M820A2 is home safe...Now it's time to check her out!
Well its day 1 after a successful recovery trip. See MV Road Trip thread for details of the recovery trip.
I got out to the truck late morning. I was waiting for the temperature to go up. Ended up being a perfect day for working on the truck!
First thing I wanted to test was the batteries. They had a chance to charge during the 5 hour plus trip home. I had a feeling there were bad batteries in the group! I tried to start the truck but it barely turned over!
Decided to take all the batteries out and take them to NAPA to be tested. Called my friend Billy and he volunteered to help me take the batteries to the NAPA store. Wife needed the car and the other truck was stuck behind the 5 ton.
Billy arrived about 30 minutes later. He was very impressed with the truck! He backed up his pickup close to the batteries and we loaded them up in back of his truck.
After a short trip we were at the NAPA store. Mark the Manager brought out the hand held tester and tested the batteries. 3 out of the 4 were BAD. I turned in 2 batteries as cores for the 2 I purchased the day before the recovery trip. The third was turned in to cover the core charge for the new battery I decided to buy. I now had 3 new NAPA Commercial batteries and one original Military battery to install in the truck. I also purchased a 4" 45 degree elbow, 4" flapper and exhaust clamp to repair the rusty exhaust stack.
We drove back to the house and backed in close to the truck. We unloaded the 2 batteries and parts. I then went and brought the other 2 batteries that I stored in back of the Isuzu truck to the M820A2.
After deciding how we would place the batteries in the battery boxes we dumped the rusty debris from the two battery boxes and putt hem back on the step. I installed 2 of the new NAPA batteries in the left battery box. I installed the other new NAPA battery in the back of the right side box. The used MV battery went in front on the right battery box. After reinstalling the short bridge cables we started to install the positive cables to the two positive terminal. We then hooked up the negative cables to the 2 negative terminals left.
Once we got the battery cables hooked up we had to come up with a way to secure the batteries in the boxes. Since the NAPA batteries were slightly wider we could not use the metal brackets that had supported the MV batteries. I came up with a simple idea- styrofoam blocks!
I had over 200 styrofoam blocks measuring 16" x 12" that I had brought back with me from NJ on my visit in September. I had been using them to park equipment I was selling on Ebay. i have a hot wire cutter that i built that I used to cut the blocks into any sizes that I need.
Billy and I measured all the gaps left in the battery boxes. We used the hot wire cutter to cut custom size styrofoam pieces to fill in all the gaps between the batteries and batteries and box walls. Once the styrofoam pieces were in place all the batteries were well secured in the boxes.
Since the NAPA batteries were a bit taller than the MV ones we removed their terminals we very close to the top of the battery boxes. I was worried about putting the metal step over them in case it would short them out. We looked through the shop looking for some kind of rubber or plastic sheeting that we could cover over the batteries to keep them from shorting out on the metal step.
I found a roll of roofing ice shield and some heavy duty Dryvitt mesh screen. The ice shield is like thick rubber that has a sticky side that would go on the roof side during installation. The Dryvitt mesh is made of very hard nylon screen. I cut the screen first to the dimensions of the battery boxes. I used it as a template to cut the rubber roofing material. I pealed off the thin plastic protective film from the rubber roofing material and applied the rubber to the Dryvitt mesh. I installed the new insulation blanket over the batteries with the Dryvitt mesh up. I wanted the mesh to protect the rubber from the metal of the step.
Once the insulation blanket was in place i installed the step over the battery box without any problems! With the batteries secured I tried to start the truck. It started without any problems!
The next item on my list for the day was to try to operate the liftgate. I held the clutch down and engaged the PTO for the liftgate. We got the lever out of the cab and went to fiddle with the liftgate controls. After a little trial and error we figured out how to lower the liftgate down. We proceeded to open the back doors and see what was in the back of the 17' box. All we found were the 2 missing stairs/ladders for getting through the side doors. The rest of the box was painted white but looked to be unused since the painting,
I went and got my camera out and took pictures to post on this site. After I took the pictures we put all the tools back and I went inside the house for Dinner and rest.
