Part II - Restoration and Exploration - Aaron's TGB 1111

[aclark79]

CV Boot repaired!

MJ, an owner here in town of a red ex fire truck C303 has changed all his boots before and has a spare boot (mine haven't arrived yet). He was willing to help me change my torn CV boot and I gladly accepted!

Getting the nuts off took an impact wrench and a little time.... how long since they were taken off last? Who knows, years at least.



But eventually they all came off and the wheel dropped right off.



Uh oh! No wonder it was leaking when I drove it south... there is another tear on the other side.... But there was still plenty of fluid inside the dif case, so it wasn't running dry.



Taking this off wasn't hard, just awkward... that said getting the bolts loose took some grunt effor, thanks MJ!

Getting it back on, that was a pain in the ass...



Success! Wheel back on, brakes bleed enough to get it to it's appointment at the mechanic where they can do a better brake bleed job and get it back to the nice strong brakes it had before... yes the brake warning light is now on. It's ok though, I won't be leaking fluid anymore!

[Uli-RT]

... if your Breakcontrollight is still on, reset the breakswitch here:
Inside left frame. Take off the cable, turn the pin out and in, ready.
http://www.c303.de/c303-img/detail/bremskontrolle-4.jpg

Have you also reseted the Brakepedalswitch ? Just pull the pin out.

Regards
Uli

[aclark79]

Haven't reset it yet but I will! Thanks!

[aclark79]

Put the top back on and took the truck to the shop today for a compression check, carbs and a proper brake bleed job. The compression check is great, engine checks out as well, carbs are shot, but I have a brand new pair to swap with.



What did they have there, another TGB 1111 (90mm version) that was just bought buy a guy in town. I left a note for the owner, but the shop said it's used as a promotions truck by a company that also has a C303 and doesn't get driven around much or used offroad... sadly.



The truck looks nice though.

[aclark79]

Today I got back the parts that I had being sandblasted. Thank you to Portland Powder Coating, 50 dollars and all the parts look great. I did the following:

Grill
Metal side protectors that go just behind the rear doors and on top of the sides.
Front recovery pin and chains
4 windshield brackets
4 windshield bracket pins and chains
Spare tire holder
spare tire screw
machine gun mount
windshield wipers
rubber bump stops for the front roll bar

various nuts and bolts for the above.

Then I primed them. They are drying tonight and will get a coat of paint tomorrow!

I had to sand some primer off the machine gun mount as it dribbled and left some spots where it was built up, then re primed it without laying it on it's side... it's a learning process.

I also asked about sanding and powder coating the rims, 5 rims, 300-350 dollars. That sounds like a pretty good price to me!

[mopar]

Spray the wheels yourself. Much easier to touch up if you scratch powder coat tends to chip or crack if your gonna offroad the truck. Playing card are good for masking the tires.

[VinceAtReal4x4s]

I'd powdercoat everything you have there instead. It's very hard to get home-spray jobs to work past a couple years, esp in the weather you have.

[aclark79]

I really wanted to go to the WARN factory tour today which was organized by a local 4x4 group, especially because I wanted to look at mounting options for a 24v winch... but today was the best day for weather for getting the truck sanded and primed. It's probably going to rain for a while here and I wanted to get this job done and primed so that I can relax about the rust.

Oh man, it was a J.O.B. Rocky from Portland Dustless Blasting Service came out and did a great job, but it took quite a while. The paint came off pretty easy and the rust as well, in almost all the places, but it did make a mess! The angular nature of the truck meant it sprayed back a lot.

Finally it was done and it made a ****ing mess of sand in the cab, but I can clean that out at another time, I needed to get the primer on tonight before it starts raining! I ended up putting the primer on with a spray gun in the dark by flashlight, but except for two spots it came out great. I two spots I lingered to long and got some runs which I can sand down later and re hit with the rattle can.

Primer is Red Oxide III and later I'll be putting on OD Green CARC substitute (modern army green color without the toxic anti-chemical warfare additives).

I've never worked with a spray gun before, it was surprisingly easy and went of fast.

[aclark79]

Had a chance to look over last nights work in the daylight, there are a few spots I need to sand and respray due to build up and drips, but overall I'm really happy with the results. I have to wait till Monday for good weather again, I can get the primer all done that morning, have it completely done, then re mask and start the OD green coat. The next sun break will be Thursday so hopefully I can finish with a 2nd coat then and be done with painting!

I have a few more parts to bring to the sand blaster and then re install the windshield with some help and I'll pretty much be finished! Of course there will always be small things.

Today I got the truck light headlights installed in the brackets properly with the help of a friend and tested them and they work great! Much better than stock and it's truly plug and play. They are staying off for now while I get the housings sanded and painted, but it's good to know they will work properly.

[mopar]

Nice, looking good Aaron!

[geckoadventure]

I'm surprised you are painting outdoors wind blown paint and missed spots and incomplete drying of paint would worry me.

Hope it all sticks together.

[TechMOGogy]

I'm surprised you are painting outdoors wind blown paint and missed spots and incomplete drying of paint would worry me.

Hope it all sticks together.

Guess he is working the best he can with what he has available
I have seen show winners that have been painted in driveways!
Main thing is getting it done

[aclark79]

Hell, I thought people would give me poop for having a pole axe in my garage! Hah hah, I'm happy with the way the paint is going on, the sanding left a perfect surface for paint adhesion and the primer is going on well. Tomorrow I get to finish the priming on the spots I couldn't get in the dark, but they aren't missed spots, rather they are spots I didn't go over (tops of the roll bars and center of the rear box). There are a few spots to sand a few drips, but I'm ok with that to. One more good coat of primer and then I let that dry and then get the first coat of OD paint on. That will get a heater in the garage, 75 degrees at 16 hours is the cure time per the paint maker (GCI paint).

I've learned a few things and putting the tail lights back on will be a pain (thankfully I took pictures of where all the wires go).

All in all I'm happy with the progress I've made!

(ps, I hope it all sticks together as well, but I'm confident that it will)

[aclark79]

All done! Well, lets be honest all done with the big part of painting. I'm sure I'll find areas that I missed in a nook or in a cranny. The windshield brackets are painted, the body is painted and the rollbars are painted. The rollbars were the biggest challenge, getting at them and working on them. The paint job isn't perfect, it's certainly not show room, but it passes muster with me and I know now that all the rust that was there before on the surface is gone!





Interesting (to me) is the difference in color. This is GCI CARC Green substitute, basically modern US Army green. It's lighter than the Swedish Green where it wasn't faded (under the intake, parts of the rear box) but darker than a lot of the paint like the front which was faded badly from the sun.

It is now sitting in the garage near a heater curing for the next 16 hours at least. Then I can start putting parts back on!

[ako]

Looks pretty good to me for a vehicle that will be driven, not a display item