My 1954 M37

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soupermike
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My 1954 M37

Post by soupermike »

For the last 4 years I have been contemplating getting an ex-military truck of some kind. I dabbled with a 46 CJ2A for a while but it didn't do it for me. As much as I tried, I wasn't a "jeep guy". I then started looking at M35s, and one came up for sale by a friend of a friend. It needed a lot of work and he would not budge on price. Then I found a guy about an hour and half away from me with M35s, M818s, and M923s. I fell in love with the M923A2. Big, powerful, and mean looking. I was ready to buy it, however the state of Louisiana had different plans for me. Long story short, Louisiana stopped issuing regular titles/registrations for ex-military vehicles and only issued "Off Road Only" titles/registrations. I have no use for a monstrously large truck if I can only drive it off road. I don't have that kind of land. That led me to looking at the M37. Small enough that I can park it in my shop (makes the wife extremely happy), I can work on it myself as I am no diesel mechanic, and I have access to some farm land that I can play around on with the smaller truck and not worry about getting stuck or making the farmers mad. My other thought was that I could register the vehicle as an antique 1954 Dodge 3/4 ton pickup and avoid the whole MV thing altogether. There is an effort right now to allow MV to be registered again with regular titles but nothing has been made official. This all led me to a real nice man in Alabama with an M37, that after a few phone calls and messages made its way to Louisiana and into my home shop.

The truck is a 1954 M37 that originally had a winch but was removed. I will be purchasing the same winch to put back on the truck very shortly. The data plate on the glove box door says it is a 1962 M37B1 but after some investigating, I learned that it is indeed a 1954 M37. The truck sat for at least 10 years and the running status was unknown. I pulled the plugs and let Marvel mystery oil sit in the cylinders for a few days and was pleasantly surprised to turn the engine over with a large socket wrench. The generator was replaced with a military 60amp alternator at some point in its life. The previous owner says he was told this could have been a radio truck at one point. The paint is in good shape and there has been some "bondo" work done to it. I plan to remove all rotten spots and replace with metal and then give it a fresh paint job. Seats will need to be replaced as well as the windshield. The bed, doors, cab interior, and front fenders are solid as they come. They sale included a canvas cover for the cab and for the cargo area. Although they are pretty dry and stiff, they will work for the time being.

I picked up a few other items for the truck including front lift shackles, proper pioneer tools and a proper bridge plate with numbers. My plan is to add another radio antenna mount with antenna to the passenger side of bed and possibly fab (with the help of some friends) a high water fording intake and exhaust. I will also be purchasing an M101A1 trailer from the person who has the M923 that I was going to purchase.

I am in no hurry as I want this truck to be as close to original as possible. I am by no means a "rivet counter", but where I can make life easier I may take that route.

Here are some pictures of the truck so far. I can't upload them due to them being too large, so here is a file I created to keep track of my work.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vqGbVsLo31SyeXnc2

Thanks
Mike
1954 M37 w/w
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W_A_Watson_II
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by W_A_Watson_II »

Mike,

Congratulations on the decisions, selections and purchase of a nice M37.

As you have discovered parts on these things got swapped out a lot, and the later glove box door isn't un-common. Just be sure then Title matches the frame number, and you might want to get a new data plate and have it marked with the correct VIN number for the glove box.

Sounds like good plans and a fun future. Oh the little guy behind the wheel looks very happy with your purchase as well.
Thanks,
Will
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1953 Dodge M37 - "Frankenstein"
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T. Highway
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by T. Highway »

Welcome to the site Mike,

Glad to see that you made it over here from the Steel Soldiers site. Great looking truck to start with and I know that we all look forward to seeing more pictures of the progress during the rebuild.

Bert
1952 M37 W/W Rebuild @ 59% complete
Engine rebuild @ 95% complete
1985 M1009, 1990 M101A2, 2008 M116A3 Pioneer tool trailer
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soupermike
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by soupermike »

W_A_Watson_II wrote:Mike,

Congratulations on the decisions, selections and purchase of a nice M37.

As you have discovered parts on these things got swapped out a lot, and the later glove box door isn't un-common. Just be sure then Title matches the frame number, and you might want to get a new data plate and have it marked with the correct VIN number for the glove box.

Sounds like good plans and a fun future. Oh the little guy behind the wheel looks very happy with your purchase as well.
Thanks W_A!
I plan on getting a new data plate with correct VIN number. I think I made the correct choice going with this truck. My son was too excited to get in the truck. He wanted to sleep in it the night I brought it home.
T. Highway wrote:Welcome to the site Mike,

Glad to see that you made it over here from the Steel Soldiers site. Great looking truck to start with and I know that we all look forward to seeing more pictures of the progress during the rebuild.

Bert
Thanks Bert! I will definitely be updating the album with more pictures as I progress in the build.
1954 M37 w/w
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by Cal_Gary »

Welcome aboard Mike-glad to have you with us!
Gary
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by soupermike »

Well it has been a fun 3 years since I purchased my truck. In all of the restoration process I experienced 2 trips to urgent care(1 trip included 5 stitches), an updated tetanus shot, and a 911 call to my local fire department. I have always added the $35 copay to all of my project budgets!!!

The truck was stripped to the frame and blasted. I repaired all the rotten metal and bondo spots with new metal. Truck has a new front wiring harness and I had the engine rebuilt due to a fire that happened in my shop.

I am about a week away from attending my first car show with my truck. I will be stenciling it and finishing the wood for the cargo area this week. I won't have time to get the tires changed however it will be close enough to take and show it off. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way from information to parts.
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1954 M37 w/w
Cal_Gary
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by Cal_Gary »

What a great truck Mike! You've done a fabulous job sticking with it and getting it "parade ready"!
Please take some more photos from the show and post 'em here!
Thanks!
Gary
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by soupermike »

Thanks Gary. I will definitely take some pics.
1954 M37 w/w
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by John Mc »

Look great, Mike!
1951 M37 "Brutus" w/Winch and 251 engine
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by RCrombie »

Your truck looks great! Love the way the paint shines in the sun.
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by greeno »

Looks spot-on, well done!

Wish we could have more stories along the way; maybe someday you can elaborate on the ER trip!
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by m-37Bruce »

Your truck is looking Souper Mike!
Bruce,

1953 M-37 w/ow

Retired Again

Keep Em Rollin'

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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by soupermike »

Thanks y’all. It has been a lot of fun to bring this truck back to running. I went with sherwin Williams DTM semi gloss paint that was color matched to late WW2 OD. I am also going to stencil it as the Louisiana National Guard unit my father-in-law was in in the late 60’s to early 70’s
769 EN BN * C-4
He was in Charlie company and my son thought c4 was appropriate.

The ER trip was due to my right palm getting ripped open while trying to remove the bolts that held the bed on the frame. Pretty deep cut. I’ll save you from the pics. My son freaked out enough for both of us.
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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by m-37Bruce »

Oh man, did you need a tetnis shot?
Bruce,

1953 M-37 w/ow

Retired Again

Keep Em Rollin'

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Re: My 1954 M37

Post by soupermike »

I had one many years ago but I got a refresher
1954 M37 w/w
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