I bought a M715 today!

I bought my first M715 today, and I can't wait to get it home and get started on it. It is a VERY straight and solid truck, has no rust through that I can find. It runs, but has a blown head gasket (or worse) and has no compression on the last 2 cylinders. I am going to try to fix the Tornado, but if it cracked or has major issues it may get a Cummins and 5 speed that I was going to put in a M1008. I'm going to give the original engine a chance though. It came with new seats. I'm going to need a tailgate, and I'd like to find an arctic top for it. These things just look like beasts to me, and to my knowledge there's none locally where I live, so it will definitely stand out. Here's a few pics of it.

A few more...

Sweet truck, they don't come any more rust free than that. And a straight front bumper as well, that is unheard of. Yours had a radio in the back at one time, see the holes on the RH side of the bed. PM me if your dead Tornado needs a home.

Congrats on the truck!! I am just about complete with mine after 4 years. I just have the decals left and a few little things to do. Post your progress as you go. I didn't have a chance to do that and I wish I had. It could have saved me some $ since others may have extra parts you can use. Check the M715Zone as well. A WEALTH of info there!!!

Unless you're a purist I wouldn't bother with that old, worn out Tornado. They cost a fortune to rebuild (when you can find all the parts) and they aren't all that great even when they are running good.

I've still got the Tornado in mine that just won't die. When it does I'm going with either a 292 Chevy or 350 Chevy.

NDT said:

Sweet truck, they don't come any more rust free than that. And a straight front bumper as well, that is unheard of. Yours had a radio in the back at one time, see the holes on the RH side of the bed. PM me if your dead Tornado needs a home.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I hope I can get the Tornado going. It is really a wild looking engine. I was wondering what the extra holes in the bed were for. Do you have any pics of the antenna mounts. I'd love to put them back on. I want to put the axes, shovels, and cans back on the sides and paint it original colors.

shepsjeep said:

Congrats on the truck!! I am just about complete with mine after 4 years. I just have the decals left and a few little things to do. Post your progress as you go. I didn't have a chance to do that and I wish I had. It could have saved me some $ since others may have extra parts you can use. Check the M715Zone as well. A WEALTH of info there!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks! If I can get mine anywhere close to looking as good as yours, I'll be happy. Posting progress threads is a definite for me. It keeps me motivated to keep working on them.

m16ty said:

Unless you're a purist I wouldn't bother with that old, worn out Tornado. They cost a fortune to rebuild (when you can find all the parts) and they aren't all that great even when they are running good.

I've still got the Tornado in mine that just won't die. When it does I'm going with either a 292 Chevy or 350 Chevy.

Click to expand...

I'm not a purist per se, but I kinda hate to pull it out if its easily fixable. I totally agree though, if its going to need much more than a head gasket, I can't justify spending that much money on a engine that is already questionable in terms of reliablity. I take it that the 292 is a pretty popular swap in these. I have one that came out of my '67 C-30.

Here is a pic of the antenna mount that goes on the side of your 5/4. Photo credit "tew5658" on ebay.

Not sure where you are located in Alabama but their are several in North Alabama, I have one and just sold one. They are great trucks. Heavy duty and yes they look mean. I agree with the others that say waste no time on the 230. If you are going to make a drivetrain change go ahead and do it. The one I sold was absolutely stock and perfect but I kept the one that the purists hate: 427 tall deck chevy and CUCV axles. The truck is awesome to drive and you will get lots of looks. SS is a great site but the M715zone.com has a wealth of information. Tailgates are very hard to find and expensive when you do, but there is a guy over on the Zone who makes them, not sure of the price. Best of luck on the truck and if you have any questions or need spare parts; I have a few and I know some guys locally who have parts as well. Best of luck and nice truck.

Holes in the bed were probably where the agency who had the truck after the military mounted a tank. These were very popular with local fire departments and the forestry service to use as brush fire fighting trucks.

When looking for a tailgate check with all the local VFD's that use or have used M715's before. I found the tailgate to my truck at the same FD that surplused it out. They took off the tailgate and put it up in the barn for storage and then forgot about it, When I found out they still had it they let me have it for a small donation to the FD (in the form of some liquid refreshments for their weekly meetings)

The engine you end up with really kind of depends on what you plan to use the truck for. Parades and trail runs below 45 mph and the stock engine is in its element. Daily driver on pavement and occasional off road/parades then a V8 with an overdrive would be a great easy choice. Figure 8-12 mpg for any gasoline combination from stock engine to V8 with OD.

