M37 Restoration - Newbie Attempt

Hey everyone,

I have been working on a restoration of my 1962 M37 for about a year and a half now, and documenting the whole process as I go. The thread originally started over at powerwagonadvertiser.com, and I have been meaning to migrate it over here as well. I'll continue to post in both places going forward so I get the most feedback. Thanks in advance, hope you guys enjoy the build as much as I am!

Hey guys, just got started trying to bring an old 1962 M37 back to life. It's been a long journey to this point. We bought the truck for my dad back in 2006 or so off of E-bay. It came from Texas (49th Armor, Texas National Guard I think?) Had it shipped to NJ, where it sat for another few years. My dad tinkered around with it, but I decided it was time to get serious, so we brought it down to Maryland.

Anyways, just wanted to introduce myself and say hello! Here are a few pics and videos. I will try to post more as I make progress.

Jared

https://picasaweb.google.com/110723032474412695046/M37Chronicles?authuser=0&feat=directlink

This is the M37 on the trailer from NJ and then its arrival at Fort Meade, drawing a crowd on the very first day.

test

Ok just figuring out the best way to deal with the 100's of photos I have, sorry for the test. Now, on with the pictures.

Taking inventory, and found a mouse living in the box with new parts in it. Grrrr.

A shot of the motor and truck inside the Auto Skills workshop.

First obstacle, stuck spark plug in the head. Removed the head and used a special tool and a torch to back it out. Cleaned the head and surface while I was at it.

Also, best investment, EVER, a little sandblaster. The kind you stick the object in, close the door, and put your hands in the box. It was like $120 bucks at Harbor Freight, money well spent. Check out the before and after on the hinges. It works absolute wonders for the hardware too. It's like going to Home Depot and getting new bolts, they seriously look that good after being blasted. No joke.

Here's a video of us attempting to start it. It fired up, but it was the beginning of the end I'm afraid.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BqP2cyOWgw43pbbgfElsxg?feat=directlink

I see you are off and running with your restore. Best of luck and I hope you have a lot of patience as it can get crazy at times.

I restored a M43B1 ambulance which is one of the M37 series vehicles and boy do I remember that!

Have FUN with it!

Got the new carburetor, fuel pump, coil, and Pektronics ignition. Working on putting them in today. Made some pretty good progress.


And then, some bad news came along my way. While I was working on the truck the other day, I got it fired up and could keep it running like seen in this video here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

It just had no ability to rev up, and it was spitting up black, liquid gunk through the carb. So I pulled the plugs and did a compression test, which I should have done way earlier on. To my disappointment, these were the results in order from 1-6:


0,50,0,0,0,20

And when I say 0, I mean not even a budge of the needle. I asked a few people around the shop to verify and make sure I was using the tool correctly, and they said I was. I probably should have figured this out before putting all the money and time in to new parts like the carb and fuel pump. The only thing I can think of that may be throwing it off so much is maybe the head isn't sitting right? I pulled it off because I had the stuck spark plug. Before putting it back on though, I buffed down the surfaces and cleaned everything up, plus installed a new gasket with the copper spray. It did have a slight mismatch in the alignment, which you can see from my previous pics in this post, but it didn't look as if it were going to leak. I am also missing one of the screws from the top of the head that holds that little bracket for the two vacuum lines. It's around somewhere. So those are the only two things I can think that may throw off the test. Thoughts?

I poured some Seafoam down in the block. If that doesn't free stuff up, which I don't think it will, I figure I have these options:

1. Pull the motor and find some place to help me rebuild it from the block up. This keeps it stock.

2. Pull the motor and scrap it, replace with a crate motor.

3. Try to rebuild it while it is still in the truck. Someone suggested dropping the oil pan, but I'm not sure I am ready for that.

I've about reached my level of expertise here. I am a hobbyist/enthusiast with little to no qualified skills to work on this thing. Plus, it's costing me $75 to store it at the garage where I work on it, and about $30 a day for the bay.

So I am asking you guys what your opinion is here? I'm sure that the gut reaction is to say keep her stock. However, if I go with a newer motor, I could potentially swap out the transmission too and get something that could be a bit more versatile for highway driving (I live in a city). I could also look in to getting a transfer case with super low gears for off roading too, which is something I considered.

What do you guys think?

Build update: Poured some Seafoam down the head to see if I got any results, that didn't do a darn thing, so on to the next test.

I took the check valve out of the compression tester fitting so I could send air down the opposite direction. Hooked compressed air (about 150psi) up to it and connected to various cylinders and found that indeed only #2 and #6 hold any kind of compression. The others just blow air out the carb, even when I hand cranked the motor to different positions. I have a video here to demonstrate my experiment:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

You can't see me, but I am hand cranking the motor at 1:30.

My educated guess at this point is maybe some of the springs are worn out because it was sitting so long? Perhaps they were in a compressed state, and now they just can't provide the force needed to close the valves properly?

I'm in the process of taking the intake and exhaust manifolds off so I can get to the valve cover and check things out. Also going to take the head off again and do some poking around.

Thoughts?

Update number two: Pulled off the intake manifold and head, discovered no moving valves, as illustrated here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

My conclusion, broken camshaft? Thinking of rebuilding the engine, although it's a little out of my realm. I'm certainly not a mechanic. Thoughts?

Decided to go for the full restoration! Figured what the heck right? You only live once (and this may be my life's work)

More pics of the tear down. I'm summarizing here, figured the pics will speak for themselves.

Taking inventory of some of the parts.

I realized quickly that if I was going to do this, I was going to need a work truck. See the problem is, I don't have a garage. I live in an apartment! So having a place to keep tools and pieces you are working on can be kind of tricky. This U-Haul cost be $1200. I drove it off the lot and it's been great to me ever since. Don't get me wrong, she smokes like a chimney and is a cranky start, but what do you expect for close to 200k?

Also took some inventory of all the extra pieces I somehow accumulated. Got the Ford registered with historic plates because of its age. I think it will be appropriate to put these on the Dodge when it's done.

Made a little more progress this weekend. First got the bed off, then get it in the back on the U-Haul, and then the cab, which we stood up right behind it. See these two guys looking at the truck? They are both staff mechanics at the shop who pretty much think I am INSANE for trying to restore this thing. You can see their look of disbelief! haha

Hey guys, been busy working on some not so interesting stuff in the rebuild process. I had to relocate my work area. Luckily, a friend I made at the shop let me set up in his backyard. Only problem was, I needed a covered area to set up and work in. Kind of hard to do a restore when parts keep getting rained on! I didn't have a garage or barn, so what's the next best thing? A garage in a box.

We had to move the frame, which was a bit of a challenge with the steering column removed, but it wasn't too bad.

Rough start

Sure sad to hear that you are having a rough start on this project...but do not dismay. There was many a 8 to 10 hour day I spent grinding, cutting, welding, and hammering on steel to get the rear compartment of my ambulance restore half way reasonable.

It will get better as you go along and when you finish! No one will match your joy at what you have accomplished by saving a piece of Americana Military History.

Thanks for the pictures. I've been helping a fellow member here in an M37 restoration. Sounds like your engine issue is valves. Common issue, should be easy to fix.

The wiring is going to be interesting. You will get tired of Douglass Connectors. I would go with newer style rubber plugs if you can swing the cost.

Thanks guys! That's the kind of positive feedback I need to keep going. Now, on with the pics.

Some pics of stuff I picked up at last year's Red Ball Military Show in Gilbert PA

Lots of randon hardware. Bag of NOS lock washers for $5, bolts for 25 cents, etc. And paint!