Nagging worries.....

Discuss fixes, upgrades and modifications to your M37

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NAM VET
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Nagging worries.....

Post by NAM VET »

From time to time, when I have completed a project, or at least moved far along towards finishing some sort of project, I will get this nagging feeling that I have missed a step, or failed to go back and tighten something, or failed to re-check this or that, before moving on. Not always something mechanical, can be even something like "did I turn off the water when we left our beach cottage, turn the hot water heater off, or did I remember to put a new gasket on a drain plug on something, tighten down the brake master cylinder cap, and on and on. I am not an excessive worrier, and by profession (physician) I have always paid attention to detail. In short, I am not a haphazard personality.

A few years ago, decided to have an independent BMW garage put all new water lines on my nifty classic '90 325. Drove home, and the head mechanic had failed to "pay attention to detail" and left a small water hose unclamped, causing my motor to promptly overheat, warping the cylinder head. I took the car back, and told him I would pay for parts cost (replacement head and the special bolts) if he would handle the labor costs. I did so because otherwise he would have perhaps saved money by reusing parts, and send me out the door. A $300 dollar cost to me. Then too, when I had an engine out service and modification to my Porsche GT3's motor several years ago, the mechanic failed to "pay attention to detail" and left out one of the fuel pump fuses, causing me a burnt piston a thousand miles away from home. My repair costs for that was over $7000, and a flight back to KC to retrieve my car, and also causing me to miss an important track event. So I went to talk with the Porsche mechanic (another independent garage), and told him I would take the labor costs of the race garage a thousand miles from home if he would cover the $2500 the parts cost. He refused, and told me I must have pulled the second fuel pump fuse, and said he does not make mistakes. Again, a failure to pay attention to detail, and check, check and recheck.... My wife then so hated the GT3, and refused to ride in it, (it was loud and brutal), so I finally just sold it, moving to my present M37/M42.

So when I told my wife my newly purchased M37 needed a full engine rebuild, and the cost for that was another $7,000, her reply was "not again!" I returned to work part time in the past few months to pay for it all over again, the same thing I had done for the GT3 costs.

Well, last night, was studying the exploded parts diagram of my motor, as I am putting it all back together, and then realized I did not have the spacer/hub the big fan pulley bolts to, attaching both to the front end of the crank. So went out at sunrise this am, and sure enough, I just don't have that part. My machine shop has returned to me every last tiny removed part of my motor (and took lots of pictures which he is putting on a flash drive for me), so how in the world did that essential part go missing. To my great relief I then test fit my four groove pulley, and realized that the parts diagram shows the single groove pulley, and my motor just doesn't have that part! Like the Rolaids commercial "oh what a relief it is...)

But now I have a nagging fear I did not put the main rod bearings in properly, ensuring the halves with the oil holes are in the upper block half. I was so careful with cleaning with lint free rags, carefully lubing and fitting the caps, and snugging them down precisely. But I am going to pull them off, just because of this nagging feeling ....did I do it right?

So from now on, when I come to some task in my paper TM's, and complete it, I am going to pencil in a check mark when that task is properly done. I'll sleep better.

Task for today is to set the ring gaps, mount them on the pistons, and cook up some burgers and brats later.

Attention to detail, be precise in everything we do, check, and recheck, and ponder "does it make sense it would fit and function in this way?

And pencil in a check list task completion. Which is why pilots have a checklist for things like landing. Long years ago, watched a T38 flying Navy ROTC cadets around in college at Nebraska (I was taking then an Army funded civilian pilot training). Saw him come in for a perfect landing, except he forgot to put his gear down, and he flared that T38 perfectly to a sliding grounding down the length of the runway. So much for being an instructor pilot...

Have a great weekend, guys. And speaking of aircraft, here is a picture of an armed up AD Skyraider at Tan San Nhut, Vietnam, one of my dad's favorite planes to fly. AD's where the first plane capable of carrying more weight in ordinance than the plane weighed.

NV
[URL=http://s663.photobucket.com/user/h ... .jpg[/img][/url]
NAM VET
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by NAM VET »

well, of course I just had to be sure. So pulled off a center cap, and had the horror of seeing the cap with the bearing oil hole, so pulled all the caps off and lifted that beastly heavy crank out, to find the bearings have oil holes in both halves, so dummies like me don't oil starve a bearing by putting the caps in wrong. So put it all back together, new Halomar, and torqued it back down at 80 pounds. I then penciled a check mark in my TM, and even took pictures of the bearings without the caps, so I can look back anytime to reassure myself.

Moving forward....

By the way, my dad, a 35 year Naval Aviator, whose carrier was sunk in '42, flew a lot of planes, thousands of hours in PBY's, and he also instructed in B25's. Had a lot of sad stories he told me, crews that went out and just never came back, or burning crashes, seeing sunk cargo ships' crews frozen in lifeboats in the North Atlantic, and so much more. Like the time one his crew walked into the prop when walking away from his B25. He was a real hero. Passed three years ago, he lost his own dad when he was only 6 years old.

now, off to Columbia to help son Chris with some chores. And BBQ!!!

NV
Cal_Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by Cal_Gary »

I don't know how I missed this post, Nam Vet-perhaps because I was deep into my tranny job at the time. Anyway, my nagging worries on my truck are those things I've not yet had a chance to dive into. Primarily the engine that, at some point I will need to have rebuilt again since the depot rebuild tag reads 1969. I am also interested in WWII history and would like to ask which carrier was sunk to which your father was assigned-the Yorktown perhaps, during the battle of Midway since that was in '42?

