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I found this truck in January, previous owner and his father had rescued it from a pig farm here in Northern Wisconsin about 15 years ago I drove it home 60+ miles in the snow. Ran great the whole way, the gauges are disconnected because wires were deteriorating, speedometer not connected either.
I have been told on another forum the bed is off an earlier M37??? Missing the rest of the tire carrier for the door, four blade fan, and the hardtop is likely off something else. Runs and drives well, will be a parade vehicle and something to enjoy with wife and my teenagers... occasionally drive to work/school or out for a trail ride.
Welcome to the forum, PTW...! That looks like a nice truck! Please add it here via the Registry link if you haven't yet done so. I'm not aware of any "earlier" M37 bed unless they meant a 1st series versus a B1 bed. Please add your location (State at least) so we know where to assist in routing you for parts vendors when you need them.
Glad to have you with us!
Gary
Cal_Gary
1954 M37 W/W
MVPA Correspondent #28500
G741.org Forum member since 2004
Thanks Gary, some discussion that the bed was off an M37 (rather than a B1). It doesn't appear to be butchered and the wood platform between the bed and cab is actually convenient. It never had data plates on the door, so I am not sure if it only got so far as a cab and chassis in the military. I realize there weren't many M56 frames out there in total, so some people will scrutinize any mods it has.
How we got it:
The tires are severely checked, but they held air all winter. I have ordered some Trailworthy Fab rims and 37x12.5 Goodyear Mts as an interim solution.
Dash gauges disconnected by previous owner, so I have a new spider harness to put in
Winch works
Spotlight works
Starts, runs and drives after sitting.
I am putting a split exhaust on with stacks, as the current exhaust blows right someone climbing in (and troops in the back).
Selectro locking hubs on order, thought that might help with steering the larger tires and takes some strain off the front drive assembly.
We plan to drive and slowly clean up, replace missing bolts, spray a panel at a time while we enjoy this spring/summer.
One of our local guys spliced in the front of a second m37 bed to an existing bed and made a long bed truck with two toolboxes. Might be an idea for you to try.
A lot of goodies on your truck. Enjoy!
I see you are planning on making a lot of modifications, would suggest that you keep in consideration the extreme rarity of the truck when doing so. I know it is yours to do with what you want but at least keep the original parts and try to make the modifications reversible. Somebody might even be willing to trade you a ready modified M37 for that truck as it sits.
Hi Rick, I have considered the rarity and would certainly be open to a trade for a repowered or modded M37. The mods I have planned are all reversible:
Tires and rims- hanging on to the originals
Hubs - hanging on to originals in my 4x4 kit bag (always nice if you break a selectable hub)
Exhaust- always can be changed back. Exhausts need replacing and the one on it is not NOS. I am going to split a manifold, but original manifolds are easy to come by.
Yes, CCKW top needs some attention. That appears to be a common theme... I plan to pull it off this summer and do some cleanup, source new hardware, weatherstripping, etc and make it a bit better. Relatively speaking it is fine, but any Arctic top would be nicer in Northern Wisconsin
rickf wrote:Original manifolds are easy to come by? I must be looking in the wrong places because the only ones I have found are almost 500.00!!!
Well, if you are in the market I am sure you can put an ad in the swap meet section. Stock 230 manifolds are not rare to me. If it bothers you make me a trade offer, everything has a price. For me, adding a dump plate to my stock manifold at the heat exchanger makes sense. In the future, a blank plate could be put on and it is basically back to stock. These vehicles were never meant to be concourse vehicles, so to me that is more incorrect than a functional mod. Collector versus User...
I am sure a few more horses could be found with dual intake, headers, etc but I am looking for a happy medium that is easily reversed. I like the balance of where my build is going.
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