M37 Paint Scheme

[sturmtyger380]

Well after working on other peoples projects and things that just come up I am ready to start tearing down my M37 for rebuild.

The rear tail gate somehow escaped getting painted white by the Forestry Commission. So I studied it and decided it looks like the 4 color camouflage that was used in the 1970's.

Since my club already has 3 M37''s painted OD and an M715 painted the later OD color I was thinking of sanding down the white paint to try and find the MERDC camouflage scheme, documenting it and then trying to replicate it on the rebuilt truck. Below are some photos to look over. What do you guys think? OD or MERDC?

Tail gate as found:



MERDC outlined:



Under the drivers fender you can see some of the MERDC, (Although not well defined.) and where it has flaked off the original OD color:



What MERDC is:

http://olive-drab.com/od_mvg_camo_tc5-200.php

[vtdeucedriver]

Think outside the box and go different........................I cant complain.

[sturmtyger380]

The manual for the MERDC camouflage has instructions for painting the canvas that covers the cab and cargo cover.

I am not sure if I can bring myself to paint the canvas.

[52 M-42]

Many decades ago I had my truck painted in the camo pattern of the time (mid 1980's). I'll see if I can find a photo and scan it and post it. The canvas is not painted, but it is on the truck so you will get to see what it looks like.

Personally, I like the 4 color woodland camo paint job better than the plain O.D. Maybe someday it will get changed again.

52 M-42

[sturmtyger380]

The mid 1980's would be the three color camouflage that came out in 1980 right after the 4 color.

I am sure my truck was out of the service by then. I have no idea why they switched in 1980. Change in leadership I guess.

[k8icu]

I think 52 M-42 was saying that in the Mid 80s he painted his truck MERDC Cammo. Not that his truck was paint MERDC Cammo in the 80s by the Army....

Don't paint the canvas. Even though the manual said paint it and gave the specs for it. Paint does not stick to the canvas all that well and it looks crappy. Don't worry about the canvas. No active, reserve or guard unit painted it.

I think the M37 looks good in 4 color cammo. It's different and you don't see many painted that way. Go for it.

[52 M-42]

Here are those old pictures I was talking about. I cropped and enlarged the pictures so hopefully you can see the camo pattern.

The pattern is the 1970's pattern camo. A friend of mine painted for me way back in the day.

[sturmtyger380]

That looks nice. I will start sanding the white paint down instead of stripping or blasting. That way I can figure out the pattern.

The GI that painted it did not follow the manual that close if you compare my tailgate to that of the pattern for the M715.

Alan

[sturmtyger380]

Well after working on anything but my M37, during the second half of 2015 I decided to focus on the truck.

I have taken off all of the front end down to the engine and the radiator housing.

Now I have to decide if the engine is okay or does it need a rebuild. So got it running and let it warm up and did the compression check like the manual said. Here are the results:

Dry - #1 94, #2 85, #3 90, #4 82, #5 96, #6 95

With Oil - #1 94, #2 89, #3 99, #4 99, #5 106, #6 115

No where near normal. I guess the next step is to pull the head and see what the gasket looks like and how much ridge there is in the cylinders. Thoughts?

[T. Highway]

Alan,

Glad to hear that your back to working on the M37, engine compression is definitely low. Valves may not be seating / sealing. How long since it last was running?

Keep us posted on your progress.

Bert

[jim lee]

Thoughts? Save headache and cash. Order rebuilt long block from Midwest. Takes < 2 weeks to get. Swap out yours, strap it to the pallet and away it goes back as a core. Go driving.

What I did, and it worked out slicker n' slick! ( So far )

-jim lee

[sturmtyger380]

It's been a couple of years since this trucks engine was running. Even then it would go but when you hit 3rd gear it would start bogging. I never figured out if that was the carb or the engine. For two weeks before starting it I would pull out a plug and spray some PB Blaster and let it sit in the cylinder.

Before this start I dug into the distributor and found the points plate was flopping around. So I had to fashion some new ears to hold it in place. While in there I replaced the points and condenser. To the old trucks credit after about 4 turns of the engine she fired right up. The engine was loping until it got warmed up and the plugs were already black sooty looking when I pulled them for the test.

Rebuild tag on the passenger side of the engine says. Standard / Ala. US National Guard / April 73. (So it got its MERDC cammo honestly.) So the truck was in service in the mid 70's before it went to the Alabama Forestry Commission. Then that's where I think it got its drivers front damage from running into something.

I ran the engine for 10 to 15 minutes and it was hot but not burning to the touch when I ran the test. So you think I need to run it longer and test again?

Once I see how much ridge there is at the top of the cylinder I can decide my next moves. Alan