Another CUCV find. The phone call that turned into a M1008 truck

[cucvrus]

I received a phone call from a local guy that bought a truck from me back in November 1996. I had seen the truck and done work on it several times over the years. The last time anything major was a complete CARC paint job during the summer of 1999. I sold him the truck with 16 K miles on it and it now has 41K miles on it. He could not get it PA inspected because of the cab corners rusted thru and the rockers and it has been sitting and he wanted to part with it. He said to come get it and he said the wiring had smoked a couple of times when he was trying to jump start it with his new truck. He said to come get the truck and gave me a figure what he thought it was worth. I was out the door like a shot. I had my son grab the tow bar again. And away we went. We did not fool around. We hooked the tow bar up and put the transmission and transfer case in nuetral and away we went. As soon as we were home. We hooked up the batteries again and the slave cables and it cranked right over. My belts were squealing on my M1009 and I thought it was the M1008. When we disconnected the slave cables the truck stayed running and the volt meter was in the green. We drove the truck up the road. I know you guys are tired of my long winded finds but I can not pass up a deal. I do think I must level with this guy that the truck is more valuable then me thinks it is. Any way for now some pictures. I hope I am OK showing these. The paint job held up well in light of the use it saw. The tailgate was an OEM new gate in 1999. The dash pad is flawless. I installed that during the 1999 repaint and the tires are still the same LT 235/75R16 Goodyear Work Horse E range tires I put on it in 1996 when I first sold the truck. The seat did not fair so well. It needs recovered. I will be calling this guy tomorrow. My Dad always said be a nice guy and be honest and people remember you for that. This guy said I always know how much pride you put in these trucks and he wanted me to have it. I think I am going to fix it get it inspected and return it to him. He told me what a local body shop wanted to fix it. He likes it for hauling wood and stones just like I do. I think I will do the right thing. And he did tell me what he was thinking the repairs should cost when he dropped it off at the body shop. I know I can fix it for that price. But I wanted to share this truck with you. They are still out there and they can be found. The body shop wanted $2000. to fix the cab corners and rockers and repair the right bed side. It would have been primer only when he got it back. I can do it for half that and spot paint the areas. It's Camo for Gods sake. How can I mess it up. I still have some CARC paint.

 

[Mg84648]

That looks like a good truck CUCVRUS!
I think that's a solid approach. Fix it up nice, if he wants it again give it back at cost for materials. If he wants nothing to do with it then it's yours. Either way, the gentleman will make sure the truck ends up with you when everything is said and done.
Well done buddy!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Nice! Good news, new seat bottom material is readily available. I recovered mine with the recently surplussed NOS cover and it looks spectacular and above all else, very comfy.

 

[KansasBobcat]

Sounds like you are doing a good deed. He is lucky to be dealing with you!

 

[cucvrus]

I still did not figure out where the wires were smoking. I do not see any damaged wires and it starts and runs and charges in the green. I drove it to the You Pull It today. I scored another set of set of Quad shock brackets for my M1009 Mule. $5. what a deal. I have the new shocks from Autozone $58. for the set. I found mega K square bodied trucks at this yard. i picked up a 5 gallon bucket of bolts and nuts from several vehicles that were on the lot. The guy thanked me for picking them up and said N/C for the bolts. What a deal. Back to the M1008. The seat bottom is real bad and the back rest cover is bad also. I think it will just get a quick re upholstery in smooth HD Vinyl. It holds up better in severe use. That new seat cover always wears through at the end. I am going to keep driving it till officer friendly takes notice it is not a Gap truck.

 

[the skull]

Gap truck? Sorry I ain't got no idea on PA terms.
I'm waiting on Officer Friendly to tell me I don't
have license plate lights

 

[cucvrus]

I am referring to Indaintown Gap. It is a local National Guard base. And yes I am waitng for NO plates.

