Got a running engine...

[steved]

Well,

I purchased a running engine, trans, starter, and generator for my truck...mainly for spares, I have no idea the condition mine is in currently (besides "free", as in not siezed). Hopefully I can pick it up on the return trip from New Mexico in January...might actually start working on my truck when I get home.

Just a little background...my M37 was found abandoned in an arroyo in New Mexico. I drug it home in 2003, where it has sat since.

I am a little leery about the condition of the engine in my truck because a usable truck in NM would not have been abandoned...pretty sure there is something major wrong (broke rod, broke crank, etc) for it to have been abandoned.

So, one step closer...first the title, then the truck!! By the time I actually get around to working on it, I'll have enough parts for a second truck...

steved

[Nickathome]

Not to sound dumb, but what is an Arroyo?

Also, I would try to fire up the truck with the engine it has in it. You never know it may have been abandoned for reasons other than a bad engine. Maybe the truck was stolen and then just dumped when they were done joy riding and/or the fuel ran out. You might find less wrong with this truck than you envision.

[steved]

An arroyo is a dry wash or deep dry ditch that only flows in hard rains...

My situation warrants having a spare, just in case something is wrong with the original 6-holer...not to many parts floating around PA...

steved

[Nickathome]

What part of Pa is your town located? Maybe we are near each other. I am in Chester county....

[steved]

I'm just north of Reading (near Cabelas if you are familiar with that)...

The truck is in NW PA...unfortunately, that doesn't allow an evening to work on the truck.

steved

[SOTVEN]

Ahhhh..... Cabela's... that is a place I would like to visit. (With some serious cash at hand hahaha) Regarding your truck, I believe Nickathome is right. Try it out first and see what is wrong with it, if there is something wrong. Afterwards, you see what is needed to get. Of course gather all the parts that you can find for free, but do not get into buing things that are costly and perhaps unecessary. This will increase your expence for the truck, and even worse when you will have to buy somenting that you really need you can be out of budget. Having a second engine, (assuming that your old engine is shot) maybe possible to make one good engine out of the two, with the addition of only a few parts. In any case good luck.

[steved]

Cabela's is nice, pricey, but nice. They have some really nice stuff in that store and I always get into trouble when I go there...I try to look at nothing but what they have in the bargain cave!!

I'm pretty sure this truck has issues...as I said, a usable truck in NM would not have been left for rot. And if I get lucky enough there isn't anything wrong with it, I'll always have the extra one to rebuild the way I'd like to...

steved

[steved]

Well, I got pulled off the project early...freeing me up to get this engine and stuff this weekend...should have it tomorrow afternoon!

steved

[steved]

Welllllllll........

Its in the back of the truck...some people have weird descriptions...

Told me it was converted to a car ignition (I assume oil pump and distributor), well it has a car distributor in the whole...I guess I made an ass out of u and me on that assumption.

It is 0.040" over on bore, 0.020" under on mains, and I believe 0.040" under on the rods...so its been rebuilt several times. I'm hoping I can get to 0.60" bore that I have read about before. It was last rebuilt in 1962, at LAD (Lxxx Army Depot???).

It does have a good looking starter and generator...and the gentleman built a roll around cradle that he also gave me for transporting (should be able to test fire the engine in the cradle). It also came with a transmission; with a wore clutch disc, pressure plate, and bellhousing.

The trans has a PTO adapter on it, so this must have been from a truck with winch.

Hopefully I got a rebuildable core...it does have some compression based on spinning the crank. I guess the main concern is that I now have some spare engine parts, should be able to make one engine from two if needed.

steved

[pfrederi]

Engine overhaul was probably at Letterkenny Army Depot in PA. Do not assume that the engine has had multiple rebuilds. To simplify parts stockage and machine tool setup a depot might automatically use .040 over and .020 under on the mains. Reality was they didn't plan on overhauling the motor more than once. You cannot even be sure there was anything really wrong with the motor originally. Sometime the mechanics at the installation got overwhelmed (or lazy) and just pulled an engine that didn't "run right" and sent it back to depot. Depot was in business of overhaul not diagnostics so... engine comes in it gets over bored and under cut and shipped out. I very much doubt that anyone initially checked the cylinders to see what the minimum over bore could have been.

[Lifer]

The machine shop that's doing my engine said that it can be bored to .060 over and still be within specs. Charles, from M-series Rebuild, said it would be better to have it sleeved and go back to standard sized pistons. I agree with his logic, but opted for the .060 overbore on mine due to my limited budget and shortened life expectancy. I figure it will last at least as long as I do.

The crank can be built up and then reground to original specs, too, if you want to spend the money to have it done. I don't know what it would cost these days, but it will probably be a bit on the expensive side. (It cost me 50 bucks to have it done to a Ford flahead V8 about 40 years ago.)

You haven't mentioned brake issues, but other people have from time to time, so I'll share this little tidbit with you: master cylinders and wheel cylinders can also be bored out and sleeved if replacements can't be found. My neighbor's father-in-law went that route when he restored an old Willys-Knight touring car, and the brakes work great.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Lifer, have you checked to see how much more it would cost to install cast iron sleeves? Shouldn't be a great deal more cost other than the actual sleeve cost since you are having to get into boring anyway. May be that it could still be a consideration for you if it falls within the budget. We had some problems finding .060" over parts a few months back, I would suggest checking on availability of these parts before taking action.

[steved]

Thanks for the replies,

I was just out looking at it...actually put a tarp on it a little better than the 5 minute job I did last night.

I took the plugs out and poured some oddball manual trans oil (some extra I had) in each hole...not sure this will help, but it made me feel better. I believe the # is T245-87898, and it is 0.040 bore, 0.020 mains, and 0.040 rods. I'll have to locate the tag on my existing engine and see what the rebuild specs are for that one, then decide which parts/pieces can be reused.

Lets see, it has everything but the OE distributor, the carb, water pump, and water distribution tube...got the fuel pump, starter, generator, oil filter, and water neck. Plus the bellhousing, clutch (fried), pressure plate, and flywheel (not fried?). I actually think I got a bunch of miscellaneous pieces from a mix of M37 and dodge civilian car/truck.

The main thing is I have something I can start rebuilding...

steved