Most Practical Modification Thread

[Hemiman]

Agreed! Wish I'd thought of it. Guess I can get rid of the 2 foot section 3/4" dowel I keep behind the seat!

[jimmy_stikx]

Recent mod for the desert, heat wrapping my fuel lines to help reduce vapor lock.

[ZGjethro]

I got tired of a pitch black cab when I needed to see and bought a section of LED strip light. It is 1/4" deep by 3/8" wide and is 24 volt and is in a flexible aluminum channel. I have only mocked it in as of now, and it is an awesome bright cab light. It will be zip tied to my cab bow and will have a thin flexible cord running to a toggle switch on the dash. I wanted to avoid drilling any holes, so I went that route. I was also thinking of putting it up under the dash for a more indirect light. What have other members done for some light?

[m37jarhead]

Here's some pic's of the installation of the 24V elec. fuel pump and the spin on/off fuel filter.
Unit mounted on inside left frame rail behind the cab. More pic's of same on my gallery.
The top pic shows the correct fuel line going to the engine. The bottom pic shows a temporary
fuel line exiting the fuel pump that was used to "test" the system.
Jerry

[m37jarhead]

The Walbro pump has since failed and been replaced with a Facet pump,
Same plumbing so the exchange only took minutes.
Jerry

[ZGjethro]

Jerry, How does that filter work under suction? I thought that style of filter worked under pressure better, but I don't know thought that.

I dropped my tank a month ago, and discovered I have the old style fuel pickup with no filter on it. I also have a cheap inline filter at the electric fuel pump near the tank and am looking to upgrade to a course filter in the tank and a finer filter at the fuel pump. How has that filter worked? Filters clog so infrequently in my experience that I am wondering if it is a good idea to install a spin on filter vs just replacing a filter every ten years.

[ZGjethro]

I crawled under the truck tonight, and discovered I did not put the inline filter in the fuel line. I must have assumed the gas tank fuel pickup had a filter on it at the time. I do have a glass inline filter in the engine bay, so at least some filtering is happening. I am definetely going to install a spin on filter at the fuel pump. I am assuming it is better for the pump to have the filter before it. Do the filters work as well under suction as pressure? Any advice/knowledge would be welcome, as well as good part suppliers and numbers.

[Jess]

My experience with filters between the fuel tank and the pump is primarily with marine applications. Most marine installations have at least one filter before the pump and in the case of my diesel stuff, a pair of Racor filters with water separator since modern common rail diesels can't handle even a drop of water without pooching the injectors. I think that any pump will be fine running after the filter and may extend the life of the pump. My M37 has a one before and another at the carb, using the stock pump.

Jess

[Sal]

[m37jarhead]

Jerry, How does that filter work under suction? I thought that style of filter worked under pressure better, but I don't know thought that.

I dropped my tank a month ago, and discovered I have the old style fuel pickup with no filter on it. I also have a cheap inline filter at the electric fuel pump near the tank and am looking to upgrade to a course filter in the tank and a finer filter at the fuel pump. How has that filter worked? Filters clog so infrequently in my experience that I am wondering if it is a good idea to install a spin on filter vs just replacing a filter every ten years.

There has been a lot of talk about fuel filters and pumps on this forum. The conventional wisdom seems to be that
a fuel filter before the elec. pump is the way to go. Both should be as close to the tank as practical.
I do not now have a filter inside the tank. My thinking is that I WANT to get the crud, if any, out of the tank and into the large replaceable filter.
Two or more see-through filters are in line before the carb. This takes into account that the old steel lines are probably
rusted inside and will continue to generate crud and particles.
The cost of all these filters will seem small compared to the cost and inconvenience of a fuel generated breakdown.

Even with a new tank and all new fuel lines, you never know what's being pumped into your gas tank from the corner
gas station.

But to answer your question ZG, gas flows freely from the tank through the large filter with only the help of gravity.
Jerry

[Master Yota]

The V8 swap was the most practical mod on my '53. While I probably didn't need a '69 428CJ, it sure makes for a fun time between trips to the gas station for more propane fuel...

Was it practical? Not really, considering it was the driving factor for swapping out all the rest of the power train for a built Dana 60 front (most expensive axle ever - I won't build another one) with 4.56's, Detroit locker, Chromo shafts, and crossover steering. A GM C14 rear diff, with 4.56's, spool, and disc brakes (super simple swap - Its a bolt in!). The Np435 being short a 5th gear necessitated some 11:00/16 rubber to keep the rpm at a reasonable level, but they are easy to turn off road with the dual reduction from two transfer cases and a bull low first gear. The 17.5K pound Electric winch has already paid for itself in spades, and the GPS speedometer was probably the most practical upgrade to the dash I could have made. Power steering must also be on the list somewhere too...

Next upgrade? Pull the dual tcases and transmission out for a rebuild, and replace one tcase with an older Doug Nash aux. overdrive unit so that I can split every gear...

[Juan]

The V8 diesel repower, it gave me 200k miles of trouble free affordable use.

[lten1063]

Yeap! 10-4 buddy on that MOD. I did this to my son n laws M37. I was all ways looking for something to hold the drivers seat open but determand that it was not safe to ones limbs and digits because the seat assembly is heavy if the proping device happens to slip and fall the end resualt would not be pretty nor fell good.

Later Joe

[Tuko]

200k on an m37!!!

[Juan]

200k on an m37!!!

Yep, it was my daily driver for 5 years. Wife learned to drive and took my car away. Soooo, the other vehicles in my garage at that time were an M-37 and an M-43, not a tough decision, I've used the M-37. I've driven 120 miles daily for 5 years, round up about 200k miles.
The speedo quit working after 2 years but I had the numbers right by that time. Mileage was steadily 21mpg and the diesel tank lasted exactly one week.
The bad thing of using your hobby as a daily driver is that after 5 years, one day I got tired of not having radio, a/c in summer and the noise. I've parked it in the shop and 3 years slip by without even touching the old beast.
My partner started it monthly and move it around to avoid flat spotting the tires.

That's also why I didn't get into the forum too much this years after being member since Big Electric times.