how to tell civilian 230 engine apart from military 230

jjefferson · Post by **jjefferson** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:12 pm

Looking at at a M37 for sale that is close by as a donor / parts truck for my M37. Truck has seen better days - ie body is pretty much gone and the interior looks like a bomb went off. At first glance I thought it had the original 230 in it. But on second glance I noticed that the carb looks like the ETW1 but with a different governor and air cleaner, distributor is a civilian unit, plugs are "street" normal plugs.

On the good side it does have some new rubber and a plow.

It has the usual "replacements" - outboard gas tank in the bed, 24 volt dc fuel pump etc.

So what is the best way to ID the engine, keeping in mind that these days its dark and rainy.

Have read in other posts to look at the oil fill (pressed or bolted). What other visual indicators are there?

Any other differences on the military vs civilian 230. Are the guts the same?

Thanks in advance-
Jim
1954 M37

powerwagontim · Post by **powerwagontim** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:09 pm

Hi Jim,
The easiest ID is the oil filler tube. Many of the other differences can be moved from military engine to civilian, ie, the ignition, carb, large main pulley etc. The serial number too, but they are usually hard to read in poor light with a good coating of schmutz over them.
Tim

MSeriesRebuild · Post by **MSeriesRebuild** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:17 am

The civilian has a different fuel pump originally, has only the fuel chamber and a glass bowl. The M37 has a vacuum chamber at the bottom. This and many other components can be changed from one to the other. If I thought it was a decent engine, I would not pass it up as it is certainly adaptable. The fact that you said it has a 24-volt fuel pump is a good indicator that it is military and has received a civilian distributor. A dead give away would be if the civilian distributor wobbled when the engine is started, that would tell you that someone has mated the civilian distributor with the military oil pump. Good luck.

jjefferson · Post by **jjefferson** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:56 am

Thanks Charles and Tim

-Yes upon further thought I guess I could have figured that one out - ie the military fuel pump was letting me know it was still stock, and also still has the voltage regulator and old generator still installed. I think I was distracted by all the changes that have happened by various prior owners.

I'll see if the owner will let me do a compression test on the block and see what comes up.

The real advantage of the deal is that the truck is about a mile away - doesn't get much easier then that. Just more then I want to pay. We shall see...

Jim

refit1701 · Post by **refit1701** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:03 pm

Unless you enjoy body work or can get it for a "parts truck" price, be careful.

As always, you're better of spending more money for a better truck than spending it later in parts, labor and tears.