Survival 109 build

Well it's been a long time in coming, several have said I need to start a thread on my 109 build, so here goes. Been interested in getting a deuce for a couple of years now, and wanted one that I could build into a "camper" type of vehicle. So to me, a 109 was just the ticket. Would have liked a longer, more spacious truck, but even a M36 LWB wouldn't fit where I need to park it. So one day at a local box store I saw a really nicely done deuce road tractor conversion and I walked up to the guy who drove it, found out I just met a quite knowledgeable guy who goes by the name of RAYZER. We hit it up quickly and I have learned a great deal from him. A few months later he told me about a 109 on CL in High Springs Fla. that might be what I was looking for. Well it turned out to be a decent truck with great tires. 11 nearly new XL's which I was wanting. Truck was complete, some rust in the box, but otherwise in decent shape. Ran very well coming back to central Fla. Quite impressed. That was in late May of '13. Took me a couple of months to get started on it, but have done a good bit to it over the last year or so. Here are some pics of when I got it home. I'll try to catch up on text and photo's over the next few weeks.

Here are some more pics of what I had to start with. Looked rougher than it really was, just needed some TLC and a lot of paint! Tan had to go. Hood pic is of the auction lettering that the previous owner left on it.

I quickly decided that the tan paint had to go. It stood out like a sore thumb even behind my house. So I went easy and choose to start out with rattle can paint, a little at a time. I used Rustoleum satin Spruce Green. MANY cans later I had all of the front done, the right side and the rear. On the smaller areas it looked ok, but on the larger box panels it was obvious it was a spray bomb job. So eventually I started using a custom match in Behr Premium Plus semi gloss house paint. Reduced slightly and sprayed with a HVLP automotive spray gun. Worked well and much faster.

Great looking truck to start with. You are also lucky to have Rayzer ask questions about RV builds.I am looking forward to following your thread.

agazza2 said:

Great looking truck to start with. You are also lucky to have Rayzer ask questions about RV builds.I am looking forward to following your thread.

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Thanks agazza2. Yes, Rayzer has the greatest RV conversion on here, I believe.

Good looking Winabago35 ,You were brave to rattle can a Deuce.I bet you are local tiddley winks champion/ thumb wrestler king of the neighborhood. My friend painted a whole 1930's car with a trombone type fly sprayer ,pumping, pumping away for hours. I have "Sandy the 5 ton" in sand tan and I agree unless you live in The Sandbox tan is out.
I would suggest that you send off an engine oil sample for analysis, you get an idea about bearing wear, fuel in oil and antifreeze problems before a rod comes through the block as a visual indicator there be a problem in there. Lots of heavy equipment dealers have sample kits, our local Cat dealer charges $15.00 for one test.
I am going to check out a M109 a fellow wants to trade for a cargo bed truck of mine. I like the idea of an odd ball camper as I tend to collect all kind of strange stuff, Russian tractor, grist mills, MKT field kitchen trailer , my GI $100,000.00 hot dog /chillie wagon. I will watch your progress and if I get into a 6x6 home in a box kit we can exchange ideas. My first improvement would be a porch that folds up for travel which keeps me from falling off a ladder when I forget to look down when I open the door. Keep the posts coming. Mark

So here are a few pics of the paint wrap up. Not the shade of most trucks, but I like different and someone told me it was the shade the Marines used. Maybe. Also a couple of pics from when I went through the brakes. Rebuilt all six wheel cylinders, the master cylinder, airpack, replaced all of the hoses, packed the bearings and flushed the system and returned it to DOT5 fluid.

61sleepercab said:

Good looking Winabago35 ,You were brave to rattle can a Deuce.I bet you are local tiddley winks champion/ thumb wrestler king of the neighborhood. My friend painted a whole 1930's car with a trombone type fly sprayer ,pumping, pumping away for hours. I have "Sandy the 5 ton" in sand tan and I agree unless you live in The Sandbox tan is out.
I would suggest that you send off an engine oil sample for analysis, you get an idea about bearing wear, fuel in oil and antifreeze problems before a rod comes through the block as a visual indicator there be a problem in there. Lots of heavy equipment dealers have sample kits, our local Cat dealer charges $15.00 for one test.
I am going to check out a M109 a fellow wants to trade for a cargo bed truck of mine. I like the idea of an odd ball camper as I tend to collect all kind of strange stuff, Russian tractor, grist mills, MKT field kitchen trailer , my GI $100,000.00 hot dog /chillie wagon. I will watch your progress and if I get into a 6x6 home in a box kit we can exchange ideas. My first improvement would be a porch that folds up for travel which keeps me from falling off a ladder when I forget to look down when I open the door. Keep the posts coming. Mark

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Glad you like 61sleepercab. Thanks. Yes, I now have the toughest and sorest thumb in the east. Oil sample a good idea, was thinking about JB Welding a reinforcement plate near cylinder #6 just in case. I keep the revs down and don't lug it either. Hoping for the best. I have purchased a four foot section of deuce rear frame rails to add on a fixed rear deck/porch/stair assembly, will post as I get to that project. Good luck keeping that Russian tractor running.

