Hardtops and Heaters

[Oldfart]

Plowboy,
Those fire wall mounted hot air distribution boxes looks like the same thing as on an M37. Your photos show one mounted on the inner firewall under the dash and one laying in a truck bed. On the M37, that assembly was plumbed to a gas fired heater mounted on the drivers side fender with the tube coming into the cab through the side of the cowl. The M37 had a sheet metal defroster duct that fit though a hole next to the glove box door and carried hot air to the windshields. That assembly was above the gauge panel and external to the dash. ~~ The fire wall mounted blower in your photos is interesting. It looks like it fits over an engine coolant heater core and might have been intended for that location. Since our Yuma Truck is now in Colorado (presentaly have 4 inches of snow on the ground and 28 degrees) we could use a cab defroster/heater.

 

[hendersond]

Great truck and good quality workmanship Oldfart. Thank you for the pictures. What is mounted to the front bumper on the passenger's side?

 

[hendersond]

Stan Leshert posted this on a thread earlier this week. I found it helpful.

"The TMs live here! MilitaryTrucks.ca Website - M135"

I downloaded the "Installation of the personnell heater kit (hot water)" It is interesting. Shows the hot water heater mounted on the inside of the engine compartment on the drivers side front fender. It draws air inside thru that big hole in the driver's side of the hood. It even details the hood scoop that gets mounted to catch air. I always wondered what that hole was for. Also pictures the winter front- I have never seen one.

Thanks Stan!

 

[Oldfart]

Great truck and good quality workmanship Oldfart. Thank you for the pictures. What is mounted to the front bumper on the passenger's side?

It is the base of a pipe vise welded to the bumper. The M220 is/was a "shop van" truck. I can't find that there was a pipe vise as a standard piece of equipment on the bumper and it does not seem logical for it to be in a vertical position unless it had a special application. We have found research people at the Yuma Proving Grounds who remember the truck and some of its uses. Most of its life there it was used to collect data from artillery range testing and we have guessed the vise might have been used to hold a mast or antenna. The van body only has a work table that appeared to hold electronic equipment. There is a keyboard tray that pulls out under the work table. ~~ When all the data collection went directly by fiber optics back to headquarters, the truck was turned into a "hostility" center so people out on the range could get out of the heat.

 

[Oldfart]

Stan Leshert posted this on a thread earlier this week. I found it helpful.

"The TMs live here! MilitaryTrucks.ca Website - M135"

I downloaded the "Installation of the personnell heater kit (hot water)" It is interesting. Shows the hot water heater mounted on the inside of the engine compartment on the drivers side front fender. It draws air inside thru that big hole in the driver's side of the hood. It even details the hood scoop that gets mounted to catch air. I always wondered what that hole was for. Also pictures the winter front- I have never seen one.

Thanks Stan!

That heater set up is like the one I saw on an M135 being surplused by the Wyoming Forest Service out of Cheyenne. They had an M35 gasser (Reo I think) that had the same heater set up. Like I said the diverter box on the inner fire wall looks the same as the one on my M37. I wonder if some of the part did not "interchange" around that time.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Heater

Right again OldFart. This personnel heater was plumbed through a circulating heater off the back, left side of the block then tied into what i 'think' is the original plumbing. It looks real clean through the firewall and the mounting inside the firewall looks professional.

I hope the photos show it well enough because I've got some TM'n to do before I know why it works so well.

You say it looks like the M37 style heater . . so much for original.

 

[Oldfart]

plowboy,
The diverter box shown in the earlier photos (loose in the bed and by itself on the fire wall) looks like the diverter box used on an M37. This last set of photos (heater core mounted on the inner firewall) is different and very interesting. It does look like a "factory" set up because the through the fire wall holes for the heater core tubes appear to have been punched with flares to minimize chaffing to the tubes. It looks like the diverter function is similiar in the defroster flap, but that seems to be built in to the blower shroud.
I have an old rear heater out of a school bus that was mounted on the floor and self contained (it looks like a box with two heater core tubes coming out the bottom. I have considered mounting that under the passenger seat on my M220, but defrosting would still be a problem and not a stock set up. Then again, the Army did not keep things stock on my truck anyway with all the after market roof mounted air conditioners. Oh what to do?

 

[m1010plowboy]

Diffuser

Okay now I know what you saw. This diffuser was mounted on the firewall of an M135 in the bush. I pulled it off and 'back paid' a good guy that gave me some lights.

It looks like the original gear but now that I see all the other set-ups I'm still wondering how many of these trucks were filled with aftermarket gear right off assembly. Could be M37 gear also.

If that was the case then anything goes. Keepin' the heat simple and mounted in the cab makes so much sense.

I understand the defrost diffusers are hard to find. Mine looks simple enough that I'm pretty sure they can be fabricated. One more thing to look for and I'm lovin' the hunt.





Mounted on the Wall Laying on the trailer resting

 

[Oldfart]

There we go!! Thats thats the diverter that looks the same as what is used on an M37. The diffuser on an M37 is hard to find as well.

