Replacing belts: Some magic to removing the mech. fan shaft?

[MadMax]

Had some questions after my initial attempt to fix a problem with the C303. Any help would be greatly appreciated:

1)The fan shaft is squeeking badly. I attempted to tighten the belt bracket on the alternator, but the belt is shot. After spending an hour myself and then having a mechanic on a lift try for an hour and a half to remove the mechanical fan shaft in order to replace the alternator belt, im seriously wondering if there is not some arcane trick to this process that neither of us are seeing. Do I need to remove the entire fan assembly? The volvo manual says how to do it, but after following the steps, its still not coming loose.

2) I am planning on putting in an electrical fan assembly to replace the mechanical fan and shaft, similar to one I have seen posted about in the forums here before http://www.okoffroad.com/stuff-12-fan-16.htm. Is it better to put a push/pull dual fan setup on it? What other parts besides the fan do I need in order to regulate fan speed (as in, does it need to be synced with the engine RPM somehow for effective cooling, or is a preset constant speed/s how they work?)

3) When we put this up on a 4 point hydraulic lift, I discovered a few seriously heavy rust patches on the underside of the cabin floor where it attaches to the frame, one side was very crumbly. As it was lifted, the nose separated from the seal at the front window section along the entire front window from door around to door about 1/16th", indicating that the entire nose was dropping/sagging as it was lifted. I think the best way to deal with this in the short term is to lift it again, opening that gap, strip/sand away the entire area around that line, prime it, put some sealant between the joint, then lower it again to close the gap and seal along the outside of it. This should prevent further rust and damage until I can do an entire strip and sand of the whole body, which is more than I can take on right now. Best method for this? Should a gasket be used instead of sealant?

Thank you in advance. I know the experts on here generally get paid for this kind of work/knowledge, and I am certain that in the near future I will be contacting one or more of them to do so. In the mean time, however, I have issues that must be dealt with immediately and any help is appreciated. Ive only had this for a week and the work that needs to be done is piling up.

PS - Anyone know where to get a front cabin tub for one of these? lol

[HafWit]

PS - Anyone know where to get a front cabin tub for one of these? lol

Sweden?

Cheers,
Greg

[MadMax]

seriously, if I could find a place in Sweden where I could get some body parts for this, particularly the cab and roof, I would do it! Id love to have the Alu/Zinc stuff, mine is steel, and its going to take a ton of work to get it stripped down and then repair all the bondo and rust patches.

[VinceAtReal4x4s]

Again: the bodies are steel and aluminum, no matter how old or new. When the military re-furbed a bunch of 303's in the 90's/2000, they put new steel/alum bodies on but the steel was zinc-plated this time, and this is the only difference. They have always been mostly steel (all of the cab) with only the rear upper sides and 3/4 rear tops being alum. sheet.

[HafWit]

There have been damaged trucks in the states that have been parted out and certainly there are more in Europe. You might want to check with Dennis at Linden Engineering to see if he has what you are looking for. Other than him I don't know specifically who has done this in the US, but you could check around for people selling parts to these if they have what you are looking for. If that doesn't work, why not ask at some of the European suppliers like Tatanka?

Cheers,
Greg

[MadMax]

Thanks Vince and others for the info. Sent out several emails to begin the hunt for parts.

Any input on the questions I posted would be very helpful as well. I imagine you guys get tired of the questions here after some point, though I will try to keep them direct and to the point when I ask them. Though I am new to owning one of these, it was not a quick decision and I dont regret it in the least.

I am not an expert mechanic by any means, though I am not a shade tree mechanic either; I have a full shop, welding equipment and plasma cutter, compressor and air/spray tools, etc. to make things a bit easier. A big part of my decision to get this was my desire to work on it, both the wisdom that comes from making mistakes and the joy that comes from doing the job right. From what I can tell so far I will have plenty of opportunities for both aspects, she is in dire need of some TLC. In fact, this weekend she is up on a lift in the shop for her first weekend in the new home.

[geckoadventure]

This may help with the restore.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5697

[sixbennetts]

tiMax, let me reach out to the guy I bought my tgb11 from over in Sweden. He buys units from the military and exports them globally. He might know of a front end somewhere.

Donny

*Edit*

Look up a forum called Ih8mud. (I hate mud). The Volvo axles are popular there for builds, so maybe they know where the trucks are that the axles came off, if they found them in the states.

