Steelsoldiers’ BIG M1152A1 HMMWV Project!!

[Mogman]

Discovered this thread and was crossing my fingers for info. I have an M1123 that threw its serpentine belt and I discovered the alt/ps pump bracket assembly was out of alignment. After pulling it apart found the three bolts into the head loose and almost out and the exhaust stud sheered off. The remains of the stud came right out of the head with no issues but have not found a source or part number for the exhaust manifold stud. Any input?

Welcome to the SS forums!!
Did you look up the part in the parts TM, then search for that number??
All the usual suspects carry them IE HPG and Kascar (real4wd)
Quick lesson, your M1123 has a UOC (use on code) of NNN, if you look at number 18 which is the stud you seek you will see NNN as one of the UOC codes that that stud applies to, then you see part number 12339406-3, that is the manufacturers part number you can search that number first, if you do not find what you are looking for then search for the NSN number 5307013153597
All the TMs you need are listed in a sticky near the top of this forum.
The parts TM that I got this info from is TM 9-2320-280-24P-1
EDIT, for cost effectiveness you should look over your truck and gather as many small parts as you can in your shopping cart, otherwise the shipping will be disproportionate to the cost of a single piece, I would replace all the bolts that were loose and use a thread locker on them.

 

[Coug]

Discovered this thread and was crossing my fingers for info. I have an M1123 that threw its serpentine belt and I discovered the alt/ps pump bracket assembly was out of alignment. After pulling it apart found the three bolts into the head loose and almost out and the exhaust stud sheered off. The remains of the stud came right out of the head with no issues but have not found a source or part number for the exhaust manifold stud. Any input?

You might look through this thread to upgrade to the newer style of rear bracket that goes further down to the block, rather than the exhaust stud. I replaced the exhaust stud several times, including with higher grade stud, and still sheared it because the exhaust manifuld isn't perfectly flat there and it was causing uneven stress. Since changing to the newer style rear bracket I haven't had any issues

Sheared generator bracket bolts.

When I first got the truck(m1123, 200 amp generator) the stud on the exhaust that holds the rear generator bracket was sheared, and a couple of the front bolts were loose. It started making noise again, so I checked, and the exhaust stud is sheared again, and at least one of the front bracket...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[TOBASH]

 

[steelsoldiers]

This thread has been hijacked!

 

[Mogman]

I did send him a PM, I did not want to publicly rake a new guy over the coals, TOBASH has no sympathy for a new guy..

 

[steelsoldiers]

I installed a new oil cooler in the M1152A1 today! Thankfully, everything went smoothly and there were no leaks to be found. The biggest pain in the butt was bleeding all of the air out of the hydroboost system again.

With that repaired, it was ready for a longer test drive. I took it down my driveway and then out our road to the 2-lane. It was running great, but I started to panic when smoke started pouring out of the doghouse opening. Then, I realized that it was just oil and paint burning off of the exhaust manifolds. Phew! I turned around and headed back to the house to give it a once over.

After double checking fluid levels and topping off the engine oil, I headed out on another test drive. This time, I went about a mile round trip. Still no issues, just a little more paint burning off of the manifolds. I inspected everything when I got back to the house and the only issue I could find was a leaking transmission dipstick tube seal. I ordered a new one of those and will change it out next week.

Woohoo! Progress!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Got the leaking transmission dipstick tube seal replaced last week. It was a bit of a pain to get to, but overall it was a cheap and easy fix.

Today, the body transformation began in earnest! I started by unbolting and removing the hard top. Then, I parked it in the garage and started removing the rear half doors. After that, I started installing a new B-pillar. That wasn’t too bad, but it was a little sprung so I had to use a ratchet strap to pull it in far enough to get it into the pillar mounts. Once I got it settled into the mounts, I started gutting the rest of the interior.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll finish cleaning out the interior and get it prepped for Lizard Skin and paint.

More updates tomorrow!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Here’s the YouTube Short showing how I got the top off. The loader frame wasn’t quite long enough to reach all the way to the front of the top.

Removing the M1152A1 HMMWV hard top! #hmmwv #militaryvehicle #diesel

I used the forks on my Massey Ferguson and a little brute strength to remove the hard top from the M1152A1 today!

youtube.com

 

[steelsoldiers]

More progress today! Spent a lot of time cleaning out the tub. I pulled out the old mats and vacuumed out the years of sand and grime. There was a lot of old wiring to be removed too. Part of it was from the fire suppression system and the rest was from various radios. I also pulled out the driver’s seat and base, and removed the fire extinguisher bracket. If you’re ever looking for a missing nut or bolt, check under there! Found a big rat’s nest under the driver’s seat too! Thankfully, no rat!

I also installed the C pillar today and the brackets for the rear seatbelts. While I was back there, I removed the fording stack, cargo top hardware, and side panels too. Only had to deal with a couple of stripped screws and loose riv-nuts. I probably won’t reinstall the fording stack. They look cool, but snag every tree limb when you’re trail riding.

I pulled out the out footwell armor in order to clean behind it and that will make it easier to bead blast and clean up the quarter panels. I plan to reinstall those armor panels and re-bolt the inner footwell armor pieces too. Pictures attached for reference.

More prep work tomorrow!

 

[steelsoldiers]

More progress this afternoon. Used a cutoff wheel to finish removing the rusty airlift reinforcements and some armor bolts. After that, I installed the mirror brackets and finished cleaning out the interior.

