- 57
- 0
- 6
- Location
- Near Muncie, Indiana
Hello, my name is Josh. I started the MV collection with a M38 bought several years ago that someone had dumped a V8 in. It was pretty beat up but I enjoyed it. I joined the MVPA when I bought the M38. About two months ago while looking around ebay I found a M1008 that seemed to be priced right. I bought it, it was delivered and even though it has a few leaks, I am very happy with it. Hopefully I am going to own a M1009 in the near future, once some minor title issues are worked out with the seller and GL.
Back to my original infatuation, I have wanted a M35 / M109 since I was a 10 or so. My best friends father was on the fire department. They had the Shop van off of a M109 that had been converted into a tanker truck in their back yard. We camped in that thing and played many summer days and nights. I have always been interested in owning one. I had watched several M109s and M35s on GL but chickened out as I did not want to deal with the hassle of getting it titled and knowing very little about them, I did not want to get a lemon. I finally decided to pay a bit of a premium and get a somewhat proven unit that had already been titled off of the boards or ebay. I found a M109 that seemed to be priced right with 10 min left on the auction and since it was in my part of the country, I bought it.
Of course here is were the excitement begins for me. The truck was about 140 miles north of me in Michigan. Michigan has just had an ice storm so I was expecting the worst. I was also a little apprehensive that the truck may not have been as "perfect" as the add claimed. It has happened before... So I go about getting together a supply of items that may become an issue on the trip home.
With some research I find out the proper belts and hoses and order them so I will have them for the trip. I figure best case, I will have some spares. Since I have it already typed out as my pre trip check off list, here is the complete list of goods I took with me. Most of the small items I already had so it was no big deal (cost) to get them. The list was reasonably small to start but grew quickly after reading one of the posts here (I will see if I can find it) that made think that perhaps my buyer was not just an average guy that had a M109 and that he might actually be a dealer buying from GL and reselling. Nothing wrong with this of course, I just felt that a salesman might not take as good of care of a unit like this
Cash
Map to sellers house
Road Atlas
camera
5 Gallons of Diesel Fuel
Bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil
Assorted Funnels
Radiator Hoses
lengths of 7/16" - 3/8" - 1/2" Fuel Line as well as 5/8" - 7/8 - 1" of Heater Hose (I had no idea what I may need)
Assorted Sized Hose Clamps
All the Belts
Fuel Filters
10 Gal of 15-40 Oil
Oil Filters
2 empty 5 gal buckets to catch fluids if needed
2 large containers of radiator Stop Leak
1 Case of Coolant
5 Gallons of Water
Jumper Cables
Jump Box
Fire Extinguisher and First Aid Kit
30' Tow Strap
15 Chain
4 Shackles
Hi Lift jack
2 ton floor jack
Set of wooden tire chalks
Can of spray battery terminal cleaner
Large assortment of tools
Auto Electric repair set
Bag of Shop Rags
Flash Light
6 Road Side Flares
Spare front tire (from my old buddies dad, who also now happens to me my father in law)
I asked Steve (Father in Law - owner of M38, M38A1 and a few other donor vehicles) to go with me to get the M109. Naturally, he was very willing. When Steve arrived at my house at 5:30 am and looked at my supply list - it was confirmed to him that I was an over prepared nut.
Anyhow, we left around 6:30 am and arrived at the sellers house exactly at 9 am as promised. The seller had fired up the unit prior to our arrival so it would be warmed up. I was a little concerned that it may have been started up early as it may have needed jumped or something but that turned out to not be the case. It was around 15 degrees and the conversation was probably shorter than it would have been during the summer but I got the basic info from the seller and the deal was sealed. On the drive home we stopped for fuel and then again at the "WW2 Victory Museum" We never shut the truck off until we arrived at my house. There are a lot of great items the museum - It turns out I should have put the memory card for the camera on the list as well...
We arrived at my house, turned the truck off to discover a new set of (Walmart type) batteries, a very nice radiator, all new belts, fresh oil change and new filters. The 10 tires (no spare) are all in great condition. Several different manufactures though. I feel I did real well. I did not need a single item that I brought with me - much to the amusement of the father in law...
Immediate future plans for the unit include fixing all the oil leaks, the one blob of rust, adding a Winch, A Spare tire, replacing the pass seat cushions and finding the proper Pioneer tools. Paint will probably happen this next summer. The existing camo job is not really my favorite.
