Hi folks!! New member here, and I thought I'd start a thread to document a new project.
I have owned a 1953 M56 R2 Crash truck since around 1994. It already had the back end hacked off to make it into a "pickup" before I found it, and was painted a fugly lime yellow/green color (the original fire engine red was underneath). Certainly a shame this was done, as its my understanding there were only 350 or so of these made. In any event, I gave it a quick spray bomb camo job I could tolerate and began using it to haul adobe block and other building materials to my remote mountain building site. The orginal 230 flathead dropped a valve about halfway through, so I quickly (and poorly, I might add) threw in a Dodge 318/727 combo I had laying around. After constructon was completed, the truck was parked for around 14 years or so. I recently decided it would be a good candidate to convert into a dump bed to haul creek gravel for my private roadway. Upon cursory inspection however, I found the valve covers had leaked (allowing water to infiltrate the engine). The hood had been left up to keep packrats (an insidious desert dweller) from eating everything in the engine compartment, but I didnt count on the leakeage issue. In any event, the 318 wouldnt break loose (even after pouring marvel mystery oil, PB Blaster, and diesel into the cylinders/crankcase), so out it comes. I have located a Dodge 440/727 combo from a motorhome, which should give it plenty of oomph to haul with. Once its moving under its own power again, I'll begin the dump bed conversion. It should be a fun project!!
Here are a couple of baseline pics to start the timeline. The first one is me towing the truck to the repair bay yesterday (using my ALSO newly-restored machine); and the 2nd is at the end of the day today with half the sheet metal removed, parts tagged & bagged, and the engine about ready to come out.....
I have owned a 1953 M56 R2 Crash truck since around 1994. It already had the back end hacked off to make it into a "pickup" before I found it, and was painted a fugly lime yellow/green color (the original fire engine red was underneath). Certainly a shame this was done, as its my understanding there were only 350 or so of these made. In any event, I gave it a quick spray bomb camo job I could tolerate and began using it to haul adobe block and other building materials to my remote mountain building site. The orginal 230 flathead dropped a valve about halfway through, so I quickly (and poorly, I might add) threw in a Dodge 318/727 combo I had laying around. After constructon was completed, the truck was parked for around 14 years or so. I recently decided it would be a good candidate to convert into a dump bed to haul creek gravel for my private roadway. Upon cursory inspection however, I found the valve covers had leaked (allowing water to infiltrate the engine). The hood had been left up to keep packrats (an insidious desert dweller) from eating everything in the engine compartment, but I didnt count on the leakeage issue. In any event, the 318 wouldnt break loose (even after pouring marvel mystery oil, PB Blaster, and diesel into the cylinders/crankcase), so out it comes. I have located a Dodge 440/727 combo from a motorhome, which should give it plenty of oomph to haul with. Once its moving under its own power again, I'll begin the dump bed conversion. It should be a fun project!!
Here are a couple of baseline pics to start the timeline. The first one is me towing the truck to the repair bay yesterday (using my ALSO newly-restored machine); and the 2nd is at the end of the day today with half the sheet metal removed, parts tagged & bagged, and the engine about ready to come out.....
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