mattb73lt

9 hours ago, eddeere said:

All of this has got me confused. The speedometer on my B 61 never worked. When I pulled the engine and trans the cable had an adapter on the end that had a square drive on it about .111". The trans needed on that one that was .125 ". I got one from Bobs Speedometer. Have not driven the truck yet so not sure of the fix. Hope I do not have to go thru all of the above.

I've parted a few trucks that had the small square offset boxes that are ratio adapters for errors on the speedometer when you change something like the rear end ratio, Freightrain posted a picture of one. I've had several problems over the years with the speedometer and the drive off the tail shaft. The pencil gears and spiral drive I posted mostly came from donors I've had. Those reside in the tail shaft housing Freightrain also posted and did a really nice electronic conversion to.

The issue is determining where your problem lies and how you want to fix it. There are many solutions (GPS, electronic) that can cure these issues.

4 hours ago, fxfymn said:

GPS or even a cell phone app seems like the way to go if it starts heading down the road of complicated repairs. I use a GPS on mine since the speedo bounces around so much.

I have one now, too. I use it to check all my cars as one has no speedometer ( Model T) and 6V so it eats battery  life while in use. Very useful for determining speedo accuracy.

That should help get us in the ballpark of the issue. Those gears I posted reside within the housing that Freightrain posted and the pencil gear is about 4" long. His modification is nice as there are no moving parts for the "drive" and will probably outlast all of us. The thin collar is against the bushing the cable connects to. On my B-42 there is a small plastic adapter that  connects the replacement cable to the pencil gear. On the pencil gear there will be a small series if numbers for that gear. The mesh is important as you will wear out the gears quickly if there's a significant mismatch.

As for the chart, I made one for mine for every gear using all the ratios/final drive/tire diameter (RPM=Gear#=MPH). Helped a lot as my speedo was inop when I first had it on the road.

Wow, that's awesome. Some  really good info for the future if I need to go that way. The reluctor would be a challenge. Very similar to the RPM sensors that Bell Helicopter uses and calls Mono-pole Pick-ups, measuring the magnetic fields of gear teeth as they pass.

Now there's a fix. So that pick-up (sensor) needs to be 90 degrees from target? Did you do the machine work or send it out?

They do. There's a number on the shaft and I also count the teeth. Some of these pencil gears are trashed because of that. They can be slightly off, but the mesh is important. I believe that spiral gear I have was done in because of that, Along with the pencil gear.

Here are the pencil gears I have. Some are shot but the shafts are good and vice versa. I only have one spiral drive that pretty worn. Shouldn't be too hard to find another from a donor. Let me know what you need.

1 hour ago, Red Horse said:

Thx Matt.  I did not get to it today but I'm going to pull the 2"adapter, engage the cable, then spin the cable  (from the adapter end) while I have an observer in the driver's seat to see if cable is turning.  If it does, I guess case is made that problem is in the tailshaft-correct?

It may be. If the cable, speedometer head and connections all check, then I would suspect the pencil gear or spiral drive. The pencil gear is really easy to pull and check.

If the cable checks Ok, sometimes there's an adapter to interface with the "pencil" gear drive. Check that and make sure that everything locks and drives together. If all that is good, I would suspect the pencil gear and the spiral drive on the tail shaft of the transmission. The pencil gear is pretty easy to get at. Back off the bushing where the speedometer cable attaches, the small shaft should lift out with a little effort. I've had those eaten up by the spiral drive. If it's the spiral drive, that's going to be a little tougher to get at if it's bad.

I have several pencil gears and spiral drives I've collected up to fix issues I've had. If that pencil shaft is bad, the gear can be pressed off and put on a good shaft to keep the speedometer accurate or at least working. Let me know if you need one and I'll get it to you. I'll take some pics of them tonight.

I have the same set-up as Freightrain, 237 with a double over Triplex. Very happy with it, big improvement from the 673 I had,  Also running 1500-2100 and skipping gears when needed. Only issue...I miss the bark of the 673, much quieter at cruise though.

Really nice job!! That's going to look great going down the road.

6 hours ago, carlotpilot said:

matt      thought i would find you a hood ornement for the 73  but i have`nt figured out how to polish him with out making his eyes water  

That guy is tiny!!

1 minute ago, Timmyb said:

Is the timber in your floor a factory item? I think all the old w model Kenworth's here had timber floor. Makes sense too, better noise and heat insulation. 

If your previous work is anything to go by, that cab will look great once completed. 

Yes, there is another piece that I had just removed on the passenger side.

Since I finished my three winter projects (engine, transmission & radiator) and there's still snow on the ground, I figured I'd continue assessing the cab. I was able to get some time in before work and remove the doors. This cab had some previous damage to the back panel and the repair work was horrible. The lower panel and rear window panel were factory replacements and were also barely attached. Once you open up the cab, it's pretty simple construction. before I remove anything else, I'll cross brace everything to prevent shifting.

1 minute ago, Red Horse said:

Wow-very nice-heat, sand-you have it all!

Almost 20 years of gathering up the shop equipment!!

Plus I got a little done tonight after work. Back side complete, shutters tomorrow.

This is the heater installation.

3 hours ago, Hobert62 said:

That's the type heater I'm thinking of for my garage.   Currently I just use a torpedo heater to warm it up

I used one for a while, very noisy. Had to wear ear plugs or muffs to concentrate. Plus, it's hard to regulate the temp. This setup is great, turn it on set the temp, turn it off and walk away.

44 minutes ago, Red Horse said:

Nice and given temps we have up here in MA, don't think its that much warmer down in Berlin-how do you heat that barn?

I now have a "Hot Dawg" heater mounted to the ceiling above my glass bead cabinet. Heats up the shop very quickly and pretty cheap to run. Even when it's frigid out it works well. Runs on propane. Started off with a wood stove that was there when I bought the place years ago. Too much mess and work with it, plus the hazard. Really like this heater, come home turn it on, go inside change go back out and it's warm enough to work.

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 3:29 PM, Hobert62 said:

Wow!    I thought I was the only one that knew a light switch had an off position too.   

I do it out of reflex, you leave a room, you turn off the lights. The nights I've come home to find every light in the house blazing away only to find one person home!! 

Have to work this weekend, so barn time is limited. But got some hours in Friday night on the radiator. I forgot how complex this one is in terms of assembly. I took this apart quite some time ago for inspection and to get a new core for it. Had to send several pieces out for some repairs and welding. I swapped out all the hardware for stainless steel. When I opened the boxes I found a receipt from 2002!! Where the hell did that time go? Seems like a short time ago I ordered it. Any way, it's getting done now.

16 minutes ago, Red Horse said:

Very nice Matt- what is your method that keeps the overspray in control?  Your shop looks clean!

It's super high tech- a 20" box fan in the back window, sometimes a second one in the next window. Works OK, unless it's windy. Saturday the wind spun it backwards and the blew it out of the sill. Had to close it all up, so there was a little more mess in the shop. I've been using my smaller gun on these parts, my 1 qt. gun would put out a lot more overspray. 

More primer and paint!! Getting a lot of this tedious little stuff done while the weather keeps me inside. Etch primed all the transmission and radiator pieces. Painted the radiator tanks silver, after etch priming. Did all the interior areas silver where you can't reach, to cover the raw aluminum to prevent corrosion, the exterior surfaces will be polished.