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I am pretty fortunate with my own summer acquisition of a M42. For the past quarter century it was owned and maintained and garaged by a chap in NE, and before that, likewise apparently well taken care of by an earlier owner. Hence it is very original, lacking only the radio's and is rust free, other than some superficial rust at the rear fender seams. I can tell it had one repaint, being a Dec '52 build. The winch seems to work, but only to test, as it likely empty of lubrication. It does have a little "wander" on the highway. Well, anyway, I have decided to have the engine, which has a bit low compression on several cylinders, rebuilt by Charles at his place up in very rural NC, about two hours from me, since I live just south of Charlotte. I just drove up to talk with him, and tour his shop, and he reviewed how he does his engines, and a time-line to have it back to me. When done, my engine will be in better shape that was available to Dodge when they put it together over a half century ago. My plan is to keep it all OEM, other than inside the motor. Partly to save costs to me, and also to allow me to continue to work on the restoration (mostly paint) of my truck I am in the process of taking the motor out, and will likely rent a small trailer to take it up to him, after making up some sort of engine cradle. I bought an engine hoist on sale at Northern Tool, easy to assemble, and used it to lift off my winch yesterday. Fortunately, being rust-free, the fasteners of the fenders and so forth are easy to unbolt. I do put a quick squirt of Kano on them just to be sure. After I get the engine up to Charles, the next project is to lift off the bed, to allow easier access to replace the fuel and brake lines, and clean up the frame.
Wish me luck.....
NAM VET
Engine Rebuild Decision
Moderators: Cal_Gary, T. Highway, Monkey Man, robi
Re: Engine Rebuild Decision
You might consider re-posting this over in the Builder's Blog section, and then maintaining a running narrative (with photos, of course!) of the work on your truck.
“When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, IT IS THEIR RIGHT, IT IS THEIR DUTY, TO THROW OFF SUCH GOVERNMENT...” -Declaration of Independence, 1776
Re: Engine Rebuild Decision
just move it there, thanks for the suggestion.
NV
NV