couple of MUTT questions

[98taco3]

couple of MUTT questions-now with pictures!

Well I found a 1968 MUTT for sale and may have enacted a trade on it. My question is i know there are those on here who have had to title them. Did you have any luck or are they pretty much done with without a title? I am in CO. Its claimed to be uncut but the catch is the engine/trans are out of it. supposedly it is an incomplete resto, Is it much of a pain to reinstall the power pack? The guy wants to trade for a dirt bike i have sitting around or $2500 cash. He wanted the dirt bike and 500 cash but with no title that isnt going to happen, i assume it will cost at least that to title it.

P.S. please excuse my ignorance , im probably i did look around quite a bit and didnt seem to find a whole lot about titling one other than the occasional dont touch it....

 

[NDT]

DRMO for the most part did not give SF97s (title paperwork) for M151s as from almost the beginning of the disposal, they were requred to be cut in half, then in 4 pieces, or at the end, crushed. If the one you are looking at escaped that fate, and is not rusted badly, you have found a gem that is well worth the asking price even without engine or title. The power pack glides into that truck super easy. Lots of surplus dealers have the power train pieces, as you were allowed to remove that before crushing. I wouldn't worry about the lack of title.

 

[csmith]

It can be done in most states. I live in VA and titled a mutt brought back from VN two years ago. In VA you have to prove ownership IE bill of sale or in my case BOS and proper import documents, fill out a bunch of forms, list some sort of VIN# which can be a number from your data plate if the plate is fixed to the mutt, or if you have a Bud Plate # or any # etched onto the frame or body, send it all in and wait. In Va they sent a State Trooper out to my home to varify the VIN# then gave me title on the spot when it matched. All up it was less than $500 and about 30 days. How they are described varies, mine was listed as a Ford M151 Jeep. Now I have two, one is titled as a 73 Jeep (actually a 76 or 77), and the other is titled as a 71 Ford 2D SDN (actually a 76). Describe it as needed to get the job done, Jeep, Ford, AMG, Etc.

 

[poppop]

That is a great price for an un-cut one if it is not rusted badly. In Ga a title is not required on a vehicle that old. A bill of sale, possibley a vin verification by a police officer and proof of insurance is all that is needed. Keep your descripton simple so as not to raise any eyebrows. Mine is tagged as a Ford Jeep. When she asked what color it was and I replied olive drab I could tellby the look on her face she had no clue so I told her green and that was fine.

 

[majorhitt]

You said "It's claimed to be uncut", To verify if it was just cut in half, look at the underside just in front of the battery box going across to the gas tank area, look at the frame channels that make up the tranny tunnel. look for weld beads or plates to reinforce the cut frame members. If it was cut into 4 pieces, they cut them from the front right to the rear left, then cut the remaining section in the same pattern. That should be easier to find. Hope yours is uncut. A lot less work. As for the engine and trans , like NDT said, The power pack slide in super easy.

 

[98taco3]

Thanks for the advice guys! I got some pictures of it sent to me today. It looks like the passenger side floor pan is pretty much gone. He does have replacement panels for it though that do come with the mutt. He fabricated a new rocker for it that you can see in one of the pictures, doesnt look like he did to good of a job but looks completely saveable to me. It also supposedly comes with a bunch more parts as well. I guess it comes with both style rear seats, the bench seat and the radio seat as well as a soft top and everything else except the rear tail lights. Here are the pictures i was sent, what do you think? I asked for one of where the a arms attach to the frame as ive heard thats a problem area for rust...

 

[NDT]

Yuck. I would not buy that until I crawled around underneath with a screwdriver poking for even more out of control rust.

 

[popacom]

LOOKS OK FROM THE PICS AS FAR AS NOT HAVING BEEN CUT,BUT ITS HARD TO SEE SOME OF THE KEY POINTS TO SAY FOR SURE.
I have put over 25 of these units back in service at various times since
my 16th B-Day (54 now...LOL) and as NDT stated above,be sure to crawl under and have a poke at the structural areas of the Unibody.
You can rebuild about anything if you have the will and means to do so!!! but ........are you up to the task? this is a question only YOU know the true answer to. As for parts,if you do trade for her and you
need parts be sure to give a PM with your wants and needs. I have dismantled over 100+ of these lil varmits and have a fairly large inventory of good T/O as well as many NOS parts I will sell or trade.
Just be sure to check it out well. The reason a lot of MUTTS never got finished was that the person who got one as a resto project underestimated the time and resources needed to PROPERLY bring these
fine lil Jeeps back to life. Good luck!!!! popacom / BILL in Ky.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

You need to look at the bottom of that...............if its not bad and something you want to tackle, offer him 2k unless he has a GOOD pile of new parts to go with it. Even 2K might be still on the high end on that deal. Just by seeing whats there and not confirming that its a runner I would be happy at 1,500. If its truly uncut, it would be worth putting in the $$ and making it right as they are only going up in value!

