1962 M37 Newbie Restore

[Tuko]

The pics are great, just wondering what made the felt seals a pain to install? I have to do mine eventually.

[Elwood]

Welcome to g741. I've been following your thread over on PWA, and have been wondering how your truck was progressing.

[Jess]

Great pics, Thanks for the update on your project. You're making the kind of progress that some of us only dream about. As others have already said, the members of this forum can contribute a load of expertise and experience with these trucks. We are a pretty diverse group, spread all around the world. You are fortunate to have a lot of enthusiasts in your region if anything is needed.

Jess

[Carter]

Welcome Jared, have not heard from you in a while, glad you are posting here and letting us know how things are going. Your pix show a lot of progress since your last post on PWA. I have moved since you came to visit me at my old house and now live in Pa. Do you plan to attend the East Coast Rally at Aberdeen this year? Maybe we can get together at that time.

[jrodjared]

Thanks everyone for the kind remarks. Yeah it's been a while since I posted. I kind of got lazy about it because I kept having computers break so photos were a pain to get to, and a bunch of other excuses. Blah Blah Blah, but here I am now! I'll try to keep them coming as I make progress.

I was definitely the guy working out of a cube truck and a rented shop. Man those days were rough. I did end up buying a house with a garage which has been a blessing. I've got compressed air and electric out there with a propane heater for the winter. It's not much but it gets the job done. I had a deal with a friend of mine who was storing the truck on his property before the house that when I did get a place I would give him the box truck as payment. True to my word I had to give the old girl up. I tell you what, that old Uhaul was the best deal I ever had on a used vehicle! I paid $1,600 for it and drive the crap out of it. I'd constantly load it up with truck parts. She pulled a trailer like a dog but always got me there. I was sad to see her go.

Best deal ever

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When I first got down here to Baltimore and was thinking about working on the truck, Carter was the first guy I met in person who really took the time to talk to me about the trucks. I'll never forget that time I went up to his place and we drove his M37 around while he talked in detail about the 20+ year journey he's had with his truck. I thought to myself "wow, what have I gotten myself in to?!" Carter and I lost touch when he had some family things he needed to attend to, but I never forgot how cool it was to meet him. Carter, glad we have been able to reconnect! And yes, I plan on attending the East Coast Rally, which days were you planning on going? I'd love to catch up with you there.

Regarding those felt seals, they were a pain because you end up with oil all over your hands from soaking the felt seals in them. With the retaining spring in the collar, the felt won't stay in place when you try to bolt it up, and it kept falling on the floor! You have to kind of shove it in little by little with a screw driver, then put one bolt in at a time. It wasn't terribly complicated, it was just very frustrating. I had to walk away from it once or twice

And yeah I am totally grateful that I get to spend the time with my dad. He used to drive a M37 Radio Truck when he was in the Army back in the day. Back in like 1997 or something like that we were at this swap meet up in Rockaway NJ just checking things out, way before any of this started and we saw an M37. He was like "oh man, I used to drive one of those!" When we got closer, the truck had my mom's first name on the front of the hood! We couldn't believe it, what a coincidence? We knew it was meant to be. Here's a pic from that great day:

Where it all started

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Man how time flies. You know, looking at that old photo of the "Jayne" truck I probably should have just bought that one and saved myself the headache!

[T. Highway]

Jared,

If you would of bought that completed truck, you would of missed out on one heck of a life experience. I've restored a wide variety of things over the years (Shiny show cars, Classic wooden boats, monster mud bog trucks, countless motorcycles) but have never really "grown attached" to any of them until I started rebuilding these OD trucks. These vehicles command a certain amount of attention at car shows, I love the expression on peoples faces when I say that their kids can sit in them.

Bert

[jrodjared]

That day seems so far off! Little by little though right?

[F18hornetm]

Yes sir, little by little. With work, and family business and building kids houses, I have trouble finding time to fit my project in. But, I am happy if get a few quality hours each week. At least I feel like progress.
Your right about the car shows, They get more attention than most other stuff. heck, I don't even want the trophy's. I feel bad to be ungrateful for the trophys but really don't want them. The reason I take the trucks to the shows is I really love talking to the veterans and the curious kids. I have never sold one yet. Although I do have a 3 M105 trailers Ill probably sell this year.
At any rate keep at it, You'll be happy in the end.

[jrodjared]

F18hornetm I've noticed your build as well, really great stuff! I also noticed you are on the Eastern Shore. How far from Maryland are you? I wouldn't mind taking a road trip out to see your project some time if you'd be up for it?

[F18hornetm]

Thank you Jrodjared.
yes I live on the eastern shore of Maryland. Its the Delmarva Peninsula [Delaware, Maryland and Virginia] I live about 5 miles from Ocean City, most everyone knows where that's at. At least in summer time they do. If you come to the beach sometime, let me know. If available, I'd be happy to show you our toys.
Somebody mentioned fixing up these old things means more than just any other truck/car or tractor. I think they are right, I think its because of what these old trucks stood for. And still do!!

