Brought the Bombi home over Thanksgiving and parked it in a friends heated garage. I knew it was going to need some work, and hoped to do most of the work come summer. The plan was to change all the fluids and it would be ready to go. Then my ice fishing partner and I wanted to make sure it was reliable in all respects so we would not get stranded in -20 degree weather 10 miles from shore. One thing led to another, if we touched something we had a strong desire to do things right and that led to doing some work that probably could have been put off. I am not going to say I am the most mechanically inclined person, but give me a manual, some diagrams and I can get it figured out or at least know what questions I need answered. I have found the Bombi to be a throwback to when cars use to be easy to work on – pre-emission controls, computer modules, etc.
Before you start on one beware aware of the following comments you may get from your family and friends. From the daughter – “I think your dog is getting jealous of the Bombi”
, from the wife – “I am going to start dressing in yellow to get some more attention”, from the son – “let me guess you are going to work on the Bombi tonight and what time did you get home this morning from last night”, from a friend – “I think they have a 12 step program at Hazelton called Bombi Anonymous”. This is a long thread and part is probably step #1.
Objective 1 – Change the oil and oil filter. Got the oil drained, could not get the filter off the first night, must have been put on very tight and the room to work is tight. We did not have the correct filter wrench – that would have made it easy, tried using bands and they just slipped. Bought a new filter wrench the next day, of course I tested it on the recommended Fram filter with the grip type material on the bottom. Did not work on the Wix filter. Loosened up the alternator went back to the bands lined with sand paper and it finally came off. Found a better fitting filter wrench at Northern Tool after that episode.
Objective 2 – Put in a block heater. That is a pretty easy job because of the location of the plugs. This was a little messy when punching out the plug, but all went well. Decided to check the thermostat since we had the antifreeze drained, thermostat was bad, picked up new thermostat and gasket at NAPA the next day. Put in thermostat, put on thermostat house with new gasket and some gasket sealer, filled with radiator with anti freeze mixed to maxium strength (it will be stored outside this year and it can get -50 degrees or colder), thermostat housing started leaking – I know lets trying tightening the bolt – housing went crack
, next time just start over and make sure the gasket sealer is smoothed over the hole gasket, looked like there was void on the outside of one of the bolts. Now to buy a new thermostat housing – kind of like going on a treasure hunt. Figure it should be a $12 part, wrong again, found some used ones at a local power equipment supply company for $70. Tracked down a new one for $50 and ordered it. Major snow storm heading in and the Bombi is down, time for some JB Weld, actually used the Permatex version, sanded the mounting surface flat and put it on. No leaks this time. New one arrived the next day.
Objective 3 – Replace differential oil pump to oil cooler belt. Requires taking the drive line a part just to change a belt. Got the drive line apart, pulled the old belt, took it to the store and got one 1” shorter. Worked great. Drive line is a part, might as well go after the parking brake. Checked the hoses for the differential oil, bound one that had been pinched by the floor pan. Replaced that hose, used the old fittings, that was actually easy.
.
Objective 4 – Steering was a little funky, just not smooth. Talked to Brad at MN Outdoors, he thinks the bands might make it through the winter for what we are going to use for based on how much bolt is showing with the caveat you never know. Ok into the differential, lift cab front up and suspend it at an angle with a cinch strap. Clean off all the dirt and pop the differential housing and start taking out the bands. Thinking to myself what were the steps and direction to turn the bands that Brad said….finally got there. 1. Take off rod used to pull brakes tight. 2. Turn bands towards the engine and out they come. When I finally remembered to take the rods off the left side band came out with ease, right side not so easy, had to pull the pin for the rod holder and take that off. Then it came out, the lining had a good life, but they were definitely in need of being replaced. Next day off to MN Outdoors for new bands – Snow is coming and we want to this thing ready for it. Brad and company found a couple of cracks in the bands that he welded and put on the new linings. He said he sees about 50% of them with cracks. Cleaned out all the debris (brake lining fragments, etc) in the bottom of the differential and put the bands in, went in easy the they came out. I think some of the debris in the bottom was in my way when I pulled them out. I inspected the gears while it was open, all looked good. When we replace the differential oil we actually used the old belt and a drill to operate the oil pump to purge the lines of all the old oil – that worked really well.
Objective 5 – Fix parking brake – Pads are oil/grease saturated and does not really do anything. Take pads out, do research on drive line brakes, take pads to local brake shop and get them relined, 1 day turn around, nice. Take out the disk and sand it down, put the pads back in, that was a pretty easy job we thought. When we went for the first test drive I had a very tough time getting it to move, hmmmm, drive down the road 100 yards – smoke in the cab, time to go back, get back to the driveway, tell my buddy I think I see fire
, brake pad material was actually on the disk burning up. He runs for the fire extinguisher, I try to shut it off, ignition switch did not work, just turned on the console or….ultimately I flipped the battery disconnect switch. Waited for it to cool down and then gingerly drove it back into the garage. Upon further inspection and learning, all we can figure out is the because the brake pads had be come greased filled the linkage had been over tightened. Figure out what the adjustment should be, took off the pads and disk and sanded off the glazing, put it all back in with the linkage loosened up a lot (actually turned the L bolt into the turnbuckle about 1 ½ inches). Went for test drive – life is much better now.
