Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:53 am by cornbinder89
Wow, it has been over a year since I posted on this truck. I decided not to change the rods and mains. I did pull one set and found they had been changed around the turn of the century, but don't look like they saw much use.
I did convert to Big Cam 3 oiling and jakes.
There is a picture in the K section of me swinging the engine and trans.
Once installed it fired right off (less then a rev) and ran smooth and no smoke great oil pressure! Houston, we have a keeper!
Trans needed a new input shaft from doing heavy haul with a non-dampened disks. The disks were used because I kept breaking damper springs and the last thing you want is to loose the clutch under a heavy load. Going to non-dampened solved that problem, but I knew going in, that shaft wear would be the price.
Had a problem with a poorly machined replacement shaft and had to buy another from another mfg.
It is very satisfying to watch this truck come back to life after sitting for more than a decade.
Over the course of running the '83 I have located suppliers and part numbers for the more common problem pieces. One thing that has really changed since I took it off the road, is the expansion of the internet and parts suppliers. When I was last running it, everything came from the dealer, and that meant two trips to Omaha, one to order (almost nothing was stocked) and another to pick it up. Now most can be mail ordered over the .net.
I now need to get the driveline and air system working well enough to back this truck into the barn, so I can pick away at the small stuff as time allows. Unfortunately, this will mean the Marmon will have to sit outside. I am hoping to get the Marmon into a shop for a rear suspension swap in the near future. I have decided, that I am too old and too slow to do the work myself. The problem is finding someone to do the work to my satisfaction. A poorly done job can ruin the frame and make the truck worthless.
I am less and less sure of the date when I will drive it. There is so much little stuff that will only show up once it is moving on its own. I also need (want) to install an Espar heater system like my other trucks but that is fairly involved as I tie cab heat, engine heat, fuel heat all together in to one system. I use a 7 day timer and that requires more wiring to the cab, but gives diagnostic codes if there is a problem. I picked up 2 used Espars over the summer and re-ferb' ed them.
This Cabover has air start like the Marmon, and I want to install a remote reading Ammeter like the other two trucks have, and this requires some re-wiring of the main electrical feed. Better to do this kind of work slow and meticulous, than try and be fast.
My brother found me a good air tight wood stove for the barn, so I can have heat while I'm working on these things.
Un like the engine swap, most the remaining stuff can be picked-up or left off as work allows, once the truck is indoors.
In some ways the '89 is in much better shape than the '83 (mostly cosmetic) and in others worse. I had a fuel tank strap part just sitting in the yard! It will take a while to address all the little things.