 

[Darwin T]

One of the great ironies I have found in buying deuces is that 99% of all the deuces I have seen sold out of FL have heaters........but I bought a bunch out of Indiana and Ohio that didn't.

Some things never make sense.

this is for the cold fronts that hit flordia every couple of years. the ones where it get down into the low 50's or upper 40's. sometimes it snows 1 to 2 inches causing infrastructure shutdown. kids get a few days off from school and business shutdown. those heaters are very important.

 

[hendersond]

I aquired this truck on a trade this morning. Thought the hardtop was worth posting. Looks to be custom made. 2 side panels cut to shape made from 16-14 guage steel and a top wrapped over oit of what looks close to 16-18 guage. I'm unsure of the exact thicknesses. These are only estimates. looks like a sawzall and mig welder would duplicate it easily.

The grapple is not on the truck. It is parked behind the M211. Hummm....

 

[hendersond]

Spiffy little heater works off engine coolant.

 

[MWMULES]

I think we need more pictures of your bobber! It looks like the po did a great fab job on the roof is the bob as well done?

 

[hendersond]

I'm going to get more pics early next week. Just turned colder. The workmanship is "not too bad" on the single axle conversion. Some of the planning was great. Brakes are flawless. spring mounts were like they could have been done in a factory in the 80's, but then there is the choice of axle with the wrong hubs and wheels. and GEARING! AAAAGGGHHHH !!!!

The driveshaft is a feat all by itself. The rear 2' is 3/4" larger in diameter. Oboiusly some bushings made and slid the front shaft inside the rear and welded by a big rooster with stick welder below its tail feathers.
...I had a friends dad who had a pulling truck back in the mid 80's who would lengthen driveshafts for people in his garage using anything incliding exhaust tubing and solid cold rolled rounds. He said if you need 3" more, cut it in the center and weld 3" in the middle because it is easier to get straight. After seeing this one and driving it, I agree that driveshafts are not all that mythical, but, ufdah, this one needs a good replacement -if I don't part it out.

The top is nice. I will get better pics.

 

[m1010plowboy]

G749 NOS Hard Top

This is the most amazing shot of a hardtop I have ever seen.

All my common sense made me link it to your Hardtop thread.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/parts-sale/85936-nos-m211-hardtop.html

 

[tucson john]

M211 hardtop

I got an email about my hardtop quite awhile ago from I dont remember who,so here are some picts of it,albeit very late. My top seems to be specific to the truck, very well done and military likeprecision. Any knows different let me know and Ill try to get back this year! Guess I havnt got this figured out yet, see pics on my album please.

 

[hendersond]

Thanks for working with us on this. It is exciting every time we get to see a new picture or new way of doing something. Keep trying to post the pictures. They did not load into your album. Try loading them onto your desk top and then upload them to the forum. When you are typing in this window, scroll down about 3" to 'Manage attachments' and upload them there. A new window pops up and it takes a while, but they will go.

Better late than never!

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

 

[tburk49760]

My recently acquired XM 215 has a fiberglass hardtop. Not in the best condition however, serviceable. I think that I would like to go back to a soft top though.

 

[hendersond]

Hor about tossing us some pics for our viewing pleasure?

 

[cmpman]

Just saw this thread for the first time, and wanted to mention that the heater mounted in the cab on the firewall that M1010plowboy shows was one of the two options in Canadian service. It is listed in the parts manual with a Canadian NSN. I have seen some of these with the GMC logo on them, and some without. I believe some may have been factory mounted, or else they were mounted in the late 50s/early 60s. My parts truck has on in it, alhtough I am assembling the later style heater for my latest project.

The other option was the hot water heater kit mounted on the left fender under the hood with the diverter mounted inside the cab. It drew air from the hole on the hood. These were a better kit, but not as common.

There was a official third option as well in Canadian service. Most of our M37Cdn 3/4 ton trucks did not have heaters, and after we got rid of that fleet around 1977, it turned out there were hundreds of the heater installation kits located in the depots. So there was a technical order on how to modify the components for installation into the deuce. I only ever had to do one.

Most of the deuces I ever drove in service simply had frost shields on the front and side windows. It rarely got below -35° here in Canada, so the parka, mukluks, and arctic mitts made it plenty warm enough. Actually, I'm just joking. It was f-n cold. We would open the little trapdoor for the transmission dipstick so we could get a little heat through there.

When the M35CDN MLVW came out, they all had the heater kits mounted in them. But the heat from the 8.2, or the design of the heater core, just didn't suffice: they would barely defrost the glass. Most of the guys would remove the intake hose from the side panels, and drop it on the exhaust manifold to try and draw more heat. As a mechanic, I had some latitude on the truck I drove, so along with the bucket seats I installed, I also installed a second heater in the cab. I used a German designed Iltis heater under the dash, and hooked it up to a thermostat on the panel. The original heater was just to defrost the front windows. Now I had heat.....the German design was like a small blast furnace. I put a lot of miles driving back and forth on the prairies, and the extra heater was perfect.

I retired 9 years ago, but visited my old shop last year. My modifications to the truck are still on it, which says something about their effectiveness.