Another M715 Coming Back To Life

[GIJoe911]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and new to M715s. On Christmas day I acquired a M715 from my father-in-law and his neighbor. This truck was parked under an old chicken barn probably around 30 years ago and has sat ever since. I first caught a glimpse of the truck 3-4 years ago and from that point was envious of it.

We drug the truck out of the barn today and over to my father-in-laws house. On the way over, we put the truck in gear while towing it and noticed the engine spun pretty easily, I even smelled fuel pumping out on the way. The truck steered well but as would be expected, there were no brakes.

We disconnected the fuel line from the fuel pump, cleaned the points, and dumped some fuel in the carb. After a few cranks, the truck turned over. It didn't take long and we had the truck running as long as we continually dumped fuel in the carb. After sitting for nearly 30 years, its amazing it ran with only a few minutes of tinkering.

I'll leave you with some pictures, but I will be back soon with questions galore. Although the truck is in pretty good shape, there is a lot of work to be done.

 

[SCM35A2]

Welcome to the site, nice project!

 

[frank8003]

Oh nice, really nice. I put a lot of miles on a M725. I had the only heater in the battalion.
I miss that truck from 1969. I watch your posts now with envy.

 

[whistlepig]

Cool truck ,your lucky to find in that condition.

 

[Scar59]

Great find. It will look good cleaned up w/ some new canvas on it.
Welcome to the site.
JC

 

[porkysplace]

Welcome to SS , you may want to check out M715 zone also , a lot of info there.
http://www.m715zone.com/vb/index.php

 

[Lee (MN)]

Nice looking truck!, mine was very similar when I found it!, enjoy!

Lee

 

[GIJoe911]

Thanks everyone!

We tore into the truck a little today. We removed the carb because the throttle lever was rusted stuck and the choke plate was broken. I guess I'll start searching for a new carb. We also removed the master cylinder and radiator. Amazingly, the radiator still had a little anti-freeze in it- it was clear green and smelled and looked like new.

While my father-in-law was looking over the truck, he discovered the bed is dump bed. The hydraulic pump and cylinder are missing but we are making plans to restore that.

The truck has a winch on it, missing the shaft though, but it seems like the PTO driven shaft cant make it between the front axle and steering linkages. Does anyone have pictures of what the shaft looks like as its connected from the winch to the transfer case? Any idea where I can get my missing pieces from?

 

[NDT]

The winch drive is a convoluted multiple shaft arrangement, it goes down, then up, then over. See the manual for the details. Careful with the radiator, it is irreplaceable.

 

[GIJoe911]

Thanks, NDT. I'll put more time into figuring that out later. Getting the winch working will probably be something I tackle towards the tail end of this project.

Were these trucks made with dump beds or was this a modification done by another owner at some point?

We took all the wheels off today to start working on the braking system. What do most of you do for brakes on these trucks? Do you try and replace with NOS\OE stuff or do you install civilian counterparts? How about dual reservoir master cylinders, are these common modifications?

View attachment 714064View attachment 714065View attachment 714066View attachment 714063

 

[Barrman]

They did not come as dump beds. Someone did that to yours.

The brakes can can be made to work very well with stock parts which are available. Or, several combinations of other parts can be made to work just as well or better.

I have a corvette master cylinder on mine with Ford E350 wheel cylinders.

What engine does yours have? You didn’t mention and with the PTO shaft missing I was just wondering.

 

[GIJoe911]

Thanks, Barrman!

I thought the truck was largely original but I guess not.

I was reading about the brake conversions on m715zone and it seems really straightforward. Do you like the braking power with your setup?

The engine appears to be the original, its the Jeep Tornado 230. I have the PTO output shaft on the transfer case, its just the rest of the shaft is missing to connect it to the winch. I'l try and get pictures later.

 

[NDT]

Your truck had the 100 amp charging system installed as evidenced by the cut out in the core support, that meant it was a radio shelter carrier when the Army had it.

 

[GIJoe911]

That's good to know! I guess that explains why the alternator is so large. I thought it was just something to do with the 24v system.

 

[NDT]

Suggestion: revisit the chicken coop and look high and low for the pto shafts, chances are they may still be on a workbench.

 

[dmetalmiki]

We rebuilt our group M715, but had to use a perkins diesel engine. Horrible smokey and noisy. We are looking for something more suitable.

 

[NDT]

We rebuilt our group M715, but had to use a perkins diesel engine. Horrible smokey and noisy. We are looking for something more suitable.[/QUOTE

Perfect engine for the M715 is the Tornado 230. Does the job fine.

 

[M813rc]

Or, if you want to stick with diesel, the 6.2 is a very good choice. Barrman and Sermis both have 6.2 powered trucks (M715 and M725 respectively), and are very happy with the setup.
Some don't like that engine, some do.

My now engineless M725 is headed that route, rather than installing the crated Tornado I have, but my personal goal is to have as much of my fleet diesel-powered as possible, rather than any dislike for the Tornado.

Cheers

 

[Barrman]

Yes, the stock engine is great in that truck. However, some engine parts are not available at a reasonable price if you can find them any more. That is why I swapped mine out. First to a 396 big block and then to the 6.2 diesel. I too want as much of my fleet to be diesel as possible for practicality reasons. I can let a diesel vehicle sit for a month, two months or whatever and it will start. A gas engine needs to be run with fresh fuel pretty much every few weeks. I have too many vehicles to be able to afford that.

There are several brake medication threads on the Zone. Stock or Ford wheel cylinders are the same size, so it doesn't matter which you go with them. I went with the 1976 Corvette master without power assist at first. It stopped, but I was doing leg presses to do that. I drove someone's truck that had the FSJ Wagoner master cylinder. I got out asking the owner how he installed power brakes with the stock engine? He laughed, called me an idiot and raised the hood to show me I was an idiot. Without power, go with the Full Size Jeep master is my suggestion.

When I put in the 6.2. I added a CUCV Hydroboost power set up. Combined with the large bore Corvette master cylinder, it is almost too much brake power. I can lock up the 38" tall Michelins with just a toe wiggle at any speed now.

 

[GIJoe911]

Hey Barrman, thanks for the info above. Sorry for the rookie question here, it’s my first military vehicle and I don’t deal with jeeps much. What FSJ would I lookup? Is there a specific year or model that matches most closely?