Max, this came free in the back of my truck when I bought it. I'm gonna try to make both front windows open later, and we weren't sure what we'd need so he just cut it off a scrap truck. If it's any help to you it's yours free.

[MadMax]

Thank you very much, sixbennetts, thats very kind of you to offer. Thats actually one of the few pieces on mine that is pretty solid, though I need to redo the window seals, so the former owner may have replaced that piece already. The trouble spots for me are in the passenger rear floor box and lower door channel on the driver side, and filling in the holes in the roof.

Got it back from the shop today, new fluids, new belts, carb. adjustment. She purrs like a kitten.

[sixbennetts]

Not a problem. I'm just glad I can maybe start giving back to a forum and group of guys that have helped me so much.

Here's a reply from my friend in Sweden:

" Hi Donny,

New parts are no longer available. I have recently bought a Tgb11 without axles and not had time to dismantle it fully yet. Also scrapping two of the Tgb20:s, maybe a front cabin can be used from them. I will check, make pictures and send to you.

Brgds

Joacim"

He's completely trustworthy, VERY helpful, knows these trucks like the back of his hand, and has shipped parts, parts of trucks, and whole trucks, all over the world. His partner in the business actually works at the local Swedish army base as a motor pool mechanic.

[MadMax]

oh thats fantastic news on the possibility of some body parts, particularly the forward cabin! Please let me know if you hear anything! Paying for shipment would be much simpler than trying to fabricate some of those sections. I will have plenty of steel to replace as it is.

I spent the day searching all the nooks and crannies for rust, found a couple of bad spots, but they are pretty small. I can see that there is lots and lots of bondo patches in it, which worries me, though they are almost all on the exterior panels and in areas which can be patch welded. In all, it seems that it will be more time consuming than difficult.

There was a plywood bed platform and some wire shelves in the back behind the fold down seat, which I removed today as well. The pegboard panels covering the entire inside of this are warped really badly or rotted in many places. There is a combination of nasty foam and what seems to be 3/4" insulation board (like the hard particle board kind you put on houses under construction, not the more modern green or blue styrofoam type) behind all the panels, and the majority of it is moldy, wet or rotted, so its got to come out pronto before it does any more damage. I'm going to attempt to save the panels and label them so I can use them as templates for cutting new panels later, but most of it is in pretty bad shape.

The rear tub was replaced a couple years ago and most of the interior in the back seems to be in very good shape, with nothing but surface areas of rust. All the seams have been coated over quite heavily, though the various things on top like the swamp cooler he added have leaked. All the many lights up top and most of the electronics inside are older and in bad shape, its ridiculous the amount of wiring and extra switches inside this; lights, more lights, interior lights, a spotlight joystick, old alarm system, wiring for a PC which is no longer there, solar wiring, swamp cooler fans, exhaust fans, cab blowers, cab fan, etc. etc. There must be 40 or 50 different switches in 7 different switch relays. Much as I hate to undo all that work, its all out of date and most of it no longer seems to work. I like gadgets, but I want a nice clean install, and it all has to come out if I am going to redo this the right way anyhow.

The new bestop trailmax pro II seats, new LED trucklite headlights are shipped, coming next week!

Thank you again for the help, I hope to hear some good news from the swedish connection!

[M Wehrman]

After swapping cabs on my TGB 2yrs ago(could not find home for remains,so they were cut up for scrap) ,I wish I had removed all the wiring and started over with harnesses with a NORMAL lay-out. Similar to Gecko. It's just a thought,as a bunch of relays and fuses,none labled in a language i understand don't me feel I know this truck. Maybe too many years working on American iron.....
Mark

[MadMax]

You were just kidding about the scrap part, heheh. You joker you! heheheh. Seriously, guys, he would never cut one of these up for scrap, I'm sure he was just kidding! What a kidder that guy! Guys? Hey, what are those torches and pitchforks for? What do you need rope for? Hey wait! Why are you all looking at him that way??........DUDE! RUUUUUUUN!

[M Wehrman]

The cab shell did look a bit like swiss cheese. When I pulled the perforated h-liner panel off, the light coming thru the holes looked like the milky way! I did save the door tops and bottoms and interior parts! That makes me not-so-bad.....right? Need some ft seats? I have 4! Can't seem to throw them away!
Mark