New owner with question..

[jim lee]

What are the two blob kinda' things on the instrument gauge panel on these m37s?

Bumps? Look like metal mushroom tops..

Thanks!

-jim lee

[52 M-42]

Those are the dash light covers.

52 M-42

[T. Highway]

Welcome to the site Jim, you will find great help and tips on how to make repairs to your truck on this site.

Please remember to post some pictures of your truck, we all like pictures.

Bert

[Tuko]

i thought when i first got mine they were blank covers for extra gauges but as mentioned right behind them is the lighting for the gauges

[jim lee]

Here you go. Loading a keel in it at the boat shop. I'm told its a '53

-jim lee

[WarrenD]

Wow, looks to be in great shape!

[m-37Bruce]

Welcome Aboard Jim!
Are these the ones your talking about?

http://news.webshots.com/photo/10754417 ... 0873cSVZbr

[jim lee]

Yup, them's the ones. I thought they were for some sort of options as well. Then I noticed every M37 seemed to have 'em.

The one I bought seems to be in amazing shape. I looked at it on a whim and thought, "This looks like it might be a lot of fun." So I picked it up. The wife n' kiddies think its all sorts of fun so I'm glad I did.

I'm thinking about putting on a bigger right hand mirror. We put on the canvas bed cover and now its impossible to see out the right side.

And while I have everyones attention. It stumbles right off idle. Like the accelerator pump is bad/out of adjustment. From what I've been reading, are these things vacuum operated? Are there adjustments I can try?

Thanks!

-jim lee

[WarrenD]

Mine does that too, I find a little choke seems to help it. Looking forward to what others have to say to fix this right!

[T. Highway]

Jim,

Your truck looks good. I see that you already have a large mirror on the right side, are you thinking even larger than that?

Is your truck all stock?

Bert

[WarrenD]

Re: the mirror, it looks like the same one I have on the right side of my truck. Mine is slightly convex and is fine with the gun box. I'm always in the right lane anyway......

[52 M-42]

There are a few others around in the Puget Sound area with M-37's / M-42's. If you ever get closer to Seattle on a trip perhaps we could meet somewhere.

Please let us know if you are interested.

52 M-42

[jim lee]

Meeting up with others might be fun. I'd feel a bit out of place. I didn't build mine, I just bought one that was ready to go.

Another question, how do you travel with these things? They cruise at the speed of a zippy farm tractor. Living on an island its not a big issue but out on the open road? I feel like the jam car!

Oh, and as far as I know, its all original. The PO told me his neighbor bought it from the highway department. They'd got it surplus from the army, painted it chartreuse, tossed it in storage and forgot about it. I was told they thought it was too slow to use. So he got it, repainted it green with the original markings and I guess it sat for more time 'till the PO bought it. The plan was to do all sorts of changes to it, it was a donor. I guess they felt sorry for it, decided not to monkey with it and some time later put it up for sale. I found it on powerwagons.com in the classified. Its the one with a deer in the picture. I saw the pictures of it, showed them to the wife n kiddies and they thought it would be a riot to buy an "antique truck" so we went and picked it up.

The carb needs some attention, the brakes need bleeding, the steering is a bit sloppy, the hand brake needs adjustment, the clutch probably needs replacement or at least adjustment. But aside from the gas gauge? Nearly everything works!

First day we took it to get the oil changed and lubed up.

It was pretty funny. We drove up and the owner of the xpress lube was shaking his head. "I can't" work on that thing.." So I said

"Can't you just change the oil for me?"

"Well.... ok I guess can do that." And then everything changed. He and everyone working there totally got into it. He did some research and found that he actually had the correct oil filter in stock. He showed the kid working there how to change it. They checked all the gear box fluid levels, found that everything was clean and topped off. Very little leaking. They were all impressed by the machine. Customers were taking snap shots, what fun!


The kids riding in the back..

Been using it to teach my 16yr old how to drive a stick. That's putting years on me in a big hurry. Just got back from a dinner date in it with the wife. Its fun!

-jim lee

[Cal_Gary]

Welcome aboard Jim! That looks like great fun! Don't worry about buying a "completed" truck as they're never really completed anyway, and I doubt anybody would scoff at the notion. The MVPA National is in Portland, Oregon next July-you might consider joining then making the trip. My wife and I will be attending and it would be great to meet some of our forum friends!
Gary

[T. Highway]

Jim,

The family looks like they are having a blast riding in the M. If you are traveling any great distances you would want to trailer the truck unless you have plans to stay on the back roads at reduced speeds.
Did you get any TMs with the truck? If not you will want to pick a couple different ones so that you can work on it. These trucks are fun and easy to work on.

Bert