T-15 Restoration

[jdikeman]

After finally retiring in December, I decided in January that it was time to get moving so I picked the weasel up and hauled it into the shed to see just how much I was in for.  The vehicle has sat outside the entirety of my life and I've yet to see it move under its own power in that time.  There is a picture of this vehicle in a 1952 Life magazine article with the headlight on, but no clue if it was even operable then.  Having sat outside in Western Kansas for this time, there was about 6" of dirt/mud from the differential, clear back to the engine compartment.  Good thing I guess that it never rains out west.  Submerged in this muck has however taken its tole on things, especially the connectors.  Getting the pin out of the clutch clevis took multiple cussings.  The pins on the clevises of the shifting rods also took way more time than they should of or certainly what I had hoped for.  Early this week the engine came out and I've started the triage process on it.  The engine does appear to be frozen.

Field mice are very industrious and opportunistic, way more clever than their urban cousins.  Mice traveled down the exhaust pipe and have built a nest in the exhaust manifold.  I don't have it all the way off yet to see how large of home they built.  This also occurred on my 1954 Lincoln where the carried grains of wheat clear to the back cylinders and dropped the wheat on top of the pistons that had open exhaust valves.  The thermostat is nothing but a pile of rust.  On a good note, the transmission appears to be in great condition, still has oil in the bottom, and no rust at all that I can see.  When I removed the water pump, more good news in that anti-freeze came out.  Smells like something from another world but has green color and pools like anti-freeze.  I'm also unable to get the distributor pulled from the engine.

As there is dirt and associated hull rusting below the differential, I want to get it out and that is my current hold up.  I've pulled the axles, removed the 6 bolts on each side holding the front wheel carriers.  The shop manual indicates to use a couple of small bottle jacks to assist the removal.  We must be talking really small, as its about 6" from the inside of the wheel to the side of the hull.  I've placed my 6 foot pinch bar into the carrier to see if I could break the adhesion.  I've placed a jack in the middle of the carrier and applied enough vertical pressure to see the whole vehicle start to raise.  No better luck on the inside with the differential removal either, stuck fast.  Placed chains around the outer flanges per the manual and applied a vertical pressure with chain hoist that didn't cause anything to budge.  Still will need to come out in one way, shape or form. 

For all of you that have been down this path already, would really appreciate any tips or tricks that you might be willing to share.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by jdikeman

[jdikeman]

[Patrick Tipton]

What an awesome time capsule! I am assuming these markings are all original?

The T15 is iconic - excited to see your progress on this restoration.

Patrick

[aktrapperbrad]

Back in the day, when most cars had drum brakes and steal rims, we would get rims that would be froze to the drums. We would slowly heat the rim with a hand torch then hit it with a 8lb hammer to pop it lose.

ATF with a little diesel also makes a decant penetrating oil. Just mix some up in a spray bottle.

Good luck and keep us posted

Brad

[jdikeman]

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.  

Edited February 27, 2023 by jdikeman
Fix pictures

[jdikeman]

[Patrick Tipton]

That engine is a little crusty looking!  Does it have a serial number on it?  I think is should be T15.....

As for the specs on the carb and fuel pump, they are listed in the ORD 789 G154/179.  I don't have one handy but I can look them up for you tomorrow.  There are definitely carb kits available - my recollection is that the T15 carb is slightly different than the later one on the T24/M29 - but same family so the rebuild kits should be the same or really close.  There were a couple of different style fuel pumps used on the T24/M29....the T24's had a glass filter bowl....the later M29's look like the jeep fuel pump....

I will get the numbers tomorrow.

[Patrick Tipton]

The T15 carburetor is a Carter BBR1-561S

The Fuel Pump is an AC-1538059.   I did not have time to cross reference it to the Delco TM to see if there is another common model number.  This fuel pump is the same as the T24/early M29.

[jdikeman]

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? 

[Patrick Tipton]

First things first - that is super cool that it has its original engine.  Is the data plate on the hull?  Interesting that the number appears to be 813 and there were 600 T15's made....maybe a replacement or maybe not - Studebaker did not match engines to machines but there is generally a correlation in that early machines have early numbered engines. 

I believe your fuel pump is a later style and incorrect for a T15, although it would of course work fine.  The early fuel pump has a glass fuel bowl. 

I have seen NOS T15 carbs floating around and they have not been insanely expensive.  You should be able to find one.

As for the manuals....I have wasted a lot of time looking at them and there is a method to the madness.  They are all organized the same way....I probably need to do a video on all the stuff that is in there...simpler than trying to write it out.  Another project!🤣

Progress is one little step at a time.  Carry on!

 

[jdikeman]

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 Tipton]

Good progress.  I have been having success with Evaporust/Rust911 - the Rust911 comes in a concentrate and is cheaper - both do a great job.  I would be tempted to test them on those cables.

I have been tempted to build a tent/pool out of plastic & 2x4s, grab an aquarium pump and soak an entire Weasel tub in the stuff - would stop the rust in those nearly inaccessible hat channels.

The T15 is significantly lighter than the T24/M29 but make the rotisserie robust...Weasels are pretty heavy little beasts.

 

[jdikeman]

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.

 

[Patrick Tipton]

I have not really perused TM 9-893 and Tm 9-1893, but I am wondering if there is more information in there about the brackets.  Otherwise, carefully study the ORD 9 G154/G179.  I am betting there are different part numbers and you will be able to figure out where each of them go.  The engineers who did those drawings were pretty careful...if there are more leaves or other differences, a careful look at the drawing will usually show the differences.  It is a bit like playing that drawing game - spot the differences.

On the bigger Weasels, the spring packs are marked with a number on the top in the center.  The stamp is typically covered up with paint, but will show up if you really clean them well.

If you get a moment, would love to see pictures.