NAS 110 #145

[JimC]

This project is now spread out over 10+ years and multiple websites. It was time to consolidate everything in one spot and since Adam recently started a thread for #66 I figured it would be good to have a complimentary thread for #145.

Here she was as I found her on AutoTrader in NJ in the summer of 2007. The truck was bad enough that I actually passed on it the first time. I dropped the guy a note a few months later when I was in Moscow and we struck a deal when he came down on price. My long-suffering (and at the time, pregnant) wife picked it up in the dead of winter with snow coming and dry-rotted windshield wipers. We joke that it was #145 because that’s how many miles it ran before breaking down after we bought it.

 

[donb]

Is that one of the old blue New Jersey tags on it?

 

[JimC]

Yes, the truck came from Oldwick, New Jersey. I got it from the original owner but he wasn’t very interested in passing on its history or anything else. He was annoyed that no one would pay more and even said “maybe I should have taken better care of it.” Yeah, no doubt.

 

[JimC]

The truck looked ok from a far but it was far from ok...

My first idea was to send it to Robison up in Springfield, MA just to “make it safe” for my wife to drive until I got home. They did their best but literally couldn’t fix anything without breaking all the things that the thing in question was affixed to. It just kept coming apart in their hands. I spent 5k this way and gave up. It did run and stop though, credit to them. In this state it was semi-usable and as long as you didn’t fill the tank more than half way then it wouldn’t leak fuel all over the place.

 

[donb]

Yes, the truck came from Oldwick, New Jersey. I got it from the original owner but he wasn’t very interested in passing on its history or anything else. He was annoyed that no one would pay more and even said “maybe I should have taken better care of it.” Yeah, no doubt.

I had to look those plates up and 1993 was the last year. I wonder if it was a transfer or a new registration?

Seeing that picture of the door with the pile of rust underneath makes me laugh and sad at the same time.

You bought it from the original owner at only 14 years old and it looks pretty worn. I know NJ can have some rough winters but it's not like he lives by the ocean. I wonder if owners of those NAS 110's figured they were "made out of aluminum" and rugged so they didn't need any TLC. I've seen a number of them in that shape.

 

[JimC]

I got back from Moscow in August of 08, literally right before they invaded Georgia. Before taking the truck apart I started collecting new bits - I got a new Td5 bulkhead for 750 bucks, a pair of t-posts for 400 each, a set of new take-off front doors for 1200 for the pair etc. It’s amazing how reasonable some of this stuff was back when the trucks were in production.

Everything steel got galvanized before paint - it’s been more than 10 years and the paint seems to be sticking so hopefully I won’t have much in the way of adhesion problems going forward. Visible in the pictures is some of the warping that can happen with a galvanized bulkhead. It only really happens on the single-wall sections, doesn’t affect any of the dimensions, and is barely visible once installed behind a motor, air cleaner, brake lines, wires, etc. a total non-issue in my book. The keen-eyed observer will notice that I forgot to remove the vent screens before galv, this will come back up later...

The Td5 bulkhead is the vented type whereas the NAS 110 had blocked-off dash vents for its 80s-era in-dash HVAC system. My NAS 110 AC parts were in terrible shape so it seemed to be pointless to attempt making that system work properly. Plus I got a complete take out Td5-era dash and vehicle wiring harness for 1200 bucks. Oh man I miss those days.

 

[JimC]

The next stage of the operation was to replace the rear crossmember. It seemed best to do this while the body was still in place to provide a location reference but it did mean going back later to finish the welds on the top of the chassis rails that were inaccessible until the tub was removed.

I used a Britpart crossmember because that’s what was available in summer 09. My original plan was to just replace the chassis entirely but chassis also seemed to be in short supply that year. In the end I’m happy I saved the original even though it’s not as perfect as could be. The Britpart piece is crap, it took lots of extra fitting, seemed to be a thinner gauge metal, and lacked the same structural details of the original. Ten years on and I still hate this part but it is galvanized and permanently affixed now.

A guy Joe Z I met on D-90.com (May it Rest In Peace) helped me out by doing literally all the welding, like 20 hours of it. For a few tanks of fuel. He was a PhD candidate at Yale and could weld anything. We ended up doing the crossmember, both bulkhead outriggers, and several other assorted patches.

 

[JimC]

Bonus pix

 

[JimC]

Once the crossmember was replaced I got to tear-down in earnest. This was really terrible, the primary tools were impact wrench and sawzall - I actually killed one in the process. I was lucky to have the use of the most liberal auto crafts shop in the Army at the time at West Point. Not a lot of cadets are working on cars so the facility isn’t exactly slammed, it’s mainly faculty working on stuff. The manager let me literally occupy a lift bay for six months. I think he might have just been curious to see if I actually got the thing back together.

 

[Tbaumer]

Impressive save on that chassis. I love these threads that show the start to the never-finished progress!