Objective 6 – Fix Antifreeze leak – noticed a leak by the brake, looked at the hose coupling that was leaking, it was a sprinkler fitting that had melted, stretched and bent. Needless to say it was replaced and no more leak. Actually found another one that was not leaking that has been replaced as well.
Objective 7 – Replace sprockets. That went well except for a few of the old bolts breaking, next time just replace with all new bolts. After putting the sprockets on and taking it for the test drive noticed that the sprockets in the manual had bushings between the plates. Another call to Brad, yes they should have bushings, should be able to make them out of ¼ inch pipe 1/8 inch small narrower then the sprocket thickness. Back to store for pipe that will get redone when the tracks get changed from the summer tracks to the winter tracks.
Objective 8 – Replace Bearings. Hmmmm 8 wheels, 16 bearings, 16 races, this sounds like fun. I have a race puller and a race driver, this should not be to bad. Got stuck on the first one, could not get the outer race out after a lot of tries it would not budge so we gave up, rear race on that hub came out pretty easy. We had never worked on wheel hubs where the dust covers were threaded on, not sure if that was part of the issue or not and did not want to cause any damage, etc. Inspected the races, pulled a couple of rear ones that looked bad and put in the new bearings, repacked and we are done. With a little research I found out bearings that can not be easily removed can have a weld bead run around them, when it cools they fall right out. My partner in this effort happens to be a pipeline welder for a local utility company and just happens to have all the high-tech (lcd visor, etc) to get this done in his garage. We will try that in the future.
Objective 9 – Wiring. With the gas tank out the wiring looks like the ultimate Gordian knot. Debated on it for 10 minutes and then decided because of all the splices with the plastic clips it needed to be done. Turned out to be a good call. This has probably been the most time consuming part. We have inspected every wire for chaffing and replaced as needed (there was some bear wire spots), we are pulling out every splice and running new wire and/or splicing with solder and two layers of shrink wrap. I have not been able to find a multi pin wiring harnesses/plugs like I want so I can just unplug the wires and take the cab off, that may wait until summer, in the mean time I am on the hunt for universal wiring plugs that are in the 10 pin or more range. Why so many – that would be because multiple gauges and lights have been added to this Bombi over time and all the wires add up. Looks much better now, trying to stay consistent with original wire colors from schematic. All wiring is now enclosed in corrugated plastic wrap. Oh ya, replaced the ignition switch.
Objective 10 – Change manual transmission fluid. This has been a stumper, trying to figure out where to drain it from. Finally nailed the model down to a Ford Type 3, but there is just not a lot of information out there. My manual has a slightly different version that shows a drain plug, but mine does not have one. Plan at this point is to pull the cover and suck it out. Could just suck it out through the filler hole, but would like to get out all the old. There is a speedo on it as well that appears to be leaking, planning on pulling that out and putting in a plug.
Objective 11 – replace starter. The previous owner had said every now and then he needed to hit the starter with a hammer to get it to start. So far in our test runs it has not been an issue, thickness of the wire looks OK, but it will get replaced. Finding someone to rebuild the old one (Lucas) is impossible – they can “repair it” but can not rebuild it because parts are not available. The local power equipment supplier has some rebuilt ones for $160. I was able to find a new one, it arrived yesterday, does not look like there is a lot of space in the engine compartment work on to put this one in,but it looks doable.
Objective 12 – change pintle hitch plate over to an insert. Boys does that look nice, it is good to know a welder and now we can use trailer balls or the pintle hitch ( I like options).
Remaining Objectives
- Use it for what I bout for which is to go ice fishing and move ice houses.
- Replace window gaskets
- Replace bearing races
- Build exterior roll cage for mounting lights, etc.
- Clean up/repair fiber glass cab
- Fill all the unnecessary holes in the cab metal
- Replace belly tin (a few holes had been drilled into it to allow water and fluids to drain out of the low spots due to dents).
- Decide how much to “pimp it out” like the looks of the diamond plate aluminum I have seen in pictures on these.
- Paint
- Start replacing tires – they will be the weak spot cosmetically speaking at that point, currently foam filled with a little rubber falling off.
If anyone is interested I have a list of part numbers and/or substitutes for everything we have touched so far or plan to touch. It would be nice to get those together with some of the gear numbers I have seen to make it easier for newbies like me.
What I don’t know at this point and would like to know:
- What should the idle be set to for this engine, mine seems a little low?
