Steel Soldiers MV of the month November 2020

[patracy]

Welcome to the MV of the month poll sponsored by Consolidated Press. The winner each month will receive a one of a kind decal with their win! If you need decals, magnets, stencils, or anything printing related, please give them a call!

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Consolidated Press – Printing is Our Business

Now, onto the vote! Please vote for MV of the month! Feel free to campaign in this thread, but please keep it here and not via PM.

1. Migginsbros

2. aghumvee

3. Sparkyz911

4. mdmorganwife

5. Bigmike

6. cobra5

7. WhoMe08721

8. Elijah95

9. tmcnaney

10. Tracer

11. TheQuaker

 

[bigmike]

Please check out my thread on the 11 month journey to rebuild this motor from completely blown to running like a new watch...need I say more...

 

[Migginsbros]

We get our 1977 MAN KAT1 glw (w/W) with a little luck at the auction from the civil protection of the island Fehmarn at baltic sea in Germany.

That was a great trip by train to North of Germany and back on own wheels.

The aircooled 13 Liter V8 Diesel direct injected engine was roaring behind the seats. Great !!!

 

[Migginsbros]

Most off us are older than 20 so we found a good aluminium stairway which fit with minor modification. Found 2 sets of troop seats for additional 16 passengers. Due to there is no backwindow to the Driver there is a buzzer switch connected to the cargo bed if something gets wrong the driver can stop the truck for whatever.

 

[DeMilitarized]

Elijah95 bought his MTVR back in September of last year and has put lots of work into it since. He has added a MRAP Alpha bumper with a sherp 25k winch and added a factory MTVR ac kit to it, broke down all wheels and tires and replaced them, and more. I have rode with him at the GA rally the past two years and he has taken his truck on almost every trail on the Durhamdown property. His truck can plow through the swamp like it is nothing. Only thing wrong with the truck's off-roading capabilities is the flimsy plastic CTIS covers on the wheels. Other than that the truck is one of the most capable off roading vehicle at the rally I've seen. He also built a custom trailer hitch reciver for the back of his truck and more. This truck can also hill climb like a boss. (may take 20 feet running start and a 2k rpm boosted launch at 40MPH but it will do it) Lockers on all 3 axles are a huge help in the mud as well.

 

[Guyfang]

This is going to be tough. Yes sir!

 

[Migginsbros]

Back to our 5 ton MAN Kat1 .
Some impressions from the recovery. At first we send about 4 parcels to Fehmarn by national post. Sleeping bags, fuel filters , air hoses , tools, torches, etc. because we go by train to Fehmarn and want to go on own wheels back home. Because the engine is air cooled you have to use the installed diesel heater in November (about freesing point). So we are prepared on the worst case.
But... long story short, it´s all good.

The tarp/canopy we get on the way home near Hamburg. Thanks to the internet, today.

 

[SCM35A2]

Voted, best of luck to you all. This was a very tough month, everyone's vehicle is top notch.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Back to our 5 ton MAN Kat1 .
Some impressions from the recovery. At first we send about 4 parcels to Fehmarn by national post. Sleeping bags, fuel filters , air hoses , tools, torches, etc. because we go by train to Fehmarn and want to go on own wheels back home. Because the engine is air cooled you have to use the installed diesel heater in November (about freesing point). So we are prepared on the worst case.
But... long story short, it´s all good.

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The tarp/canopy we get on the way home near Hamburg. Thanks to the internet, today.

"KATASTROPHENSCHUTZ"???? My wife and former US Army German Linguist (out of practice) has best-guess translated this to "Emergency Response/Protection"...... Did she come close?

 

[TheQuaker]

OK. Time for some campaigning. Self-promotion is not my strong suit but I will do my best for my big farm girl...

I purchased my former Alabama National Guard M923 about 18 months ago (4/19). She was my first descent into MV Madness but obviously not my last as she now has a "little sister" Deuce to keep her company. There is an M54 I have my eye on now...maybe next spring

Being a southern truck, she was in excellent physical shape from day one with very limited rust, just needed a good cleaning, major catchup on her PM's and some fresh paint. I do all the work solo over gravel, wide-open to the heavens above. I work on her whenever she is not needed for "real" work on the farm and the weather cooperates. Basically I've done everything on weekends, holidays and the occasional vacation day from work I can sneak in. So I am quite proud and happy with my accomplishments with her so far.

