Thanks m715! Brutus was down for a while due to new front brakes, bearing, seals, boots, and new windshields. Nice to have him back. Next thing I've got to work on is the transmission oil. My transmission shifts great when the oil is cold, but on the return trip when it's hot it shifts a little harder and you can just feel the syncros. It doesn't grind, but it fights me a bit on upshifts and downshifts. Sometimes I double clutch up and down and that helps. I could be shifting to slowly.
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What did you do to your deuce this week?
- Thread starter Seth_O
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Dipstick, you just had to say the last bit. You couldn't help it. Oh, well. Those two words....
What two words Mr. cattlerepairman?
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I installed my spare tire carrier and spare. It was in the bed of the truck when I bought it. I put the MRAP mirrors on. Also replaced the speedometer drive seal which actually stopped most of my transfer case leak.
m715mike
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I need to do the same on my truck. I have the new seal, just haven’t put it in yet.
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My speedometer cable was full of gear oil. I actually changed it while everything was still warm and let the cable hang down and drip. Also cleaned and packed the ratio adapter full of grease. My seal leaked enough that I had spots on the tailgate. You wouldn’t think such a tiny seal that’s above the oil level would leak that much.
That is a really sharp looking truck! It sure doesn't look like a '53! It must have been well taken care of.
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I really don’t have any history on it but I can tell you the previous owner loved it. He died and the truck sat outside until the estate was settled. I bought it from the military parts dealer that got it. He knew the truck but didn’t have history on it other than the previous owner. If you do a google search for 53 Studebaker M35, the article that comes up is my truck. I’m waiting for the decals so I can put the Airforce info back on the doors.
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It really is a great looking truck. I noted the hinged mudflaps indicative of an older gasser truck which leads me to believe the bed is original as well. Is the interior painted strata blue as well? I had a 53 Stude M108 that I converted to multifuel. While I was repowering it I started sanding layers of paint off the front differential housing. The last color coat I found was blue, it matched the paint up under the dash. Then again, my best is that most of the M108s went to the AF for small plane recovery.
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The interior is blue but it’s the wrong shade. I haven’t dug into the paint under that but I plan to repaint the interior. It’s OD green up under the dash. There is some paint chipping in places outside and I can see bright red. Probably used as a brush truck for a fire dept was my guess. The funny thing is under the hood you can see strata blue under the OD green and what looks like the original warning stencil to latch the hood in the open position.
Finding a Deuce or any truck that age in such beautiful, stock condition is like finding a pot of gold.
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Dipstick and Recovery4x4, thank you both for the compliments. I’m really loving the challenges it’s throwing at me as an old and military truck. Especially with it still being a gasser, parts are not always easy to find. Fortunately I’m only an hour from White Owl Parts. George has really been helpful with knowledge and parts. The truck came with a briefcase with full manuals too.
Dutch, I and many other Steel Soldiers will look forward to reading your future posts.
m715mike
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George is a good guy! I couldn’t imagine only living an hour from White Owl... I’d stay so broke!
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I can assure you its a struggle to only get the items I need and not the things I want. I've probably made 5 trips over there since the end of October.
Dutch....It's like that when you first take ownership of a Deuce. It was for me. The first few months I owned it, I discovered a lot of little mechanical things that weren't right. Such as an erratically behaving tachometer (I replaced the drive cable) and numerous oil leaks and the like. So I prioritized the repairs with the idea of achieving reliability first and then progressing to stuff I wanted like spin on oil and fuel filter kits. It takes time, effort, and money, but you'll get there and the results will be worth it.
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I can't say enough good things about George and the folks at White Owl. They have helped me out of so many binds. In many cases they could have charged me much more but they didn't. Their prices are always competitive.
Well, it snowed last here last night. So naturally I got out my snow blower and got right to work. Then came the time to move Brutus. He started right up.
I engaged the front hubs and put him in gear. He wouldn't go anywhere on the by now packed snow. So, I put him in low range. Still spinning tires. Now I get out of the truck and put sand in front of the tires. He still wouldn't get going. I'm thinking to myself, "Well this is embarrassing, I own the most famous military vehicle in the world (next to the Jeep and the chariot) and my SUPER MANLY vehicle won't go in snow. " I've been driving Brutus for seven years now and have countless times in snow. Then it finally dawned on me...."Dipstick you turkey, you forgot to engage the front axle!" And of course Brutus got going immediately if not sooner. I think my propeller beanie properly illustrates the way I felt when I realized I hadn't engaged the front axle.