Saving a old Clark forklift
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- Опубликовано: 26 дек 2018
- heard the scrapyard was about to be cleared out, went to see... hated seeing this poor thing sinking into the gravel lot where it had been abandoned around 2015, just had to drag it home and try to redo it...needed another project like a hole in the head, but I just love old neglected machinery... took more time than money, but ended up a nice truck again...39 years working on machinery, the old back and legs aint what they used to be, hopefully this will make working on things at home a little easier than a cherry picker and muscles :) originally I was told the engine was shot, figured that would be a fairly easy thing if that was all it needed- in the end, engine was actually OK, just severely neglected...it needed just about everything but the transmission messed with... brakes were gone, mast rollers missing, tilt trunnions falling off,tilt cylinder bearing missing, lift chains misadjusted, 1" of slop in the steering knuckles, wiring was shot, hydraulic control levers needed machined/bushed, tons of grease/dirt caked under it, needed a lot of dents beat out/filled/painted...mostly elbow grease though, biggest expenses were manuals and paint materials- not counting 5 weeks of evenings...
Perfect video. Good story with a great spirit of motivation. .....now we need to look around for something to fix!
Well done guys. Looks good to me.
Lovely work :)
Great Job! I have what looks like the same forklift needing brakes fixed, a paint job, and a leak I need to fix as well. Any suggestions on a place to get parts and the paint color or type you used would be wonderful if you would be so kind enough to share it would be most appreciated. Mahalo for your time sharing everything and it's a wonderful video!
thanks- not much for video though... I just hate seeing stuff go to waste. as for paint, its mopar sublime green two part urethane over two part epoxy primer- all summit racing stuff- but i didn't spray it...neon green overspray would really suck. I bought a gallon and didnt use but about a quart. I did it with little inch and a half x four inch wide rollers. I tried rolling on the epoxy primer, figured id wetsand and spray color- but it left what i thought looked perfect, a kinda pebblegrain but smooth finish, feels like smooth paint over a sandblasted cast iron does, textured, but not...hard to describe, feels about like the texture on my laptop case... after liking the primer, thought stupid as it seems to roll on a decent urethane paint, tried the color... gotta roll back over it as it begins to tack, same as primer needed, then let flow out, really like the feel of it, slight texture shouldnt show scratches like glass smooth would, plus it just has a 'industrial' look to it... I will never spray another machine tool/lift/toolbox/anything else in the garage- plus clean up is nothing...disposable trays, mix up a few ounces at a time, when done pull roller cover off, put in tray- next day its solid, throw in the trash... aside from a couple drips, no mess at all. it IS a real urethane, so you NEED a real quality respirator to keep any isocyanate fumes from permanently injuring your lungs, but zero overspray, very little smell compared to spraying. dont buy more than a quart. the primer, (gallon) paint, activators-hardeners cost under 200 at the time, real paint is expensive... deltron clear was over 400 a gallon last time i checked- without hardener/reducer/activator... I DID put urethane clear on top of counterweight and seat pan, just hoping to help wear longer- but used the two part in a spray can stuff... automotive touchup sells it, about 30 a can- theres a plunger pin you press to pop the hardener release inside the spray can, and youve got about a half hour to use it, really works well. I did another forklift too, i;m donating it to a local airplane museum of all crazy things...they have a ground equipment collection, and it was a same model the military used thru the 60's...its done except the dedication plate- since covid shut everything down its sat like 8 months untouched... i need to get after it and get it out of the shop, out of sight, out of mind... anyways it was rolled on summit urethane too, lots of pics here-
1963 towmotor 462 forklift saving from scrapyard | Flickr
lastly- if painting ANYTHING bare metal, before priming, treat the metal with 'ospho' ow whatever metalprep/phosphoric acid your local hardware stores carry... just brush or wipe on, wash off with water, wash off again, when sure its clean, wash off again :) let dry... it converts microscopic rust that forms the instant bare metal meets air to iron phosphate...you cant see it, just the metal gets a slightly more grey tint, but paint loves it, and will never blister off from rust underneath...stuff with visible rust will turn black, but again, it wont rust under the paint.
