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I am going to try to drive my M 42 this weekend, it is down in Columbia, about a hundred miles from me, where it has been in my son's work garage for the last 7 weeks or so, as I recover from my knee replacement. In the countless hours since then, I have continued to read every possible forum post here and elsewhere, and peruse the manuals, thinking about what and how to do what I want to with my first Army truck. Plus, I have continued to order this and that in parts and OEM equipment. My first thing to do is to try to tighten up the steering gear box. After that.....

I have a friend here who has offered me his paint booth, and I will drop by the auto craft shop down at Ft. Jackson, and see what they have, one being a paint booth. Long years ago, I completely rebuilt my '71 VW Squareback at the Ft. Bragg, NC, auto craft shop.

The rubber fuel line to the carb inlet has some age cracking, and has now a small metal canister fuel filter. I want to replace both, and would like to use a glass one, (not a plastic one), so I can see if there is water or debris getting past the in-tank filter I now have. I have never used a glass filter, so am asking this forum what your collective experience is with these filters. It would not be anywhere near any other engine compartment components, making it unlikely to break and cause a fire.

My truck has a block heater, and the 100 amp battery system with a maintainer. When I was down to Columbia a week ago, it fired right up, and promptly settled down to a nice idle. Maybe it is the benefit of having been driven and started at least monthly for the past quarter century by the previous owner.

Spent the last few days out in the driveway cutting and painting new wood for the bed sides and seats. I am going to try to keep my truck as OEM as possible, since my M 42 is pretty much as it was when it served, just less radio's. Interestingly, the wood on the truck is pretty weathered and is black, not OD. So that is what I am going to pant it, black.

Any experience guidance for me on the glass fuel filter?

And wishing all of you a safe and enjoyable Holiday season!!

Back in '71, when I was an infantry CPT, MACV Advisor, way south in the Delta, assigned duty as a MAT team leader (Mobil Advisory Team), I was going out again for a week or so to a small compound in the Plain of Reeds, along the Cambodian Border, and since my SGT and I were going to be out for New Years, I decided to stick a bottle of Champaigne in my rucksack, so he and I could toast the incoming year, with hopes of safety and success. Here is a picture of my Champaigne on the hood of one of our jeeps at my parent compound in Cau Lan.
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NAM VET

The metal can has much more filter media. You can't see the clear filter when you are driving. Carry a couple metal ones for when it plugs. Do an autopsy on them to see what is plugging them. Then, fix the cause.

And LOVE the wiring on the building behind the Jeep. Good thing there is a fire extinguisher on the rack!

appreciate the suggestion. Will go with some sort of metal filter. I may mount a larger one someplace in the engine compartment.

This is the entrance to my first six months tour, named for CPT Tine, who was killed several years prior to my arrival. It was on the edge of Cau Lanh, a small city in the upper Delta. It originally had perhaps 50 or more Americans, but by my time there, with the drawdown, maybe 15 or so of us. Our guards and cooks were of course Vietnamese. One of the nice things being a MAT guy, was that when I would go out for a week or so, then come back for a few days, I had no compound duties, and my own "room." We had good chow, and frequent handball tournaments. I began to collect sub machine guns there, my first being a .45 Grease Gun. Handy to fit in the dash handle of our jeeps when I would run up to Saigon occasionally. War zones are awash in firearms. Cau Lanh had been mentioned in a Playboy centerfold's story, how her chopper had "taken fire" coming in to our pad just down the road.

We had a great airconditioned club on the compound. The IG came and said we had too much money in the club fund, so the club had to spend it down fast. So the club manger set the price for everything to one cent. One day, came back from a week out, and ate three cans of beef jerky, 36 sticks per can, for 3 cents. I don't recommend that to anyone.

Sometimes I look back at my slides and pictures from that time nearly a half century ago, and reflect on my life then and since. One of my best friends went missing, and still is, shortly after we both arrived "in-country." Could have been me.

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Agree with Just Me. metal with a couple of spares. Was in an accident with a glass one and sure enough, fire under the hood. Even if it's not close to the engine...they are cheap enough to have a few metal ones.