For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $10K -Upper Michigan

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Josh
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For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $10K -Upper Michigan

Post by Josh »

All,

I'm sure the bulk of you are familar with this truck, I've been on the boards for a long time. After much careful thought and deliberation, I think it's time to part ways with the M. For me, It's jsut not the same as it was when I was younger. I've come to the conclusion that the truck wasn't what makes those memories so great, it was the people I was with, and at this point, all those people have either moved, or transitioned to something new in their lives, and it's time I did the same. So, without further delay:

1954 Dodge M37
complete, frame up resto-mod rebuild from 2008-2011. No expense spared, around 35K to rebuild. RUST FREE. The only rust on this truck is surface rust. Thats it. I cut all the rust out, and welded new metal in properly.

Drivetrain:
-1985? Cummins 4BT. ~143K miles on it. Ford manual trans bellhousing adapter, stock clutch. Stage 2 Denny T fuel pin, HX35 turbo, 3" side exit exhaust
-Ford ZF5 transmission.
-Chevy NP205 gear drive case, twin stick conversion, with ford input gear so it marries to the ford case. Fresh rebuild, no leaks, noises, nothing funny.
-Power steering, wtih hydraulic ram assist.
-Dana 60 axles, 4:10:1 ratio, clutch pack LSD rear.

Brakes:
-Stock Dana 60 front
-Rear converted to disc
-Chevy C30 dual circuit master cylinder. Could use a power assist, but not required, it will stop fine without it.

Tires:
-16" Ford F-250 rims, with Michelin 38.5"X13.5" rubber. Brand new, probably the last set in the country, about 1200 miles on then now.

Interior:
-All stock needs some finishing

Winches:
-Dual Ramsey 12K lb electric units. Front is all hooked up and works.

Misc:
-rear hitch converted to square tube type. Will accept a standard trailer hitch. Have the original pivoting pintle on a custom built hitch to slide in. Also have a rear 12K lb winch that will go with the truck.

Issues:
-Truck does leak some oil from the engine (front main seal), and there is a fuel leak at the inejction pump (throttle shaft seals). Even with the pump leak, it gets 21+ MPG highway at 60 MPH.

-Tranny input bearing rattles faily loudly idling in neutral. I've just gotten in the habit of keeping the clutch depressed to keep it quiet. I'm not sure if its nearing end of life, or if it's just the power pulses of the diesel. I've heard other complaints about the ZF-5 rattling when behind 4BTs similar to mine. Trnasmission has a mystery leak, leaks about 1/2 a quart of oil every 200 miles or so. Not sure where it is leaking from. I think it is the front seal, but, the clutch works fine with no slippage, so, I'm not positive on where it is coming from.

-Pitman arm needs to be lengthened. as it is, it's 2 turns lock to lock on the steering, makes the truck twitchy in high speed corners. A longer pitman arm on the knuckle would fix that, as the steering box would have to travel a greater arc.

-Hydraulic brake light switch takes high pressure to work. You really have to cram on the brakes hard to get them to light up. Would need to be swapped for a lower rated unit. I took a guess at 1K PSI, and it was too high. A 250PSI unit would probably work well.

-Rear winch needs to be finished.
-No working speedometer
-Tach wiring needs to be finished. I have installed a magnetic sensor on the flywheel, and have the dakota digital pickup converter, just havent installed it
-Heater core is leaking somewhere. Currently it is plumbed out of the system. Needs to be taken off and the leak fixed.
-Seats need to be recoverd.
-Wiring issue somewhere in the windshield wipers. The wiring is all run, but, I think I either have a bad switch, or I connected something wrong. The wiper motors didnt come with instructions, so I took a guess. The fuse is pulled currently, as right now, they run continuously.
-Will provide a DVD with all the pictures, files, history, etc of the truck, so you can see what I did, and where I did it if you have issues with the rig.


all in all this is a good, modern retrofitted truck. Will it run 60 MPH all day? Yes. Does it get 20+ MPG doing it? yes. Does it need some finishing work? Most definitely, but all the hard stuff is done. I worked at a body shop, and all the body has been fixed properly. I left some of the dents, field welds, and other defects as I didn't care enough to make it 100% perfect, but what I absolutely cannot stand is rust. As such, this truck is 100% completely rust free. The only rust on this truck is where the bed has been scratched carrying firewood. Thats it.

The gearing in the truck is a good compromise between the original crawler gears, and new highway trucks. With the overdrive ford transmission, it will run 60 MPH at 1700 RPM. It still has low range, and a crawler gear, and the torque of the cummins more than makes up for the lost ratios over the stock axles. The power steering is literally effortless. You can turn the big michelins sitting still on pavement with your pinky finger.

A note to my Wisconsin friends:

This truck SHOULD be able to be registered in Wisconsin once the DMV changes are in effect, but, currently, the title is branded non-registerable in that communist state. As such, buyer beware should you take the rist of purchasing this truck and attempt to register it there. You've been warned!

Asking 10k. Not really all that flexible, as I think that is more than fair for a truck put together of this caliber. Located in southern Upper Michigan.

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Last edited by Josh on Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cal_Gary
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Re: For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $15K -Upper Michigan

Post by Cal_Gary »

Sorry to hear of this, Josh. Don't be a stranger-we enjoy your posts! Best of luck to you moving forward!
Gary
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1954 M37 W/W
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Josh
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Re: For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $15K -Upper Michigan

Post by Josh »

Gary,

Thanks for the kind words. I've enjoyed my time here too. I'd really like to sell it and use the cash to pick up a decent early 60's Porsche 356B. I've always had a soft spot for those. :D
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Josh
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Re: For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $10K -Upper Michigan

Post by Josh »

Bump for price drop
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Josh
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Re: For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $10K -Upper Michigan

Post by Josh »

Sold!
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k8icu
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Re: For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $10K -Upper Michigan

Post by k8icu »

Congrats!
M37s are HMMWV in my world!
Brent Newdick
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Re: For Sale: 4BT swapped 1954 M37, $10K -Upper Michigan

Post by Brent Newdick »

hello there. Any updates for this one? Too bad for me, I'm late posting in here. For how much did you sold the truck? Was the 10K negotiable during your transaction? This truck was really impressive because at the first place, you said that it is rust free. I hope there will still another truck on sale like this one. Thanks!
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