Also took off the hard top for dent repair and paint. Bit heavy, had a friend help with removal, a neighbor with the install. Also pulled the seats for cab paint and insulation.

Good looking truck Scott. I'm sure if you have Ray coaching you on the camper build, it will turn out great!

Tow4 said:

Good looking truck Scott. I'm sure if you have Ray coaching you on the camper build, it will turn out great!

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Thanks Ray. Yes, RAYZER is the top dog on camper info.

Some pics of add ons over the last several months. I mounted two 24v fans on the dash, a 70 watt 24v to 12v converter behind the passenger seat, some additional switches under the dash, a clock, a 2" receiver hitch, made a folding front bumper step and installed LED headlamps. Vast improvement.

Oops, wrong fan pic. Here is corrected one. Also some pics of my LED front turn and marker lamps, clearance lamps, backup and traffic cameras, lock box and clock, remote brake fluid reservoir, and a Jeep CJ grab bar.

So I decided in this day and age that I wanted to be able to lock up as much as possible so a keyed power/start switch was installed, a hood lock, fuel can lock, fuel cap and battery door locks, tool box lock, and a ladder retainer and lock. Also a few more lights, bumper driving lights, fog lights and rear LEDs including amber rear turn lamps. Purists will cringe, but they are much more visible. Also pics of my electric wiper motor and updated arm.

So......we'll see you at the GA Rally in Oct?

It's the premier place to be if you are an MV person.

I had noticed that time to time the starter would take a couple of try's to get it to engage, so I pulled ( dragged, very heavy, ugg ) it out and cleaned the solonoid contacts, cleaned up the brushes a bit and also cleaned the relay contact points. Been working well ever since. I finally got around to getting a tag, had insurance for awhile. Insurance through State Farm is $122./yr. Tag is antique and a one time $71. fee. Good for life. Also display not needed in Florida. I put a magnetic bracket on it just in case I need it displayed in another state. Normally kept in the cab.

wreckerman893 said:

So......we'll see you at the GA Rally in Oct?

It's the premier place to be if you are an MV person.

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Yes it is wreckerman893. LONG way from being done enough to stay in. Just now getting started on the RV part of the build. Aslo every dime is going into it, so no $$$ for a trip this year. Hope to make '15 Rally though.

Hi Quadjeeper,

I noticed you have a dent on your passenger side fender. I had somewhat similar thing on my deuce when I got it from GL. I was ready to buy a replacement, but shipping/picking it up is a little cumbersome. So decided to try some redneck fix, and it ended up quite well. I bought an iron angle I think it was 1/5" x 1.5", lay & clamped it w/ c-clamps on the fender side, across the dent and used heavy duty clamp (in my case, I actually used a bench vise) to compress the dent against the angle iron. With the help of a little pounding w/ rubber mallet on fender top perpendicular to the bench vise while tightening the vice, the result was beyond my expectation, the dent almost completely gone. If one would put a little bondo, it would be completely gone.

Cheers,
-k

Ok, now for the first major project, power steering. I have a very tight turn behind my house that takes about 50 back and fill movements to get the truck into place. I quickly found out my old heart is not happy with armstrong steering so I studied what all systems where out there for a deuce. I could have fabbed up something, but for safety and liability reasons, I wanted something I could rely on. Air assist was off of the table due to poor road feel. Same with full hydraulic. So even though it was the most costly system, I went with what basically a Saginaw type of system. Is like in a typical older pickup. I purchased a complete kit from Waterloo Specialties. It is a comprehensive kit and pretty well thought out. Only a couple of issues. It is a lot of work removing old parts and rivets, as well as drilling numerous holes. Removing the L fender and radiator made it much easier, fender is required, radiator helped a lot. Plus I was going to service the cooling system, replace the belts and install a oil filter spin on kit as well as insulate some areas. I split the manual box while it was in the frame, then jacked up the front of the engine to fully remove the box bolts and the worm shaft/column in one piece. Very close to the IP. More in the next post.

kboy said:

Hi Quadjeeper,

I noticed you have a dent on your passenger side fender. I had somewhat similar thing on my deuce when I got it from GL. I was ready to buy a replacement, but shipping/picking it up is a little cumbersome. So decided to try some redneck fix, and it ended up quite well. I bought an iron angle I think it was 1/5" x 1.5", lay & clamped it w/ c-clamps on the fender side, across the dent and used heavy duty clamp (in my case, I actually used a bench vise) to compress the dent against the angle iron. With the help of a little pounding w/ rubber mallet on fender top perpendicular to the bench vise while tightening the vice, the result was beyond my expectation, the dent almost completely gone. If one would put a little bondo, it would be completely gone.

Cheers,
-k

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Hey there kboy. Thanks for the tip. Yes a new/replacement fender would be nice, but not in the cards at this point. I think it adds character but others think not. Lol. When I get time, I may try your method.