The Story of Mike-13's Zil-131

[Rob Reznik]

I agree with Duncan - electrical issues can be a nightmare to sort let alone when they are old and brittle - you're doing a great job !!

[Mike-13]

Here's some pics of the wiring.
Took a lot of old wiring out and changed a lot.

I stripped the Reo wiring and the outside was crusty and old.....
The wires internally were in such a good shape no corrosion or cracks that I re-used these wires.
And afterwards retaped them with new vulcantape.

Because of the simplicity in the connectors I re-used the zil connector plates
(I do have new ones as a spare with me)

All the lightbulbs have been replaces for 24 volt bulbs.
The toplights are mounted on....looks better.

Pics...
Reo wiringloom


The zil wiringloom


The front with the dynamo controller


Testing the wiring


Toplights and a testbulb


And.....a filmclip.
Movieclip

[Mike-13]

Done a lot of connecting and testing last weeks
The dashboard meters were useless because switching from 12V to 24V
so I made a new dashboard frame for the Reo meters

The diesellines needed to be air free
Done the groundconnections on cabin, engine, chassis and starter
Installed the inner fenders with the old Radiatorframe.
testinstalled the outer fenders for measuring the hood and grille
Cut the grille and hood for extending

And the pictures:

The new dashboard


The old Firewall


The heatresisting foil on the firewall


Tjhe measuring and cuttin g of the grille and hood


Checking if it fits



The first smoke coming from the engine

And........some moving footage of the first start-up
Click HERE

Cheers

[portamurda1]

It lives

[Mike-13]

And yet another day of my updates:
Lots of work done....again

In no perticular order.......

Making a 12 volt block in the 24 volt system and a new govenor


Mounting the bumper


The extended grill in the coloured primer


The DAF airfilter cleaned and ready to be installed


The air supply block for the seats


Connecting the headlights and blinkers


the REO towhooks installed on the Zil bumper


Making the temporary exhaust from several parts


Testing the exhaust under the Zil


Extending the hood


The finished product of the extended hood.




And ofcourse I've done lots more without pics
Adjusting the airshift system
Connecting an airhorn
Connector block under the dash for 24 volt and a fusebox for 12 volt

Upcoming week I'm connecting the airfilter to the turbo
Straightening the cab and hood
All in the primer

[Gaz-lad2]

You have been a busy Boy ! Keep the pictures coming.

Kieran

[Mike-13]

Some quick updates.
This is how it looks with the nose and cab extended.









And the temporary boxunit for dmv control

[Mike-13]

After checking a lot of little things
Testing a lot
Starting, gearing, pumping and so on

On the 21st of July I had the honour of driving the first meters in the rebuild Zil
It took some time to get her on the right air pressure before, pushing the clutch and set her in to gear.
I have found that the clutch is far to heavy so that has to be fixed.

Here's the complete film (7 min.) from start to drive... (driving starts at 3:08) ;)
http://www.mike-13.nl/RMT/First%20ride%20complete.mp4
I love that turbo sound (whistler)

After this fine ride with the air-suspended truck seats we encountered an unexpected surprise.
The Zil was driving at 20 mp/h when the front completely blocked !!
When we became from the first shock, we searched for some sign of trouble ?! Nothing to be found.
We had to tow her back to the garage.
When we lifted her to drive back.....WHAT did we see......the frontwheels were turning the wrong way ?!

Here's the link to see that (17 sec)
http://www.mike-13.nl/RMT/Gear%20Fault.mp4

We looked for some solution, which we haven't found yet.
It has to be a combination of the air pressured gear and the Sprag unit in the Reo transfer box.
So.... I removed the front axle (intermediate axle) we drove the Zil again.

Here's that movie (29 sec) http://www.mike-13.nl/RMT/Second%20test%20ride.mp4

Sofar so good....

Keep you posted

[Mike-13]

Just a quick update.
Haven't done much work
Just made a heat shield on top of the exhaust
Placed the roofrack back again (looks better now)

aaaannnddd..

Went for the DMV to get my registration papers switched from gasoline to diesel.....exiting
The dmv mechanic said it was neatly done and looked very good.

Then, after I've received the paper,s I made an appointment for the annual inspection, and again this was an exiting moment.
But the Zil was completely ok for the road , so now we can make some little trips.

What is next:
Need a t junction for the dieselfuel returnline
The transfercase needs to be taken apart (this is concerning the sprague unit)
And the transfercase has to be adjusted for other gear ratio.
Now I drive 46 mph with 2300 r/pm
This needs to be 52 -55 mph with 1800-2000 rpm

Driving the Zil

[Mike-13]

It's been a long and quiet time.
Sorry for that.

The gearbox and trasmission from the M54 Reo truck has been changed for a Reo M35 gearbox and transmission.
The max speed is now 92 km/h at 2400 rpm. (85 is a nice relaxed speed at 2000 rpm)
So the Zil drives a lot easier and uses a lot less fuel.

I have done a little work, but I have drove a lot.
Made some nice trips around to testdrive and enjoy the Zil.

I am very happy with the extra space in the cabin and especially with the airsuspended seats.
On a longer trip I drive relaxed, and with the handgas I do have a sort of cruise control (saves me from cramps in my feet )

On this moment I'm expecting a Kung unit from Bulgaria (purchased in Germany by my regular supplier)
Within the next few weeks I hope to mount it on the back and change it into a simple camping unit.

I have sold a lot of parts from the old unit (back to Germany and some to the UK)
On the back I have 500 litres of mixfuel (65% gasoline and 35% diesel) so no worries on having to stop for gas/diesel.

Just for the curious ones:
Yes my Zil is for sale.
I have seen the new URAL NEXT as an Expedition conversion.
So my wife and I decided to go for a new Ural truck instead of a old Zil truck.

Here are some insta movies of the Zil in it's current state.
instagram film

instagram film 2


Ural next camper conversion

[zoltan]

The new Ural looks extremely nice, I guess complete like that is a few $$$. But you get to drive it home!

[Mike-13]

Well....

I have looked for some expeditiontrucks with the same capabilities.
And with some nice units on the back.

But I can assure you, the Ural is unbelievably cheap.
For example :
The small Earthroamer costs about 600.000 dollar
The Big Earthroamer truck costs about 1.000.000 dollar.
A standard MAN truck costs about 700.000 euro
and
The Ural with a new chassis and a new boxunit complete to our wishes costs about 115.000 euro.
With import and Taxes ist around the 145.000 euro

So, that was an easy decision
Only challenge is that the Ural has an Euro 4 engine not an Euro 6 as required in the NL
But there's a company in Sweden who makes special euro conversions for 2500 to 3000 euro.

I asked the Russian company (kung.ru) if they can build that in the new Ural, and they can.
(they mail and speak English )

So within the next 2 - 3 years we sell our house and buy a New custom-made Ural Next
(ours will have the double cabin, a crawlthrough and a double sparetyre holder with motorcycle on the back)
Oh and we order it in Black