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

[aclark79]

Sand sand and more sand.

Why is the door sticky, sand. Why won't the rear door open, sand. What is all that crap all over everything, sand.

At least now that the paint is dry I can park it while it's raining and not worry about it. So now I'm in the cleaning stage, washing out the interior and the back compartment. The rear door wouldn't unlatch, not sure yet what's wrong with the mechanism. I had to unbolt the hinges and to take the door off, but that will give me a chance to paint the area's that I wasn't able to get to before.

I should have just taken it off first thing, live and learn. Upon closer inspection the paint job will work fine for the winter and I will repaint again this spring / summer when it's dry and warmer to get another coat on.



What is all that? Sand.

You can see the line between the old paint and the new, plus on the upper right corner is an example of where I did not get a good even coat. I'll touch that up soon.



Looks good with the top on. Next up is replacing the windshield rubber (I'm watching the other post, but think I'll end up just having custom rubber put in by a local guy who's great with glass) and weather stripping around the upper storage box You may notice it's not level in the front, I pulled the old rotten weather stripping out so it's laying on bare metal and rests a little low without the rubber.

The engine is running pretty rough on the loaner carbs (from the shop). I was able to trade for some parts so now I've got 10 Stromberg carburetors, I'll take those in soon and get two good ones installed.

I've also got the headlight brackets and the tail light brackets being powder coated and once those go back on I'll be street legal!

[aclark79]

hecfire Sand.

If I could do it over again I'd still sand blast, but I'd take a lot more time prepping the barrier matterial, it was to light and not taped well enough. Ah well, it gives me a reason to detail the interior.

I got the bezels and the tail light mounts back, they look great.. but... now the headlights don't work. I was an idiot and plugged the new ones in while the key was on (opps), so I'm hoping it's just a blown fuse... It's dark out now and cold and it's a step for the next day.

The tail lights and turn signals work, the headlights, backup light and running lighs do not. Nor do the hazard lights, although individually they flash on the tail light relay... Anyone make sense of that? I haven't gotten the book out to look at the diagram or looked at the fuses yet.

[aclark79]

So after swapping the relay I was initially very disappointed when the lights still did not work. Checking and re checking and checking voltages and then after receiving some advice I checked the wires connecting the blackout light switch and sure enough, one had come loose and disconnected. After putting that back on the lights all work, but... the hazards only work when the headlights are in switch position 2 and 3, the backup light doesn't work and the running lights are always on even when the key is off. So there may still be some other relays to swap out before I'm done and everything is back to where it should be. Moral of the story is disconnect the damn battery! The good news is the LED headlights work great and I can drive at night now. One step closer to being 'done'.

I confirmed with my contact in Sweden that I have the newer bus bar and fuse set up.

[VinceAtReal4x4s]

Screwed up wiring is more likely than blown relays. They rarely fail and its very rare for more than one to do so.

[aclark79]

Haven't tracked down the problem yet... grounding issue? Maybe. It's been pretty terrible weather out and I just haven't been motivated to do the testing needed to track down the issue.

I did figure a good use for the machine gun but stock holder.



Don't worry, it's root beer.

[aclark79]

Haven't gotten to do any real trouble shooting yet. I am pretty sure I need to adjust my ignition timing and I'm going to install an electronic ignition. I've now learned about points and how to mess them up leaving the key on when trouble shooting electronics. Ah... I knew I wanted an electronic ignition anyway, so it's gonna be ok.


I did some photos for a guy who has a blog about interesting trucks.





You can see on the undercarriage where I want to clean and paint anti-rust on the material.




I'm pretty amazed at how much flex the truck has. I'm sure I could have gone further on this loading ramp, but I chickened out!






I am going to put on at least two more coats of paint this spring before putting all the decals back on, should be good. The newer refurbed carbs are installed and once the timing is addressed I think she will finally be reliable enough to take into the woods with my local 4x4 club.

[rmel]

Amazing transformation, looks real nice!

Thought about hitting her with a a couple coats of epoxy clear coat?
Helps to prevent a super flat paint from getting stains, but then it's not
as flat anymore.

[aclark79]

I have not thought about doing it, I am planning on putting at least two more coats of paint on once the weather gets nicer and I can build a small pvc and plastic paint booth in my driveway. (which I should have done the first time).

