Another trip attempt!

[jim lee]

I'm going to attempt to drive the M37 from Anacortes to Ellinsburg tomorrow. About 200 miles one way,

The planned route : https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Anacort ... b1!3e0!4e1

WOW! what a long URL!

Anyway, if you find yourself near the route and find a broken down M37 on the side of the street, it'll probably be me.

Wish me luck!

-jim lee

[Cal_Gary]

Indeed! Good Luck! The most I've gone at present is around 40 miles. Let us know how it goes, and don't forget your camera!
Gary

[Elwood]

The map says your estimated transit time is 4 hours, eleven minutes. That's one fast M37!

[52 M-42]

Let me know how it goes and if you need a recovery. You should still have my cell number.

Good Luck and take some pictures so that we know it happened.

[rixm37]

looks like a great drive ! Good luck !

[RMS]

looks like a fun trip. i would be tempted to turn off the #2 @ nf 6700 and take the little wenatchee river rd around lake wenatchee but only if it requires 4wd

[Gerry]

Looks like a beautiful ride. Good luck!

[Jess]

Jim, that will be a great drive especially this time of the year. I have been the round trip on 20 and 2, and Leavenworth and Winthrop were great places to stop over. Beautiful scenery all along the way. Have a safe adventure both ways. Pictures are always appreciated....

Jess

[jim lee]

Early morning start. Early for me at least. A couple things came together to make me want to do this. First was the fact that I'd been running 24-7 at work for a few weeks and it was time for a break. Second, my son Dan was doing his first year at college. His best buddy had dropped out and he was feeling a bit homesick and low. He needed a boost.



Gassing up in Anacortes.



Last stop was the shop (Left Coast) grab some tools and top off the engine oil.



Finally, on the road! Highway 20 heading out of Anacortes.



Somewhere else..



Highway 9. Most of these pix were snapped and used in text messages to the wife n kiddies who were following the progress.



Highway 2. Yes, I overshot and had to U turn back. I was informed, during my U turn, loudly, from a young driver that I had a "Bad assed truck." Well thank you sir!



Running up highway 2. I missed a lot of really good shots. Taking pix while driving an M37 is really tough!



Gassing up before attempting the climb over the pass. This is where I discovered I had a fuel tank leak. Figuring it was only leaking when full.. Running up the pass should solve the problem in the fastest manner.



Made it over the summit, turning onto Highway 97. Actually made it over the summit in high gear. Just barely. I was all proud of the old truck. We hit the summit at about 34 mph huffing & puffin the entire way.



Climbing up to the next summit. The scenery on this rout was really pretty. My quickly snapped pictures just don't do it justice. Next time I'll take Julie (The wife) along as photographer.



Windmills! Geting close to Elensburg!



Success! Dan's dorm!



Dan driving around Elensburg.



Then it broke down. We spent ALL sunday working on the poor thing. Talked to 52 M-42 on the phone. I wanted a second opinion on what I was seeing. His take on it was most likely a daed coil. Made sense, it seems like this is a weak spot in the design. My hope was something easy like a loose fuel pump. 'Cause I'd noticed oil seeping onto it earlier. My actual guess was gunk in carb. The truck has a history of this and it was running like a gummed up carb. So-so idle, no power. Getting at the coil is such a nightmare so.. First, check fuel pump, nope everything's fine there. Next was a complete carb overhaul to clean out the fine grit. There was fine grit in there, but it wasn't the problem.



Julie showed up later in the afternoon to give me a ride home. We were still workin on it. Check the coil? Nope, checks out fine.. Had to buy a volt/ohm meter to check the coil. Check points? Fine.. Last desperate measure, I sanded the points down with a fingernail file. No hope left at all. I only did it to cover all the bases. Hit the starter and Vola! All fixed! What-ever! So I left the truck with Dannyboy and hopped a ride home with Julie. Dan needed something fun and was all excited to have the truck to play with for awhile.

So all in all the trip was a great success! I got my adventure. Dan and I got to spend a day together working on the truck. Dan now has something to both motivate and distract him from doing schoolwork.

What fun!

-jim lee

[T. Highway]

Jim Lee,

How long did it take you to make that trip one way in the M?