 

[JimC]

I had the chassis sandblasted and after this we were able to begin repairing the chassis in earnest. In the end it got new outriggers, the new rear crossmember, and numerous assorted patches. In looking at the interior through some holes we cut, the metal looked thick enough to be perfectly serviceable. The serious damage had a sensible explanation- it was behind another piece, under built-up dirt/scum, or underneath a dripping brake cylinder etc.

 

[JimC]

Nothing particularly special here, the axles got a basic refresh with new seals, bearings, etc after being sandblasted and painted with zinc-rich paint. I converted the Salisbury to disc brakes using the method with D90 calipers, Range Rover non-ABS hubs, and shaving the mounting brackets slightly.

Joe, the guy that helped with the chassis, made some stainless brackets for the brakes - this was in the days before YRM was making this stuff. I thought it was pretty trick, now it’s like 5 bucks.

Gradually I got enough parts finished that I could contemplate reassembly. The discerning may note that there is a nice burn mark on the bulkhead vent screen that was previously galvanized over. I first tried to cut the screens out and realized that they’re were very well zinc-glued to the bulkhead. My second thought was to melt the zinc out, but it only caught the paint on fire. Why I had the bulkhead painted before solving this problem I don’t know, all I can think is that I was under some time crunch and I needed to keep everything moving forward.

 

[chris snell]

This is an amazing thread. So fun to read. Thanks for consolidating it here.

ss. I was lucky to have the use of the most liberal auto crafts shop in the Army at the time at West Point. Not a lot of cadets are working on cars so the facility isn’t exactly slammed, it’s mainly faculty working on stuff.

That's incredible. Fort Carson was so bad. They had tons of rules and your truck better be out of there by 15 minutes till closing or you were going to pay out the ass. I remember swapping an axle tube out one Saturday and having my wife go to the auto parts store for things because I was rushing so much that I couldn't even leave. Won't even get started about their shop cleanup rules, though I admit that it taught me good habits.

We have a little auto crafts shop here at the War College. I've never used it but I should probably check it out some day.

 

[JimC]

I started to reassemble using the means available to me. The trailer worked great for installing the axles but my only lift was miles away at the auto craft shop, so I had to take the chassis out there to put the motor in. After that I used my 1.5 car garage to maximum capacity.

Things worked out great with the bulkhead - after replacing both outriggers and blasting and galvanizing a new bulkhead, I had no real expectation that it would fit well. In the end it was only out 3/16 of an inch or so. I reversed a bar clamp and gave the bulkhead a little spready and the bolts went in real nice.

Classic Tube provided all the stainless brake and fuel lines (they remain a great service and value). After getting these set up I installed the annoying NAS 110-only rear corner cage supports. For some reason, these sit on top of the crossmember with flanges on both sides - this ensures that they cannot be removed with the tub in place and must be installed first.

Before everything was painted, I did some trial fitting of the body using the string method. Essentially the string method allows you to “aim” the tub at the bulkhead using the belt line crease in the body. The bulkhead and tub are very adjustable, but within limits. The front door gaps need to be 88mm and the rear door gaps 77mm on each side, with parallel door jams. You can shim the tub up and down, move the bulkhead fore and aft with washers, lean it forward and back etc. I got all these measurements set but still managed to encounter problems later. A 110 is actually more difficult than a 90.

 

[Uncle Douglas]

galvanized anr1534 ?

 

[JimC]

galvanized anr1534 ?

Nope, just painted silver.

 

[JimC]

As with most NAS trucks, the number plaque was in pretty terrible shape because the silver part is just bare aluminum. Fortunately my powder coater at the time was pretty willing to be flexible and try different things. First they powder coated the plaque flat black. I got the plate back and then sanded it carefully (directionally, to recreate the brushed look) and then they re-coated with clear gloss. It’s still holding up well more than 10 years later, so l’m pretty satisfied with the result. Sadly my current powder coater doesn’t want to re-process parts like this so I need to find a smaller place that doesn‘t mind.

 

[JimC]

I kept building in my garage and shuffling parts around like a jerk until the the roof had to go on. The stupid garage was only tall enough to allow me to install the windshield frame, t-pieces, and roof sides. Note the roof side/top seals present in the last pic because that is the last photographic evidence of their existence. I didn’t tape them down or remove them when trailering the truck to base and they went missing so I got the pleasure of buying more (wrong) ones that would be wrong for the next 10 years.

The garage cat was my constant companion throughout. The 3 year old girl sitting in the rear seat is now 14...

 

[JimC]

I was never a fan of the square Rubbolites that came stock on the 93 and 94 even though the sealed better than the 95+ style lights. I had a set of these LEDs from the the ECR group buy back in 06, and I wanted the updated look for this truck. To make it look right, I also swapped the edge cappings for the 95+ style with the cutaway section for the 95mm lights. The updated lights actually cover all the old holes in the body though some new ones are required.

And for the record, yes I regret not replacing the rear panels and eliminating the “ragged shorts” corrosion damage on the bottom edge.

 

[JimC]

In January 2010 I was in a rush to complete as much as I could be ause I had a date with a plane to Afghanistan at the end of the month. This meant that a lot of stuff was just assembled and not dialed in or finalized in any way.