New member - 1952 M37

[murano3]

Truck is back home, very nice to drive with the freehubs and feel alot safer with indicators. Next jobs are to repaint a number of areas since repairing rust - struggling to source correct 24087 semi gloss paint here in the UK - sending off samples of current paint work to get some mixes.

Jobs completed :
Grease nipples replaced where needed to allow full service.
New tie rod ends.
New Freehubs painted and fitted.
Radiator removed due to leaks, fixed and refitted.
Indicators fitted - use the 7 wire signal stat and the indicator covers from midwestmilitary for front and M151 indicators for the rear.
Replaced battery connectors and fitted power isolator to save me having to lift seat every time.
Hand Throttle cable re-replaced.
New speedo fitted BUT cable then snapped 0.4 miles into my journey so next job.
Repair rust on both front wings.

Little video I made on a recent journey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXDsOm0 ... e=youtu.be
(Note squeaky window - anyone had to repair? - it appears to be coming from the top of the drivers pane. I guess replacing all of the window rubbers and hinge will fix it... job for later)

So as mentioned, need to rub down and repaint a couple of areas, steam cleaning removed lots of old paint underneath so currently have a white front underside with some blue from it's previous US Airforce life.




Oh and now for some odd reason my passenger window doesn't open, so need to strip that down shortly, but that said, loving my truck. Oh and to add, I filled her up to the brim only to find a hole in the filler pipe at the top but luckily found a spare pipe for it in my 'spares' box .. guess previous owner had planned to fix that !! .. but all good now

[T. Highway]

Ben,

Thanks for the ride along video.

Bert

[ashyers]

Ben,
Fun video. I liked the crew in the van waving at you. How do you like the M37's turning radius on those narrow streets .

Andy

[Cal_Gary]

That's a cool video Ben! I found myself looking past the hood trying to stay within those narrow lanes with you!
Thanks for sharing!
Gary

[murano3]

With the new tierods and freehubs it steers lovely, driving through that village was also fine, the video does make it look more intense than it was - not sure if you saw that as I enter the village a car pulled out on me hence my quick left and then right action. The speed also wasn't any higher than 20mph through.

The other fun aspect is our back roads are basically a car width with passing points - now in my Audi no one wants to pull in so one of you has to reverse back to the passing point; in the M37, they see you, eyes go wide, and they dive into the passing points - obviously think an M37 is going to eat their little car so I can just drive on. I have made a mental note to plan journey's with no junctions on hills as reaching for the handbrake means I can't see out of the window at the some time - right side can be a bit blind.

It is much easier to drive the truck on our dual carriageways, only real risk is cars coming up the outside at 60-70 mph - BUT I think you would struggle not to see the beast.

[murano3]

Ben,
Fun video. I liked the crew in the van waving at you. How do you like the M37's turning radius on those narrow streets .

Andy

a 3 point turn is more of a 7 point turn and my shoulders ache afterwards - essentially don't set yourself up to have to make a super tight turn.

[murano3]

for interest, as I use a dashcam in my road cars, I stuck one of my spare ones in the M37 - aukey dash dr02. The footage from the bonnet was produced with it. The dashcam is 12v but I ran it from a portable battery pack - will make it so much easier to explain how I have a small hatchback attached to my bumper etc.

[murano3]

So, slowly working through the truck - fixed Horn, Oil Presure Gauge, working to resolve creaking windscreen with new hinge and throughly cleaned channel.
I have also been prepping and painting in my new colour - it is a mix that a couple of us in the UK have been using - it takes time to go off but will look right when fully hardened and then covered in dust

So, what began as a simple painting out the unit markings turned into a hell, I will repaint the whole truck

[murano3]

[murano3]

[murano3]

No pics of windscreen work, they will follow soon. I will do all 4 road wheels next (the one I did was my spare), then the hard decision is to spray or handpaint, I am really impressed how nice hand painting looks, it would make it slower but then I can work on a panel at a time. My truck's finish is a combination of sprayed and handpainting so it doesn't really make much odds.

I have discovered by the area's that weren't painted previously that my truck has been Blue, then Yellow, then Blue, then Green, then OD - but as i am working on it a section at a time I can clean and prep and paint those hard to reach areas. I know no one can see it, but I will know

I also need to replace the speedo cable, the fuel sender, the water temp gauge, the drivers seat base .... you know the story, there is always something to want to tidy up. Just remembered window rubbers and cab rubbers also. I have also started painting Cab components.

I find it very relaxing sanding, undercoating and painting then seeing the dried results the next morning.

[Cal_Gary]

Great pictures Ben! My M37 bed has caught much of the same stuff you are carrying, at various points since I've owned it.
Gary

[sturmtyger380]

Yep, just need to fix some paint, repair some wires and BOOM, the next thing the truck is all in pieces and everything needs to be rebuilt!

[murano3]

Yep, just need to fix some paint, repair some wires and BOOM, the next thing the truck is all in pieces and everything needs to be rebuilt!

So true I noticed it is still blue lower in the engine bay ....... must resist, but it's only a few bolts to undo ......

[murano3]

Great pictures Ben! My M37 bed has caught much of the same stuff you are carrying, at various points since I've owned it.
Gary

cheers Gary, I try to remember it is a marathon and not a sprint ..... as to my load, there is a mint small GP tent in there, 3 deck chairs, my mermite beer cooler, all of the canvas, tools, spare parts, spare spare parts, us army table, everything I need for a weekend at a show.

I am quite excited about getting the rear deck cleaned, prepped and painted, also thinking fresh wood would be nice too.