I drove mine stock for a few years daily and then put in the 396/4500 over a weekend and drove it daily another year. Here we are a few years later and I am planning to go with a 6.2. Mainly because the truck isn't a daily driver anymore, trails, parades and low speed pulling are the forseen jobs now.

The 4Bt conversions I have been around are great trucks that perform better than stock in all respects. A 6BT truck will require front axle change out at the least and some fancy shoe horn techniques.

It all comes down to what you want to do with the truck, how much you want to spend and what your abilities will let you change. Before you get dead set on keeping the stock engine. Look around for all the parts you might need to fix it. It will probably take you a few months to collect them all.

67_C-30 said:

I. I take it that the 292 is a pretty popular swap in these. I have one that came out of my '67 C-30.

Click to expand...

Not really. A 350 SBC are the most common swap. I was just wanting to go with a 292 because they have gobs of torque and I was kind of wanting to stick with the straight 6.

I make reproduction tail gates, "no jeep letters " but all else is to original spec's. I also do them in double thick as the stock gates are very easy to bend as there only 1/16" thick.

Thanks for the advice, tips, and comments everyone. Engines are not a problem for me, as I have a 292, several SBC or BBC Chevys, a few 6.2's and the 5.9 Cummins and the 5 speed. I even have a 305E and 351E GMC V6's if I really wanted outside the box. Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you have to go with an axle bigger than the existing D60 with the Cummins? I know the closed knuckle design makes for a weaker axle shafts when off roading, but the kingpin type axles are stronger than ball joint type fronts. I'm curious as to why the stock D60 wouldn't work, except in extreme off road conditions, why I'm not going to do. I would never use something as pretty as an M715 to beat to death as a trail rig!

As much as I like them, I have kinda gotten bored putting SBC's and 6.2's in cars and trucks. There isn't much we haven't put a 350 in, and my last 2 swaps were retrofitted 6.2's. If I can't get the Toronado going with a head gasket swap, I'm probably going with some type of alternate powerplant! I have even though a Jeep 4.0L might be a pretty cool swap.

The old D60 axles are just generally a weaker axle than the modern ones. You're limited on gear swaps also if you want to get higher speeds at lower rpm. You also have more wheel options and brake options.

With that being said, the stock axles will hold up fine under normal use. I have no plans of swaping my stock axles out (I've outgrown wanting to go fast) unless something bad happens to them where it would be cost prohibited to repair.

How would a Ford 300 cubic inch inline 6 work for an engine swap in an M715? My dad had a 300 in his pickup and it was a great engine. It had lots of torque and unless you were towing something huge, was more than adequate.

m16ty said:

The old D60 axles are just generally a weaker axle than the modern ones. You're limited on gear swaps also if you want to get higher speeds at lower rpm. You also have more wheel options and brake options.

With that being said, the stock axles will hold up fine under normal use. I have no plans of swaping my stock axles out (I've outgrown wanting to go fast) unless something bad happens to them where it would be cost prohibited to repair.

Click to expand...

Oh OK. That's good to know. The M715 came with an extra set of axles, so I figured I'd be good there. There's even a set of reverse rims with the M715 centers welded in. The look homemade, but look to be fairly well done.

The stock axles hold up fine unless your just in the frame of mind to make the truck do stuff its not designed to do. The closed knuckle kingpins are far superior to the nylon bushings of the modern d60 axles. The 30 spline axles is where people break them . You can break anything if you try hard enough. Hemi cudas only had 30 spline d60 axles and gave no troubles. In 25 yrs of owning,building 4 wheelin m715,s i,ve never had a stock m715 axle go down on me ever. The only draw baxk is the only ratio change is 4.56 or 5.87. The drum brakes do fine if you do your maint. & adjust them correctlu and on a regular basis.JMO

Get a 300 Ford with EFI and the OD transmission. Several people have done that swap and had great results. If you are bored with the other options.

Barrman said:

Get a 300 Ford with EFI and the OD transmission. Several people have done that swap and had great results. If you are bored with the other options.

Click to expand...

Although the 300's really are great engines, I just can't go with a 4-letter engine. It goes against all that is good and just in the world!