My BIG M925A2 Project Truck Is Home - Page 14 - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus · 12-27-2008, 06:38

Chris Glad you are making headway on this truck I know from what you have done in the past it will come out shining and I hope to see it soon since I may be home by February this coming year since the Army is not wavering on letting me stay in. I am looking at finding a job in Georgia since the politial winds have changed and Maryland has always been anti gun and and will get worse. I am looking foward to the pictures as well.

God bless,k

steelsoldiers · 12-27-2008, 18:18

Thanks David. I'll be glad to have your help because it will be crunch time for Aberdeen!!

Here are some updated pics courtesy of Chad. It looks much better with the gauge cluster in the cab!! I need to drill a hole in the cluster to mount the CTIS Over Speed light once I track one down. I have the seats to put in, but I am waiting on a new battery box and some rust repairs in the floor before those go in for good.

In the one pic you can see my Dad hard at work hooking up the fuel line for the heater while standing on the passenger tire. It's hard to reach anything on these trucks without a ladder

It was great having all of the Stansbury men together for a work session.

ATC · 12-28-2008, 03:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelsoldiers

Thanks for the offer. The truck is at John Winslow's place and that is east of Halifax, NC down 561 highway. I'll shoot you a PM then next time I head down there and maybe you'll have some time to come shop in John's salvage yard and turn a wrench on the truck.

Hmmm...I will probably have to pass this time. A 5 hour drive is a little far for me. Not to mention, I don't completely trust my Toyota to get me an hour down the road...

Hopefully sometime in the near future though...I'd love to come to a meet & greet!

cranetruck · 12-28-2008, 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelsoldiers

............
We hooked up some old batteries and ran a slave cable from Winslow's 5.9L Cummins powered M35. Once we had 24v to the cab I flipped the battery switch and NOTHING!! Doh!! Must be a bad protective control box. The sealant had failed around the edge of the box and the whole inside was corroded. The circuit board was fried in a few spots as well. Arghhhh!! Good thing we saved one from the 925 parts truck. We got that swapped in, flipped the switch, and we had power to the dash cluster! Yes!!!

Then, we decided to get the fuel-burning heater fired up......!

Good progress Chris!

About the control box, trying to "seal" it is a mistake, it has a rubber gasket for the connector and can never be sealed. You need to vent your new one, should be an 1/8 NPT plug on the bottom side somewhere. Open it and leave it open.

If you try to seal a printed circuit board, which generates some heat, within a box, there will be powerful forces at work, the difference in air pressure will pump molecules of water into the box past any rubber gasket or silicone, which will later condense and be trapped within. The only seal that works is a hermetic seal, preferable with an inert gas inside.
I have made thousands of electronic units enclosed in gasketed boxes (my old company for the trucking industry and ocean racing sailboats) and always vented them. Experiments showed that if I didn't, there may be as much as an inch of water sloshing inside within a couple of weeks.

To top it off, the control box I opened here, had lots of non-mil spec parts, so water will kill it fast.
Vent the box!

steelsoldiers · 12-28-2008, 10:04

Thanks Bjorn. I saved the control box for you. I thought you might want to inspect it for failures as well. The connector was corroded on there pretty good. I had to use some Kroil and a pair of Channel Locks to get it off. The sealant around the edge of the bod just crumbled and rust poured out of it. The box we put on is an older unit from the 925 parts truck. It seems to have a more sturdy design. I will make sure it is vented. I'll get some comparison pics of the 2 boxes as well.

cranetruck · 12-28-2008, 10:48

Here is the m925 box that I took apart.....

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus · 12-28-2008, 10:54

Wow it sure is coming along and the wait to hear the engine come to life is pretty unbearable for me so I can imagine how you feel. Have you located a fuel pump and front dog house yet? I am so surprized a truck of this quality got into such condition in the hands of any military unit. I know if any of my three commands had a truck with even an inch of rust on it we got it in the shop and took it to bare metal and brought it back to servicable. I had M915 tractors with over a million miles on them and they looked tired but were all running and painted. The condition of this truck makes me wonder who was in charge.

God bless you all and have a wonderful New Year, I will get to celebrate before any of you being in Korea and a day ahead.

ONTOS66 · 12-28-2008, 11:35

WOW, what a project. I stand humbled before a project of this magnitude .. the skill, patience (and deep pockets) involved make my feeble fumblings with my cucv projects appear trivial.

Very interesting to watch the "masters" at work (and play)

steelsoldiers · 12-28-2008, 19:55

Bjorn, thanks for the pic. That looks like the one we just put on. I'll be sure to open the vent.

David, I think I have a line on all of the engine parts that I need. I should know soon. I have a feeling this truck was used as an equipment mover by the Seabees. They have that beefy hitch plate welded on the frame. It's low enough that you could tow a standard equipment trailer with it so they could have been moving a dozer around with it or something. I'd say all of the rust came from running it in and out of the surf. This truck was worked for sure. I think the reason it got sent to the CAN lot and then on to the DRMO was because of rust in the cab and bed.

Preston, it is definitely a big project, but I find this type of project very satisfying. I love to take a truck from the jaws of the crusher and put it back on the road. I am able to do it for a very reasonable price that way too. I cut my teeth on a 1009 CUCV project back in 1995. It just kinda snowballed from there!!

WillWagner · 12-28-2008, 23:11

I just wanna see/hear a vid of it running! Chris, I admire you for your dedication! That's ALOT of work.