 

[the skull]

Hahahahaha
I understand now!
If Pennsylvania doesn't like the truck,
I'll find it a home in Ohio. I got plenty of
people here who would like a nice truck.

 

[Durango_USMC]

Definitely sounds like a good plan and some words of wisdom. Good luck!

 

[cucvrus]

The el cheapo M1008 is still running and starting. I am still not sure what the smoking wires were. I never seen smoke come from it. I think the dead batteries were the issue. And they cranked it that hard that the ground at the rear of the engine got hot. That is done. I put new batteries in it. Runs good and have been working it ever since. Passed the man that sold it to me while I was driving it. He smiled and waved. Probably trhought sucker . Oh well I will keep running it till it gets in the shop for some body work and repairs. It is excellent in the woods and compliments my CUCV fleet.

 

[cucvrus]

Time to line them up and replace 3 sets of rocker panels and cab corners on 3 different CUCV's at the same time. We will give it a whirl. It is raining but that will not stop the madness. I will post pictures later. Mr Rusty is one of the patients and the M1008 that I received from the owner that no longer wanted the rusty truck.

 

[Mg84648]

This is going to be good,,,,, we need picks as soon as you start Rick!

 

[ralbelt]

I''ll be watching, my cab corners will need to be replaced soon.

 

[reaper556]

Very nice find. Its very refreshing knowing there are still good honest men around

 

[cucvrus]

Well I started at the crack of dawn and it got wet real early here. It could not decide if it was going to rain or not. I kept working as long as I was under the truck taking out the bed bolts. My wife was out helping me and we made great progress. She stood on the bolt heads while I heated the bed bolts and removed the nuts. I used my hand ratchet because it was early and I did not want to hear the A/C running so early. Well here we go. This is my progress for the day. Nothing to get excited about but decent results.The bed is off and I have some more work to do on cleaning and coating the frame. I will be replacing the shocks and probably all the spring bushings and sway bar bushings while I have it torn down. The rocker panels are not rusted thru and the cab corners were full of MRE wrappers. They have been in them corners for 20+ years. The date on the one wrappers was 1982. Wow. If the corners did not have that little corner cut out in the cab they would have lasted a lot longer. They are always filled with trash ,dirt, mud and water. I also am going to be putting front aprons on the truck and see where things go from there. Thank you for looking. The assembly area is full at this time. 4 trucks being worked on at the same time. Have a nice day.

 

[cucvrus]

This is the frame on the M1008 that I got for a song. This is the rust extent of this frame. I spent a few minutes with my brillo grinder pad and it will come out clean and repairable. It is not near as rusty as Mr Rusty but it has its share at a few places. The left frame rail is slightly cleaned the right rail is untouched. No need to remove the brackets and have them blasted. That would be going overboard on this project. Thank you for looking.

 

[usmcpatriot]

As for the plates, can you go Vintage plates?

 

[cucvrus]

In PA you can do classic vehicle and antique. Classic must be state safety inspected every year just like a regular vehicle and antique no inspection required. Antique is one time and one $75. . But the bad. You can not haul or pull anything. And you can not use it as a daily driver. I have had several antique tags for years. They never check the mileage. And I drive them at night. hat is all a myth. I have been pulled over already for no inspection and the cop was befuddled when I told him I did not need inspection. He went back to his car with his tail between his legs. State plolice already know that but will whip around and follow you until they get behind you and see the antique tags.

 

[cucvrus]

I put a new exhaust system on the Easter find. Not my smartest move but I needed a ride to the exhaust shop to get Terminus back so why not? I will just have to clean up the frame with the new pipes in my way. I will deal with it. I also am able to use the truck chassis as a template for making the bed mounts for Mr Rusty. I will be using V brackets to mount it. That way I can use the original cross members. I will post more later. Thank you for looking. It is sitting pretty crooked at this time. I will level it out. I think the rear axle lines up better now that I cut the front edge of the bed off. ???

 

[CUCVLOVER]

Nice truck.
I like the objective of this build.