1945 Lindeman restoration-1

[Ray]

Started on taking the crawler apart to get it down to where it can be painted.
The hood and gas tank have been removed.




As I stated earlier, I didn't take photos of this back when I first built it so this is an excellent time to get photos of some of the modifications that I made to it.
In order to get the engine to warm up faster and to have better control of the engine temperature, I put a thermostat in the upper radiator pipe and put a water pump on it.
Here is a photo of the water pump and the connecting hoses.
It draws coolant from the bottom of the radiator and pumps it into the bottom of the engine.
Then it is pumped out thru the top radiator pipe and back into the top of the radiator.




This is the pump from the outside.
The mounting bracket for the alternator fastens to the top of the pump.




Here you can see the pump better with the alternator bracket removed.




The water pump is off an old flathead 4-cylinder Jeep engine from back in the 50's.
I made up a housing out of aluminum for it to set in.






With the water pump removed I could then take the radiator off.
The seat and the front track rollers are also taken off.




Another modification that I made to this crawler was to put electric start on it.
I took a starter ring gear from a big Ford truck and mounted it behind the JD flywheel.
Then I mounted a small starter motor up on the top of the transmission.




Here you can see the ring gear mounted behind the flywheel.




The ring gear is bolted the flywheel in three places using counter sunk machine screws.




I formed a guard to cover the ring gear and the starter gear out of a strip of sheet metal.
Here is the front of the guard.




And how it looks from the back.




Piece by piece, the crawler is getting stripped down.
I still need to remove the hydraulic tank from underneath the crawler.




Link to other post

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... php?t=7511

[Ray]

I got the hydraulic tank removed out from under the crawler.




The tank cleaned up pretty good considering that it was bolted up under a working crawler for the last 34 years.

This hydraulic tank was a little bit of a challenge to design and build because there isn't a lot of room under the crawler and I didn't want the tank sticking down any more than it had to.
There are two cross-member supports that the track frames mount on.
The front one is straight across but the rear one dips down in the center to run under the transmission on the crawler and this is the lowest point on the crawler.

The bottom of the tank is even with the bottom of the lower part of the rear cross-member so the crawler hasn't lost any ground clearance.
The tank comes up in front of the front cross-member and wraps up around both sides of the engine and transmission at the rear of the tank.
It holds about 8 gallons of hydraulic fluid.
There is clearance underneath to get to the crankcase and engine oil filter.

Here is the front of the hydraulic tank.



And the rear of the tank.

[whiteclipse16]

These pics are pretty cool Ray, keep them coming.
That is one of the most elaborate hydro tanks I think I've ever seen.

[Ray]

The hydraulic tank is made out of 1/8 inch thick steel so I had to cut the metal with a plasma cutter and I made up a die to fit in my hydraulic press to bend it.

[Ray]

The new steering clutch friction disc arrived yesterday.




I can drill out four disc at a time.
They are centered on one of the clutch plates and clamped in place.
Then one of the mounting holes is drilled thru all the friction disc.




A machine screw and nut is fastened in that hole and the mounting hole directly opposite it is drilled all the way thru.




With another machine screw in the 2ed hole, the friction plates are fastened to the clutch plate so I can drill down thru the rest of the mounting holes.




After all the mounting holes are drilled in the friction disc, they are then all counter bored on one side.




A friction disc is positioned on each side of a clutch plate and the rivets are pushed thru the mounting holes.
6-rivets are installed from one side and 6-are installed from the other side.
The opened end of each rivet is crimped in a rivet punch.




The pin on the top of the rivet punch is hit with a hammer to set the rivet.
The end of that pin has a machined surface that rolls the end of the rivet over to form a flanged edge on the end of the rivet.




Here is one of the steering clutch friction disc all finished.

[Ray]

Here is what the new steering clutch pack looks like when it is all assembled.




I cut the heads off of two bolts and threaded them into a couple of the mounting holes to help as guide pins to re-assemble the crawler.




The separator plate is located on the guide pins.
Then the clutch drum is lined up with the notches on the clutch pack and slid into place.




Next the final drive is blocked up on the lift cart so it can be raised up into position.




Then it is also located on the guide pins and drawn into place with four of the mounting bolts.




The right side is finished and the left side is next.
I use a black RTV gasket sealer and you can see that some of it has squeezed out.
After this dries, I'll trim off the excess with a razor knife and it will leave a clean seam all the way around the housing.




Both final drives are finished.

[whiteclipse16]

Ray your moving along fast. Very nice work on machining your own steering clutch fibers.

[Ray]

The front idlers are separated from the side brackets.




This is as far down as I'm going to take it for painting.
The crawler is off the stands and I set it down on the garage floor.
I bolted a piece of wood over the hole in the top of the transmission and the front of the carb so water can't get in.
The hydraulic fittings and other holes have been caped off.
Now I'm trying to figure out how I can pick this up with the forklift and put it on the trailer.
Then I can take it, the front idlers and the tracks down to the car wash and clean it all up.

[Lavoy]

IF your forks are long enough, you can come in from the back end, and the forks will lift on the crossbars.
Lavoy

[Ray]

I have fork extensions that I made out of square steel tube but I can't get behind the crawler where it's at.
I'm going to have to pick up the front and roll it out of the garage on the rear sprockets.
Then I'll be able to get behind it.

How much would you figure this weighs like this ?

[Lavoy]

Around a ton, little over maybe. Figure the bare crawler would be 4,000, less about 1,000 for tracks, maybe another 1,000 for idlers and misc.
Lavoy

[Ray]

Thanks Lavoy

I know for as small as these little crawlers are, they sure do weigh a lot.
I was at a tractor show about 6 years ago that was also set up for tractor pulls.
They let me run the crawler up on the scales and it weighed 5,960 pounds with the loader on it.
I was really surprised.