The first pics of my HEMTT project ! - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

dma251 · 08-07-2007, 18:30

It's still a LONGGGG way off from completion, but I've finally got it together enough to feel good about posting some pics here for you guys to see what I've been spending all my money on the last couple months.

I just got the repaired skidplate and skidplate frame back from the powdercoaters. It's been shot with a powdercoat primer, and I'll lay down a nice coat of 686 Tan when it's all ready.

I'm heading down to meet Leonard Jones and his Baby-HEMTT in a few weeks, and pick up a second cab from him which I will sandblast and powdercoat (the inside) / paint (the outside). This way I can build up a like-new cab in my garage over the fall and then swap it on when it's done, yet still be able to drive the truck around town with the cab that's currently on it.

I am attaching a pic of the seats I bought for it, too. Also I just got the spare tire mounted up and ready to go on the spare tire carrier - which I also have freshily powdercoated and will bolt them up when the front fenders are done being fabricated and mounted.

I also picked up a like-new ISO drop-side cargo box like the ones the Navy retrofitted on the 5-tons recently. I'm going to put that on the back of the truck when the time comes. It's 3 feet shorter then the stock HEMTT box, but I'll slide it up against the crane, and build a small boarding steps/work platform at the front of the bed next to the engine.

More to come as I move along with the project, especially since it looks half-way presentable now!

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus · 08-07-2007, 19:03

That looks great!

I have great respect for the HEMTT's as they have been serving in forward support companys for over a decade going places a duece or 5 ton had trouble in. I will never forget the evening our HEMTT wrecker slid down a hill during a flash thunder storm in Western Pennsylvainia all the way down till it hit the treeline at the bottom. We could not recover it till it stopped raining and the ground dried up. Once that happened we started it up and drove it out.

nf6x · 08-07-2007, 19:26

HEMTTs are really neat trucks, and I'm excited to see pictures of one being fixed up by a collector!

WillWagner · 08-07-2007, 19:36

That thing is beautiful! Wish I had room for one.

Cdub · 08-07-2007, 20:39

Wow.....you have taken on a great project there........Thanks so much for posting some pic.
Please keep up up-dated on the restoration.

Keep up the good work

seya,

C'dub

dma251 · 08-07-2007, 20:47

Here's a couple pics of the battery box I just mounted up after posting these last pics. When I got the truck it had the battery box, but was missing the battery box lid. I had a new one fabricated up. It's a little bit different then the stocker, but I think it's an improvement. I wanted it to have absolutely no metal to metal contact points, a prop rod to hold it up, and I also wanted the top to clamshell down over the front edge, instead of resting on the front edge like originally. I welded up some bungee hold-downs to the sides, and had the box configured for the type of batteries I was running - that's why the battery hold down brackets are a bit different.

Missing in the pick is the stainless steel hardware for holding the batteries down and the airtanks underneath. I have new air tanks I will add on tomorrow.

The whole thing has been sandblasted and powdercoated. Once I have the truck painted, I am going to take it to Rhino-Liner and have them Rhino the inside of the battery box, the side storage cabinets, and the interior floor.

steelsoldiers · 08-07-2007, 21:30

Very impressive! Is your family tired of the "other woman" yet?

I know my wife was about ready to kill me around week 10 of the 923A2 project.

M715ForLife · 08-07-2007, 23:53

Looks cool!

How do you park it at walmart though?

Where do you get parts for them?

steelsoldiers · 08-07-2007, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by M715ForLife

Where do you get parts for them?

Autozone, Advance Auto Parts, your buddy in the ARNG.

ida34 · 08-07-2007, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARMYMAN30YearsPlus

That looks great!

I have great respect for the HEMTT's as they have been serving in forward support companys for over a decade going places a duece or 5 ton had trouble in. I will never forget the evening our HEMTT wrecker slid down a hill during a flash thunder storm in Western Pennsylvainia all the way down till it hit the treeline at the bottom. We could not recover it till it stopped raining and the ground dried up. Once that happened we started it up and drove it out.

When I was at Fort Campbell we had one off our gun trucks get stuck while trying to leave a firing position after an all night rain. The 15000 lbs M198 howitzer is quite a drag on the five tons. We had 900 series five tons with a winch because of this problem. One of our HEMTT's from our ammo section came up to help pull out the gun truck. It got stuck. Another HEMTT tied and it too got stuck. They could not even get themselves out by the time they decided to unhook everything. I kept driving around the area in my Humvee. I did not get stuck because I was much lighter. It took an engineer units bull dozer to come out and free everything. It just winched every think out. Even the gun was winched out by pulling from the lunette. That is the only time I saw a HEMTT stuck and I got to see two stuck. To be fair the first HEMTT had a mechanical failure while it was trying to unstick itself. I drove HEMTTs both in the states and in the deserts of IRAQ and Saudi Arabia and I can say that I really loved driving them.