Direction for new project

[Brett]

Hello,

I just bought My first M37. This will be my first MV restoration. Actually, it will be my first vehicle restoration too. I'm looking for input on how to proceed. I found my truck on Craigslist. It was about an hour away in a barn, and had been sitting for 6 years. I had been crawling around it for about 45 min, talking to the previous owner, and had given him the cash, before I even read the lettering on the door. The truck had belonged to the vol. fire dept. of my town, and aparently been assigned to the station 1/4 mile from my house. I had initially been thinking OD all the way, but now I'm thinking red could be fun.

Most of my questions center around electrics. The truck is still 24v, and the original Starter, Ignition Switch, waterproof Distributor, Generator, Regulator, Instruments, and one Taillight are there, and said to be working. However, there are no more lights, only empty headlight buckets. The wiring harness appears badly butchered. The headlight switch, turnsignal switch, turnsignal relay box, and all related connectors are missing. Which direction do I take it.

1. Should I Buy all original pieces, and a new harness? Are new harnesses even available?
2. Should I convert to 12v with off the shelf lights, and switches?
3. Should I keep it 24v, make my own Harness (something I'm comfortable with), and use off the shelf lights and switches with 24v bulbs?

I bought this truck to work on with my kids, so I will be proceeding slowly with a limited budget. My first goal is to make it a runner, overhaul the brakes and put roadworty tires on it. Then, slowly tackle body work and other restoration and repairs one at a time.

So, what do you guys think? Thanks for your input, And I look forward to getting to know you all.

Brett

[N1VSM]

Of course, you can do what ever you want with your truck - that's the fun part of owning one! Much will depend on whether you want it "original" or not.

The VERY first test I'd do is a compression test. Compression testers are inexpensive and will give you important info on some of the internals of your engine. If your engine is in bad shape, you want to know that before you invest anything else in your truck. If you post the compression test results (or how to do the test) somewhere here, we can help tell you what's up inside.

A good order of operation to fix is go, stop, turn. Lights are optional (-: In fact, you can unplug all of the harnesses except the ignition harness & the thing will still run. You may want to keep power to the gauges, too.

As for the electrical, I'd stick with the 24V. There's much more to change than the bulbs & spark plugs to change to 24V - you need to swap out the starter, distributor, oil pump, gauges, and the list goes on. You can get original 24V headlights (and the rings to hold them in). You also may want to check out Cabell's site for switching to Hela H4 lights. I did and was very happy with the results. http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/

With the harness, if it looks bad (1) don't turn anything on (2) replace it! I used a harness from Vintage Wiring of Maine http://www.vintagewiringofmaine.com/index.htm - a very worthy investment, IMHO. When counting the cost, I found that I'd spend about that "homebrewing" my own. Don't buy a NOS harness - the insulation is just as dry & brittle as the one that's in your rig already.

[HingsingM37]

Brett,

Welcome to the M37 club. You chose a good piece of American Iron. I remember writing my first post here similar to yours.
I'll ditto what N1VSM stated, especially with wiring (24VDC makes a healthy spark when shorted) and add this:
Take your time and dont short cut. Dont guess. This forum is a wealth of knowledge, use it. We have all helped each other out. There are great websites full of info. Your truck is yours to do with as you like, as for upgrades and paint color, it all depends how original you want it to look.
Procure a copy of the manuals on CD. I got mine for less than $20 from Military Media. It is great as you can print off the pages for what you are working on and not have to worry about greaseballing an expensive original manual page. Study these so you have a general idea of how the component comes apart. Buy tags and bags. LABEL EVERYTHING with detail and take lots of pictures. Now that I am re-assembling my truck I found that I was more than a little vague on some of my tags. After two years I dont remember what I meant by " Bracket for pedal spring, inboard front hole" ect..
Stock up on PB Blaster or Free-all LOL. Start soaking whatever you want to take apart a week ahead of time. Remarkably I only had to cut off three fasteners in my whole disassembly.
As for parts, there are many sources. Shop Around. What is $10 on one mightl be $3.00 on another. There are good guys here on the forum who are in the parts biz and actually answer the phone themselves when you call there shop. I can't talk our little "family" up enough. Purchase only new production seals, brake parts, fuel system parts ect. Example, how long will a 50 year old fuel pump diaphram hold up to todays junk fuel? No sense in having to do a job twice trying to save $. Good luck.
Again, welcome aboard!

[SOTVEN]

Hello Brett and welcome aboard. I will agree with the two friends that replied before me. Check out the engine and drivetain first, breaks next, and leave the electical system for the end. In any event, i think you will be happy with your new truck. Happy New Year.

[gwalker]

Of course you will want to get it running an ck the condition of the brakes and drivetrain first, however any of the orignal military elect. system is readily avialable from MV parts dealers (go to the links on this site for a start). Although your wiring harness is trash, most of the other parts like dist., starter and switches are prob. still ok, so to swith to 12v would be a bigger project. The only downside to 24v is you can't get a jump start if you kill the batteries. The complete wiring harness for that truck comes in 3 parts, the front section- essentially from the dash out under the hood, the voltage regulator harness- from regulator to gauges, igntion switch and starter, the rear section- from under hood back to the rear of the truck. I wouldn't hesitate to use a nos harness, I have before and never had any problem doing so. I have a truck that was done in 1986 an I used a surplus harness then and its still in good condition. One thing I would watch out for is offshore repro stuff its usually NO good, I unknowingly bought offshore headlight bulbs once, it took 5 bulbs to get 2 that even worked!( the vendor did supply all the shipping and exchanges though) I had gotten a few other offshore parts, none of them were properly fit or durable in the least. Now I always ask if its a offshore part an no matter how much they talk it up I wont buy it.
www.mvpa.org

[Rich]

Congradulations on your purchase. I purchased my m-37 6 months ago. It had been sitting in a barn for 10 years. The engine turned over by hand so I oiled the cylinders, turned it over by hand again, put in my old Optima truck batteries ,I rigged up a gravity feed to the carb pumped the throttle and after several attempts it did not start! So I opened the distributor checked the points, ran a points file threw them, cleaned up the corrosion, oxidation on the rotor and the cap, cleaned the plugs there gap was ..025. I turned the ignition switch on after reassembling everything, pumped the throttle and it blew out smoke from oiling the cylinders and finally started! But it would only Idle I had to rebuild the carb, and the fuel pump. What was in the fuel tank was, I don't know, other than the rust.
One thing at a time, But I'm sure you will enjoy your M-37!
Rich Szklany

[Nickathome]

I went this way;

1. Cleaned it. My truck was full of crap when I first bought it.

2. Drained and replaced all fluids...
a. gas tank.
b. diffs, trans, transfer, oil
c. flushed radiator.
d. etc

3. Got it running.
4. Worked on brakes so it would stop.
5. Replaced all tires tubes and flaps.
6. Welded up all cancer spots.
7. Smoothed a few dents(not all though, left some character marks intact)
8. Painted, and installed new canvas top.
9. Currently waiting for red tape to be cut from the state (as in waiting for licensing requirements to pass).

Mind you there was a ton of little stuff I left out, but these were the major big obstacles I overcame.

BTw - from 1 to 8 took 4 years at my pace.....So take your time this is a marathon not a sprint.