updated pics of my hemtt restoration

[redass73]

nice truck...you lucky man!!

 

[pa.rich]

Wow that is quite the workshop you have there! That made me drool double!

 

[Armada]

I'm seeing paper bibs like you'd get in a seafood restaurant; but with a picture of a HEMTT on them instead of a lobster.

Great idea! I could use one right now....


And I don't hate you... It's called admiration!

 

[emr]

I just want to add, WAY TO GO!!!! That is SWEEEET!!!! Randy

 

[dma251]

Todays update -

Keep in mind - I work nights (I'm a guard at Boeing in Everett, WA), so everything I do on this truck is during the couple hours I have in the afternoon after I wake up... I wish I had more hours in the day.... Every spare moment I've had over the last few weeks has had to do with coordinating and picking-up or delivering parts to and from the shop helping me with the restoration.

I picked up all the radiator parts and coolant pipes from the powdercoater and delivered them an hour's drive north to the shop that is building me the new radiator.

About this radiator - I am attaching pics of the new core laying on top of the old core. This truck has 17,000 miles on it, but it is still 20 years old, so the radiator is completely junked. Look at how plugged the radiator tubes are! It barely flowed anything at all.
The new core is all brass, and we are installing the freshly sandblasted and powdercoated tanks and frame/cowl from the old radiator around the new core. I'm not sure how much this weights exactly, but it's more then 3 guys could lift.... The core is about 4' high, and 4' wide. Maybe 10" deep. It's one of the biggest this radiator shop had seem, and they work on a lot of heavy machinery. Total cost for this brass monstrosity - $2900 including the stainless fasteners and new gaskets...

Oh, also check out the new grill that I had made for it. The old grill was 3/16" steel and was all bent up. I tried to have it straightened, but it still didn't look quite right.

I had this new one laser-cut out of a 4'x4' sheet of 1/4" cold-rolled steel. You guys wouldn't believe how PERFECT the cuts are. They lay the sheet of metal on a table, and a computer does all the work. They used my old grill as a pattern and loaded it into the computer, and then made corrections for all the bent areas on the old one, then pressed a button and this is the result! I hope I can find a reason to have more stuff made like this - it's an amazing process of which I know very little about. It looks good thought! The new grill is also MUCH stronger then the old one.

I'm going to replace the stock front aluminum skidplate this grill bolts to with a new 1/4" steel one also. It's not too complicated a job for this shop to do, and my old one is not very straight.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

Keep the pictures coming! Is that the shop you built at home with the forklift in it? If you can post some picts of the garage you built I may be doing the same when I get home, Thanks

 

[dma251]

Keep the pictures coming! Is that the shop you built at home with the forklift in it? If you can post some picts of the garage you built I may be doing the same when I get home, Thanks

No, unfortunately it's not. The garage I built at home is the 40' long industrial canvas and steel building that I had to do all the excavating to put up. I live on a .27 acre lot in a nice quite (at least when my trucks aren't running) neighborhood. I did the best I could with what I had for room.

Because of the grade profile of my backyard I was very limited, and because my property is shaped like a pie, with the point being my street access I had to put the garage in the back, and because of my septic system layout I couldn't put up a framed building because of building codes and setback requirements.

I went the industrial shelter route, and it's been pretty good so far. The only complaint I have is I need to improve the ventilation, because I am getting a bit of condensation forming inside the roof that won't do when the hemtt comes home.

Here's a thread I am sure you've seen already with pics of what I have at home and will house the hemtt.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=15687&highlight=


The shop in the pics with the forklift is the business that is doing the "heavy lifting" for me on this restoration. Their role is to - construct the cargo box from two 5-ton ISO beds, install the transmission (done), fabricate the fenders (done), remove and repair the cab, and then store the chassis of the truck while I go through the cab details, and fabricate a bunch of other stuff I am missing such as footpads for the outriggers, rear fenders, a new skidplate, sides for the cargo bed, respool the crane with new synthetic cable, etc...

This is a very custom-job oriented fabrication/heavy truck shop. Put it this way - when I asked about a particular metal brake they had they said that they were bending brackets out of 10' long pieces of 1.5" steel yeterday! 1.5" THICK STEEL BENDS?!?!?! The hydraulic rams alone are at leat 2' feet in diameter!

