Evil Dr. Porkchop's M-Gator Restoration

Yesterday my brother and I road tripped over to Fort Drum to pick up the M-Gator I won a couple weeks ago. The recovery went well except for a wheel bearing failure about 60 miles from Drum, so we 3-wheeled the rest of trip. I paid a little more than I was hoping to, but I wanted one and 200 miles away was as close as I'll probably find one. The tailgate is bent, the litter rack is missing, and every piece of plastic is broken but that can all be fixed. On the plus side one of the steer tires is brand new. After airing up the tires and making sure the brake worked we rolled it off the trailer into the garage.

After a quick look at the wiring we jumped the dump bed to raise it and then removed it, it's nice that that works. Today we did a quick inspection of everything else and then filled all the fluids which had been drained. After hooking some jumper cables to a battery we got it to fire up! It seems to run good from what I can tell, I'll have to wait until I get the right battery that fits onboard until I can test drive it. That's about as much as we've got done so far, I'll update this thread as work progresses.

Welcome to the "GATOR" Club.

Stonepicker1 said:

Welcome to the "GATOR" Club.

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Thanks Stonepicker. Unfortunately I'm no longer in the CUCV II club, and I'm think I'm going to have more in this Gator than I did in the Tahoe. Oh well...

Evil Dr. Porkchop said:

Yesterday my brother and I road tripped over to Fort Drum to pick up the M-Gator I won a couple weeks ago. The recovery went well except for a wheel bearing failure about 60 miles from Drum, so we 3-wheeled the rest of trip. I paid a little more than I was hoping to, but I wanted one and 200 miles away was as close as I'll probably find one. The tailgate is bent, the litter rack is missing, and every piece of plastic is broken but that can all be fixed. On the plus side one of the steer tires is brand new. After airing up the tires and making sure the brake worked we rolled it off the trailer into the garage.

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That's funny. Kind of like:

- "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln; how did you like the Play?"

Very nice. I picked one up 6 months ago. Found all the parts I needed on ebay. I replaced all the fenders and seats. New water pump and head gasket along with injectors and glow pljgs runs like a deeere now!
Check the king pins and bearings in the front axle. Also pick up the manual
Good luck it is a fun Tory

looks like a never ending project...Just the way I like them..Best of luck on this one.

turnkey said:

looks like a never ending project...Just the way I like them..Best of luck on this one.

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Thanks!

nickd said:

Very nice. I picked one up 6 months ago. Found all the parts I needed on ebay. I replaced all the fenders and seats. New water pump and head gasket along with injectors and glow pljgs runs like a deeere now!
Check the king pins and bearings in the front axle. Also pick up the manual
Good luck it is a fun Tory

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Thanks for the info. I've already got the technical manual printed out and I've been reading through it, still looking for a printable copy of the operator's manual though.

Yesterday I stopped by Tractor supply and picked up a battery for it, and installed it this morning. I think I need to turn the idle up a little bit, and the accelerator cable is rigged together at the pedal with a hose clamp, but it runs great, drives, stops, and the diff lock works as well. So far so good!

From what I've read online the serial number of mine makes it a 2002 model, the engine is a 2004.

That's a very cool ride. Love the Aperture Science stencil! For those who don't know, it's a reference to a fictitious company in the video game Portal and Portal 2.

Evil Dr. Porkchop said:

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I've already got the technical manual printed out and I've been reading through it, still looking for a printable copy of the operator's manual though.

Yesterday I stopped by Tractor supply and picked up a battery for it, and installed it this morning. I think I need to turn the idle up a little bit, and the accelerator cable is rigged together at the pedal with a hose clamp, but it runs great, drives, stops, and the diff lock works as well. So far so good!

From what I've read online the serial number of mine makes it a 2002 model, the engine is a 2004.

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Yep that serial number puts it mid 2002, probably around June or July production. What is the serial number on the engine?

jacobsk said:

Yep that serial number puts it mid 2002, probably around June or July production. What is the serial number on the engine?

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I think it's ch3007d070603, the model is 3007d003. Thanks for confirming the year of the Gator itself, if I wanted to register it in Vermont I would have needed to get the title for it had it been a 2004, but since it's a 2002 it doesn't need one.

Any difference in the specifications of the military model over the similar commercial models?

Another Ahab said:

Any difference in the specifications of the military model over the similar commercial models?

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I think the dropside bed is the major difference over the civilian models, other than that I think they're similar to how the CUCV is setup compared to the civilian Chevys (added brush guard, blackout lights, pintle hook, etc.).

Evil Dr. Porkchop said:

I think the dropside bed is the major difference over the civilian models, other than that I think they're similar to how the CUCV is setup compared to the civilian Chevys (added brush guard, blackout lights, pintle hook, etc.).

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Don't know the Whole CUCV story:

- But it's cosmetic features only then

- And not a heavy-up for brakes, transmission, or engine

That they way you understand it?

Another Ahab said:

Don't know the Whole CUCV story:

- But it's cosmetic features only then

- And not a heavy-up for brakes, transmission, or engine

That they way you understand it?

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Pretty much. Almost all the important stuff is the same as the civilian model, which makes finding parts a lot easier. I think the only thing for the Gator I might have some difficulty obtaining is the correct litter rack for over the hood (if anyone has one for sale let me know!).

Evil Dr. Porkchop said:

I think the only thing for the Gator I might have some difficulty obtaining is the correct litter rack for over the hood (if anyone has one for sale let me know!).

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If you can't find one, perhaps it can be fabricated?

maddawg308 said:

If you can't find one, perhaps it can be fabricated?

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It could be, but someone out there has to have one hanging around. Since I don't need it anyway I'll just wait it out.

In other news yesterday I got the bed dissassembled, and I straightened out the bed floor and the tailgate. If the weather cooperates I might get some sanding done tomorrow.

Evil check your pm. I have seen the front rack for sale on eBay. Not cbeap

Well here was my pile when M-gators were not available. Shipped in from Hawaii to LA then I drove over and picked it up.
AND yes I have more $$ in that M-gator than any other vehicle its size.It was much worse than it looks in the photo, Engine was toast, all plastic, tires, seats were bad or gone. GL auction photo & when I was done.
You will like it. I use mine for all sorts of different things easy get around and simpler than a mule (not as nostalgic as a mule of course)

Artillerydan said:

Well here was my pile when M-gators were not available. Shipped in from Hawaii to LA then I drove over and picked it up.
AND yes I have more $$ in that M-gator than any other vehicle its size.It was much worse than it looks in the photo, Engine was toast, all plastic, tires, seats were bad or gone. GL auction photo & when I was done.
You will like it. I use mine for all sorts of different things easy get around and simpler than a mule (not as nostalgic as a mule of course)

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Thanks for posting, great job with the restoration!

I placed an order today for almost all of the missing parts for mine such as all of the plastic in the right color, as well as a throttle cable, shift knobs, some shifter linkage parts, clutch cover, filters, a couple stickers, 1 front tire to match the other, and tubes for the rear tires (they are a little beat up but they have almost new tread so I'll run them for a bit). I'll still need a few more things that I know of right now, but that's the majority of it.

Just a note on the rack, although I'm sure you want the extra room and the cool effect, but I've driven and PM'ed these since they came out, in all those years and around the globe I saw more without the rack then I ever did with it.

I'm still looking for a digital copy of the manual, retired now, but I used to have it.

Good luck and enjoy!