My condolences for the loss of your father too; another of the greatest generation along with my father who served in the Solomon Islands during WWII.
Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by NAM VET »

Thanks for the reply, CG. My dad's dad was a farmer in North East Nebraska by the early '20's. One hot day, when my dad was about 6, he and some friends decided to dive into a supposedly deep creek, and broke his neck. He was taken by train to Omaha, where he lived about 4 or 5 days. He told my dad to take care of his mom, which my dad did the rest of his life, having a younger brother and sister, and a pregnant mom. She never remarried. Since my dad did not have a farm to take over, he was born in '14, by HS the country was deep in the Depression, he traveled the rails with the Hobos, and ended up in CA, where he was smart enough to enlist in the Navy, who in their wisdom made him the operator of the Captain's Launch on the USS Langley, the Navy's first carrier, by then a seaplane tender. He said it was great duty, never even having seen any water larger than a pond.

In about '40, he and his brother, both sailors on the Langley, decided to become pilots, and left the ship to do that, both of them somehow surviving the War, and remaining in for full 30 year careers. The Navy up until midway in that war had enlisted pilots, then offering them commissions. In early '42, the Langley was caught by the Japanese trying to ferry P40's to Java, and sunk. Some dead in that sinking, the survivors were picked up by the fleet oiler the USS Pecos. The sad part of it all was the Pecos was caught the next day by the same Japanese bombers, and two old Destroyers were picking up survivors, and after only a few were picked up, they could see the distant Japanese fleet on the horizon, and low on fuel, both had to leave the 500 or so men in the water, the USS Whipple running for safety, the USS Edsall was caught by the Japanese and sunk, with no survivors. There were no survivors of the air crews embarked on the Langley and it wasn't until the early "50's, that the fate of the Edsall learned. So if my dad and his brother had not gone to flight school, my chance of existing would be about 10'% at best.

I grew up wanting to be a naval aviator like my dad, and found out as a HS senior I was colorblind, and went Army via ROTC at Nebraska, and embarking on my own two war career.

Here is his ship sinking...

https://www.google.com/search?q=picture ... 6M2nGAseM:
Cal_Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by Cal_Gary »

What an amazing, tragic litany of stories! Thanks for sharing them Nam Vet; hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by k8icu »

My dad was on the USS Lexington at the Battle of Coral Seas. Dad got 30 days leave to come home to Cleveland and on his way back to Pac Fleet he was going though the Panama Canal when an officer came on board and asked for volunteers to be on PBYs in and around Panama to spot German U-boats. Dad said that he gave it about 15 seconds thought...."go back to the Pacific and get another boat shot out from under me or stay here and fly around in planes looking for subs." He volunteered to stay in Panama. He ended his Navy career at St. Simon/Jekyll Isl. NAS where he met mom who was a civilian working the personnel office.
M37s are HMMWV in my world!
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by rickf »

In the nagging worries department, I was just sitting here and a sickly thought came to mind. Did I put antifreeze or water in the M37 when I got it running back in August?!!!!! It is 21 degrees out and has been as low and single digits already. I had to run out and look in the radiator even knowing I would never put straight water in any vehicle. Yep, nice green stuff and no icicles hanging underneath.
The vehicle had not run in 20 some years and the hoses were kind of suspect and there was no coolant in it so I remember debating putting water in it just to see if it held it first.
1953 M37
1964 M151A1
1967 M416
1984 M1008
4/1952 M100
12/1952 M100 gone
Cal_Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by Cal_Gary »

Both great stories guys, and and excellent reminder from Rick to be sure you've winterized....
Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by NAM VET »

my Dad flew thousands of hours in PBY's in WWII. All east coast, Newfoundland, looking for U Boats. So many stories. One sad one, a new squadron of them came up to Newfoundland, and an experienced air crew took all the pilots and co-pilots out to see what the risks of the mountains and such were, and base got a call from the plane that something was wrong, and they were going to have to set down for a bit to fix it. No trace of the PBY was found. Lost a whole squadron of pilots and co-pilots. My dad said with all the ice on the water, there was no way they could have landed and taken off again. For most Americans, the hardships and sacrifice of that Generation are forgotten, like WWII is to us, and even Korea, and now us Veterans of Vietnam are part of along ago, ancient history even. This is not a Soap thread, so I won't put more here about my own uncles Wartime Experiences.

All the best, Guys and Girls.

NV
Cal_Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by Cal_Gary »

Well I greatly enjoy your stories Nam Vet and I'm sure many of our members do as well. You are welcome to start a new post over in the Soap Box section. I love military history, in particular WWI thru Nam; Schwarzkopf's biography/book on Gulf War I is an excellent read as well!
Gary
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Re: Nagging worries.....

Post by k8icu »

I couldn't resist telling about dad and his way of not going back to the pacific. But yes we all get those nagging feelings about did we do this or did we do that. Since I'm building the M37B3 concept truck I am doing a lot of fabrication and therefore even though the truck is far from being on the road I worry over is this welded correctly is this at the correct angle to work right etc. I'm not a trained welder but I do use a BFH to check my welds...:lol: and a lot of internet searching to check on things. Problem with internet searching is as we all know if it's on the internet it must be true! :D
M37s are HMMWV in my world!
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