MM's M37 Pics as Promised

[Monkey Man]

Here's some pics as promised of my truck, sorry the photo's are a bit crappy.....
The top of the truck was built by me, it's not 100% straight but seeing as the truck has a sligfhtly twisted chassis it evens out, I have twin gerry can mounts with a 10L French?? wine can on each, they are food grade (well, up until I filled them with petrol anyhow) and I have not seen one for sale since I got them. The electrical is 12V and all fittings have been refitted to match, it is of course right hand drive and apart from the one Lifer thought he saw it may6 well be the only right hand drive one still in use (modded, not factory RHD) I have 4 wheel discs on it thanks to Ray and Brigand, bucket seats, radio's to cover every band and mode available to me, more little modifications that I can poke a stick at and it is truly unique for what it is and before long I will be able to camp in it again as I have to build the bunks ASAP ready for the next West Coast Quad Bike ride. It's not everyone's cup of tea but it suits me just fine, I have had no end of swearing building and repairing it, I once fell of it while welding and hurt my back and copped a piece of 3' long 1" thickwall RHS in the face as it followed me down, Fun?? - Hell yes, after the hurt subsides you really appreciate your work that you have completed. I could not have completed what I have done without the help from the members of both Bigelectric and G741.org, I appreciate every part sent, every bit of advice given and the company of all on here.
I can take more pics if required, please tell me what you wanyt to see.

MM

My M37 I call the XM37B1WW



Rear of truck



Inside of Rear of truck, note spare wheel position and wall being constructed between rear seats (yes, it's a 4 seater now) and lower tailgate is a step as well



Right Hand Drive setup



Donaldson Air Cleaner



Air Ducting to Carby



Pintle and tow setup with vacuum boost connector (soon to be removed, vacuum boost never used now)



Marsden Matting and mounts



Custom Antenna Mounts for the AB15 antenna system



Custom driving light and brushguard install

[m-37Bruce]

Thanks Tony, Always good to see a custom truck.

[Kaegi]

nice work. what engine?

[Monkey Man]

It's a 318Cui V8 Truck engine with a 5/8 adapter plate to the standard bellhousing, clutch and transmission, maybe I should post my conversion pics??

MM

[T. Highway]

Tony,

Your truck is looking good. I didn't notice any snow in the background of your pictures, let me know your zip/mail code and I'll send you some.

Can you post a couple pictures of the French wine can? I've not seen these before.

What are the little vents along the bed sides? Would like closeup pictures.

Last but not least, can you post a picture of the truck at night with the rear lights powered up? I really like the setup you have going on there.

Thanks,

Bert

[messge80]

Looks nice

[Cal_Gary]

Outstanding rig-thanks for the pictures!
Gary

[Monkey Man]

Tony,

Your truck is looking good. I didn't notice any snow in the background of your pictures, let me know your zip/mail code and I'll send you some.

Can you post a couple pictures of the French wine can? I've not seen these before.

What are the little vents along the bed sides? Would like closeup pictures.

Last but not least, can you post a picture of the truck at night with the rear lights powered up? I really like the setup you have going on there.

Thanks,

Bert

OK, the Mailing address for the snow is..... Ah - no point when it hasn't snowed here in 35 or more years but I appreciate the thought, I am a winter type, I don't go much on summer, if it's between 5 to 10 degrees C I am a happy fella.

I'll take pictures as requested, the wine can is an oddity to me, haven't seen any others anywhere since I purchased them for $10 each. The vents are for the onboard battery's box to vent any nasties to the outside as I run a Big 12V Gel cell battery, it's a good battery as I can run the radios for a week with no outside power. I'll take pictures of the lights but I'll explain them first, the top ones are worklights made from blackout lights, I had the lens facings turned out and fitted 12V 55W halogen driving lights in there but seeing as they are worklights I might get some H3 led replacements, similar light output at a fraction of the power consumption. The single one on the drivers (sorry, passengers side for you guys) of the truck is a tank headlight and it's an excellent reversing light as it gives a great spread of light. The 2 sets of lights below are simply red set for park and brake lights, the other clear set has an amber pair of globes in them for rear turn indicator lights to satisfy the australian transport standard so I can run them legally.

MM

[Kaegi]

I would like to see the engine conversion pics. keep em coming! foruma are for hamming it up

[Monkey Man]

OK, here's the engine conversion pictures, bear in mind they were taken on a very early digital camera so they are pretty low resolution...
The whole conversion including the engine cost $1K from go to whoa, the adapter plate was easy as I had a bellhousing from a Dodge that could have the 6 or the V8 so all common indexes were easy to measure out and the rest of the modifications just followed on as needed. Ray's conversion kit was nicer but I did not know about it at the time.
Whaddyathink?

MM

Old Blood Removed, Awesome Father in-law Helping



Out and GONE!!



Working out the adapter plate



Relief cutout for non-common engine bolt hole, done with drill and high speed burr



Bellhousing mated but no starter yet



Starter Motor plate welded on



Bellhousing cut to allow Starter Motor fitment



All Mated up ready to install



Oil Pump mod to reverse the standard 318 sump to clear the Diff





Custom K2 Bornze spigot bearing, lifetime guarantee to NEVER wear out, a real bitch to machine though, it's as tough as a goats forehead...



Redrilled M37 Flywheel redrilled and bushed to suit 318 Crank





Loading the new, well, secondhand $300 engine





Engine to radiator Bracket clearance

[Kaegi]

interestingit fits like a glove!. howcome you couldnt use the 318 flywheel?

[RMS]

very nice MM. the sand rails do a lot to make the truck look like it's factory. good work

[Monkey Man]

interestingit fits like a glove!. howcome you couldnt use the 318 flywheel?

It is too big in diameter and won't fit in the bellhousing, a few grinds might have made it work but I have the advantage now that if I really stick my boot into the throttle the clutch slips a little to warn me I am being stupid plus it dosen't rip the driveline apart.

MM

[k8icu]

Is that a HMMWV Ambulance back tucked into the bed?

[Monkey Man]

Is that a HMMWV Ambulance back tucked into the bed?

Well spotted, I did the origonal drawings based on the low profile version of the M997 (M996), it's a bit of a bodge job but indeed it is a copy of the HMMWV ambulance body design, it has the wedge front to let branches slide up and over, flat sides with mirrors wider than the body to allow for clearance judgements, the wedged rear that is set to the same angle as th approach angle for maximum offroad ability and it is skinned with 1.6mm aluminium on a steel frame and adhered with rivets and sikaflex, should hold up to anything I dish out to it.

MM