Page 1 of 1
My Ship came in... I mean my Dodge M37 that is...
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:22 pm
by Oddjob
Well my new Toy arrived today and man am I impressed this is one beefy truck... My truck is a 1953 model originally delivered to the air force in Air Force blue... It looks like they painted it OD green later in its life although most of that has peeled due to poor pre paint preparation...
It has cancer here and there... I new it wasn't going to be perfect... However the Cowl that the owner said needed to be replaced looks like it is easily patchable with some fabricated patch panels, which will be one of the first things I'll be sealing up before doing any major work on the vehicle. I won't be long winded tonight because I need to get up early in the morning to start taking inventory on what I need that missing...
I'll may need a little help figuring out what numbers I need for the registry here... I took down a whole bunch off the Data plate today...
Link to the Photo Gallery...
http://www.beltfedshooters.com/photopos ... 59&ppuser=

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 7:28 pm
by rixm37
Oddjob Great to see your truck. Glad you have it and can't wait to follow your progress !!!
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:09 am
by Master Yota
Looks like a fine candidate for whatever you've got in store for the old War horse...!
Restoration...
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:19 am
by Oddjob
Master Yota wrote:Looks like a fine candidate for whatever you've got in store for the old War horse...!
Restoration of course with a little extra firepower in the bed on an M37 pedestal mount..
Probably the first thing I need to do after inventory is catalog all the bumper hood and lettering around the vehicle... Make measurements and drop them into my template program...
I'm just glad its finally here... On Friday we thought the deal was going to fall through and then somehow things righted themselves... Man that's one be hunk of American steel I'm just glad I got it when I did so the body rot didn't get any worse...
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:23 am
by m-11
Nice truck! Did you bring it down from Oregon? Just looks like is sat in a place with high moisture and little sun. That spot on the cab by the windshield hinge is going to be a bugger to get the windshield pin out. Good luck with your restoration, mine is in pieces packed into two m416 trailers.
Yeah...
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:54 pm
by Oddjob
Yeah it was stored just south of San Francisco from what I understand... The moisture did get it in a number of spots from sitting... What was left of the wood from the troop seats had moss growing on it... It could have been worse... Looks like I'll have to look into the windshield pin thing your talking about... I need to get a manual telling me where and how to remove things properly... What furthered the situation along further with that windshield pin area some bondo artist instead of patching it properly just filled it with bondo...
Didn't get to do much on my recon today. We are trying to get it to a location where I can work on it without being bothered by the neighbors... It's hard to get anything done when your playing 20 questions.

Windshield hinge....
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:13 pm
by Nickathome
Those windshield hinge rot spots aren't all that bad to weld up. My truck had similar rot in those spots. It seems to be a typical spot for rot as alot of trucks I've seen had it. Just soak the living shit out of the windshield hinge nuts before trying to attempt to remove them. Sid Beck had replacement windshield bolts when I did mine. One of the bolts was too far gone to re-use, so I ordered another.
Honestly I think you're gonna have a tougher time getting that hood hinge welded back up than those window hinges.
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:31 am
by HingsingM37
Congratualtions on the new rig. Enjoy the restoration journey

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:56 am
by Cal_Gary
That's a nice rig to start with-looks complete and you'll have a lot to go through-just take them one mini-project at a time and don't get overwhelmed....
Gary