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Starting to get some of the panels and small parts sanded and ready for paint. What is the general consensus for color and brand of paint on a 53? I use 24087 on my M151 but I am wondering what you guys use on your M37's. I know they were in service in Vietnam, they were there even when I was in in 1970. That would make 24087 correct but I tend to doubt that the ones there were 53's. And do you use GCI or something else? I have been using Rustoleum primer lately on most of my steel stuff since it holds up well to moisture and it is a lot more tenacious than the primer from GCI! That stuff just peels right off along with the paint above it.

Gillespie Coatings, 24087 is on my 53, I'm going to look some more for that crimping tool, the Mc Calaster tool, looking forward to visit. Did we talk about horn pieces?

I have a horn, it does not work but I have unplugged the wire at the steering box due to the bad condition of the wire. I will check for power there and if I have it I will ground it and see if the horn works. Otherwise I will have to rig some jumper wires to check it.

Gillespie 24087 also on my '54; some prefer the 23050 for a darker OD look.
Gary

reading RickF's post above just got me to thinking. The horn cable coming out the bottom of my steering box is just an inch of a stub wire, so a few months ago, while waiting for the machine shop to finish my motor, I hooked up my self-made 24V battery system to my horn, and all I got was a weak bleat. I taped four 6 V square batteries together, then soldered wires to make them a 24 volt test circuit, for testing things like light and turn signal connections. But I forgot that horns require a lot of "amps" to work, so maybe my horn would work with enough juice.

I went ahead and replaced my horn with a black Hella, and wired power to it via a dash toggle switch in an unused dash hole, the switch is one of those "hold-up to be on" kind. It works great, independent of whether or not the ignition is on, so it would only be useful for static situations, like in a parking lot, and not while driving. If I ever get around to sending a new cable down the inside of the steering shaft, I will try to make the wheel horn button work. I have a replacement horn button part set.

Well, anyway, his post reminds how much I have used a test light to see if this or that wire or circuit is "hot." So a project is for me to hook the test light or even better, my multi-meter up and see if that stub wire is "hot", and then solder a new lead to my horn, maybe even re-install the OEM one.

Perhaps with luck, my OEM wheel horn circuit is live after all.

NV

Great thread and nice work! I just bought my first M37 and had the same trouble with transport, from Michigan to SoCal. Took some patience, which I am usually short on!

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Patience is something you are going to need a lot of to work on one of these old girls.

Well, It is that time. I need to start working on the two 37's I have in the yard here. I have the parts one that is not much more than a frame and a cab with a transfer case left in it and the springs. This was someones restoration project at one time and they lost interest. It went to a guy in Baltimore Md. who stripped off what he wanted and then he gave away the rest to whomever wanted to take the rest away. Thanks again Jared if you are reading this. I wrote up that deal earlier in this thread. I pulled the axles out from under the [arts truck because it was just too heavy for my loader to handle with them in. Even with them out the frame, cab and transfer case maxed it out. I managed to get it off the trailer and into my back yard but I want to split it into individual parts so it is easier to handle and if I don't need stuff I plan on passing it along just as I got it. My main question is how in the world is the transfer case supposed to come out? I have it laying on its side right now and looking at it I don't really see any way that case comes out without major, major work. Next is the body, One body bolt is already out but three are still there. How hard are these to get out and is it worth the effort to do it or just torch them? Remember, this is the parts unit. If the bolts are unobtanium then it is wort saving them but that means dragging 200 feet of air hose out there! I am NOT trying to take off 4 inches of dirty fine thread times three by hand!!! I am sort of working against nature here, we have had close to 6 inches of rain in the last 4 weeks on top of ground that was frozen solid for 2 months. It is super saturated and now we have the high winds of March. I am trying to get this stuff out of the back yard (trees) as fast as possible. The good 37 I am going to try to drag out with the loader today if the wife can steer it. The fuel pump went out and filled the crankcase with gas so I can't run it till I get my electric pump and a new oil filter. This is in addition to my VW Beetle and several other vehicles of varying value. I am going to be very busy in the next few days.

Nobody? I guess the cutting torch comes out then. I need to get this done.

Those body bolts are kinda rare. They have holes drilled in them for a cotter key to keep the nut on. Plus you have the springs for the cab support. I have seen plain bolts used but they are not correct.

The transfer case is a heavy SOB. I used a hydraulic jack to try and get mine down from the frame after taking all the bolts out. It was more like a controlled fall.

Replacement cab tub hold down bolts can be purchased through places such as McMaster-Carr. They'll just need to have the cross holes drilled in them.

This thread might help: http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php ... lts#p65772

Removal of the transfer case is made easier by removing the forward supporting crossmember, which is attached with bolts instead of rivets like the other frame crossmembers. Probably harder to do with the frame/cab assembly lying on its side, however.

Cross drilling the holes is no problem. I was just looking at the 2-3 inches of dirty fine thread that has to be threaded off. If they are rare then I will get the air hose, impact, air ratchet and all of that out there and have at it. I would not torch the springs. In all actuality I would try my best to just shave the nuts off with the torch without damaging the bolt. f I can get a nut splitter in there I might try that first. As far as dropping the transfer case I can supp rot it with my loader as I remove bolts but I did not see any bolts in that front cross member, just rivets. I will look again.

I found some die springs at McMaster-Carr that seem to be decent substitutes for the original cab mount springs. The ORD 9 SNL doesn't include spring rates, so we have to guess a bit on those (I have the old springs from my truck, but they're rusty, used, and no guarantees they're even original), but these seem close.

I don't recall the McM-C part nos. off hand, but can look them up if you need them.

I should be good, One of the bolts is already out and gone. I guess it was taken out by one of the previous owners. So I have three in the parts truck and I "should" have four in my good truck. I haven't even been under it yet to check. I am not worried about the castellated nuts, they are easy to find. I did look at the front cross member today and there are NO bolts in it to take it down for the transfer case. The case has to be unbolted from the cross member and the rear cross member can come out but the case has to go back quite a bit before it can come down. I think I will modify that design on my good truck by cutting off the rivets on the front cross member and replacing them with grade eight bolts. SO much easier if you can drop the whole assembly straight down. And the bolts will hold just as well as the rivets as long as they are correctly torqued.

The setup in the truck from factory is easy to use to get the t-case out. I used my motorcycle jack (like a transmission jack) to remove and install with no drama or blood.