- How do you know if the suspension arms for the tires are at the correct angle?
- Where do you get multi pin wiring connectors with 10 or more pins?
,
Don
Before you start on one beware aware of the following comments you may get from your family and friends. From the daughter – “I think your dog is getting jealous of the Bombi”
, from the wife – “I am going to start dressing in yellow to get some more attention”, from the son – “let me guess you are going to work on the Bombi tonight and what time did you get home this morning from last night”, from a friend – “I think they have a 12 step program at Hazelton called Bombi Anonymous”. This is a long thread and part is probably step #1.Objective 1 – Change the oil and oil filter. Got the oil drained, could not get the filter off the first night, must have been put on very tight and the room to work is tight. We did not have the correct filter wrench – that would have made it easy, tried using bands and they just slipped. Bought a new filter wrench the next day, of course I tested it on the recommended Fram filter with the grip type material on the bottom. Did not work on the Wix filter. Loosened up the alternator went back to the bands lined with sand paper and it finally came off. Found a better fitting filter wrench at Northern Tool after that episode.
Objective 2 – Put in a block heater. That is a pretty easy job because of the location of the plugs. This was a little messy when punching out the plug, but all went well. Decided to check the thermostat since we had the antifreeze drained, thermostat was bad, picked up new thermostat and gasket at NAPA the next day. Put in thermostat, put on thermostat house with new gasket and some gasket sealer, filled with radiator with anti freeze mixed to maxium strength (it will be stored outside this year and it can get -50 degrees or colder), thermostat housing started leaking – I know lets trying tightening the bolt – housing went crack
, next time just start over and make sure the gasket sealer is smoothed over the hole gasket, looked like there was void on the outside of one of the bolts. Now to buy a new thermostat housing – kind of like going on a treasure hunt. Figure it should be a $12 part, wrong again, found some used ones at a local power equipment supply company for $70. Tracked down a new one for $50 and ordered it. Major snow storm heading in and the Bombi is down, time for some JB Weld, actually used the Permatex version, sanded the mounting surface flat and put it on. No leaks this time. New one arrived the next day.Objective 3 – Replace differential oil pump to oil cooler belt. Requires taking the drive line a part just to change a belt. Got the drive line apart, pulled the old belt, took it to the store and got one 1” shorter. Worked great. Drive line is a part, might as well go after the parking brake. Checked the hoses for the differential oil, bound one that had been pinched by the floor pan. Replaced that hose, used the old fittings, that was actually easy.
.
Objective 4 – Steering was a little funky, just not smooth. Talked to Brad at MN Outdoors, he thinks the bands might make it through the winter for what we are going to use for based on how much bolt is showing with the caveat you never know. Ok into the differential, lift cab front up and suspend it at an angle with a cinch strap. Clean off all the dirt and pop the differential housing and start taking out the bands. Thinking to myself what were the steps and direction to turn the bands that Brad said….finally got there. 1. Take off rod used to pull brakes tight. 2. Turn bands towards the engine and out they come. When I finally remembered to take the rods off the left side band came out with ease, right side not so easy, had to pull the pin for the rod holder and take that off. Then it came out, the lining had a good life, but they were definitely in need of being replaced. Next day off to MN Outdoors for new bands – Snow is coming and we want to this thing ready for it. Brad and company found a couple of cracks in the bands that he welded and put on the new linings. He said he sees about 50% of them with cracks. Cleaned out all the debris (brake lining fragments, etc) in the bottom of the differential and put the bands in, went in easy the they came out. I think some of the debris in the bottom was in my way when I pulled them out. I inspected the gears while it was open, all looked good. When we replace the differential oil we actually used the old belt and a drill to operate the oil pump to purge the lines of all the old oil – that worked really well.
Objective 5 – Fix parking brake – Pads are oil/grease saturated and does not really do anything. Take pads out, do research on drive line brakes, take pads to local brake shop and get them relined, 1 day turn around, nice. Take out the disk and sand it down, put the pads back in, that was a pretty easy job we thought. When we went for the first test drive I had a very tough time getting it to move, hmmmm, drive down the road 100 yards – smoke in the cab, time to go back, get back to the driveway, tell my buddy I think I see fire
, brake pad material was actually on the disk burning up. He runs for the fire extinguisher, I try to shut it off, ignition switch did not work, just turned on the console or….ultimately I flipped the battery disconnect switch. Waited for it to cool down and then gingerly drove it back into the garage. Upon further inspection and learning, all we can figure out is the because the brake pads had be come greased filled the linkage had been over tightened. Figure out what the adjustment should be, took off the pads and disk and sanded off the glazing, put it all back in with the linkage loosened up a lot (actually turned the L bolt into the turnbuckle about 1 ½ inches). Went for test drive – life is much better now.Objective 6 – Fix Antifreeze leak – noticed a leak by the brake, looked at the hose coupling that was leaking, it was a sprinkler fitting that had melted, stretched and bent. Needless to say it was replaced and no more leak. Actually found another one that was not leaking that has been replaced as well.