First time I saw her looking sad and neglected:

Taking a break during the uneventful 3.5 hour/200 mile drive "home" to the farm:

First "creature comforts" added - a surplus GPS holder repurposed to hold my cell phone and a green-painted HF magnetic spray can holder as a cup holder:

Auxiliary switch panel I put together from a repurposed Opticon control panel for the auxiliary lights, reverse camera and extra gauge lights:

As she spends a lot of time on-road at night I added some surplus LED marker lights and brackets on the tail to try and avoid getting rear-ended:

Again, in the interest of better visibility on-road I added lollipop lights (wired as turn signals), converted the old turn signals to running/parking lights and LED driving lights. And, as I feel any truck that stands over 9 feet tall should have proper cab marker lights (and it makes her look good to boot) I added LEDS's there as well. Don't panic...her hard top is pristine and I mounted the cab marker lights with 95lb pull neodymium magnets as I refused to drill holes in the perfectly good sheet metal and I can always remove them or replace them easily with no permanent damage to the top:

And for functionality on dark nights on the farm...surplus Truck-Lite LED work lights for rear vis, bed work lights (mounted on the headache rack) and a work light mounted to illuminate the fuel tank fill and spare tire area for night-time fuelings and road-side tire changes:

I also added a red Cat's-Eye ambulance interior light (from an M725 maybe?) for interior cab illumination with a bracket I cobbled together from a bunch of scrap aluminum strip stock we had laying around. I thought all the sheet metal screws nicely matched the hundreds of bolts holding the top on/together. Again, using the hi-pull magnets as I don't want to drill unnecessary holes and it gives me the option to change my mind later and move or remove it entirely:

And finally the big visual change, paint! Rapco 30277 Camouflage Sand. I saw the color on @M920's FEMTT build and really liked it. No regrets for me with the color on my big girl. Still working on some detail areas but the majority of her is done:

 

[Migginsbros]

"KATASTROPHENSCHUTZ"???? My wife and former US Army German Linguist (out of practice) has best-guess translated this to "Emergency Response/Protection"...... Did she come close?

Organization that is requested and deployed to provide assistance in the event of a hazard from a disaster.
In Berlin we have some organisations like Red Cross, German lifeguard assosiation, Malteser Hilfsdienst, .........
who help in this extra case of disaster.

 

[Guyfang]

"KATASTROPHENSCHUTZ"???? My wife and former US Army German Linguist (out of practice) has best-guess translated this to "Emergency Response/Protection"...... Did she come close?

She hit it right on the head!

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Organization that is requested and deployed to provide assistance in the event of a hazard from a disaster.
In Berlin we have some organisations like Red Cross, German lifeguard assosiation, Malteser Hilfsdienst, .........
who help in this extra case of disaster.

Thank you.
May these effort be a blessing both to those who receive this assistance and those who to into danger rather than running from it.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

She hit it right on the head!

She is still better with German than she gives herself credit for. She works at a Christian Counseling Center and now has a coworker who is a German-born American wife of a retired military member. She's recently had more opportunity to practice the language with Molly and has a renewed interest in maintaining the "talent".

 

[Guyfang]

She is still better with German than she gives herself credit for. She works at a Christian Counseling Center and now has a coworker who is a German-born American wife of a retired military member. She's recently had more opportunity to practice the language with Molly and has a renewed interest in maintaining the "talent".

You show your wife this short comment.
Übung macht den Meisterin.

She will laugh I am sure!

 

[Migginsbros]

Ordered a Gunring to complete the cabin.

and we detached the lights and speakers/horns from the Katastrophenschutz.

 

[Robo McDuff]

Katastrophenschutz, is that similar to the Zivilschutz? In the Netherlands we used to have the Bescherming Bevolking (BB, Civil Defence). This was a state organization parallel to the military aimed at protecting the civil population in times of war. War did not come, so later they were also used for national catastrophic events and emergencies, although I think that never was an official part of their job description. The were retired in 1986.

Plowboy has a thread about the Canadian equivalent on it.

 

[Tracer]

Please check out my thread on the 11 month journey to rebuild this motor from completely blown to running like a new watch...need I say more...

Several weeks ago, the Wife and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with Mike, his wife Lori, and their dog Butkus at their home in the Almond Groves of Central California. Mike has his MV collection stored in the shop. So, I was Soldier B and helped Mike with setting the injection timing, and then installing the exhaust system. It took Mike 11 months to completely rebuild the 8V92TA, because he chose to research the TMs, then pick the brains of knowledgeable Detroit Diesel Mechanics, before he started purchasing parts, and starting the rebuild himself. I was almost as happy as Mike when he posted the YouTube video of the first start. I remember when Mike called me about a year ago, to tell me the engine failed coming over Donner Pass, and the expenses to have the Hemtt towed home. So it was nice to see Mike grinning from ear to ear when the engine started, and later that week, the successful road trip. Like the rest of the MVs in Mikes collection, not a corner was cut.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

You show your wife this short comment.
Übung macht den Meisterin.

She will laugh I am sure!

She liked that. Thanks.

 

[cucvmule]

Good Luck to all participants. I see allot of Heart in all the care devoted to maintaining all the equipment in peak condition.

Wow what a Troop.