My 1952 Dodge M37 re-building process

[Argie1978]

It's actual glass, John. To be honest I don't care at this moment about the paint. Look at it, it's a bad job done with a brush. I will sandblast the lights for removing it. But the glass must remain good for the blackouts. And indeed I've been thinking on some soft chemicals (the one you pointed out looks fine -no silicone-, but unfortunately is not shipped to Europe).
But before the sandblasting I will proceed as described by Rob, dismantling the light and taking out the lenses. In the end this is easy compared to other stuff that is on the list.

Thanks for the tips, of course I will update you guys here.

Sebas

[greeno]

You can dunk the lenses in carburetor cleaner to strip old paint.

[PoW]

With your lights, as will all the tactical light of the era, clear glass was used for the fronts, red for the rear.

All the blackout parts were plastic, so age and abuse really took it's toll on them.

The later "round" lights went to plastic lenses, usually yellow in the front.

Not to be confused with the much later "oblong" or composite lights.

New internals are available on eBay for the round lights.

PoW

[Argie1978]

I'm going to the shop this week and do a re-check. From the outside seems glass (it's thick, solid). But I'd never argue with you guys here.
Back to topic, during the last days of march, now with all the truck dismantled the sandblasting took place.

First some assorted pics.....








The signs I had to put all over the place to marks additional steel to take off.

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Look at the supports on the member (left, close to the wheel) to help the bed deal with the winch's weight.

After sandblasting was done:





Hard time getting rid of that roof. Welded 'till the bone.
No work done during April. A week ago the chassis got painted and that's the last thing about it.
Still no sign of the tailgate. The engine waiting for parts (pistons, connecting rods, etc...). And the electrical part is going to be big too.
The truck will turn 70 in June, no time for a birthday parade.
Hey, if someone is interested in that Braden, let me know. I need to clean it a bit to discover the model No. but mind is not the standard.
Cheers,

Sebastian

[Argie1978]

Update pics.











The corrosion under the paint is notorious but salvageable (hard work tho). This week the shop started applying epoxi on the preserved parts and fixing the ugly ones.

Sebastian

[PoW]

When you put love into the truck, it will love you back.

PoW

[Cal_Gary]

You're making progress, Sebastian-nice work!
Gary

[greeno]

Saw a package heading to a shop in Spain this morning at Midwest; you must be the only person in Spain restoring an M37!

[Argie1978]

....you must be the only person in Spain restoring an M37!

LOL. I haven't ordered stuff in like 2 months. I think all 37s here belong to Catalonian owners (there's actually a MV club over there).
I should buy a few things, but I'm running short of budget and this is the panorama for the next months: SLOW

Some pics of the metal work...




Sebastian

[Argie1978]

Some short update.
After epoxi was applied....




An then one day, finally, the tailgate arrived!


I've also edites my previous entries here to focus on the rebuild experience and pictures.

Sebastian

[Cal_Gary]

Great work Sebastian!
Gary

[808morgan]

Nice, I have a 52' as well and we have had delays with working on it but we are starting to get going again so I'm excited. I put some pictures in a post in the builders blog.

[John Mc]

Sebastian, I've been wondering how this project was going. Any updates?

[Argie1978]

Any updates?

Hi John, thanks for asking. Actually not too much to say.
I am currently in Argentina visiting the family for the holidays. So no too many photos with me.
After 3 months of not doing anything, during November we tried to restore the bed's floor (removing the winch left a big hole), and had a hard time reproducing the 1mm bending.



We had steel already bended for a power wagon restomod but the patching was not correct, the "channels" were too narrow and deep.
I mean, it was actually there, a free floor to be used, but it gave me that taste of not being true to the original. So after 2 months looking, I ended ordering a floor from VPW. It's true embarrassing I couldn't locate a proper shop to mimic the original.
But the real problem has been the engine. The shop where I sent the motor had problems working on the crankshaft, so they sent the piece to a more "professional" service and kept telling me for months they had delays receiving parts from the US, which I found unacceptable as pieces I order from Midwest, DeBella, etc never took more than 12 days to arrive. Truth is this third party literally lost the crankshaft and for some time they were unable to locate it.
As soon as I was informed about this I started threatening with legal effects and seems some magic happened: the piece was found.
I traveled here one day after I received the engine from them so I couldn't even saw it sitting on the frame.
Let's see in January. Hope 2023 provides a faster pace for this endeavor.
Merry X-Mas everyone!!!

[Cal_Gary]

Keep the updates coming Sebastian-thanks!
Gary