1986 CUCV M1009 Decade after being wrecked.

[cucvrus]

A friend sent me this picture. I designed this wrap back in 2013 for my new 2014 Silverado before it arrived. It was an all brown truck and I was going to have the truck completely wrapped in the 3 color camouflage. Great idea. I sent the pictures to the local graphic design shop. They wanted $4K to do it. That was a deal breaker. It would have been cool. I did get the black wheels and that was a good as it got. I really don't think the wrap would hold up to 5 years of solar UV abuse. And they would not guarantee the removal process to go smoothly after 90 days. WOW. 90 days to have a new camouflage truck. What a Deal.

 

[rtk]

That would have looked great !!!!! 4 grand , ya I would have to let that pass to !!! LOL

 

[cucvrus]

Major break from my projects that are lining my driveway. Many Kubota issues to deal with. And Kubota parts are EXPENSIVE. Most jobs I get are because dealers charge $100+ an hour to diagnose and work on things. I do it at a fraction of the cost and don't punch in and out for every little detail and break. I started sanding wheels for my M1009 project and that got old fast. So I took a vaction day and headed to Conowingo Maryland for some fun it the sun. In my world a good day of fishing beats wrenching. Just about as dirty. I had a HMMWV seat cushion to sit on all day. Have a Great Weekend.

 

[rtk]

Same to You !!! a good day of fishing demands a cold beverage !!!! enjoy

 

[cucvrus]

No slack time here. I have been working on repairing and painting a Kubota tractor for a customer. Meanwhile over the weekend I damaged the left fender on my M1009 project. It was a minor fender to door gap adjustment that turned into a slip and hit on the fender and door edge. No problem. It happens.I will have it all fixed up today after work. I also have 2 CUCV's setting here for inner fenders. That seems to be a popular item at this point many are just rusty and weak. The first truck I am doing has a poor patch job on the inner fender. It's all fun a games till you lose a nut then the whole project goes south. Have a Great Day. Stay Safe. Any day without rain is a great day this season.

 

[rtk]

Way to much rain this season !!!! yard and fields are a swamp !!!!! It would be nice to get more than 2 days without rain in a row !!!! maybe this weekend .

 

[cucvrus]

I have to just make a little progress everyday and I am happy. But when it rains 2" one day and 3" the next it makes progress hard. I don't like working in a closed up barn. I am much happier out in the dirt and stones. My m1009 project is crawling along. The other work has people waiting. I always find someone that needs something done and I never turn down work. So I am busy and having fun at the same time. Have a Great Day. More progress tonight. I still have a RED hood that needs sanded all over on both sides. Like I said the easy way would be to undercoat the underside black. That would be easy look nice. But I want green as it was on this truck. It only takes a wee bit more effort to do the job right and the first time is the right time.

 

[cucvrus]

Yesterday was a move forward. Not far but forward counts. I hand sanded 3 of 5- M1009 wheels and worked on getting the left fender dents repaired. The slip with the prybar was an unscheduled event. It did get the door to fender gap correct. And that counts also. Something on the left side was slightly tweaked a bit. That was the impact side. Have a Great Day. More progress to report later. maybe even complete with pictures. And hand sanding complete wheels inside and out properly is a time consuming task. This was sealer that was supposed to be painted right away after application. 6 months is NOT right after application. This is my second bout with these 5 wheels I want to make it 100% correct this time.

 

[cucvrus]

All 5 M1009 wheels are sanded. I had to force myself to hand sand all 5 wheels. In the end it is completed and will look good all around. I did learn a lesson. Add hardener to sealing primer. It will never dry. I had to tell myself this the entire time I was hand sanding the wheels. At times I was sanding the wheels like they were the middle of the hood. Not needed. They are ready for a wash down and a few coats of Flat Black. I also started working on a customers wrecked M1009 that he has here for repairs. Short on time and no camera. I am moving forward. I was tempted to do some sofa time but a pending rain storm never materialized and I could not justify the down time. Tempting. Have a Great Day.

 

[richingalveston]

I had bad results with flat black, it seams to stain real easy and not clean. I would recommend a satin. Just having a little bit of sheen makes them clean a lot easier. Just my 2 cents
look forward to seeing the end results of the project.

 

[cucvrus]

Never had any problems. I sprayed CARC for years. It dries fine as long as you mix it right and use the correct thinner. MEK fast dry and peels easily. MAK slow dry and seems to have much better adhesion. Now with the Alkyd Enamel in lusterless black. It is like painting my barn. No harmful solvents and you can clean it up with mineral spirits. Seems to hold up well if applied properly. That has been my go to on many projects. I still have several gallons of CARC water base. Clean up with water and takes a lot of air to dry properly. I will post my pictures. But in the past I used any flat black I could buy or get my hands on. Satin Black I use on the upper core support under the hood only.

 

[cucvrus]

The entire day was very busy. I finished it out with the completed door and fender, Now lets try this again. I feel like I am working backwards. But this is just a small part of my current project schedule. I have the driveway lined up. Fun Fun. Have a Great Day and a Great Weekend. Be Safe.

