Project REO Speedwagon

[Steve Frazier]

Did a little surfing to learn about welding cast iron and came across a place called Lock-N-Stitch where they repair cracks in cast iron with threaded plugs. They claim the repair is as strong as the original piece and before and after photos of their work show you can't tell the piece has been repaired. Anyone familiar with this company? I also read horror stories on trying to weld cast, any comments on that? I certainly wouldn't attempt the welding myself, but it seems even professionals have troubles?

 

[Truck Shop]

Use to be a company in Portland Or, name was Northwest Motor Weld they welded blocks and heads of all types. They did a real fine job, had their own process
for welding cast iron. So yes it can be done successfully. I have heard of Lock-N-Stitch but have never seen any of their work.

Truck Shop

 

[Truck Shop]

Steve any progress on the REO?

Truck Shop

 

[Steve Frazier]

No, not since I last posted. I'm waiting for that other hanger I'm going to rent to open up before I tear it down much further, it's only about a hundred yards away from where I am now and will be easier to move with a rolling chassis. It was supposed to be vacated last month, should be happening soon. I also have a project here at home I have to take care of, I have a bridge in my driveway that's shot and I have to replace. I bought the steel last summer and have been treating it for rust prevention. Just have the main beams left to do and I can start the replacement. I'll be posting a thread on it when I do.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I don't know if I've ever shared that I'm Councilman here in the town I live in. I was up for reelection this year and have spent every spare minute of the last 8 weeks campaigning! I walked door to door visiting hundreds of residents, it paid off as I won by a 2:1 margin. I'm sure glad that's done!!

The hangar I've been talking about has finally been vacated and this past weekend I moved the REO to its new home! I've been running conduit for welder and compressor power and planning out my shop layout. I love how the distant shot turned out, it sure is deceiving. Truth is I could probably fit about 10 average sized cars in there with just enough room to walk around them, well, maybe sidestep between them. I still have a home project to finish before I get crazy with the truck but I still consider this forward progress!!

 

[td25c]

Congratulations on the election win Steve !


The hanger looks great ! Man that's gonna make an awesome work shop after you get the concrete floor " broke in " after a few oil spills . LOL !

The oil filter can on the REO looks the same as on the My Insley . http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?527-Available-Manufacturing-Company&p=3947&viewfull=1#post3947

I was surprised when I called the local Car Quest store with the part number on my filter they had it in stock !


Your REO looks pretty solid . I love projects like that bringing one back from the dead .

 

[td25c]

Fedders made household A/C units in Effingham Il up to around 1995. Wonder if that was the same outfit? Old Consolidated Freight colors. Thanks for sharing your truck.

Still running a Fedders wall unit A/C in the home . 30 plus years & still blowin ice cubes . LOL !

 

[td25c]

Did a little surfing to learn about welding cast iron and came across a place called Lock-N-Stitch where they repair cracks in cast iron with threaded plugs. They claim the repair is as strong as the original piece and before and after photos of their work show you can't tell the piece has been repaired. Anyone familiar with this company? I also read horror stories on trying to weld cast, any comments on that? I certainly wouldn't attempt the welding myself, but it seems even professionals have troubles?

We call that process " pinning " where ya drill & tap the crack , insert the plug then drill into the side of the plug on the next round & so on until ya get to the end of the crack .

Used to be a common repair on cylinder heads .

As far as welding cast I've had about the best luck running a low hydrogen rod like a 7018 . Grind & V out the crack , heat it with a torch to a dull red color & run about an inch of weld at a time .

Literally have torch in one hand & welding electrode in the other . Keep it hot & take it slow & short with the weld bead . With the hot pre heat the welder is turned down to about 50 amps with 1/8 inch rod .

Had some success doing a few gear type hydro pump bodies using that method where they had cracked in the middle .

 

[Steve Frazier]

Does anyone recognize that Double "F" emblem on the transmission? I'm trying to find a diagram of it before I consider rebuilding it. I took off the input shaft housing to hang it on the engine stand and a bunch of rollers fell out. From what I can tell they went between gear teeth for some reason, but I'd like to confirm that with a diagram. There's some slop in both the input and output shafts so I thing it will probably need bearings.

 

[rzucker]

Does anyone recognize that Double "F" emblem on the transmission? I'm trying to find a diagram of it before I consider rebuilding it. I took off the input shaft housing to hang it on the engine stand and a bunch of rollers fell out. From what I can tell they went between gear teeth for some reason, but I'd like to confirm that with a diagram. There's some slop in both the input and output shafts so I thing it will probably need bearings.