They are equiped to handle just about ANYTHING I ask them to do. And they get it right the first time. You don't go in and say "don't worry about the tolerance, 1/8" either way is fine...." They will ask you to leave... The job is done precise or it's not done. The first shop I checked out I wouldn't trust with my riding lawnmower let alone a truck that I can't replace. It's definitely about trust when you leave your baby with them like this.

What started out as a simple job to construct 2 front fenders for the truck turned into me contracting them to do all the heavy work that I didn't have the time/knowledge/experience/ability to do, so I can focus more on the stuff I can do, like wiring in infrared backup and sideview cameras onto this thing so I don't run anyone or anything over with it backing up at night, or installing aviation-grade intercoms so I can rock out to my ipod while I cruise town in this beast..... Stuff like that....

 

[dma251]

Just picked it up the today - Going on Friday.

Work is progressing... Wallet is emptying....

 

[gimpyrobb]

That sure is purdy!

 

[dma251]

It wasn't suposed to be gloss black, the powdercoating company got my parts mixed up with another guys... They didn't charge me, and promised to be more careful next time. I figured it was okay on the radiator, since the engine is gloss detroit green from the factory too. The fan and radiator support pieces will be ready tomorrow - semi-gloss black. With the dog-house covers on you can't see it anyway.

 

[rosco]

Great truck - Great Job! I see them all the time, running out to the Ranges at Ft Greeley. Next time I see one parked, I'm going to see if I can't get a "tour". I run an 8V92 in an old 4300 Binder, set at the standard 475 HP. Not bad for a farm truck. What is yours set at?

Are you sure its going to be enough truck for you?

Lee in Alaska

 

[dma251]

Great truck - Great Job! I see them all the time, running out to the Ranges at Ft Greeley. Next time I see one parked, I'm going to see if I can't get a "tour". I run an 8V92 in an old 4300 Binder, set at the standard 475 HP. Not bad for a farm truck. What is yours set at?

Are you sure its going to be enough truck for you?

Lee in Alaska

It's completely stock. With the cost of diesel and the 2-3 mph this truck gets, that's just fine

Compared to my M35 Deuce and 5-ton, this thing flat moves... Even with the bad transmission slipping in lower gears, it would accelerate much faster then either of my other trucks.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

I have seen HEMTT's go airborne on tank trails at Fort Hood they can really move out when empty.

 

[OSO]

That's a lot of driving for you to get to Syd's shop from your house. Just think if only you get over the river at the Jordan Foot bridge you could save the miles and driving time. Great pics,keep them coming.

 

[dma251]

It's a late Christmas for me!!! I got 2 big boxes from Oshkosh today with over 100 lbs. of parts I ordered for the hemtt project.

Here's only a partial idea of what all I ordered, but it was almost $1100 worth of little odds and ends that I was going to want to have looking nice for this truck. New shocks, new door gaskets, new window felt, heater/vent control cables, instrument sunvisor, wheel studs, primary and secondary air filters, ether start solenoid kit, tie-rod ends, crane outrigger holding valve, wiper knobs, special formed hoses, shifter boot, transfer case linkage boot, ALL the dataplates (!) , the little bezels for the switch labels, etc. etc. etc....

Here's a couple pics.

By the way - I am picking up the cab from the fab shop on Monday - all the repairs are done. I will take it home and strip it completely down, and take it over to the sandblaster later in the week. As soon as that's done it goes directly to the powdercoater for a nice zinc-rich powder-primer inside and out, and then a final coat of color powder inside. Bad news for all you purists out there- the inside is gonna be gloss medium grey. I plan on spending a good amount of time in this truck, and I hate how grimy and dusty the od interior gets after a while nad it's hard to wipe down and keep from scuffing it.

You guys can repaint the inside when you buy it from me

 

[OPCOM]

That is real nice, great attention to details! My truck will always be a worker, but I love to see restorations.

 

[ida34]

I have seen HEMTT's go airborne on tank trails at Fort Hood they can really move out when empty.

I have had at least the front end airborne in the first gulf war. These trucks would leave the rest of the convoy like they were standing still. I loved to drive them.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Parts look nice! I figured 100lbs meant one part for that truck.

 

[cranetruck]

Nice to be able to get parts from the factory.

 

[ajg6989]

nice work