the pump is really slick!

 

[chucky]

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I thought maybe I was a weirdo... I have always used a small metal can to capture the brake fluid when bleeding brakes. Then I would pour it through a paint strainer back into a can marked USED. I am somewhat meticulous on being clean when bleeding brakes - so I know I am not pouring dirt into the brake system.

Not hard - and the idea about using the Mighty Vac is a heck of a plan! That catch basin beside the pump is really slick!

I think your first thought was spot on correct / ocd / plus a tendency to lean toward sociopathic behavior !!! YOUR PERFECT !

 

[Keith_J]

Glycol brake fluid should not be reused as it absorbs water. Don't pitch it, use it again to remove paint from hardware or other small items. Much slower than aircraft stripper but a bit nicer to your health. Zip lock bags make excellent containers for parts being stripped. Wrap them in paper towels, saturate with reclaimed DOT3/4 and wait a day or two.

I pressure bleed using 10 PSI regulated, bone dry air. Another hobby of mine is precision pre charged pneumatic air rifles and I make my own -40 ° C/F dew point air. I even supercharge my compressor with this air supply as condensing water is hard on the pumping system. So my brake systems get benefit of dry air.

My air drier is a disposable helium cylinder that has 2 pounds of 2A molecular sieves. Think silica gel desiccant on steroids. The helium pressure was 350 PSI, I only put 120 PSI in it and let it set for a day. It is withdrawn at 10 PSI with a regulator so it is easy to use for brake pressure bleeding.

 

[ezgn]

Glycol brake fluid should not be reused as it absorbs water. Don't pitch it, use it again to remove paint from hardware or other small items. Much slower than aircraft stripper but a bit nicer to your health. Zip lock bags make excellent containers for parts being stripped. Wrap them in paper towels, saturate with reclaimed DOT3/4 and wait a day or two.

I pressure bleed using 10 PSI regulated, bone dry air. Another hobby of mine is precision pre charged pneumatic air rifles and I make my own -40 ° C/F dew point air. I even supercharge my compressor with this air supply as condensing water is hard on the pumping system. So my brake systems get benefit of dry air.

My air drier is a disposable helium cylinder that has 2 pounds of 2A molecular sieves. Think silica gel desiccant on steroids. The helium pressure was 350 PSI, I only put 120 PSI in it and let it set for a day. It is withdrawn at 10 PSI with a regulator so it is easy to use for brake pressure bleeding.

Get your self a U-tube channel and make some cool videos. I'll sign up and subscribe. Thumbs up.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Good discussion guys thanks! I personally don't re-use brake fluid. I do have a power bleeder, and a mighty-vac as well, but I don't typically use them. I think if I do regular maintenance on it I'll be fine. I like the fluid velocity that can be achieved with firm pedal action and a crisp valve opening. I think it helps to entrain the air and get a good bleed, plus I find value in teaching my son how to do things without the novelties.

Fabricated this little tool to maintain the combination valve centered while bleeding.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

I’ve been working on some plumbing lately. Got the oil and trans lines cleaned and flushed, power steering partially installed, diff breathers, ant trans vacuum line cleaned up. Also started cleaning up the radiator which had some particularly nasty stuff in it.

A few decades ago I used some citric acid from work to clean my cooling system on my ‘91 K2500. I figure “that’s what is in the stuff you get from the auto parts store…” well although that is true, it is a very weak concentration. Needless to say, the stuff I got from work was very strong. I’ll tell you what though, I’ve never seen a radiator so clean after letting it run in there for a while!

Then about an hour into the cleaning process I sprang about 3 leaks in the radiator and heater core. Ate right through it! Lesson learned: stick with the auto parts store stuff.

I did a preliminary cleaning with some Prestone radiator flush but the final cleaning will need to be done once the system is all installed and I can run the engine, the heat and flow rate are much better at cleaning and dissolving than just a soak.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Looks can be deceiving. This is what happens when you leave a vehicle outside with no hood on it!

 

[ssdvc]

Looks can be deceiving. This is what happens when you leave a vehicle outside with no hood on it!

Looks like it was left outside alright, submerged in a few feet of water !!

