tatra 813 new owner

[EZFEED]

Hey Duncan,
Do you have a little unit like this in your cab somewhere. I'm thinking you should. This is a heater control but also sends defrost to the air lines.

The unit with the double knobs and plunger. (not my truck but the only pic i could find of one)

 

[duncan]

No don't have that. The independant heating unit is a big beast and located under the bench in the cab. From there it heats the cab, the engine, the battery compartment, the windows, etc.

I dont have a picture of that, sorry, but I will make one next time.

The manual clearly (well, in a fuzzy small picture with numbers and german text) states theres a "frost-schutz-pumpe" located at the rear of the truck. So that would have to be the frost-propection-pump, and from what Im seeing that is the little reservoir just in front of the air pressure regulator.

 

[duncan]

Sorry forgot to take picture of the heating. Had no time to get out for pictures really. And when I had time, the cab was suspended in the air so I couldnt get out It's best described as owning your own rollercoaster, with a steering wheel and throttle!

 

[EZFEED]

Awesome dude, simply that!

 

[duncan]

So I'm looking at body work related work now, since the mechanics are all coming together already.

Most of the cab needs to be replaced at some point. Worst part is the right front side, which is rusted so bad the front passenger door does not close properly. The roof is leaky in a few places, so water came into the inner and outer panels. Many bottom sides of panels are completely gone, or crumble at first touch.
Then the rear panel of the cab has the bottom 15 cm completely rusted away, huge gap to the floor panels which started rusting as well.

Basicly, a ton of work to restore. So I was wondering how realistic it would be to source some new panels, or maybe a new cab. People still run these things, so there should be spares?

 

[tatra813]

Duncan

hubs take standare 80 gear oil, although I also add lucas oil additive. Put the plug at 3 or 9 oclock and add oil till it runs out of the hole. Drain and flush it first there are lots of small needle bearings in there that can get pitted from condensation that has collected in the oil.

clutch fluid is engine oil. Also check the injector pump dipstick, it also takes engine oil. I fill till I touch the line on the dipstick.

The black box by the power steering tank is the low air warning switch that sounds the buzzer. You should be able to find a generic adjustable switch from a air compressor shop that you can replace it with, or plug it for now and really watch you air pressure. Make sure youre emergency brake works. None of my 3 trucks had a working emergency brake when I got them I had to get them all going, which is a must for off roading having a manual backup brake, in my opinion.

I attatch a breakdown of the air reg you took apart for your help. The other part is a antifreeze fill and pump cylinder you were right, I just read it in my manual.

The splitter makes a huge deal when you are hitting hills at high speed I would definitily make that a priority to get fixed.

Have a good one.


Ive got the phone number from a guy in germany who has a buch of parts tatras if you want body panels, he may have them although finding a rust free tatra isnt easy to start with. If you can speak german let me know and Ill pm you his number. I think you should just weld up some angle frames and weld in new panels and make it custom, unless you really want it original.
Dean

 

[tatra813]

Dean, you have any new pics of your green girl????

Im going to take her for a spin this weekend so Ill take some more pics for sure.

 

[tatra813]

No don't have that. The independant heating unit is a big beast and located under the bench in the cab. From there it heats the cab, the engine, the battery compartment, the windows, etc.

I dont have a picture of that, sorry, but I will make one next time.

The manual clearly (well, in a fuzzy small picture with numbers and german text) states theres a "frost-schutz-pumpe" located at the rear of the truck. So that would have to be the frost-propection-pump, and from what Im seeing that is the little reservoir just in front of the air pressure regulator.

Youll never need the heater you get planty of hot air from the engine entering the cab lol.

 

[tatra813]

If you print it you can read it better

 

[tatra813]

Print it and you can read it better

 

[tatra813]

more

 

[duncan]

Great stuff, thanks! That really helps me out a lot!

 

[duncan]

Its a beeeeaaaaautiful day, the sun is shining. Noone is gonna stop me now! Working on refilling the oil in the hubs. Got some proper gearbox oil and all, but draining them is a downright b*tch. Its impossible to get the oil out without it running all over the hubs and tires.

So I set out to create a pipe that screws into the drain hole. Drain hole turned out to use some weird thread, m18x1.5, so we had to manually cut the thread in a chunk of metal. Will have some pics of that tomorow. Oil now comes through the pipe, into container, without a hassle

 

[duncan]

All hub reduction oil replaced Took all day to get the thick sludge out and in again, but done at last!

While waiting for the oil to drain I was inspecting the cab more closely. Have now got a pretty good idea of what needs replacing. Basicly, everything But its all made from spot welded small panels, which look like they can be easily reproduced.

Looking to rebuild the entire cab (minus some details like the grill and stuff) out of 2mm thick steel. Will make it a bit heavier, but its easier to work with than the default 0.8mm, its obviously stronger, and it wont deform as easy when welding.

 

[duncan]

Okay, more updates. To pass for a license plate all doors on the vehicle must close and open properly. So, time to fix the doors.

The state of the cab is bad. Very bad. It doesnt show on pics too much, but many spots you can poke right though the metal. Roof is leaking, passenger side doors dont close properly, etc.
I do not want to remove the cab and start a complete rebuild, because we will lose oversight and end up looking up to an impossible looking project. So we're doing it bit by bit.
First plan was to remove the front bumper. It's only held by 6x36mm bolts and something like 8x24mm. The 36 mms wouldnt go. We tried the air wrench, no luck. A 1.5 metre extension pipe on a key, no luck. Only with 3 metre of extension pipes we got some bolts to turn. And then the nuts inside the frame moved with. So no luck on removing the front bumper. We'll work with the bumper on then.

So, removed the worst panel (passenger side front) and the door. Will now weld in some sections of square tube and then recreate the panels from 1.5mm or 2mm sheet. Only the door needs to close for now

 

[EZFEED]

Jeez Duncan, sounds like you need the blue wrench (torch) for those bumper bolts. Great work however and the thickness upgrade for the body panels sounds like a great idea!!!!!!

 

[Finlandia]

Drain hole turned out to use some weird ass thread, m18x1.5

That is normal metric pipe thread, common in europian vehicles.

Keep going, it is nice to see what are in under Tatras skin.

 

[duncan]

That is normal metric pipe thread, common in europian vehicles.

Eh, I've only seen M18x2.5, thats regular thread. 1.5 is fine thread. Either way, its solved. More work today!

 

[cranetruck]

Thanks for posting the images! Seldom see close up images of these trucks. If you don't have a torch, use a grinder to cut the screws.
Is that (blue canister) the engine air filter?

 

[duncan]

Ow we've got a fully equipped shop, dont worry. We just chose to leave the front bumper for now Not worth the hassle.

The blue canisters are the air filter units. There's two of them. I have refurbushed them a while ago. Basicly its some filtration units in an oil/diesel mix bath.

So, today I removed the driver side headlight to fix and clean (it wasnt working). One by one taking all the lights, disassembling, sandblasting, rust proofing and coating them.