jdikeman

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The T-15 has four locations near where knees would be but I've yet to find any documentation that indicates what these actually are. What's left of mine are just a "wire" that sets inside four clips. The leg room for the pilot is quite tight already so if these were some sort of cushion, they couldn't have been very thick.

Thanks Patrick! Had plenty of room to tighten the clutch cable and that has stopped the grinding on 1st and reverse. Still not certain why 2nd and 3rd weren't grinding.

Admittedly, I'm a complete and total novice as it relates to the transmission and clutch on the T-15, so before I go flying off the deep end to solve the problem, thought I would ask for some sage advice. I can depress the clutch pedal and easily shift between 2nd and 3rd with no grinding (this is in low speed). When I try to shift to either 1st or reverse it grinds badly. Was not the case when I first starting moving it around. Thoughts?

Larry - Thank you very much! Now I have a much better understanding of what the "clips" look like that grab the end of the spring and the one that hooks to the frame. Should be able to fabric something that would work to draw the spring down.

Thanks Patrick, as always, you are a great resource. I'll check with Dave and see if he has a jack he's willing to part with. Does the jack have the end piece that grabs the tensioner spring or is that some sort of added piece I need to try and track down as well?

I know that Patrick has a great thread going as it relates to track tension on the M29. I will readily admit that I haven't done much research as it relates to setting tension on the M29 but I'm looking for some help for the T-15 track tension. The T-15 supposedly used the jack and an attachment on a jack arm to pull the spring down such that the blocks could be bolted back to the hull. Spacers were then to be added or removed based on the little tensioning tool that also came with the vehicle back in 1941-1942, that too I believe to be something somewhere between tarot cards and black magic. Needless to say, I don't have the jack, the piece to grab the spring or the tensioning tool. And honestly, I'm still not real certain how all of that really worked. What I do know is that re-tracking one of these out in the field with the vehicle on the ground would have bordered on something close to a miracle. I have the tracks back on the machine after installing Mike Howard's track bands on the old grouser plates. My East Coast engine and original differential are back in and fully functional. Now I need to get the tensioning blocks reinstalled to see where we are with everything. Not a ton of options I've come up with for compressing the spring to install the tensioning blocks. I've thought about using one of the tines on my skid steer fork to compress the spring down but thought I would see what other T-15 Owners have used with a decent amount of success.

Thanks Jesse, that applies to both the bogies and the wheels I assume?

My apologies if this has been covered in previous conversations, I searched and didn't find what I was looking for. Although I've not done a bunch of research as it relates to how the big weasels were outfitted with rubber on the wheels, I know the bogies are quite similar to the T-15 in configuration. I'm curious to to options you folks have found as it relates to not on the bogies but also the 1/8" or so layer of rubber that was on both big wheels as well as the guide wheels.

My apologies for not staying current on updates on my work on the weasel. With that, I again need some input, this time on the suspension for the T-15. As with everything else about the weasel, I’ve found again that I don’t know what I don’t know on so many fronts. Much like the pintle hook that was upside down and I passed by 100+ times before noticing, I also had not paid much attention to the detail of the configuration of the bogie assembly sets. Based on what my weasel has and based on what the research shows, I’m yet to determine how the bogies need to be set back up. It appears as though the spring sets are directional, although the documentation I have provides some direction, still not certain what the final install should look like. Going past that point, the direction of the spring configuration certainly seems to be intentional as the spring brackets and yokes seem to be pre-determined based on the ORD in terms of “front” vs “back”. What I’ve discovered is that the bogie brackets were designed to allow a different range of axial rotation based on the width of the cast blocking inside thus dictating the amount of rotation. The part numbers in the ORD allude to “two” different configurations in terms of a front vs back orientation on the brackets. What I’ve also discovered is that I have brackets that the ORD doesn’t even specify.

The devil is always in the details. I did successfully get the carriers off the vehicle which then allowed the differential to just hop out as well. What i didn't pay much attention to was the connection between the carriers and the differential, as with most other things in life, after you see how it was built, makes sense why they weren't just falling off on the floor. The carriers inset into the differential about two inches or so and after setting there comfortably for what I assume to be 80 plus years, they weren't crazy about moving to a new position. The manual suggested a couple of small bottle jacks. With 6" or less between the wheel and the hull, those would be some really, really small bottle jacks. Ran to Tractor Supply as they said they had a couple of small bottle jacks and returned home to discover they were about 1/4" too tall. So after spending some time in the thought teepee I came to the conclusion that the shortest jack I was familiar with was a scissor jack. My friends at Tractor Supply had none in stock so they had to be ordered. Low and behold, the scissor jacks worked to perfection. Just when I had them both about as tight as I was going to attempt, there was a pop and decent slack and things started to come free. I now have the hull all but empty. I have convinced the throttle cable to move again and also have the clutch cable moving well. The choke cable and the short throttle cable to the accelerator cables aren't budging but they also are manufactured differently. Those two have the tights steel coil around the wire and I think the rust has joined the two solidly. Saw a video on the interwebs showing a plastic bottle with oil inverted with the cable inserted thru the lid and giving it a slow I.V. drip down the interstitial space. Will give that a try on the short throttle cable and see. The choke cable will have to hang from the rafters as its a quarter mile long. Fuel pump and carb are both in pieces, currently chasing parts for the carb. Next major move will likely be some sort of rotisserie like Patrick used such that I can access the underbelly for panel repair.

Patrick - Again, I thank you for the help. Crusty is a very good description, Regretfully, the carb is also crusty bordering on crunchy. Both butterflies are currently part of the surrounding body so may need to purse a different carb. The fuel pump on the other hand appears to be in decent shape but very steel used thus very limited rusting. Now if you would provide some additional guidance on how to read the parts bible. I find the exploded view of the carb. After you shed light on the carb assembly, I readily see that number as well. What is the secret decoder ring you are using to identify these sub-assemblies?

Had a bit of a cold snap that kept me out of the shed a couple of days. My autopsy continues and as bright as things were looking based on the condition of the transmission, reality came running back as soon as I removed the head. A couple of valves in really bad shape but nothing compared to the #3 piston. It appears to be completely MIA. I'll know more when I get the pan off. All I know at this point is I can see into the pan from above and that doesn't seem quite right. With that I played around with the bell housing and convinced the rusted players to get back in the game. I have the fuel pump and carb almost all off and into the cleaner. Can't get the little ball check convinced to hop out of the carb quite yet. With that said, my question to all you smart folks is if kits are available for the carb and fuel pump and how to I know make and model of each? I do know that the fuel pump is an AC Delco and I assume the carb is a Carter.