Bert

[jim lee]

The trip took about 5 hours. I was expecting 7 maybe 10 hours so it was a real surprise for me there. I've never been in the way of more people in my life!

I noticed a few interesting things. First of all I'm using backroads, and on top of that I'm grinding along in a machine that's more.. In the environment? I'm not blasting along at warp 10 down the freeway in a push button capsule. You see more! Yeah, I guess that makes sense, but I was surprised at the effect it had on me. I was doing a lot of looking around thinking "Wow look at that, how cool!".

People following me. I'd look back one minute and it would be all clear. Next thing I know, I have like eight or more stacked up. I feel bad, find the first wide shoulder and pull off to let them by, still driving. Sometimes they wouldn't go. Or when they did, it was really slow and tentative. I'm all "Get going! I'm running out of shoulder to drive on. What's wrong with you!?" I think what was going on was other slow drivers picking up packs of cars. Their car can go the limit, but they ain't up for it. So when they have to pass someone, its really tough on 'em.

I had a lot of time to think.

Canvas tops smell nice but.. After about 3 1/2 hours it was flapping in the wind like a cheap tent in a storm. This came on so slowly I didn't notice. About hour 4 The strap that holds the roof to the belt thing came off and landed in my lap. I nearly jumped out of my skin! Thought some sort of animal had gotten in and was going to attack me. I asked 52 M-42 about the roof 'cause he's done a lot of distance driving in his machine. He told me that the canvas stretches and you have to stop now and then to retighten them. Upon hearing that I was all, "Oh duh! Of course, makes sense" At the time I was wondering what was going on. Never had a car change shape on me in the past.

How did the truck work? I'm really wondering what made the points fail. Other than that, the engine ran fine. When we were doing the rebuild we had it balanced and its really smooth. But I think the gearbox is going. There's stuff going on in there that seems to be getting louder. I'm wondering if I should pick up a rebuildable core and get it ready just in case, or maybe look into a NOS one? Its the gearbox that makes me consider bringing it home on a trailer this time. Then of course the brakes need adjustment. We're all used to pumping them once when using them but I'd really like to get them working better. The steering is ok, but do all the M37s take off to follow cracks the the road? Mine sure does.

Dan texted me today, turns out one of the girls that he hangs out with, her dad max an M37! Small world! He sent a picture of it.

-jim lee

[Hal O'Peridol]

Jim, if the dwell is too long it can burn the points. Is the dwell set to standard?

Dwell meters can be hard to find nowdays. I found one at a local flea market. Garage sales are good to, just stay away from the ones where you see nothing but baby clothes and Little Tykes toys.

I have a 6/12 volt battery charger, volt/ohm meter, and a timing light.

I can use almost all for the vehicles I have, the 6v GPW, the 12v converted M1009 and the M37. Just cant use the tining light on 6v. Hve to have a 12v battery next to the GPW to use it.

[Cal_Gary]

What a fantastic trip! I wish I could get up my big hill doing 34MPH! Mine ends up in 2nd gear and 10MPH on those 10% grades.

Funny, I was thinking about a points file the other day since I've not yet converted to the Pertronix unit. Looks like I better pick one up (file) since it's much less expensive than the electronic ignition unit.

Thanks for the great pictures and the adventurous story!
Gary

[T. Highway]

Jim Lee,

Thanks for sharing the story about the trip, I had to chuckle when reading the comment about people passing by slowly when they have the chance to scream by at warp speed. At first my wife was a bit intimidated traveling slow down the road in the old green trucks, I guess she felt that we would get run over or something. We enjoy cruising at a slower pace on the back roads also, I told the Mrs. that its for our safety but really I'm using the back roads to look for more OD equipment parked in the weeds.

Bert

[jim lee]

So I've been getting texts & calls about issues with the M37. Son never did learn anything about mechanics and is now buried trying to keep the truck working. It sure is tough trying to figure out what's going wrong over text messages. He did send a video today illustrating his latest misfiring issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMHrd14 ... e=youtu.be

I'm thinking something is cooking the points. Sounds just like last time. I have a Petronix unit at the shop, I may run down there and install it for the poor kid.

One question though,Anyone know the size of the screws that hold down the cap of the distributer? I'd like to swap em out for allen heads so they'll be easier to work with. Getting at the slot heads is a nightmare.

thanks!

-jim lee