The Following User Says Thank You to goldneagle For This Useful Post:
WOW GE bout time!!!!!! you bowed out of chat about 2 hours ago, with the length of this writeup i can see why Keep up the good work.
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Proud to own Builder77's former ride. R.I.P. Ethan
1970 M35A2C with hardtop and heater, no winch. Limited duty due to uh......something..TBD
Studebaker M108- home- uh...it did run...lol, resto pending.
Studebaker M35A1 with plow and LDS 427
Avatar= Pic taken minutes after landing from first SOLO
flight.
Nice truck
I was looking at the battery picture and it looks like you might have the glow plug cold start connected to a 24 volt source??? Check this maybe i am looking at it wrong. I know the glow plug doesn't live long at 24 volts. But in the south you might not need it.
That is the nicest expansible van truck I have ever seen. Does it have the support legs for the box when the sides are out? When are you going to open her up?
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~Elwenil~
Lanty A. Clemons Mopar Parts Advisor
1988 Dodge Ramcharger AW450 Project
318TBI - NP435 4 speed - NP205 - Front & Rear Dana 60s
"I am the voice of reason, in an unreasonable world."
"Ya know, offroading is for people who have more sense than money. Not the other way around." - Maddawg308
That is the nicest expansible van truck I have ever seen. Does it have the support legs for the box when the sides are out? When are you going to open her up?
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode where I attempt to open the expandable box.
Beautiful truck. Man, what a score. You may want to look into this, but I've been told it is not good to mix batteries...something about charging properties...one (or more) battery may get over-charged, while the others may get under-charged. I know this is the case when you mix 6TL and 6MF batteries. You may want to check with Bjorn...he probably knows.
After gettin razzed by papabear about the 45 degree exhaust elbow and flapper I decided to return them to NAPA and get a 90 instead! Since my wife had the car, BILLY and I took his pickup to NAPA and made the exchange.
When we returned Billy took off and I started to repair the exhaust stack. Using a hacksaw i cut the rusted-through piece off the top. Using my angle grinder with a cutoff wheel I cut the end of the 90 on a slight angle like the one on the stack. I sprayed the cut end with Zinc spray paint.
I installed the new 90 elbow at the top of the stack with a stainless steel pipe clamp. I tightened it up until I was sure it was on really snug.
The next step was to swap door handles with the Deuce. The Deuce had lockable door handles that I installed when I first got it. It did not take long for me to remove the door handles from the Deuce and install them on the M820A2. I installed the door handles removed from the 5 ton on the Deuce.
Once I got the door secured I decided to start the truck. I went through the startup procedure and she started right up!
After lowering the liftgate I decided to fix the problem with the lock on the back door. It would not allow the handle to close all the way. When I inspected it I realized that the rod coming down from the lock was bottoming out on the floor before the handle was in the closed position. The flat bar was too long. I took my rechargeable drill and made drilled a hole right above the existing one and cut the bar through the hole below. Reattach the bar and tested the lock. Works great!
Next I decided to try to extend the side of the box so I can see how it is put together. I brought out my 1" ratchet handle and some sockets. After a few tries i found the proper size socket to fit the shaft of the crank mechanism. I released the gear lock and started to turn the shaft. It was stuck! Went to look at what was holding it up and found two latches and two square rods that lock the wall in place. Once i released them I was able to spread out the wall to it's full open position. Through some trial and error I was able to figure out how to let the floor plate and ceiling plate drop and rise into position. I also wrestled with the locking mechanism used to lock the ceiling to the side wall. I also grabbed one of the jacks and installed it temporarily.
Once the van was extended I started to take pictures of the work I did. I need to retract the side wall so I could move the truck the next morning for a pickup. While I was retracting the side I took more pictures to show the different stages of the wall in motion.
Once the wall was back in place I secured it with the latches and deadbolts provided. I removed my tools from the truck and putt hem back in the shop. Once I was done with cleanup I raised the liftgate into storage position and shut off the truck.
Plenty of pictures. ENJOY!
The Following User Says Thank You to goldneagle For This Useful Post:
M820A2 is home safe...Now it's time to check her out!
Keep up the good work.
Tim