Borg-Warner T-97 trans.

 

[Steve Frazier]

Thank you!! I'll try contacting them to see if they have a repair manual.

 

[Steve Frazier]

An interesting development has popped up. A page on old cars and trucks I belong to on Facebook listed a 1948 REO Speedwagon for sale for $500!! The guys says it's complete except for the fenders which have been removed. I'll be making the trip to Kentucky this weekend to pick it up, even though my truck is very complete I'm sure this will come in handy for odds and ends I might need! I'll part out what's left. What are the chances??

 

[Steve Frazier]

Made the trip to Kentucky this past weekend, I got caught in an unexpected snowstorm that lasted 3/4 of the way and cost me three hours in travel time! I had expected to be back home around midnight Saturday night but didn't make it until 1pm Sunday due to the delays and needing to stop for sleep on the return trip. The sheetmetal on this truck is junk, rusted beyond use but all the mechanicals are there, engine, transmission and axles. 6 more usable wheels too. My cracked bellhousing problem is solved!!

 

[Steve Frazier]

I've been working on the two trucks in between snow storms, we've had a couple big ones here the past 2 weeks. I dropped the transmission out of the parts truck and good news, the bell housing is intact! that alone justifies the cost of the parts truck! I disassembled the tranny from the original truck and it looks to be in good shape, I'm surprised at how simple it is. There's only two bearings assemblies in it, input and output shafts plus some rollers between the shafts. I've never seen this before, the end of one shaft is machined to fit inside another and flat rollers are in between the two. Might be tricky to put back together. There's only one seal on the input shaft. The output shaft housing has a screw cut into it, I guess the oil on the shaft flings into the screw and it drains back into the transmission case through a weep hole. There's about a quarter inch of sludge in the bottom of the case, I'm going to have it hot tanked before putting it back together.

I got thinking I ought to take a look at the motor and see what kind of shape it's in and get it to the machine shop if necessary. Around here it can take 6 months to a year to get a motor back from machining so I yanked it out today. Drained the oil so I can pull the pan and check the bearings on the engine stand, the oil looked to be in pretty good shape. While it was a little dark, it was still transparent and had some amber color to it. I'm hoping that's a good indication that the bottom will be in good shape.










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[Steve Frazier]

I started tearing the engine down, got all the accessories off, pulled the head and pan. It's going to need a rebuild, a couple cylinders have a pretty good ridge line and scuff marks. I pulled one crank bearing and the bearing is scored like it had some dirt run through it but I don't see scratches in the crank. Found some identification numbers on the side of the block, it should help with ordering parts. I dropped the transmission case off to be hot tanked, I have to find two bearings and one seal for it to put back together.

 

[Truck Shop]

Here is a 1936 I found, pretty rough with low mileage.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I had sent the transmission case out to be tanked and it came back nice and clean. I started putting it back together, the main gear cluster has four sets of flat roller bearings that have to be put in place, I used axle grease to hold them while it was installed. Each set was divided by a shim you see on the bench and then there was a thrust washer on each end. It took 3 attempts and a few "persuasive" words to get it all together properly. The last thrust washer and shim gave me trouble staying where I wanted them. Fortunately none of the flat rollers fell out of place during any attempt.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I've got the front end stripped and the cab is nearly ready to come off. It's coming apart pretty quickly in spite of taking pictures, tagging parts and wires and bagging bolts and labeling them. The king pins are pretty sloppy, I'll tackle them after the cab is off.

I got a call from my machinist today, it turns out this isn't a Continental engine like I originally thought but a genuine REO and is said to be pretty rare. I'm told they were manufactured in the mid 30s and stockpiled for use through the years. I've verified all the numbers match those that are on the ID card attached to the firewall. I can't get over how much I enjoy working on this thing!!

 

[rzucker]

I've got the front end stripped and the cab is nearly ready to come off. It's coming apart pretty quickly in spite of taking pictures, tagging parts and wires and bagging bolts and labeling them. The king pins are pretty sloppy, I'll tackle them after the cab is off.

I got a call from my machinist today, it turns out this isn't a Continental engine like I originally thought but a genuine REO and is said to be pretty rare. I'm told they were manufactured in the mid 30s and stockpiled for use through the years. I've verified all the numbers match those that are on the ID card attached to the firewall. I can't get over how much I enjoy working on this thing!!

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Looks like you are cruising right along on this project, really nice to have one that's not junk to start with.

 

[rzucker]

Since my insomnia is doing well tonight... How is this project coming along Steve?