Here is a single picture of the unit - I have several misc / detail pics of the truck at www.joshclifton.com Album 5 - If you get bored, check it out and tell me all you can about the truck. I have a set of manuals on the way....
Back to my original infatuation, I have wanted a M35 / M109 since I was a 10 or so. My best friends father was on the fire department. They had the Shop van off of a M109 that had been converted into a tanker truck in their back yard. We camped in that thing and played many summer days and nights. I have always been interested in owning one. I had watched several M109s and M35s on GL but chickened out as I did not want to deal with the hassle of getting it titled and knowing very little about them, I did not want to get a lemon. I finally decided to pay a bit of a premium and get a somewhat proven unit that had already been titled off of the boards or ebay. I found a M109 that seemed to be priced right with 10 min left on the auction and since it was in my part of the country, I bought it.
Of course here is were the excitement begins for me. The truck was about 140 miles north of me in Michigan. Michigan has just had an ice storm so I was expecting the worst. I was also a little apprehensive that the truck may not have been as "perfect" as the add claimed. It has happened before... So I go about getting together a supply of items that may become an issue on the trip home.
With some research I find out the proper belts and hoses and order them so I will have them for the trip. I figure best case, I will have some spares. Since I have it already typed out as my pre trip check off list, here is the complete list of goods I took with me. Most of the small items I already had so it was no big deal (cost) to get them. The list was reasonably small to start but grew quickly after reading one of the posts here (I will see if I can find it) that made think that perhaps my buyer was not just an average guy that had a M109 and that he might actually be a dealer buying from GL and reselling. Nothing wrong with this of course, I just felt that a salesman might not take as good of care of a unit like this
Cash
Map to sellers house
Road Atlas
camera
5 Gallons of Diesel Fuel
Bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil
Assorted Funnels
Radiator Hoses
lengths of 7/16" - 3/8" - 1/2" Fuel Line as well as 5/8" - 7/8 - 1" of Heater Hose (I had no idea what I may need)
Assorted Sized Hose Clamps
All the Belts
Fuel Filters
10 Gal of 15-40 Oil
Oil Filters
2 empty 5 gal buckets to catch fluids if needed
2 large containers of radiator Stop Leak
1 Case of Coolant
5 Gallons of Water
Jumper Cables
Jump Box
Fire Extinguisher and First Aid Kit
30' Tow Strap
15 Chain
4 Shackles
Hi Lift jack
2 ton floor jack
Set of wooden tire chalks
Can of spray battery terminal cleaner
Large assortment of tools
Auto Electric repair set
Bag of Shop Rags
Flash Light
6 Road Side Flares
Spare front tire (from my old buddies dad, who also now happens to me my father in law)
I asked Steve (Father in Law - owner of M38, M38A1 and a few other donor vehicles) to go with me to get the M109. Naturally, he was very willing. When Steve arrived at my house at 5:30 am and looked at my supply list - it was confirmed to him that I was an over prepared nut.
Anyhow, we left around 6:30 am and arrived at the sellers house exactly at 9 am as promised. The seller had fired up the unit prior to our arrival so it would be warmed up. I was a little concerned that it may have been started up early as it may have needed jumped or something but that turned out to not be the case. It was around 15 degrees and the conversation was probably shorter than it would have been during the summer but I got the basic info from the seller and the deal was sealed. On the drive home we stopped for fuel and then again at the "WW2 Victory Museum" We never shut the truck off until we arrived at my house. There are a lot of great items the museum - It turns out I should have put the memory card for the camera on the list as well...
We arrived at my house, turned the truck off to discover a new set of (Walmart type) batteries, a very nice radiator, all new belts, fresh oil change and new filters. The 10 tires (no spare) are all in great condition. Several different manufactures though. I feel I did real well. I did not need a single item that I brought with me - much to the amusement of the father in law...
Immediate future plans for the unit include fixing all the oil leaks, the one blob of rust, adding a Winch, A Spare tire, replacing the pass seat cushions and finding the proper Pioneer tools. Paint will probably happen this next summer. The existing camo job is not really my favorite.
Here is a single picture of the unit - I have several misc / detail pics of the truck at www.joshclifton.com Album 5 - If you get bored, check it out and tell me all you can about the truck. I have a set of manuals on the way....