Objective 7 – Replace sprockets. That went well except for a few of the old bolts breaking, next time just replace with all new bolts. After putting the sprockets on and taking it for the test drive noticed that the sprockets in the manual had bushings between the plates. Another call to Brad, yes they should have bushings, should be able to make them out of ¼ inch pipe 1/8 inch small narrower then the sprocket thickness. Back to store for pipe that will get redone when the tracks get changed from the summer tracks to the winter tracks.
Objective 8 – Replace Bearings. Hmmmm 8 wheels, 16 bearings, 16 races, this sounds like fun. I have a race puller and a race driver, this should not be to bad. Got stuck on the first one, could not get the outer race out after a lot of tries it would not budge so we gave up, rear race on that hub came out pretty easy. We had never worked on wheel hubs where the dust covers were threaded on, not sure if that was part of the issue or not and did not want to cause any damage, etc. Inspected the races, pulled a couple of rear ones that looked bad and put in the new bearings, repacked and we are done. With a little research I found out bearings that can not be easily removed can have a weld bead run around them, when it cools they fall right out. My partner in this effort happens to be a pipeline welder for a local utility company and just happens to have all the high-tech (lcd visor, etc) to get this done in his garage. We will try that in the future.
Objective 9 – Wiring. With the gas tank out the wiring looks like the ultimate Gordian knot. Debated on it for 10 minutes and then decided because of all the splices with the plastic clips it needed to be done. Turned out to be a good call. This has probably been the most time consuming part. We have inspected every wire for chaffing and replaced as needed (there was some bear wire spots), we are pulling out every splice and running new wire and/or splicing with solder and two layers of shrink wrap. I have not been able to find a multi pin wiring harnesses/plugs like I want so I can just unplug the wires and take the cab off, that may wait until summer, in the mean time I am on the hunt for universal wiring plugs that are in the 10 pin or more range. Why so many – that would be because multiple gauges and lights have been added to this Bombi over time and all the wires add up. Looks much better now, trying to stay consistent with original wire colors from schematic. All wiring is now enclosed in corrugated plastic wrap. Oh ya, replaced the ignition switch.
Objective 10 – Change manual transmission fluid. This has been a stumper, trying to figure out where to drain it from. Finally nailed the model down to a Ford Type 3, but there is just not a lot of information out there. My manual has a slightly different version that shows a drain plug, but mine does not have one. Plan at this point is to pull the cover and suck it out. Could just suck it out through the filler hole, but would like to get out all the old. There is a speedo on it as well that appears to be leaking, planning on pulling that out and putting in a plug.
Objective 11 – replace starter. The previous owner had said every now and then he needed to hit the starter with a hammer to get it to start. So far in our test runs it has not been an issue, thickness of the wire looks OK, but it will get replaced. Finding someone to rebuild the old one (Lucas) is impossible – they can “repair it” but can not rebuild it because parts are not available. The local power equipment supplier has some rebuilt ones for $160. I was able to find a new one, it arrived yesterday, does not look like there is a lot of space in the engine compartment work on to put this one in,but it looks doable.
Objective 12 – change pintle hitch plate over to an insert. Boys does that look nice, it is good to know a welder and now we can use trailer balls or the pintle hitch ( I like options).
Remaining Objectives
- Use it for what I bout for which is to go ice fishing and move ice houses.
- Replace window gaskets
- Replace bearing races
- Build exterior roll cage for mounting lights, etc.
- Clean up/repair fiber glass cab
- Fill all the unnecessary holes in the cab metal
- Replace belly tin (a few holes had been drilled into it to allow water and fluids to drain out of the low spots due to dents).
- Decide how much to “pimp it out” like the looks of the diamond plate aluminum I have seen in pictures on these.
- Paint
- Start replacing tires – they will be the weak spot cosmetically speaking at that point, currently foam filled with a little rubber falling off.
If anyone is interested I have a list of part numbers and/or substitutes for everything we have touched so far or plan to touch. It would be nice to get those together with some of the gear numbers I have seen to make it easier for newbies like me.
What I don’t know at this point and would like to know:
- What should the idle be set to for this engine, mine seems a little low?
- How do you know if the suspension arms for the tires are at the correct angle?
- Where do you get multi pin wiring connectors with 10 or more pins?
,Don
Took a couple hours of research, but figured out when I replaced wires because of all the splices I had eliminated a diode, little dumpster diving and there it was, no longer usable but I new it was the lack of the diode causing the engine run-on. Funny thing - NAPA does not sell diodes, they sent me to an alternator repair shop, he did not have any in-line diodes, I ended up getting one at radio shack. It is a good thing when you turn the on or off and it does what it should.