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Studebaker M15A-20 "Mr. Potato Head"

Saturday, December 24, 2011

M-Series Vent Trap

I installed a stereo and needed something to prevent the probable water from destroying it from the vent left open. So I decided to add a trap to allow the air to come in and trap the water. There is a bit more resistance to the air coming in but I think that is a good trade off to a destroyed stereo.

I installed the stereo in the center, set back a bit. I plan to put super magnets on the cover if I need to hide the stereo.

So I made a crude trap out of cardboard for test fitting.

After all the fitting and testing, I then made another trap using thin cardboard for a sheet metal pattern.

Tracing the pattern onto the aluminum sheet metal.

Sheet metal cut out.

Assembled using tape.

Right hand neoprene glove about to give up the thumb.

Thumb cut out.

To seal the thumb tip to the vent actuator arm, I'm epoxying a copper pipe section onto it.

Thumb installed.

Drain outlet installed. I used aluminum pop rivets throughout.

Installing the trap using ty-wraps to attach the thumb tip to the actuator arm. Note the inside of the trap is coated with Hirsch's gas tank sealer for S & G's.

 
Thumb tip ty-wrapped down.

Installing brackets.

Ready for drain hose.

 
Drain hose installed.

 Drain hose installed.















Saturday, December 17, 2011

More Video




Radiator Install

I installed a radiator from Summit Racing. I could not fine a radiator with the correct size ports so I decided to use the stainless steel hoses because that come with adapters. I think the hoses are great but the connectors are not so hot. The clamps are to small and you have to be careful not to strip them. I didn't have any leaks so I guess I can't complain to much. Because the radiator does not have an angle outlet like the original radiator, I had to lower it in the mount so the lower radiator hose clears the engine. I had to purchase some 1" aluminum angle to mount to the original mounting hole and to space it out from the mount. I also had to trim the lower apron to clear the radiator. Because I had to lower the radiator I could have bought a taller one to maximize the cooling capacity.













Idle Mixture





Oil Pan Leak


Looks like a small leak at the rear of the oil pan

 



Friday, December 9, 2011

Oil Pressure Update

I installed a gauge at the oil galley to verify the dash gauge accuracy. Well, the dash gauge reads low. The gauge I used is off my AC Freon charging gauge set so I suspect that it is accurate. The oil is Rotella-T1 30WT mono-grade w/ZDDP additive.

 Idle, operating temperature = 13 lbs

At 1,500-2,000 RPM (estimate) = 50lbs


Video of oil pressure peak = 65lbs

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Correct Pilot Bearing

After installing the transmission and then installing the engine into the truck I worried that there was something wrong because difficulty bolting it up. So I pressed the clutch, put the transmission in high gear, and tried rotating the transmission output shaft. It took a breaker bar and a 4' pipe to turn it - not good!! So I pulled the engine, removed the transmission and dismantled the clutch. I found that the pilot bearing was not fully pressed into the flywheel. The pilot bearing was distorted from the it's installation and it appeared to be the wrong part. The transmission input shaft would not slide into the pilot bearing. I removed it and ordered the correct bearing. The correct bearing was shorter and the correct inside and outside dimension. It pressed into the flywheel with little effort and slides nicely onto the transmission input shaft. I put everything back together and installed the engine back into the truck. I then preformed the same test and the transmission output shaft now spins freely by hand...

 New correct pilot bearing slips onto transmission nicely

 Installing new bearing

 As I tapped the bearing in I checked squareness with calipers

 New bearing installed

 New installed bearing slides nicely onto the transmission input shaft

 Flywheel install on crankshaft

 I left the pressure plate loosely mounted on the flywheel and used the transmission input shaft to align the clutch plate, then tightened the pressure plate

 I used grease to determine how far in the the input shaft engaged the pilot bearing

Transmission mouted and ready to go into the truck