1993 M998 Indiana
10 weeks for my first EUC, 1 day to get it delivered by wheel lift wrecker (175 miles), 16 weeks for the SF97 with bold red stamp, almost 2 weeks for a Bill of Sale from IP, also with bold red stamp. Word has it that Indiana will accept a BOS. I waited until I had possession of the vehicle to buy the BOS. Next time I'll get it right off the bat!
Happy to report that although the vehicle is the dirtiest thing I've ever bought, it all seems to function rather better than I'd hoped. After a week, I was able to resurrect the Hawker HASP-FT batteries and they are holding 25.3 volts. Not sure how long they'll last, but at least it's a few hundred bucks I get to hold onto for a while.
The only thing so far that doesn't appear to work is what would appear to be a green blackout driving light. Turned out to be completely lacking a ground wire. Works fine.
There's about 1/2 inch of dirt under the rear seat pans and there was a lot of trash, loose nuts, bolts, screws, chains and a couple very rusted tools (including jack and tire irons) hidden in the dried mud. But it could have been worse, considering some kind of rope roof hold downs were cobbled onto the thing and the velcro between the cab and the bed covers evidently fell in months if not years ago. I manhandled it all back together as best I could, but I think a trip to a vehicle uphostery shop is in order for some refurbishment of the canvas. Hoping I don't have to buy new, my goal with this vehicle was for it to be a fun driver (like my M38 ), not a museum piece.
There are many unsightly holes on the sides and rear of both quarter panel corners. I'm new to this vehicle so I'm just guessing, but I think all those holes suggest it had offest antenna mounts on both rear corners?
Edit: The Indiana Historic Military Vehicle program, as set in Indiana Law for 2017, is poorly understood and even more poorly executed by the Indiana BMV. I’m currently corresponding with the Director of Registrations trying to get them to make sense out of the whole thing. A privately owned retired military vehicle can be titled and registered in Indiana if it is over 25 years old. "Theresa" at the BMV state office said a '93 is only 24 years old. So I'm going to wait until January to send in all the paperwork (if the SF97 ever shows up). Part of the (wrong) requirement is to paint identifying registration/serial numbers "in a military fashion" on the rear of the vehicle. So my buddy made me a nice stencil (he fabs lots of gubment stuff) and I painted my serial numbers across the "bumper". The picture above doesn't do it justice, those 6 numbers REALLY stand out in person. Conversely, the unit markings on the lower corners were demilled to the point to where they aren't hardly legible.
Other than dirt, surface rust and normal wear and tear, I think my M998 is in pretty good shape! Runs nice, goes into gear, hand parking brake works, vehicle rolls nicely, power steering is smooth and quiet, and even the heat and blower fans work! So far, so good!
Matt
1993 M998
1951 M38
10 weeks for my first EUC, 1 day to get it delivered by wheel lift wrecker (175 miles), 16 weeks for the SF97 with bold red stamp, almost 2 weeks for a Bill of Sale from IP, also with bold red stamp. Word has it that Indiana will accept a BOS. I waited until I had possession of the vehicle to buy the BOS. Next time I'll get it right off the bat!
Happy to report that although the vehicle is the dirtiest thing I've ever bought, it all seems to function rather better than I'd hoped. After a week, I was able to resurrect the Hawker HASP-FT batteries and they are holding 25.3 volts. Not sure how long they'll last, but at least it's a few hundred bucks I get to hold onto for a while.
The only thing so far that doesn't appear to work is what would appear to be a green blackout driving light. Turned out to be completely lacking a ground wire. Works fine.
There's about 1/2 inch of dirt under the rear seat pans and there was a lot of trash, loose nuts, bolts, screws, chains and a couple very rusted tools (including jack and tire irons) hidden in the dried mud. But it could have been worse, considering some kind of rope roof hold downs were cobbled onto the thing and the velcro between the cab and the bed covers evidently fell in months if not years ago. I manhandled it all back together as best I could, but I think a trip to a vehicle uphostery shop is in order for some refurbishment of the canvas. Hoping I don't have to buy new, my goal with this vehicle was for it to be a fun driver (like my M38 ), not a museum piece.
There are many unsightly holes on the sides and rear of both quarter panel corners. I'm new to this vehicle so I'm just guessing, but I think all those holes suggest it had offest antenna mounts on both rear corners?
Edit: The Indiana Historic Military Vehicle program, as set in Indiana Law for 2017, is poorly understood and even more poorly executed by the Indiana BMV. I’m currently corresponding with the Director of Registrations trying to get them to make sense out of the whole thing. A privately owned retired military vehicle can be titled and registered in Indiana if it is over 25 years old. "Theresa" at the BMV state office said a '93 is only 24 years old. So I'm going to wait until January to send in all the paperwork (if the SF97 ever shows up). Part of the (wrong) requirement is to paint identifying registration/serial numbers "in a military fashion" on the rear of the vehicle. So my buddy made me a nice stencil (he fabs lots of gubment stuff) and I painted my serial numbers across the "bumper". The picture above doesn't do it justice, those 6 numbers REALLY stand out in person. Conversely, the unit markings on the lower corners were demilled to the point to where they aren't hardly legible.
Other than dirt, surface rust and normal wear and tear, I think my M998 is in pretty good shape! Runs nice, goes into gear, hand parking brake works, vehicle rolls nicely, power steering is smooth and quiet, and even the heat and blower fans work! So far, so good!
Matt
1993 M998
1951 M38
Last edited:
, not a museum piece.
