78 Liquifire rebuild!

[400brian]

Anytime you deviate from assembling stock parts, you run into problems to solve.

Now in this case, it seems this was also an issue with the stock CC suspension. The wheel second from the top is one of the original auxiliary wheels that came off the suspension. As you can see, it has been sliced and diced. At the time I disassembled it, I didn't understand what had happened to it.

The Arctic track that I am using here, has the windows 1/4" closer together. Most of the guys just run a stock Deere skid, but I decided I would make mine fit. I narrowed the skid 1/4 inch by making all new shafts 1/4 inch shorter. So far so good.

When it came to the 4 optional auxiliary idlers that sit between the rails forward of the forward suspension arm pivot shaft, I started by shortening the outside spacer tubes to match the new shorter shaft. Setting the assembly into the track, I quickly saw that the wheels were going to make contact with the Deere style clips I had installed. Now I understood what had happened to the original wheel ( oddly, only one showed the damage ).

To rectify this issue, I shortened the center spacer from its stock length by 5/16". I made a jig to allow me to check the clearances out of some scrap wood. I am close, I am going to check it in the track again and make a decision of how to proceed.

[400brian]

I am continuing to play around with my aux idler wheel spacing. I set the narrowed wheel set into the track, and still wasn't satisfied. I want the side of the wheels to come against the center row of drive lugs before it can contact the clips on the opposite side. I re-shaped my jig blocks to more closely represent the track and clips.

I am getting close. I think I will take another 1/8" off the center spacer and see if I like that.

In the next few days I need to start running my riders through the garage to prep them just in case we get snow in time for the Ride with the Champs in February, that will put me off the 78 project for a while.

[High Top]

[400brian]

The original eyebolts on the front arm were very rusty and I decided to replace them. After looking around on-line, I bought these 5/16" x 4" welded stainless steel bolts from Walmart. They a half inch longer than the originals, but the threads begin in the same place, so I can cut them off to precisely match the originals.

[nick80lf]

Those look pretty nice.

[400brian]

So it has been a while since I have worked on anything related to the 78 LF. February was spent getting the sleds ready for the RWTC, doing the RWTC, and then recovering from the RWTC. My grandson and I are splitting our time between the 78 LF and a 1937 JD B tractor. We have a show we wanted to have the B at this summer, and he wants the LF out of the garage so we can work on his 78 Spitfire.

The front arm has grease zerks welded on and has been painted, so there is a little progress.

[400brian]

Plugging away on the CC suspension. The front springs, front arm spacer tube, and the rear axle brackets have been cleaned up and painted. The rails are the only big parts left to paint.

After riding the wife's Cyclone with the 78 suspension in it on the Vintage Challenge, I quickly concluded I needed more dampening, as I was bottoming out hard on a regular basis in the moguls, and it was killing me. Brock Weber had told me long ago that he was running a Carver shock with good success, so when I got home from St Germain a shock was ordered.

[400brian]

One rail left to paint!

[400brian]

The first rail is going back together.

I am using fine threaded bolts with nyloc nuts, and a bit of loctite for good measure because there is no limit to overkill.

[400brian]

Skid is going together. Mostly new hardware, new shafts, new rail caps, and hyfax. Everything is getting Loctite with nyloc or stover lock nuts.
Years of riding the Vintage Challenge have taught us that anything that can come loose and fall off eventually will.