Starting the journey to rebuild a 1953 M37. I have long been looking for a 50's Power Wagon and ran across this in the back of a photo for some farm equipment. A 2 hour journey, and a handshake later, she was on my trailer and on the way to her new life.
Here is the first post.
So far i've cleaned 20 years of dust off, pulled the damaged (but present) canvas cover off, and removed the rats nest infested old upholstery.
I'm a big fellow so i started removing the bed to more easily access the rest of the back end. This thing is nearly rust free except the square tube and the rear of the bed where presumably water got trapped and rusted through.
Congrats on the acquisition, now the fun begins!
(I'm being a bit ironic too)
xperthunter wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:17 pm....is nearly rust free except the square tube
If you're talking about the tool box on the bed don't stress out, usually is a mess after decades. Mine was destroyed, and after rebuild I've put special attention with the epoxy right there.
Regarding the year, the delivery date is not matching the serial: #80017370 should be dropping within the January 1952 range. But hey, nothing is 100% accurate on this MVs, don't worry.
Posting an update here.
2023 and 2024 were eaten up with a divorce.
2026 kicked off by launching a new company. So this truck sat quietly in the garage. Now it's had some fun!
Ownership: having to file a Court case for a Declatory Judgement to legally own this. The truck was never titled and I've lost the bill of sale. That's set for Sept 5 2025. Then I have to get a Highway patrol inspection to prove to the state it has no vin number (yeah I know...the fact it predates the VIN system is lost on the Dept of Transportation/Revenue).
Next: Batteries. I read here a lot. Here is reality. The 2NF originals no one makes. There is one company selling dry NOS you can buy. Battery Group 51 is closest fit, need a 1x4 or 1x6 spacer to fit the hold down. I'll post pictures later.
Spark Plugs: waterproof originals are nearly non existent as they have been out of manufacturing for decades. I have 2 new ones and 6 used if anyone is looking. I went with adapters.
Engine: was always turnable by hand, popped out the spark plugs, put a bit of ATF in and worked it to look the pistons and tings
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