Fighting stubborn bolts with the spinning wheel of death! #militaryvehicle #hmmwv

Had to use a cutoff wheel to remove a couple of stripped rusty bolts from an airlift hook reinforcement plate and one of the bolts that used to hold the whee...

youtube.com

 

[TedG]

Hi Chris!
Thanks for reaching out to me today. Can't believe I remembered my login and psw! It's been years... This is a good project. M1152 are the best, lite and nimble.
TedG

 

[steelsoldiers]

Hi Chris!
Thanks for reaching out to me today. Can't believe I remembered my login and psw! It's been years... This is a good project. M1152 are the best, lite and nimble.
TedG

Thanks, Ted! Glad to see you back on the site! Please come back more often!

 

[steelsoldiers]

More progress today! I got the B pillar mounting bolt holes drilled out and installed all of the bolts on the passenger side. Then, I bolted up the lower hinge halves and began mocking up the right front door. I made use of a 2x4 between two I-joists and a ratchet strap to help support the door. It was a lot easier to get everything lined up that way. Once I had everything lined up to my liking, I held my breath and started drilling holes in the fiberglass. Thankfully, with a little adjustment and finagling, the front door closed and latched!

After that, I started mocking up the rear door and then repeated the whole process. They look great! I’m planning to get the other two installed tomorrow. More updates to come!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Today, I swapped out the nuts and bolts for some stainless button head bolts and nylock nuts. Definitely gives it a cleaner look and I won’t have to worry about stuff vibrating loose as much. After that, I finished bolting down the B pillar on the driver’s side. That involved drilling 8 holes through the sleeve and then filling them with 3/8” bolts.

Once that was done, I moved the rigging to the other side of the truck and started mocking up the left front door for installation. Thankfully, it went pretty smoothly and I have one more functioning door!

I’m hoping to finish the last door on Wednesday afternoon and then resume prepping for paint!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Well, my truck is officially a 4-door! I got the left rear door installed this evening, and man it feels good to be done with that project!

 

[steelsoldiers]

More prep work completed this afternoon! I wanted to get the front quarters cleaned up and primed for paint, so I used a flap disc on a grinder to knock off the scale, a bead blaster to clean up the pitting, and 120 grit on a random orbit sander to smooth it out. After that, I hit it with a few coats of self etching primer. Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of pitting from galvanic corrosion, so I am going to slick it up with some body filler before applying paint.

After I got both quarters primed, I installed the soft top mounting channel on the top of the windshield before cleaning up for the night.

Speaking of the soft top, could one of y’all please post a picture of where the side rail sits in relation to the top of your hard doors? I need to drill the hole in the A and B pillars for the well nuts, so any help/tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[steelsoldiers]

This afternoon, I started by sanding down the broken right front corner of the hood. Then, I filled the cracks with epoxy and clamped it all together. I put a heater near it to help it cure and moved on to the next project. Once it’s done curing, I will make a mold and then lay in multiple layers of resin soaked fiberglass to rebuild the missing lip.

Next, I mixed up some body filler and applied it to both front quarter panels to cover up the pitting in the aluminum.

After that, I pulled out the new windshield halves and wrapped them in new gaskets before inserting them into the frame. Once they were in, I started installing the trim pieces. I held the center piece in position with one hand and drilled some holes for self-tapping screws with the other. That will keep the windshields in place until I can finish the other pieces later this week. After they’re done I will pull everything back out for paint!

 

[steelsoldiers]

This afternoon, I started by popping off the clamps and cleaning up the excess epoxy from the hood repair. After that, I built a form from a piece of aluminum coil stock. I secured it to the fender lip with a couple of screws. Then, I cut some fiberglass cloth into strips and mixed up some epoxy. I saturated each strip in epoxy and laid them into the form. I let the epoxy set up a while and then trimmed off the excess and removed the form. Tomorrow, I’ll mix up another batch of epoxy and add a bunch more mesh to build up the thickness to match the rest of the hood.

I also drilled the A and B pillars for the well nuts to hold the top rails. Then, I installed the well nuts and mounted the rails.

After that, I finished drilling the windshield frame and screwing the windshield retainers.

Lastly, I started sanding excess body filler off of the front quarters.

It was a very productive day!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Annnnnnnd more fiberglass work and more sanding on quarter panels and priming completed. The fiberglass repair is really getting strong. You can pull on it and rock the truck now. I think four or five more strips will do it.

The quarter panels turned out great. Just a couple of pinholes in the filler to contend with. It’s a super thin layer of filler, so I shouldn’t have to worry about it cracking out down the road.

 

[swbradley1]

What kind of borescope... I'm considering purchasing one.

At the risk of you saying I'm derailing the thread....

I use this one from Amazon and it is only $34 and it connects to your Smartphone. Works well and I use it for looking under or inside anything. As a matter of fact it is sitting here on my laptop.

DEPSTECH Wireless Endoscope, IP67 Waterproof WiFi Borescope Inspection 2.0 Megapixels HD Snake Camera for Android and iOS Smartphone, iPhone, iPad, Samsung -Black(11.5FT)

I'm reading the thread and have already picked up some stuff on my slightly bigger truck, especially the fiberglass. Thanks Chris and I'm enjoying the read.