 

[vtdeucedriver]

forgot the plug to the group, but MANY of us hang out over here!!! Go surf it and you will see restoration pics of what has been saved.
www.g838.org

 

[98taco3]

You need to look at the bottom of that...............if its not bad and something you want to tackle, offer him 2k unless he has a GOOD pile of new parts to go with it. Even 2K might be still on the high end on that deal. Just by seeing whats there and not confirming that its a runner I would be happy at 1,500. If its truly uncut, it would be worth putting in the $$ and making it right as they are only going up in value!

Thats my feelings as well. I think hes got it priced considerably higher than it should be given the rust issues in the tub. Now every email i get keeps trying to tell me how "rare" this jeep is. **** i can look around online 5 minutes and find several for sale in much better shape for around the same $$$. He now wants my dirt bike and 500 bucks, the total including the blue book value would be about 3200-3500. No thank you, it better be solid or at least have a title for that much. I think im gonna pass on this one, if anyone else is interested, its on Colorado springs CL, i can provide contact info...

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Thats my feelings as well. I think hes got it priced considerably higher than it should be given the rust issues in the tub. Now every email i get keeps trying to tell me how "rare" this jeep is. **** i can look around online 5 minutes and find several for sale in much better shape for around the same $$$. He now wants my dirt bike and 500 bucks, the total including the blue book value would be about 3200-3500. No thank you, it better be solid or at least have a title for that much. I think im gonna pass on this one, if anyone else is interested, its on Colorado springs CL, i can provide contact info...

Well before you pull out the gun and shoot yourself in the foot. Go on the G838 site and surf around. Yea I would be leery on what your buying for that price but please remember..........a running rewelded M151 that may need paint and some tinkering will be 3 to 5 K and the rewelds that look really good are up to 7K if done well. Now if this truly a UNCUT jeep, you can have a nice investment but talk to him. Yes they are not that rare but a true un cut are a bit rare. Ones that have not been repaired with the underbody kit for rust are a bit rarer. Now if the dirtbike is not your thing anymore and restoring a old jeep is............well work with him. He will learn soon enough when the M151 hounds come out and start lurking and really dragging him down in price. IF anything and its close to you..............Go physically look at it, you will LEARN alot if anything!!

LOL, last spring I went and looked at a TURD of a M37 off craigslist. He was asking more than what its worth so I was not going to insult him with a offer so I used the time to refresh my memory on how the wiring was ran and the linkages under the cab as I was putting mine back together

 

[98taco3]

well the kid now wants the bike and 300 bucks. beat him down by 200 bucks by doing nothing. Says he wants it gone by the end of the week. Im going to wait until the end of the week and see if he will just go for the bike. I have no problem giving the bike up for it, i traded for the dirt bike too Ill see whats going on with it. Its 2 hours from me so id have to rent a trailer to get it which is more $$$...

 

[vtdeucedriver]

well the kid now wants the bike and 300 bucks. beat him down by 200 bucks by doing nothing. Says he wants it gone by the end of the week. Im going to wait until the end of the week and see if he will just go for the bike. I have no problem giving the bike up for it, i traded for the dirt bike too Ill see whats going on with it. Its 2 hours from me so id have to rent a trailer to get it which is more $$$...

Well before you rent a trailer, take the 2 hr drive and go look underneath that thing. The locations you want to look at is at the back of the frame rails that run the lengith of the body at the fwd attach point of the rear A-arms. Then the cross member that they attach too can be rotted to nothing!!! You may see steel pieces welded over the top of those areas. The govt created a repair kit to weld over rotted areas so they could get their money's worth in the M151 as they were just THAT prone to rot in those areas.

 

[natem]

The main frame is made in two sections that join at that cross member. It is the weakest point! I have been working on a 66 151A1 for about a year

that was much worse than than the one your looking at. Would i do it again?......

 

[98taco3]

looks like the kid sold it Oh well, ill find another one! thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Hightechken]

Title and license requirements are different in all the states. Check with your local DOT to see what works in your state.
Years ago a person could just get one of those Alabama titles and you were good to go. Most states have now stopped that. I would sure check on your local state before buying anything without a title!