1953 M37

[F18hornetm]

Well its not a channel. I gave it a lot of thought and came up with some ideas on how to make a channel. Obviously the original was made in a press with a die. As most sheet metal, formed parts are. Since I don't have a die, I thought I could make one. {Ive made others before}It would have to be 2 different dies as the tapered front part of the channel is different than the rear. Then I got looking at the original and thought this design sucks. First if the gasket is good on the vent, water will still sit in the groove above the gasket. if the gasket leaks, and we all know it will at some point, then water will sit in the grove. yeah there is a drain, but clogging will stop that[debris]. Soooo. I noticed the vent has an 1/8" turned down edge on the top. Better to keep water out by a mechanical method than by a sealed method. I took a piece of 1/8" flat bar 1/2" wide and and made an edge for the vent to seal against. I marked the new cowl to fit the new oval and cut it out. Welded in the new piece of lip and it extends above the cowl 1/8". So now my cowl vent actually sits on top the lip, with its turned down lip just touching the cowl. I know some of you die hard guys may notice that the cowl vent is not flush, but rather sits on top the lip I made. But I don't think any one else will notice. AND it will not leak. I think I mentioned in the beginning that Although I love original things, there is a limit.
Sorry for long story. But its really easy to make and I don't think anyone will notice its not flush.

[F18hornetm]

Moving along tonight. Working on the right side rocker panel. Both inside and outside pieces are rusted through about a foot back. So cut that all out and cleaned up. I made the inside pieces, which I made in 2 separate pieces for ease of fit and tacked in place. Tomorrow night hopefully will make outside rocker panel and finish welding inside pieces. I am going to prime best I can the inside piece before welding on the outside. Will post a couple pics soon.

[52 M-42]

Your cowl vent improvement shouldn't bother anyone. I suspect the reason for the original version is ease of manufacturing and storage.

Also remember that military vehicles (and equipment in general) has absolutely zero consideration given to operator comfort or convenience (lots of sharp edges, cramped spaces, no padding or delethalization). It is all about function and mission.

So, good design would have probably put a water dam or lip of some kind on that vent. Easier producibility and lower price per unit dictated the standard cowl vent without one.

So I would tend to see your cowl vent as an improvement that some local unit motor pool sergeant might have made. I think it would have been within command discretion.

It would certainly be a nice improvement on my truck up here in the PNW where it rains at least 400 days a year.

[F18hornetm]

Thank you 52 M-42... I was thinking my design versus the original may have one big flaw. It surely has a bigger radar signature than the original flush one. I am convinced they made the original flush, to reduce the radar signature therefore improving the stealth capability of the M37!!!!! It for sure wasn't designed to keep water out.

[T. Highway]

I think the cowl vent was designed to let the trapped under dashboard air bubble out during deep water fording , you wouldn't want the buoyancy to cause a loss of traction.

I don't think the general public will even notice your modification, it looks very close to stock.

Bert

[F18hornetm]

You know you could be right. It lets the air out because there are no other good places for to escape such a well sealed cab!!!!

Got to working on passenger side rocker panel. Little rust, not horrible. I cut out the outside and inside parts of the rocker panel as well as the bottom part of the cowl. Got it all wire wheeled/needle scaled and sanded. In the last picture I have the back or inside piece all cut and fitted and tac'd in place. The outer half is just clamped in place. To finish this section will need 3 more pieces made. But all small. Ive been thinking how to make the outer part of the lower cowl. Its curved as well as a 90 degree lip on it. There was an inside hole at the back of the lower cowl that I am not going to put back. In the pic its marked with a sharpie but its not there. However on the bottom part of the cowl, im going to make a much larger hole than was there. Easy to wash out, not that this will be a mudding truck anyway. Also will prime the inside of all these pieces before welding up.
The steel in these old trucks amazes me. You can have a rusty section and just past the edges is good enough metal to weld to. Like new thickness. Its like it doesn't want to rust. Better steel in those days I think.

[camoyj7]

Much better steel! Not recycled china crap like we get now.

[F18hornetm]

Bolts are the same way. Anybody ever take apart an old set of plows with square headed bolts? All rusty and come right apart. Lots of things have improved since the old days, but many good quality things are gone unfortunately.

[F18hornetm]

Moved along a little more. Got all this stuff tacked in place. believe it or not there is 8 pieces in all that repair. Got one small spot at top to repair then will move down the right side to repair the storage door. Thinking will work around the truck back to drivers side.

[F18hornetm]

Finally got back to work on the M37. Both storage area door hinges were rusted in a pile and both doors fell off. I sanded / glass beaded the old doors and ground off rusted hinges. I couldn't find any piano hinge locally that was right size so I ordered from Mcmaster Carr. If anybody needs it, the part # I used is 15665A546 , Its a bare hinge [no holes] 2"x24" long, Knuckles are 1" wide and pin diameter is 3/16" about $5.00 plus freight. I just cut to length, bored holes in original places. Then bored holes so could Weld to door. Turned out pretty good and works nice now.

[F18hornetm]

Last pic, installed temporarily until I'm ready to prime and paint

[T. Highway]

Very nice how the doors turned out.

Bert

[52 M-42]

Nice job! Those would be very hard to tell from originals.

BTW, there are drawers that go inside those tool boxes under the bed. It makes it much easier to get the stuff out from under the bed. I've got photos of some I made if you are interested.

[F18hornetm]

Thanks guys. Seems progress is slow.
I was going to post the question, what were those storage spaces used for? I wondered if they were for the bows for the canvas top etc. but wasnt sure. Drawers are great idea. I would be very interested in pics of ones you made.

[m-37Bruce]

The bows were stored in the very front position of the bed, there's a bracket on either out side of the bed for the straps to go thru. CGarbee has many pic's of the layout on his M-37 page. A site search here should reveal some info as well. The drawers are a great addition for either side, chains, Budd Lug Wrench and tire tools and mil style wheel chocks are what is in my tool box.(in my mind anyway)