M37 "Brutus"

[John Mc]

I bought Brutus, a 1951 M37 in September 2019. My friend, Tim Holloway of Distinctive Restoration here in Monkton, VT helped me find it and gave it the initial check out prior to purchase. A minor tune on the engine and some brake work made it road worthy, and I've been driving around the area and using it for work in the woods since then.

The transmission has had a tendency to pop out of 3rd gear since I bought it (which the previous owner warned me about prior to purchase), and both the transmission and transfer case weep oil, but the truck drives and stops well.

Just this week I dropped Brutus off at Tim's shop. The plan is to rebuild the transmission and transfer case. Since we have both of those out already, I decided to swap in a 251 engine that Tim found. The 230 runs well (and had really good compression when Tim tested it today), but I needed a little more "oomph" when pulling a trailer load of logs. Most of the roads on which I drive are posted 40MPH or less. As I said to Tim, "I don't need to go faster; I just need to go as fast, more of the time."

While my drum brakes are working well since Tim put some work in to them, I wanted a bit more reliable stopping power, so he will be installing front disk brakes and a new power boost system developed by a friend of his. (We also installed a trailer brake controller which will accept either 12 or 24V input and output for a 12v trailer brake system.)

He started the disassembly process today (Monday, 3/15/21).

Cowling removed:

cowling removed sm.jpg (135.16 KiB) Viewed 12251 times

Ready to pull the engine and transmission (Don't ask me what the roll of TP is for)

Ready to pull 230 sm.jpg (145.31 KiB) Viewed 12251 times

[John Mc]

BTW, I have no idea how this truck got the name "Brutus". The name was on the door when I bought it, and I figured it fit him (yes, this truck is a "him"), so it stayed.

When I asked the previous owner where the name came from, his response was, "I don't know. It was on the truck when I got it, and my wife and I decided to leave it, since it fit him so well."

[Cal_Gary]

Thanks for the photos John!
Is Ericke getting the old 230?
Gary

[John Mc]

Thanks for the photos John!
Is Ericke getting the old 230?
Gary

Yes- It was a military block, but had a different head bolted on. It runs well. Tim checked compression. All cylinders were 130-140 dry, and 150-165 wet. Exhaust manifold has a substantial leak, so it's pretty loud when under load.

A (poorly made) video of Brutus' last run on the 230 engine (embarrassingly bad shift into 2nd gear. Apparently, I can't drive, film, and shift all at the same time.)

Engine and Transmission pulled:

Engine+trans out copy.jpg (98.65 KiB) Viewed 12240 times

[John Mc]

A bit of a setback today: Compressions on the 251 were not good. Low enough that it probably would not start. Disappointing. I was faced with having the engine rebuilt or putting the old 230 back in. I decided to stick with the original plan, so the 251 is going to the rebuilder.

[John Mc]

I just got word from Tim that the brake boost kit has shipped. This is a new design by Greg Coffin which is based on one which he makes for Dodge Power Wagons. The advantage of this one is that it does not require switching to hanging pedals as some other boost systems do. When Tim told me about them, I asked if he had used the system before. He said no, since this was a new kit, but added "If Greg makes them, you know it will be done right." I will post pictures once we get them in.

If anyone else is interested, you can contact Greg at greg@highlandbuilt.com

[John Mc]

Not my truck, but these are pictures of Greg Coffin's brake boost system that will be going in to Brutus.

M37 Brake Bracket (1).jpg (179.3 KiB) Viewed 12192 times

M37 Brake Bracket (3).jpg (177.13 KiB) Viewed 12192 times

[Cal_Gary]

That certainly looks well-made John, thanks for sharing!
Gary

[John Mc]

That certainly looks well-made John, thanks for sharing!
Gary

Hard to tell how well-protected it is in that spot. It is tucked up beside the frame, which should help. I do a fair amount of driving in the woods: mostly on trails, but some of them have waterbars for erosion control, which are like driving over a hump, followed immediately by driving into a ditch. I scraped my Tacoma's underside a could of times (but it does not have near the ground clearance of Brutus). We may end up adding a small skid plate, if it looks as though it could use it.

[Cal_Gary]

Yeah that might not be a bad idea since it's so much bigger than the stock MC.
Gary

[John Mc]

251 engine freshly rebuilt by Ken Holmes in Worcester, MA:

251 rebuilt.jpg (220.13 KiB) Viewed 12115 times

251 rebuilt 2.jpg (225.96 KiB) Viewed 12115 times

[John Mc]

Tim Holloway has been sandblasting painting some of the parts:

parts painted.jpg (236.84 KiB) Viewed 12114 times

And painted the engine and some associated parts today:

Engine painted.jpg (236.85 KiB) Viewed 12114 times

Transmission:

Transmission painted.jpg (217.69 KiB) Viewed 12109 times

[Cal_Gary]

That all looks great, John!
Gary

[John Mc]

That all looks great, John!
Gary

Thanks Gary. Tim does some great work. I've been over "helping" a couple of times, along with my son. I suspect we probably slowed him down more than helped. First time I had ever sandblasted anything, so I was a bit slow at it.

I'm itching to get back in the driver's seat again!

[John Mc]

The 251 engine is going back together:

251 Engine assembly sm.jpeg (241.35 KiB) Viewed 12078 times