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1952 Studebaker V18A/MTQ

DDoyle

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Recovry4x4 said:
DDoyle said:
Although the TM recommended a driver in the towed vehicle, I believe this is illegal in most jurisditions. In my experience, with proper front end alignment of the towed vehicle, and avoiding sharp turns, tracking is not a problem.

Great looking truck. Post more pics - and KEEP IT A GASSER!

Best wishes,
David
I think the statement in caps might be directed towards me! LOL
Nah.....
 

Recovry4x4

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C'mon David, tell me you didn''t grind off a layer of teeth when you heard I repowered a perfectly good M108? Did you get your AL stuff moved yet?
 

area52

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I used to live in Atascadero CA and comute on Rt. 58 over to Bakersfield every day. 1.5 hours each way on that road. You see some strange stuff out there in the middle of nowhere.
 

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus

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Jon:
Great pics and write up what a treasure. I want to see some holes in the desert soon. With the current energy crisis you could do bussiness putting in poles for wind generators. I know what you mean about the respect you have for your duece pulling that truck. My duece did a nice job pulling the dolly convertor and M 127 from New Jersey and I had to slow to 25 in 3rd on a couple of large hills too. They are great trucks and I hope to pass mine on to one of my kids
 

DDoyle

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Kenny, not really. While the M108 is tough to find, the V18 is tougher. Plus, knowing you, you are going to drive the wrecker thousands of miles, using it as a wrecker. The V18 is likely to be like most of my trucks - a hanger queen.

DD
 

EAdams

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Hey, I got the same year!!! 1952 Studebaker with a 331cu gasser in it.!! I picked mine up last month. Cool... shoot me a e-mail when you get it, we can help each other out.
 

JDToumanian

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Thanks for all the comments and support, guys! I've been so busy this week (working out of town, mostly) that I haven't had time to look over the new truck much, let alone take pics or post here. Hopefully I'll get some breathing room soon.

KEEP IT A GASSER!
Definitely! I hope the engine is in good shape, but I'm planning a major tune-up either way - New spark plugs and wires (found originals on eBay), points and condenser, belts, hoses, service the air cleaner, new fuel pump, and I've got carb. and governor rebuild kits. The engine clearly had fuel issues... Fuel lines have been cut, the original pump has been bypassed and a cheap electric one installed. The fuel tank is 3/4 full of rusty, stale old gas, and if there were fuel filter canisters they have been removed. There are no fuel filters at all! The carb. is probably full of crud. The wiring has been hacked up, but I got a NOS gasser harness from Walker's, so all wires will be removed and replaced.

If I could have a few days to work on it, I'd have the engine running.


I'm wondering if you pulled axle shafts, drive shafts or you just put the transfer case in neutral for the tow. Did you ever have any trouble with the front wheels following through after turns?
The bolts holding the rear drive shaft were loose, so I removed them and wired it up. The front drive shaft is missing, so I didn't have to worry about it. I had no trouble at all with the tow. There was one turn that worried me, a sharp left followed by a sharp right, on the campus grounds. I sat in the V-18 while my friend Keith drove the deuce, but I didn't actually steer - I wanted to see if it would do it itself, and only intervene if necessary. It tracked perfectly.

I expect to see it at Aberdeen next year!
5,270 miles? I don't think so! Maybe Tower Park... 8)

I want to see some holes in the desert soon.
Me too!

Hey, I got the same year!!! 1952 Studebaker with a 331cu gasser in it.!! I picked mine up last month. Cool... shoot me a e-mail when you get it, we can help each other out.
Very cool... I'll post lots of pics soon, and if I can figure out how to post video, I took a few of the towing operation.

Regards,
Jon
 

Crazyguyla

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Jon,

The fuel filter is located in the gas tank. It's a pick up screen/fuel filter. An inline fuel filter near the carb will work too. I have a seethru filter installed. My fuel pump was missing and replaced with an electric pump. I ordered a new pump and put it in, just have to figure out the fittings needed to attach the fuel lines. Good luck with your new truck.
 

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clinto

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5,270 miles? I don't think so! Maybe Tower Park...
Do it!!!! Just brew up some biodiesel, hook up that towbar and :driver:
 

JDToumanian

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Thanks for the tip on the fuel filter, Marcus!