 

[cucvrus]

Making great progress on the Kubota project. The owner decided he wanted it painted while I had it apart. That part is the easy part. Getting the parts cleaned and sanded for paint is the tough part. I have a load for the sand blaster. That will eliminate any of the rough ugly un sandable pieces. I had it running today and serviced all the fluids. It is not rocket science. These are some of the best built pieces of equipment I ever worked on. I also have the Red Devil back for some work. It has a damaged left front corner, Inoperable tailgate glass and crank, Rusty inner fenders and needs a block heater. Hoping to get it rolling out of here in the next 2 weeks. Have a line up in the driveway. With Mr. Rusty here yet. Busy Busy. Have a Great Week. Stay Safe and Have Fun.

 

[cucvrus]

Yesterday after a long day at work I did come home and change the hood install the replacement left fender on the Red Devil. The left front impact had the entire front end sheet metal shifted to the right. It was evident when you looked at the door gap on the right side. The door gap at the rear of the door was perfect and the door was scrapping the fender on the bottom of the front. I loosened the bolts and ratchet strapped the fender forward. by placing 1 shim in the lower mounting bolt I was able to regain the proper gap and with the strap pulling forward it was a win-win. Tonight I have the inner fenders to install. All is Well here at CUCV base camp. Kubota progress is moving along and parts are being sanded, sand blasted, primed and painted daily. I am not doing any paint work to the Red Devil. I don't market my paint skills very often. It always ends up more involved than just a minor repair. But the scrap pile is growing again. I have to paint the barn this year and that is easier than painting a vehicle. Have a Great Day and Be Safe. Sorry to disappoint with no pictures. I will follow up on the next post.

 

[cucvrus]

Tonights goal was to get the left inner fender installed and everything done on the left side. Goal met. Looks like another person that lost their grease gun. I see it all the time on everything. I will get the right side on Friday evening. Have a Great Day and Be Safe.

 

[cucvrus]

Today after working a full day I came home and worked on the Red Devil. I had no luck or replies finding the oil cooler line bracket so I made one. It worked fine. And NO I did not let the duct tape on the bracket, that was just till I cut the bolt to the proper length. I use a piece of galvanized metal formed and drilled it. I ground it to the proper depth and installed it. Works great. Better than nothing there to hold the lines. That was easy. Done. Right inner fender is all installed. I rerouted the heater lines same as I always do. Take care and have a Great Day. I also sprayed a lot of Kubota orange parts today. That project is moving right along. More Later. Be Safe.

 

[cucvrus]

Today after work I set a simple goal. I wanted to install the block heater on the Red Devil M1009. It was a piece of cake. I really like the part where I punch the freeze plug out and the coolant pours down on my arm. Fun Fun. I just grabbed hold of the plug with the vise grips and pulled it out. That was easy. I installed the heater with the element straight up at 12o'clock just as the instructions stated. I installed hundreds of these back in the day on PennDOT trucks. They had crew cab 6.2 diesels for many years beginning in 1983. All complete and finished for the night. Have a Great Day and Be Safe.

 

[cucvrus]

No progress to report on any of my current projects. After 7 inches of rain in 5 hours I am happy to still be high and semi dry. Last night I was a bit worried when the back field was 3 feet deep. Been a while since that happened. Hoping for some M1009 tailgate repairs tomorrow. The weekend I am off to Celtic Fling. Fun times. Have a Great Day and Be Safe.

 

[cucvrus]

Well I was back at the Red Devil again tonight after work. Tonights assignment/goal was to get the rear gate apart and discover what is wrong inside. The rear window definitely had an alignment issue. One of the guide track wheels was missing and a washer was substituted with a massive fail ensuing. The window side guides were completely trashed and worn out. Broken glass was still imbedded in the tracks and bottom of the gate. The window down mechanism was broken off and laying in the bottom. As you see it is how it was when I disassembled it. Home made guide track wheel. Massive fail. Good tool for removing inside and outside weather strips. the outside one was like fresh chips. It crumbled. I will reuse it and add a brush seal. The top of the gate has the normal cracks. I will fasten the out skin to the inner reinforcement before I reassemble the gate. The side glass track guides are scrap and I will rebuild them. the ones that you buy from LMC have a life expectancy of a few months if you use the vehicle. I dug out all the felt and wire brushed the track and channel with a wire wheel on the cordless drill. The clean track at top with the rust thru. Won't matter the bottom is still solid enough to retain the proper gap for my replacement rubber track. I will cover the rubber Trim Lok seal in my next post. Complete with pictures.

 

[cucvrus]

The upper one has the old felt guide and the lower one has been cleaned out and the Trim Lok seal glue in place. Both have new Trim Lok seal in place and are ready for a quick paint. Lots of dirt, glass, parts, mice nests in the bottom of the gate. Common items on M1009 gates that are not maintained and kept in good operational order. I vacuumed the gate out and reinstall the side track guides. I will be sanding and buffing the bottom glass sash and replacing the entire rear window regulator. The outside crank will be removed and greased and oiled before I reassemble the gate. That will happen Friday night. Have a Great Day. Be Safe and Thank you for following. I did discover that the protrusion of the license plate screws is what was catching the sash and binding the regulator. I will make other license plate attachments complete with a light for this M1009. No hacking going on here.