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The front fell off.


The two younger kids and I managed to get the engine uncovered. Working on a truck with step by step instructions is.. Different. Actually a lot quicker. Takes all the "should we do it this way" thinking time out of the process. The poor kids really needed this. No idea how to hold wrenches, got all exited when they thought they broke a washer.

"Look this one split!"

"Huh? No, that's a lock washer."

But they learn quick. It came down to looking at the manual, selecting what was to come off. I'd break the bolts loose if they were really frozen and they' pull 'em out. Then I showed them the importance of threading the bolts back in their holes loose so as to not get 'em mixed up. They learned about fine & coarse threads. If we get no further than this, at least they got a taste.

As I feared, the scope of this project is already growing. The wiring is so old and cooked its all crispy and falling to bits. To keep it together is like handling old lace. But then, what's the point? Not like crispy wiring is very reliable..

-jim lee

That's how these things go. Since you are "there" already, why not fix that "little problem" now; but fixing it you see another little problem you might as well fix. It goes on and on.

You have a whole winter to work on the truck with the kids and a place to do it.

Enjoy! It should be a lot of fun and they will learn a lot and remember this time with Dad for years to come.

52 M-42

GOOD MORNING,
My M developed a knock after two years of great performance, still cant figure out why. I pulled the eng/trans without pulling the fenders,was not bad at all. #6 connecting rod bearing was the culprit. When I pulled the piston I found a broken ring, so I pulled all the pistons, the rest were fine. I sent the crank out to get cut, replaced rod, and main, clutch pressure plate, throw out bearing, water pump and anythging else I thought might give me problems down the road.
I also checked all the bores for out of round and tolerance. all good.
She now runs great, or she did till she got wet from SANDY, but she will again.
GOOD LUCK BOB

Charles,
First off I'd like to wish you and all the G members and their loved ones a Merry Christmas and a great new year. I pulled the #1 piston out of the M37 today and looked at the rings, the 3rd ring from the top, an oil control ring did not expand at all when the piston was removed from the bore and it barely moves around with my fingers, seems to be very sticky, the other 3 rings expanded and freely move in their slots. The 2 oil control rings are supposed to be the same part # but they are different, the sticky ring is the 3 piece type and the bottom ring is the single type. The piston was painted OD and has !-252 stamped on top. Could the sticky oil control ring cause the compression loss? Any thoughts?

Thank You,
Bob R

Starting out the two younger kids. We need to pull off the front.



First hurtle, We don't have a breaker bar big enough for her. So, I break the bolts loose, the kids run 'em out.



First bolt. See? You can do this!



Diggin' in..



After MUCH head scratching and arguments.. The driver's fender finally came loose. this side was tough! It did not want to lift up over the mount in the rear.



Pulling the grill bolts was a big mistake.



They really couldn't believe they did it.


A few days later..

Brought the entire family down to the shop for a "little" task. All we want to do is remove the gearbox cover. One hour tops.



Ok everyone, lets get busy..


Pullin' bolts.



Pulling the winch lever off..



Looking for a bigger wrench.



The oldest has one thing at least going for her, she is determined! Actually, she's been pushing for this project for a long time. So she went in and started tearing bolts out.



The youngest pulling out what she can.



Struggling with bolts went on for a long time. Why did they bolt this down with huge fine thread bolts? What a nightmare to pull apart! What were they thinking?



This was ma's idea so let her have a go too. Pullin' waterproof plug wires.



Allie wrenchin' Danny watching. Actually Dan started doing the strong arm, breaking the bolts free for Allie.



Pulling off the gear shift.



By this time Allie was swearing. That was a suprise for all of us. Allie! Goodness girl!

Just about every bolt had to be fought out the entire way. The rear left corner was the worst. It stripped its threads and just spun. In the end I pried up the floor a little so it could engage its threads. This worked until it galled and I ended up snapping it off.


Ma pulling out the starter button.