[Carter]

Jared, I plan to be at Aberdeen Thursday afternoon and Friday around 10 am to 4 pm if all goes as planned. PM me when the date approaches and I will give you my phone number so we can get together.

[F18hornetm]

I really need to get up to that show sometime. Lots of people talk about it on line. Think about 2 1/2 hours from here to Aberdeen

[jrodjared]

Carter I will definitely PM/call you when the time gets closer. One thing I noted at the show last year was there wasn't much Dodge stuff. Mostly the usual Jeep/Willies stuff. Some M35A2 stuff etc. But fun anyways

OK so I was out there today with my dad and we tried to get the donor engine to crank over. She's seized. I know she runs because I drove it on to the trailer when I last moved it about 3 years ago. She sat in the weather for 2 of those years and I think the cover I had on it may have blown off. Long story but it looks like there may have been water sitting on the head. Not much though. She was covered somewhat. Anyhow I pulled the plugs and poured Seafoam down there to start. Let that sit a few days, did nothing. Went and bought some Marvel Mystery Oil and poured that down each cylinder today. Tomorrow I am going to go out there and try to break it free.

The question I have is how exactly are you supposed to hand turn the engine? I removed the radiator to expose the front pulley. It looks like there is some kind of hand crank mechanism which I don't have of course. Also it appears to be a 1 3/4" nut, possible reverse thread? I put a breaker bar on it and tried to turn it clockwise and the nut started to free, but not turn the pulley with it. Here's some pics to show you guys:

This is the donor

Donor

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This is the pulley I am talking about:

Donor Front

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Another odd thing I noticed was that the pulley is different than the one on my blown motor. That one has six bolts around the inside, where the one on the donor only has two bolt opening with no actual bolt in it. Am I missing something here? Here's a pic of the other pulley:

Crap Motor Pulley

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I am going to dig in to the TM to try to learn up here for tomorrow, but any advice or ideas you guys have would be appreciated. I imagine I need to put a bit of force on it to break the rust from the rings. Side note, I think it's not in gear, hard to tell though. I don't have the shift lever. The drive shaft isn't attached anyway so I don't think it should matter. Here is a video of me trying to crank the engine. It turns slightly as you'll see:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11072303 ... 4412695046

Thoughts?

[Elwood]

You mentioned that you pulled the spark plugs to put Seafoam and then Marvel oil in the cylinders. Did you re-install the plugs, because they're in place in the first photo and in the video? Or were those taken before you got started? Even if the compression is minimal, it will be a lot easier to rotate the crank, especially by hand, with the plugs removed.

The cranking jaw at the front end of the crankshaft should be turned clockwise when viewed from the front of the truck, facing the engine. There's a long hand crank handle for use with these trucks (non winch) that goes through the bumper, but you should be able to use a socket on the cranking jaw instead, since you've got the front end opened up. I don't have a jaw handy to look at, but the right hand rotation suggests that the threads are right hand as well, not reverse (i.e. left hand).

The pulleys on both of the T245 engines in my shop have six bolts, and the pulley hub behind them looks like this:



The ORD 9 SNL G-741 parts catalog calls for six (6) screws and washers to affix the pulley to the cranking jaw hub.

I'm not sure what sort of pulley you have on that engine, but I don't see how it is fixed to the cranking jaw hub. The two holes don't appear to be at the right diameter to match up to the holes in the hub.

When you say that the drive shaft isn't attached, do you mean the short shaft between the transmission and transfer case, or the longer shaft between the transfer case and rear axle? If the transmission-to-transfer case shaft is still in place, along with the shaft from the transfer case to the front axle, and the transmission is in gear and the front hubs are locked, you won't be able to turn the crankshaft without moving the truck.

From the video, I'm not certain that you're actually turning the crankshaft. Looks more like some slack in the belt and pulleys?

[jrodjared]

Hey Elwood thanks for the quick reply! To clarify, I took the spark plugs out. They were just barely threaded in when I shot that video. I didn't want crud falling down in the cylinders while I was messing with it. If it started to turn I would open it back up because there is fluid in there (seafoam, marvel mystery), wouldn't want to hydrolock. The driveshaft to the rear is disconnected, but not the front or short. The passenger side hub is disassembled and up on a jackstand. The only wheel that would offer any resistance would be the front driver side. I'd imagine even with that slight turn of the engine I would have felt the truck try to pull forward if it were in 4x4 no? I think just to eliminate that I will disconnect the transfer case tomorrow just to be safe

I wonder what's up with the pulley hole on that engine? Yours has the 6, and every illustration I see has 6 as well. Hmmm. When you say slack in the belt and pulleys, doesn't the starter engage the flywheel which is attached to the crankshaft? It would have to turn the crank to turn the belt and the fan too right?