Thunderbolt #2 Restoration (updated 2/18)

[holler]

Here are some pictures of the next Thunderbolt we are rebuilding. Hope to have it installed some time this month. Work has crawled to a standstill thanks to abnormally cold weather. But now that things are warming back up we can play catch up.

This is the former Thunderbolt 1000 from Norman High School. It's being changed over to a 1000T (because T's on 5M blowers sound freaking awesome). It's also getting a new rotator gearbox and bullgear, courtesy of Eric Green.

Here are the pictures of the progress so far.

Blower motor armature after installing new bearings. Notice the hand brazed end rings and copper rotor bars.


Foaming degreaser on the filthy blower



Blower frame after getting degreased, stripped, primed, and repainted



Blower after repaint. Parts store stopped carrying Alpine Green, so I picked a nice Ford blue instead.



Blower with accessories installed (direct link to picture)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 7ed8a302c8

Big crack in the horn I found during depaint. I'm thinking it was a bad weld from the factory.



Same crack after being welded up and ground back down smooth. (Direct link to picture)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... eb51311b04

Horn after first coat of paint



Various parts and pieces crammed into the shop so they wouldn't get rained on during the curing process



Chopper motor after reassembly. Since this picture was taken I've repainted the lower edge of the motor so none of the gray would show on the outside.



Mostly assembled siren head sitting on the work bench (direct link to picture)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... dfc275542e

[DJ2226]

A 1000T... tears of joy
5/6 port?

[Andys Live WX]

How are you liking the tarps for a paint booth?

[Jim Z]

do they still make motors with individual bars, or are the almost all cast-in nowadays?

[holler]

They still have individual bars, just they cast the end rings in place.

And a lot of the high slip oilfield motors still have copper rotor bars. Pretty much everything else is aluminum.

[Melvin Potts]

This is great!

Nothing to compare with the sound of a Tbolt.

[Jim Z]

Oh BTW, was the blower originally painted Alpine Green, or were you going to use that as a nod to Detroit Diesel?

[holler]

I used it as a nod to Detroit Diesel, since these blowers leak oil and grease everywhere, just like a DD.

[Urbanexplorer]

Looks sweet! Nice to see a real "extra-mile" restoration.

[dilloncarpenter]

Well these are going back into service so might as well make sure everything is top-notch. I've never seen anyone restore these this thoroughly, down to the last bolts and gaskets. I wouldn't have patience for that. I barely had patience painting mine and it's still not even finished.