Airbornebandsman's M109 Conversion

[silverstate55]

Thought I'd kick this off for Airbornebandsman. Saturday, April 21st we took my truck & trailer down to Barstow to pick up an M109 van body for his M35. We made a stop prior to Barstow at 100DollarMan's compound to pick up some goodies, and Airbornebandsman was able to score some good deals on replacement parts he needs for his truck. Then it was over to Bartsow to pick up his M109 van body.

The employees assisting us were very helpful, and very skilled with their forklift. They did a good job of removing the van body from the donor truck, and placing it on my trailer exactly where I wanted it. They also helped us tie it down. We made it back to Vegas with no issues whatsoever, it was a nice productive uneventful trip.

We even managed to fit all the goodies we purchased at Hundy's place (100DollarMan) inside the M109 van, so we didn't have to strap anything else down other than the M109 body!

It would have been a perfect day if we could have managed to break the screws free on another M109 van body that were holding in a near-new window unit, to make a complete unit for the one that Airbornebandsman purchased. It needs a little body work, which I hope to start working on soon for him, so we can get this bad boy mounted up on his Deuce. We'll back his Deuce up to my trailer, and winch the M109 van body onto his Deuce frame...then we'll lift one side at a time to place the wood runners in between the Deuce & van frame rails, and bolt everything in place when done. He even managed to score the correct splashguards & mudflaps for the M109 from Hundy! It will be done in the next few weeks and will look great when finished.

 

[BBoomerBootCamp]

Sounds like a good day to me, Hundy and Mik are to good folks among us here on SS

 

[papabear]

I don't know the other folks mentioned but I know Mik is a good troop!
Glad you folks were there to help him get the stuff he needed!

CAMO is just waiting for him to come home!

 

[islandguydon]

Looks like a solid box. Whats the conversion plan..?

 

[Danger Ranger]

I am gonna follow this one as it moves along....

The bumper on that Dodge is different, whats the story?

 

[wsucougarx]

Looking forward to this build!

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Looks like a good start.

 

[silverstate55]

The bumper on that Dodge is different, whats the story?

Home-made. But still not finished.



ETA: Airbornebandsman is truly a great guy, that's why I enjoy helping him out. I'll post photos of the van body cleanup as we fix dents & replace missing/broken items, unless he beats me to it. I'm storing the van body at my house as well, since I have the room & we can just keep it on my trailer until we're ready to mount it on his Deuce.

 

[Dave Kay]

Looking forward to updates on this great project! Three cheers for Sgt Mik---- HIP HIP...

 

[airbornebandsman]

First I want to thank Warren (Silverstate55) for all the help he has given me so far. He has gone above and beyond in helping me. I had no idea how this box was getting here until he volunteered his time and equipment. And he is helping me with the box repairs as well, among other things. I can't say enough about him and hope that I can repay him before I get escape from Vegas.

PB, we may not get out to GA for some time. But we will be in San Antonio, TX for a few years so there is a good chance we will be stopping in from time to time. We miss you guys.

And the plan...what plan. Haha. First I have to put new seals and gaskets in the engine and new seals in the transfer case, transmission and rear diffs. (it seems that going from the humid east coast to the dry west coast doesn't help gaskets and seals). Just replaced the parking brake, haven't had that for a while. And after we finish fixing the box (which includes convoy lights on each corner, my wife loves those. lol) we will mount the box. Hopefully paint it too, tan box and green truck don't mix.

 

[resqur]

Mik,
Looking forward to the build. PM me if you need a hand.

 

[srodocker]

another m109 build cant wait to see this one!

 

[silverstate55]

Got several hours' worth of work in on the M109 body before I had to knock off to go to work (my day job). Was able to straighten out a crunched corner, and remove some of the bolted-on appliances. Then took my air-powered needle scaler and started removing the tan paint. It works best around edges and anything that is not flat, so I'll continue tomorrow and get as much done as I can in the 3-4 hours I have before I head to work.

The photo below shows a close-up of the formerly-crunched corner; it was mangled pretty good, but I got the bolted-on stuff off and was able to get it back to respectableness. It's not show quality, but better than it was...

 

[Tinwoodsman]

I live an hour NW of San Antonio so let me know if you ever need a hand.

TWM

 

[CanonNinja]

I live an hour NW of San Antonio so let me know if you ever need a hand.

TWM

i think they're a bit further away from San Antonio than an hour

 

[Tinwoodsman]

I thought he said he was moving to San Antonio!!

 

[airbornebandsman]

Wow, that would have taken me at least 3 days, if i was able to do it at all. I will try and get the bolt on stuff from the BTP on Thurs. Thanks.

I am moving to San Antonio in about 2 1/2 months.

 

[silverstate55]

Removed a couple more crunched bolt-on appliances around the bottom rear of the van body, just below the doors. Then it was 2 solid hours with the needle scaler. Progress is sloooooooow, but steady.

 

[M1031CMT]

Well at least the box is lower to the ground (than if mounted on the truck frame) so it is easier to work on it.

You will get there. Just as long as it is ready before the zombies arrive, you should be good

 

[silverstate55]

Airbornebandsman came over today and we got several good hours' worth of work in on the M109. We got the rear door removed & all of its hardware dismantled, so we can start repairing & cleaning all that up. The body next to the rear door was struck by a forklift, which is causing the bottom of the door to push out and not seat properly...so with the door off (the door is nice & straight, thankfully) I can straighten out the body and repair the forklift damage.

We also got a lot of little things done, and worked on stripping away more of the flaking layers of paint; my daughter took the "action" shot of Airbornebandsman (left) and myself (right) working away. It's coming along nicely.

Airbornebandsman got his last missing window installed, as well as a missing interior light (not missing anymore!). I'll get some more good work done tomorrow & every morning this week until my Deuce's axle gasket set comes in (I've been itching to get it running).

We'll try to get the rear & front done ASAP, as one of my coworkers is moving at the end of this month & I need my trailer to use to help him move. So we'll try to get the front & rear done and painted ASAP, so we can mount the M109 on Mik's Deuce and continue to work on it while it's mounted to the truck. The front obviously needs to be completed as the truck cab will block access to the front of the van body, and I want to get the rear done ASAP so Mik can lock it up when we're not working on it, since it won't be behind my locked gate & guarded by my Pit Bull afterwards.