I just bought a Clark gps 30 now your going to make me paint mine please tell me there good lifts I'm excited to have it an from what I can tell there good lifts
dont think these were Clarks best, but they are what they are- only 'bad' is they are rather huge...this ones a triple and weighs 9900 pounds- the counterweight is huge, and steer tires narrow- go off the cement, it sinks immediately... biggest 'bad' thing is the brake system- if you ever need to bleed the masters, good luck. its common for the plastic reservoir tee to crack, get air in, and mounted vertically, its about impossible to bleed them... ibench bleeding/plugging kinda works, but reconnecting without getting air in is about impossible- will be 'good enough', but to truly bleed, need to remove them(longer feed tube needed- i used separate reservoirs, tipped rod down, bled, reinstalled and with pedal wedged to floor quickly cut/connected the reservoir hose- a messy pain in the butt, but got all the air out)... aside from brake bleeding, other than physically bigger than similar capacity trucks, theyre pretty solid- the mitsubishi motor will run forever, BTW a 89 mitsubishi montero cap and rotor/similar worked a lot cheaper than Clark...and if you need steering links replaced, book says drop axle- not needed- pull both outer pins, kick tires toed in to clear links, swing both links rearward, then just push down on them, rotating the steer piston, giving enough room to pull inner pins...glad I did mine before buying the manual :) will say even though rated for 5000, a little mits fg25 from same year is smaller/lighter/smoother...I just *had* to save this one though- remembered when they bought them, and it sure looked saveable, heck only has 1500 hours on it...when I saw they were gonna haul it to the scrapper, talked the boss out of it...didnt need it, I just have rocks in my head about seeing stuff discarded over just a bit of elbow grease...ended up being a really nice truck, only have about 800 bucks in it- but quite a few hours too.
@@timc2219 if your near Biloxi Mississippi I be glad to give you 800 bucks for her 😁. I feel same way about stuff just being junked. By chance what spark plug an spark plug gap?
Mine says 4000 lb lifting like you said she looks huge can it lift more?
Improperly used, any forklift can lift/tilt WAY more than rated, and enough to easily flip the truck over...weight is only a small part of the ratings... all are rated at 24" out on the forks and a set height off the ground... but mast full up/tilted full out, using booms especially, any truck can flip over at lower than the basic 'weight' capacity.
if lifting high, or extended reach, always tape measure center of axle to load center, compare to equivalent ft/lb moment load ratings similarly calculated off the rating placard...
ive seen idiots use lift chains hooked flat as 4-5 degrees from horizontal snap chains effortlessly, seen idiots strap loads down with chains so flat they are holding nothing 'down' at all, yet overloading everything... 40 years ago,saw a guy flip a 3000 pound rated truck over just lifting a 400 pound conveyor way high-it swung and flipped that truck like a toy...
lift math is easy to find online i'm sure...but always keep in mind the ft/lb rating thats rarely on the rating tag, but easy to calculate, vs what you are picking...and always watch angles if lifting with chains...too many folks ignore the basic math of leverage- but its absolutely as dangerous as leaving a chuck key in a lathe- some things are simply "musts".
Well done , could u please tell me paint codes for green and white colors , thanks
the white for the wheels was just gloss white rustoleum, the black for chassis/mast is just spray on bedliner, the green is from summit racing, #SUM-UP329Q, uses reducer/activator #SUM-UP100Q. Black for seat pan was #SUM-UP300Q (same reducer as the green) bare metal was degreased, then treated with 'Ospho', epoxy primer was #SUM-UP230Q, with #SUM-UP231Q activator... aside from the spray can bedliner, the primer/paint was applied with little trim rollers, and the wheels were brushed...