I don't know if I would put a coat of epoxy on after that is done, I'm not against the idea, I just hadn't really given it any thought.

[aclark79]

I'm happy to report that I'm back in the driving business. Long story short the ignition timing was all jacked up and the lower exhaust manifold seal was shot and I was loosing all my power out the leak there, it was pretty bad. That plus the timing was just not drive able, but after finding a mechanic who's hobby is restoring the B30A engines and the strombergs for Volvo cars of that era, it's all back in good health, purring and running strong. Also replaced were some hoses that were in danger of cracking due to age as well as other odds and ends. I also found a friend with a machine shop with a paint booth I can use to finish the paint job. Very happy to be back and able to drive her around.







We're going to spend a day going over the electronics and finding the short that is keeping my rear light from coming on and keeping the running lights lit up even when the key is off, but the battery is connected. Install the rear LED units (brake, running and backup) and a some other odds and ends.

A friend from Sweden sent me the TGB 1111 manual and the Robot supplemental manual, I'm going to scan them and post them somewhere... are there any translation resources available?

[VinceAtReal4x4s]

Good to hear. That brings up an important thing with these, largely coming from military storage. The hoses/all rubber really need going over before you set out on any trips.

[bdgWesternMass]

Hey Aaron,

I think your truck looks great and I'm really happy with the amount of documentation you have done for your project. Starting with the purchase and import.
I have couple of questions that could be asked of the entire list.
Is there a good reason to sand the rust spots of the vehicle and just swabbing on another coat of paint? I would think that the more layers the better. I'm wondering if it is just a way to start from a known point. There could be anything beneath that paint and better to find out sooner rather then later.

Thank you for the update the more information the better.

Ben

[aclark79]

For me it was the ability to get down to a known layer and redo it. I know some on the facebook page disagreed with me as they thought I was taking the alu-zinc coating off. The red oxide primer is the same stuff the military uses for everything they have and I believe it will do as good a job over time as anything that was on there before. The other reason was time, it was going to take a ton of time to spot sand the truck, where the sand blasting took a short time and prepped the surface right then. There were definitely drawbacks though! If i had to do it over again I would have waited until I had a better weather window so I could have prepped better (tape and tarps and such to keep sand out of the nooks and crannies).

Before I start putting decals back on I plan to give it two more coats of paint. Luckily I've got a friend who owns a machine shop with a professional paint booth and equipment I can use, and an indoor place to prep and park it, which will make painting it this summer much much easier.

I'm going to slowly get the pages of the manuals scanned and then try to work on some translations. (the 1111 and robot manuals)

[TGB13 NC]

Hello.
I can translate if you want some specific parts of the manual done.
Regards
Thomas

[aclark79]

Quick update:

Installed hydraulic arms on the rocket tube box cover. Now it isn't always just a touch away from slamming down and chopping off my fingers.
Fixed the windshield wiper fluid nozzles, now they spray.
Fixed a stuck piston on one of the carbs, running strong again and actually has power.
Finished the 2nd coat of paint.
Original top repaired (no more rips)
Custom bikini top made.
Installed switch for backup light.

Things to do:

Install screen guard for the radiator.
Install offroading radio and antenna
fab up jerry can holder and install where the fire extinguisher box was.
Finish paint touch up inside the cab.
Figure out electrical fault (running lights still on whenever battery is on regardless of key position)
Replace front axle dif lock bulb (or get it working, not sure if it's the bulb or not working at all)
Examine options for a winch.
Fix front 24v plug ins so the blackout lights will work.



It's still a ton of fun to drive and I'm actually getting to take it off road, it only took 2 years.

[aclark79]

I used GCI paint through armyjeepparts.net

https://www.armyjeepparts.net/

They were great and have every shade of OD green that the US has ever used. I used modern army greed CARC substitute. Same color as the modern chemical resistant coating paint, but none of the toxic properties when it's applied (and none of the chemical warfare benefits either).

I used the lusterless carc green

https://www.armyjeepparts.net/p-2293-34 ... 34094.aspx

The paint goes on much lighter when applied and then dries darker. These are accurate examples.

Before painting with original paint (but very faded)

Original faded color:



Top line is new paint, bottom is "unfaded" but old original paint



Before drying:



After:



And the best part is they sell rattle cans of the same paint so I'm not worried about scratches, touch up is a snap.