Landed my first M37 in Aberdeen

[tstone]

Rusty, welcome! you have a nice looking truck, I saw it at Aberdeen, looks like a solid body. I've got a 54 M37 but have put off working on it as I need to make time to pull the engine and do a rebuild. It runs but has low compression due to worn cylinders and valves.

Have fun with your project!

 

[flygirl]

Looking good. I had my M37 parked by the German car toward the back. Sorry I missed you at the Rally.

 

[Rusty1340]

Flygirl I was down there checking it out Its looking good too I think I looked over every M37 at the rally. A friend of mine belongs to that german reenacting unit. They were serving Crab Soup I heard..

 

[citizensoldier]

All the dash plates are missing except the data plates are still on the glove box door it has a DOD 5-12-52.. Its a coincidence being I take it home 60 years later. I will need to read up on the differences of the M37 and the M42. As far as the seating it has the driver flip up bucket and then a bench type continuing over. I have a battery box but its not mounted and was told it goes under the seat.

The M42 was a radio package added to standard M37s. They moved the spare to a swing arm bracket off the drivers door, put in a bigger battery box, 100amp generator with a rectifier, a flip down jump seat in the box for support of extra radio equipment, a shim on drivers side front spring pack to straighten it out for the weight of the spare tire. I think all the later B1's had the spare on the door though. That truck might be pieces of more than one truck. What's the serial # on the frame? We can see if it matches the production date on the glove box.

 

[flygirl]

Rusty, I heard it was a full container of Oatmeal that he cooked up.

 

[Rusty1340]

Rusty, I heard it was a full container of Oatmeal that he cooked up.

Good, I dont feel I missed anything

 

[Rusty1340]

The M42 was a radio package added to standard M37s. They moved the spare to a swing arm bracket off the drivers door, put in a bigger battery box, 100amp generator with a rectifier, a flip down jump seat in the box for support of extra radio equipment, a shim on drivers side front spring pack to straighten it out for the weight of the spare tire. I think all the later B1's had the spare on the door though. That truck might be pieces of more than one truck. What's the serial # on the frame? We can see if it matches the production date on the glove box.

I verified the serial number on the frame matches the tag on the glovebox.

 

[Rusty1340]

Wednesday 5/16/12

I had some time to kill the other day so I figured I would pull the plugs. All were lose except for the two center cylinders the tubes were rusted completely off and the metal separated from the enamel leaving only the threaded part of the plug in the head the center elements are out so its a clear hole. Thinking I should be able to remove them with an extractor. I let them soak for a couple days.

Friday 5/18/12

Today I cleaned around the broken plugs and vacuumed the crud from them. I applied some heat and with the extractor a bit of leverage they come out. I hooked up a 12v jump box hit the starter and engine turns over. With my thumb over the plug holes we have compression on all six cylinders I will use a gauge once I hook up24 volts. Someone had the oil line loose from filter housing and oil started to flow. All good signs at this point. I hope to add spark and fuel to it soon, it should run

 

[big1096]

Wednesday 5/16/12

I had some time to kill the other day so I figured I would pull the plugs. All were lose except for the two center cylinders the tubes were rusted completely off and the metal separated from the enamel leaving only the threaded part of the plug in the head the center elements are out so its a clear hole. Thinking I should be able to remove them with an extractor. I let them soak for a couple days.

Friday 5/18/12

Today I cleaned around the broken plugs and vacuumed the crud from them. I applied some heat and with the extractor a bit of leverage they come out. I hooked up a 12v jump box hit the starter and engine turns over. With my thumb over the plug holes we have compression on all six cylinders I will use a gauge once I hook up24 volts. Someone had the oil line loose from filter housing and oil started to flow. All good signs at this point. I hope to add spark and fuel to it soon, it should run

Before you try to start it, check your fuel pump and make sure it isn't full of crud. Depending on the quality of fuel in the tank and lines, and how long it's been sitting, you may find some nasty stuff in there.

 

[Rusty1340]

Before you try to start it, check your fuel pump and make sure it isn't full of crud. Depending on the quality of fuel in the tank and lines, and how long it's been sitting, you may find some nasty stuff in there.

Yeah that would be a good Idea.


Thanks

 

[Rusty1340]

This is what I was wanting to describe when I said the plugs rusted off.

 

[citizensoldier]

WOW! I have never seen that before with the military plugs.. Glad you were able to get them off.Those plugs probably helped fight the Korean War! lol Sounds like your have fun with it too.. It's a great feeling when they come back to life! What's the inside of the distributor look like? Points are probably crudded up.

 

[Rusty1340]

This is where I need some pointers. I want to get my Plug wires on and need to know where Number one is on the distributor or at what position will the rotor be when number one is a top dead center ?

Thanks

 

[Digger09]

Great looking truck. Best of luck with it. Sounds like you and I have our work cut out for us but it will be fun.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

This is where I need some pointers. I want to get my Plug wires on and need to know where Number one is on the distributor or at what position will the rotor be when number one is a top dead center ?

Thanks

Put your thumb over the first spark plug hole (closest to waterpump) and turn the engine until you got compression and when the piston is at the top, pull your distributor cover and the rotor will be at #1.

Firing order 1-5-3-6-2-4

 

[vtdeucedriver]

this is what i was wanting to describe when i said the plugs rusted off.

wow

 

[Rusty1340]

After hours of battery chargers and Jump boxes and getting minimum rotation of the engine only getting few coughs and back fires Lee and I decided to pull the battery out of my Fairlane and hook them up in series as described in the TM. In no time it was up and running. Smoke poured and filled the streets as it ran for 2 -3 min. I didn’t want to run to long due to no fan belt to move coolant . I wasnt able to get any video but heres a picture showing some smoke. The plugs you see are temporay and the wires were ones Lee had laying around. We had to use a hot wire from the coil. I just wanted it ro run.

 

[mattveeder]

Nice truck, it's cool to see another m37 in the area. If there is any kind of help you may need from a local let me know.

 

[Rusty1340]

Nice truck, it's cool to see another m37 in the area. If there is any kind of help you may need from a local let me know.

Right now I'm seeing what I have and what needs done. With little money invested on plugs and fuel line hose we were able to get it running. Help is always a good thing. I will keep posting Progress and Fails. Where abouts are you located ?

 

[mattveeder]

I'm in southern MD. There are several m37 guys super close to you who I have met and had lots of good fun with while working on m37's. Is this your first "mv"?