Project Wild Weasel M1009

cucvrus said:

The theory that the torque rods came from a Suburban is proven wrong. I forgot that I had a Suburban gate that I bought early on and have been storing it. That explains the same part number in the Mitchell manual for right and left. Totally different. I am getting old I remembers the layout as soon as I looked at the gate from the Suburban. Take Care. Stay Cool,View attachment 927831

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So the suburban tail gate will work but the helper springs are different than the blazer?

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No a Suburban gate is a totally different animal. Nothing will fit that I am aware of except the outside manual crank if you ever find one that had manual crank. I will put in marketplace in a few years.

WWRD99 said:

Looks great!! I used some half inch pex pipe over that spring bolt to keep it from making noise. Covered it in grease. Worked great so far. I just glued the seal on the gate the other day. They make pretty nice gaskets that fit good now. I don't remember them being formed. 3m weather stripping goop in black finished it off.

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Didnt know you were a skater. Nice vans.

My hot day working on a cobbled up gate. I never had the issues I am having with this gate. Not sure why but I cannot get it to fit no matter what. I called out for help from a friend. We will give it another whirl today. It was just too heavy and awkward for me to in’s all by myself.

cucvrus said:

My hot day working on a cobbled up gate. I never had the issues I am having with this gate. Not sure why but I cannot get it to fit no matter what. I called out for help from a friend. We will give it another whirl today. It was just too heavy and awkward for me to in’s all by myself. View attachment 927930View attachment 927931View attachment 927932View attachment 927933View attachment 927934 View attachment 927931

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Dang those spring retainers look like the ones we just did...I think 3 bolts broke off too. Was a mess. I don't know how you'd install a gate by yourself plus in this heat.

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I have met my goal for the evening. The gate is installed and adjusted to fit. The opening. Opens and closes very nice. I added a lot of new fasteners and the outer bumper braces are LMC. I fished 1/2” bolts thru the frame to attach the bumper braces. I will work at getting the rear gate back together next time I work. I hope tomorrow. Be Safe and Enjoy the weekend.

you do great work Rick !!!! BTW that is a Northeast vehicle for sure !!!!LOL It has the TITANIC LOOK , Rust !!!!

I was out and pulled the transmission pan from the Wild Weasel. Pretty much uneventful. I did find clean red fluid and a bit of debris on the magnet. Not enough to get excited about in a 40-year-old vehicle that has been pushing a snowplow and being driven by several hundred different people in its lifetime. The magnet did revile some solid pieces sort of like a bead of steel that was crushed. While I was there and had the rear driveshaft off, I replaced the U joints and used the AutoZone brand. This truck still had the factory OEM joints as they were held in with the plastic/nylon material. a U joint press makes life easier when doing U Joints. No hammering needed. Now as I was installing the crank in the gate, I noticed a nasty place on the flange of the gate. I cut a piece of angled galvanized and used some panel adhesive to clamp it into place.

All clamped up and hopefully no where to go. Speaking from experience a person could easily get $1500. to $2000. In a rear gate if the gate needs replaced and all the parts are worn out. I have repaired and rebuilt several gates and it gets costly to do it right and even doing it functional can be expensive if you are not able to find parts. Who would have thought torque rods and inner torque rod brackets would be so costly. And before you say I checked around. Even HBW was without them. I am digging deep and finding things I forgot I had . Take care. May the force be with you. Be Safe.

That part that was in the pan, any chance it's the park rod end? Kinda looks like it. That hits the rooster tail and parking pawl.

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It could be the main clock spring in the air bag system I don’t know anything about transmission parts. I maintain things and try my best to duplicate the OEM fit and function. After that I open my wallet and let the dollar bills escape and untended. It is 40 years since I worked on GM vehicles professionally. This is just a hobby like fishing for me. I let transmission work to someone else. Same as most other things I do all the grunt work and not whiz thru it.

Same here rick , I started working at repair shops then GM dealerships at 16 in 1966 or so after HS until 1976 . A lot has changed under the hood . You have to be proficient with electronics AND mechanical to work on anything today .

Last night I made good progress. I was able to get the gate reassembled and operational. As with most gates o work on without doing welding and adding a strip to the top outer flange this gate is structurally unsound. It works and opens and closes fine but the outer skin is corroded from the structure inside the gate. It works and I am not restoring this vehicle. Everything fits nice. I bought the used GM manual regulator from a YOUPULLIT after one of the vehicles I repaired for a customer ended up in the scrap yard after an accident. That was not even 6 months old. I wasn’t sure if the angle of the crank looked right but that is when I can tell the gates structural strength is compromised. It looks good and for the first time in 6 months it is closed up from the elements. Even the fillers fit perfect and tight in place. After I had everything adjusted and working I applied grease and oil. Real oil and real grease. No aerosol crap. This is the used regulator. Dusty but not rusty. Making great progress so I bolted on the Pinter hook assembly. That was held on with 2 bolts when I removed it. I used the 7/16” bolts and am ready to crawl underneath the next time I get to work on it. I need to button up the driveline on my next project. I still have the front lighting harness and get the electrician system charging again. That will happen. Everything I get to has been hacked on done incorrectly. Common on older vehicles especially CUCV’s. Take Care and Be Safe.

Check out this M1009 gate rebuild I done on Terminus M1009. Terminus M1009 | Page 4 | SteelSoldiers I welded, glued and riveted it back into shape and I even painted it to make it look pretty. While you are reading check out the entire thread. Terminus M1009 came from a junkyard crush pile to running for many years after. Terminus M1009 | SteelSoldiers
They were the fun years, and I ran the pants off that M1009 and really pushed it to the maximum limits off road in stock form.

I pressed in the front ujoint after work. And of course I painted the driveshaft. Any job that requires removal and I am working on gets makeup put on before reassembly. Have a Great Weekend. I hope to get some work done this weekend after I put in another Saturday. If not I will another day. I have a driveway full again.

Over the years I have seen people melting the nylon from the driveshaft. I am talking the nylon that holds the OEM u joints into place. I never melted them out.
I use my trusty u joint press and a little grease and oil and press them on and out without any hammering and beating on the u joint or driveshaft. I watched guys cursing for hours and break new u joint caps and red tack needle bearings. No Sit I don’t like it.