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Got the coil and rotor cleaned up so far.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Got the coil and rotor cleaned up so far. Had to go to plan B on 2 of the stator coil fasteners. Looks pretty terrible inside and found that one of the field winding wires was completely worn through the insulation.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Got her all done, did an unloaded retest and it’s working correctly. Unfortunately it was disassembled previously and not put back together correctly so I’ll have to go back in at some point to add a thrust washer. Also whoever was in there last routed the field winding wire on the wrong side of the brush rigging which caused it to completely wear through it as it wore on the armature. I can’t imagine that this thing worked before without making sparks and being totally underpowered due to essentially jumpering across the armature. Pretty crazy.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Got half of the radiator support section pressure washed and primed today along with cleaning up a few of the other plastic radiator pieces. Ran out of paint, so I’ll be back at Lowes tomorrow when they open I guess.

 

[ezgn]

Got the coil and rotor cleaned up so far. Had to go to plan B on 2 of the stator coil fasteners. Looks pretty terrible inside and found that one of the field winding wires was completely worn through the insulation.

Looks like plenty of moisture penetrated inside. That looks like a lot of work trying to save that beast. That wasn't a pleasant surprise I'll bet.

 

[DIVE DIVE]

Looks like plenty of moisture penetrated inside. That looks like a lot of work trying to save that beast. That wasn't a pleasant surprise I'll bet.

It was in terrible shape no doubt! Not only was the drain hole plugged, but it was actually damaged pretty bad from the improperly routed field wire. Good thing DC motors are built well I guess. Most cleanup was cosmetic except the field lead repair. The project took me a whole day though. I was surprised to see the lack of roller bearings in this thing though, it’s all greased bushings, which is pretty neat considering that it spins unloaded at “8000-12500” RPM. If you have never fired one of these starters off and let it come up to speed while off of the engine you’ve never lived! It is terrifying when it spins up to top speed lol
I had no idea they spin that fast!

 

[ezgn]

It was in terrible shape no doubt! Not only was the drain hole plugged, but it was actually damaged pretty bad from the improperly routed field wire. Good thing DC motors are built well I guess. Most cleanup was cosmetic except the field lead repair. The project took me a whole day though. I was surprised to see the lack of roller bearings in this thing though, it’s all greased bushings, which is pretty neat considering that it spins unloaded at “8000-12500” RPM. If you have never fired one of these starters off and let it come up to speed while off of the engine you’ve never lived! It is terrifying when it spins up to top speed lol
I had no idea they spin that fast!

I would have paid money to watch a video of you running that thing at top speed. That would have been more fun than doing it myself, I think. You are doing a great job. You must really be enjoying restoring a piece of Military history back to pristine condition.

 

[DarkSeas]

I’ve been working on some plumbing lately. Got the oil and trans lines cleaned and flushed, power steering partially installed, diff breathers, ant trans vacuum line cleaned up. Also started cleaning up the radiator which had some particularly nasty stuff in it.

A few decades ago I used some citric acid from work to clean my cooling system on my ‘91 K2500. I figure “that’s what is in the stuff you get from the auto parts store…” well although that is true, it is a very weak concentration. Needless to say, the stuff I got from work was very strong. I’ll tell you what though, I’ve never seen a radiator so clean after letting it run in there for a while!

Then about an hour into the cleaning process I sprang about 3 leaks in the radiator and heater core. Ate right through it! Lesson learned: stick with the auto parts store stuff.

I did a preliminary cleaning with some Prestone radiator flush but the final cleaning will need to be done once the system is all installed and I can run the engine, the heat and flow rate are much better at cleaning and dissolving than just a soak.

Interesting. The factory I work at actually produces pure, cystallized citric acid... might need to take some home from the lab for a little testing!

 

[Keith_J]

Interesting. The factory I work at actually produces pure, cystallized citric acid... might need to take some home from the lab for a little testing!

Blue Devil cooling system flush is trisodium citrate. The sodium buffers the citric acid so it doesn't attack copper or brass but still solvates metal oxides like solder bloom, rust and corrosion.

I used it a few years ago, the stainless steel thermostat became heavily covered in gray metallic lead fuzz.

 

[DarkSeas]

Blue Devil cooling system flush is trisodium citrate. The sodium buffers the citric acid so it doesn't attack copper or brass but still solvates metal oxides like solder bloom, rust and corrosion.

I used it a few years ago, the stainless steel thermostat became heavily covered in gray metallic lead fuzz.

That's really cool. We make sodium and potassium citrate as well where I work, just branches off the main citric line and gets a heavy dose of sodium/pot hydroxide prior to crystallization.

Heard of "industrial" and "cleaner" uses (apart from food grade going to Coca Cola, etc.) never thought about coolant flushes though. I used to always think it was going into bleach and baby powder in some way.