And after WAY more time than I figured on. It was done! There's the gearbox.

"Whats the gearbox? Is the transmission and the gearbox the same thing?"

"Yes, same thing."

"Oh cool, I guessed it right."



Clean up and head home..

Merry Christmas everyone!

-Next time I'll make the pix smaller.

-jim lee

O.K Jim, here is what you are facing. I don't know how many kids you have, but you are going to need more M-37s. Every one of your kids is going to want "Dad's M-37" when you die.

Sorry, that's the way it is. Everyone will remember "working on Dad's truck" and will want it.

So, start looking for more M-37s now (trust me on this, I have a son and a daughter).

Great family project, but there are costs.

52 M-42

Jim,
You have a lot of labor saving devices in your garage!

Jim,

Those pictures are great, your whole family getting into the truck tear down and repair is priceless. The picture of Allie swearing made my wife laugh, she claims I've done the same during the tear down of our truck.

Bert

HaHaHaHa..... You know you're working on an M37 when even the girls curse (Ann has been known to let the odd @#*^%$ go when we had the truck stripped and reassembling it). You won't regret letting the grill separate as when it comes to reassembly you'll have a bastard of a time putting the guards on as hooking over mounts and bolts plus getting other parts in place might even cause Ma to say something out of sorts for her. With enough troops (which you seem to have) you might be able to get it on in one go but I suspect, like when I put the front of mine back together it'll be easier to lift each guard on, loosley bolt it in, fit the grill section and start pulling it all into shape. Let us know how you go and thanks for the pics, no need to resize, they were fine

MM

8543bob wrote:GOOD MORNING,
My M developed a knock after two years of great performance, still cant figure out why. I pulled the eng/trans without pulling the fenders,was not bad at all. #6 connecting rod bearing was the culprit. When I pulled the piston I found a broken ring, so I pulled all the pistons, the rest were fine. I sent the crank out to get cut, replaced rod, and main, clutch pressure plate, throw out bearing, water pump and anythging else I thought might give me problems down the road.
I also checked all the bores for out of round and tolerance. all good.
She now runs great, or she did till she got wet from SANDY, but she will again.
GOOD LUCK BOB

Thanks, I hope your newly refreshed engine stayed above the water line! I hope not too much damage was done to the homestead.
Bob R

I just realised you were talking about the floor pan bolts with the fine thread thing binding problems, mine were an absolute dog to get out as even with the threads cleaned I think the previous owner had wound them out and back in with dirt in the thread causing them to bind on the way out, back in is another horror story, if a floorpan removal is needed in the future I'll be running an UNC tap to suit through there and putting more practical bolts in.

MM

jimlee,
It looks like you have a good crew there. I enjoyed your tear down, looking forward to the rebuild!
Rich

Thanks all! They are still enjoying themselves on this. We're hoping to get in there tomorrow and pull off some more bits. I'm thinking I'd be better of getting a cherry picker for lifting out the motor. This way we can move it about once its out. And an engine stand.. Or maybe just an engine stand and.. Anyway, the tear down has only just begin.

52 m-42 : We were having a boxing day dinner this evening and the kids started talking about working on the truck. Then the youngest one, Shelby asked about the Carryalls we'd looked at earlier this summer. Could we restore those? There's two '42 carryalls in our area on the Dodge Power Wagon classifieds we'd went to look at 'em. last summer. They were the first project trucks the kids had seen and they were pretty rough. So I told them that IF we were successful with the M37, then sure, we could try doing the carryalls and all three kids could have army trucks to take to school. That got them riled up.

This is VERY early on in the project and talk is cheap.

-jim lee

What a family project and Carry-Alls too! How was the Boxing Day Dinner?

Happy Boxing Day

That's great news, Jim. Get them hooked now on military vehicle restoration and you'll have a family fleet in no time. Carryalls are very cool vehicles and also very similar to M-37 running gear, but not as complex.

Looks like this is turning into a wonderful family project.

52 M-42