I removed my fuel tank today, I'm going to strip it down and clean it and all the pieces, do rust treatment if necessary, then reassemble. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with all this old fuel... I have many buckets full! I tried burning some in a metal bucket, but the smoke was too much - someone would end up calling the fire dept. on me.

A few more observations, after spending some time poking around the truck:

- The chain drive for the rear winch is missing. This is no ordinary chain, it's about 3" wide and has fins on the insides of the links that combine to form gear teeth; the "sprockets" that this chain runs on look like big straight cut pinion gears. These two gears are over two feet apart, so it is a big, long chain. Where to find one?

- There is damage to one of the frame cross members in the rear... it's bent upward about an inch. I have no idea how it could get this way, (Except maybe backing up the truck while the auger was in the ground!) but it put a dent in the auger drive shaft by causing it to strike the bottom of the bed. To make clearance, someone then cut an arc in one of the ribs supporting the sheet metal of the bed floor. This bent frame member supports the front end of the auger unit. You can see in the pics below that the front end of the auger is higher than the rear. This could be fixed - replace the frame member, drive shaft, and weld in a section of a bed support... But it will be a lot of work. For the forseeable future, it will stay as-is. It's not that noticable.

- The tires are all completely junk. I can't believe they made it home, but since they did, I had hoped that I could use them for a little while after I get the truck running. I don't think so... They are scarry, and one of them is flat. When I went to put some air on it, it was leaking right through the sidewall!

Although I've had a few unpleasant surprises, I'm still extremely pleased and the truck really is in excellent shape. It's easy to forget that it's 55 years old! It's looking better now, too after I've hosed it off and removed all the junk from the cab and bed.

Here's some more pics... More to follow in the coming days.

Regards,
Jon
 

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cranetruck

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Lots of fun exploring a new "find", isn't it? It's like some kind of archeology, I'm going thru the same thing with my latest.
About the chain, call the people in Lois Obispo, maybe they know the history.
 

DDoyle

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JDToumanian said:
- The chain drive for the rear winch is missing. This is no ordinary chain, it's about 3" wide and has fins on the insides of the links that combine to form gear teeth; the "sprockets" that this chain runs on look like big straight cut pinion gears. These two gears are over two feet apart, so it is a big, long chain. Where to find one?
Invest in an ORD 9 - it should give the specs on the chain, making it much easier to procure - I'd look it up in mine for you, but as is so often the case, its at home, and I'm not.

With respect to the frame- the frame of the M764 is reinforced from the tandems to the rear of the truck - if the V-18 is not, now we probably know why the later was reinforced, and yours is bent.

Best wishes,
David Doyle
 

No.2Diesel

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Whats the box at the front of the cab? tools? Is the rear winch hiding underneath? Whats the winch capacity? Neato

Bent stuff theory:
1.) Maybe they had the auger going a few feet in the ground and the guy hit the lever that makes it go front-back, left-right and put some serious torque into those cross members and bed?
2.) Or...maybe the downfeed was faster than his digging and half the weight of the truck was concentrated at the auger mounting point thus deforming things.

Anyone else have a guess?
 

Crazyguyla

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Jon,

A few more notes that I've done with my truck to make things last longer. Rubber parts, like tires and intake duct, rub down with lots of armour all or simular product. It will help return flexability to the rubber and prevent furthur cracking. I did it with my tires and stuff and stopped.

Here's a list of parts that i have replaced..

Air compressor belt - 1/2 X 45.32 in

Raditor hoses - 2 in X 9.25in, 2in x 9.75in i forget which is upper and lower

Good luck with your truck
 

DDoyle

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Darn Marcus,
Wish I'd thought about your location - I spent most of the week at Lost in the Woods!

Jon,
In Rolla, MO, (about 20 miles from Marcus) at a scrap yard visible from the interstate, is a V18A/MTQ - or the remains of one. It belongs to Warren Dean - but its NOT at his place. It has the drive chain in place for the rear winch. When I stopped there yesterday it was after 5, and even if it wasn't, I had no tools - but thought I'd pass the lead on to you.

No data plates on the truck, and most of the original bed is gone.

HTH,
David
 
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