My 1953 Air Force M37 Build Blog

[vtdeucedriver]

Hi Guys,

Here are some pics of the firewall insulation padding in my AF M37. The padding looks to be made of three layers of paper hardboard followed by what looks like layers of corrugated cardboard. I picked up the firewall insulation set from John at Midwest last year.........opened the box....and wasn't impressed...........looks like posterboard I can get at Micheal's craft supply for a buck a sheet. I put it in the corner and will deal with it later down the road, as I'm no where close to that phase of the project. I figure worst case I can use them as patterns if I ever find the correct padding material.


DSC05457 by w30bob, on Flickr


DSC05458 by w30bob, on Flickr

Refit.....question about your data plate.......did you copy that info from your originals? Reason I ask is you stamped in Air Force for the Responsible Agency for all 4 categories. The data plate on my AF truck is stamped ORD DEPT in all those places. I've never seen a data plate that was originally stamped AIR FORCE........so I'm just wondering.


. by w30bob, on Flickr

regards,
bob

This is correct!!! I have a NOS section and it is pretty thick and cardboard like. After seeing the differences in Bizal's replacements I might just hold out a bit longer to find the other piece I need to complete or I will cut my own heavy cardboard and glue some thick poster board over the top. I would think by doing that, it would get a bit more accurate.
Next time I see my piece, I will get a pic of it for reference.

[refit1701]

Had the first nice day of March on Sunday and we got some work done. Got all the gauges installed and final wiring done for them. Finally replaced the 120psi oil gauge with a 60 to match the sender. Speedo cable installed. Starter panel and transmission hump are in. Replaced the small ground cable from the frame to the engine pack with a heavy one inch unit.

Wired up the dimmer switch and.....the truck was fine until I hit the switch to test it. Low beam position killed the electrical system. No sparks but gauges went dead. A little testing and out comes the new dimmer switch for diagnosis. The sealed unit had a intermittent dead short across one side. We un-crimped it and found they had crimped a "U" shaped retainer on the wire just behind the bullet connector a little too vigorously, resulting in a short. We fixed that and re-crimped it back and now all is well. Headlights work as they should without shutting the truck down!

I got all the harness retainers for the inner fenders painted and installed, next will be completing the headlight harness final hookup.

Now if I could only find the missing headlight trim ring for the passengers side.....

[refit1701]

Went and got the bed on Sunday. We had it installed by late afternoon. One big step. Remaining major items are the tailgate and doors. I have run out of gallons of Strata blue so until my backorder from Rapco comes in, we are stuck. Only two rattle cans left for small parts!

[refit1701]

One windshield insert installed, passenger side headlight, a few misc things and a drive around the yard a few times for my own amusement. All this pollen makes it difficult to paint outside.

[refit1701]

Well, did some more work on the truck. My plan to do 30 minutes minimum a day is paying off. I got my shifter cleaned, painted and installed. The transmission is much better behaved with the correct unit. Today we spend four hours adjusting the brakes which was a job to say the least. With warped drums, none of them could be made perfect but I expected that. We started on the fronts and after they were done I had plenty of pedal!

I'm still painting small parts and maybe I can clean and prime the bumper tomorrow. I need to install the blinker unit for the lights and then hook all that up.

[refit1701]

After the Easter festivities, I finally drug the front bumper out and took a look at was it was going to take to get the military indestructible paint off of it. I hit it with an electric sander, just to see what would happen, and I got right down to the metal in a couple of spots. That's unusual. There wasn't too many layers so I got the gel stripper out and gave it a coat. Within a few seconds, the paint was lifting off. Turns out this bumper had been sandblasted sometime in the past and painted with ordinary paint. Yay for me! More stripper and a grinder action and we were priming! Not nearly the huge effort I thought it would be.

[refit1701]

Moving along, I got the bumper and shackle brackets done and added them to the truck:




Now, the job I have been putting off is finding and cleaning a gas tank. I am beginning to believe they were equipped with rust from the factory, as none I have seen are even the least bit rust free on the inside. It's only a matter of degrees. Of course, it turned into a major job getting the sender two plates loose from the tanks so I could see inside.

Chemical soak then impact each had their turn and I still broke off screws.



Once I got the fuel pickup plates off of two of the tanks, the different versions were obvious:



Here's the old in tank filter with Midwest's replacement:



I'm thinking the black one is going to be the choice. It will still need to be etched and lined with tank sealer. This is a messy job and it's a pain but one more hurdle to be jumped.

I'm getting my primed tailgate, toolbox doors and hinges tomorrow. So more painting after the storms they are predicting for the first of the week.

[vtdeucedriver]

UM its JUNE!!!!!!

[refit1701]

And your point is?



If I had the door glass in and the odd governor issue fixed, I'd be at the nearly 98% done stage that all our trucks seem to hover at. If I can't get the governor worked out by Friday PM, no first MV show for it until late Fall. Stencils have to wait until the paint is cured all over, so I can just mask everything once.

[k8icu]

Nice Job! Would love to see it up close. Driving to Ohio anytime soon...

[refit1701]

Ohio? EEK, I just drove 50 miles to my first show and that was a chore!!!

[vtdeucedriver]

Ohio? EEK, I just drove 50 miles to my first show and that was a chore!!!

MAN UP!! I just did a 200 mi round trip for a Living History show. You just got it done, no complaining.

[RMS]

You just got it done, no complaining.

yup no need for a gym membership when you own a m37

[onemanarmy]

Pictures!!

Firstly, this was the truck a week ago when my daughter and I went for a ride in the yard for the first time.







These are those gauges you can buy (repros) out of Supply Line. They are very nice looking but not 100% like the real thing. The only issue I have is the oil pressure gauge is a 120 type and I need a 60psi gauge. So now I have all new units except I will probably have to use an old gauge for the oil, which won't match. Grrrr....

Do you remember the part number or site you purchased these gauges from?

Thanks

[refit1701]

Midwest, Army Jeep parts, etc., sell those gauges. They are nice repros. Be sure of which sender you have for the oil pressure as I bought the four gauges and then discovered I needed a 60psi gauge, not a 120.