Deuce noob......have some questions

[DT466Man]

since i first saw a duece, they have instantly been my favorite vehicle ever made.

i am 19 and i am in college. next summer i am planning on saving up to get an M35.

diesels are not new to me....i work on them all the time on the farm and at work.

how much do i need to get a decent driveable duece?

i don't care about the paint, as i will probally redo it. if needed i can do/ rebuild motors...
trans.. rearends and i can do body and electrical work. i want it to have some fun, take it to school couple times a month....mostly parade around town with my buddies and it will probally do some light hauling.

what will these things run price wise?

found this site, and now i am going crazy because i can't get one. old oddball trucks are a passion of mine.

 

[rosco]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

Hi
Welcomt to the site! I'm sort of out of the "GL" field, because of where I'm at. The used all the ones here for targets. But I bought one fot $5500 from a private party. Low miles/hours, and everything works. It's grab bag at GL, but I think from one to two thousand. Perhaps some others will narrow the price down some. That's truely grab bag though.

The important thing though, is to stay in school & forget about hauling your buddies around - you'll need the room for Girls.

Lee in Alaska

 

[DT466Man]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

yes sir......i am pre-vet....no intentions on dropping out. huh i see alog on GL...but all of them say, will not start. i figure they maybe too lazy to jump them off or something. but all of those trucks cannot be bad. is the govt that lazy?

would it be better to buy from a private sale?

haha, chicks around here dig pickups.....so i guess this will be a pickup with troop seats.

 

[oifvet]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

DT466Man,

Can you check the locator map and spot a SS member near you? Maybe you can contact them and you will get around a deuce and a deuce owner. See what you think. You'll learn PLENTY about trucks, diesel engines, mechanics, etc., here at SS. The combination will be an education in and of itself. (I'm betting it'll be almost as good as college!)

Keep in mind, you'll need tools, time, patience, and money to own a deuce. Do you have the facilities to keep one? (Sorry, don't mean to sound like a parent talking to a youngster about their first puppy). But, I'm sure you know what I'm getting at.

MV ownership is an awesome hobby. You have to be careful. Like my dad always tried to tell me... "Don't let your enthusiasm overcome your better judgement!"

Steel Soldiers is here to help, no matter what you decide. Keep reading the threads. The information is almost endless.

 

[rosco]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

If you hang around on this site, you'll see some of the Posts of Guy's going to pick up vehicles. You'll see the stories. They range from the perfect to having big chunks missing. If you were to bid, its best to preview it, or have somebody preview it for you. There can still be surprises. It depends too, on the Site Location & how the Base Staff treat you - Ie. let you get it going, etc. It can be "challenging", to say the least!

Lee in Alaska

 

[DT466Man]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

hmmm diesel mechanics....i know more about them then the average shadetree...pulling tractors, diesel pickups, building diesel motors and swapping them into gas powered truck....i have done it. i may be young but i can take about anything a truck can throw at me and turn it in to something smooth running. its just something i have always been good at. i cannot explain it really, its just part of who i am. i think ya'll know what i mean. haha

tools you name it i have it or have access to it. from lifts to plasma cutters. i have room at the house, but the homeowners association would call the fuzz on me....again. i got introuble for riding my lawnmower down the road....well it can do 70mph...but thats not the point. i probally could keep it in one of the barns out on my friends farm.

i may be here a while without an MV....because i have to pay for school and i am doing it without taking out loans, so a good part of what i make and save goes towards that. but i am hoping by the beginning of the fall i will have put enough aside for a nice one. as long as ya'll don't mind a non MV person here.....i'll do my best to contribute.

oh did i mention, that when i am out of school i work for my buddies dad as a heavy truck mechanic.......that might help a bit.

i would like to get up close to an M35 to get familiar with one, but there isn't any around here that i know of besides the military base....ft campbell.

 

[oifvet]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

Ahh, what a good thread will reveal about an MV lover!

Sounds like you're good-to-go in this hobby. Sorry, I missed the "not" in the, "diesels are not new to me," statement that you posted above.

Sounds like the making of another ------------->

It's truck-time!!

 

[Capt.Marion]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

Welcome to SS! My advice (as a non-deuce owner, but I know a couple and have read about others' experiences here) is to get a privately owned deuce. Preferably from someone you know. From Government Liquidation, you can get a deuce from $1500-$2500, running, and drive it out of there. (or quite the opposite) For around $4000, you can get a privately owned deuce, go and talk to who's selling it, get to know them, drive the deuce, inspect it, and get to know about it, instead of going just from pictures. Plus you avoid the usual GL EUC and related paperwork, which I have *heard* can be a problem, or go perfectly smooth.

Just my $.02

EDIT: As for hanging around here as a non-MV owner, I spent my first year here without one, and now that i have one I make more posts in OTHER MV's sections that in the M37 section. The nice thing is that by the time you actually get to drive on of them, you will know everything you ever wanted to know about them (and more) except for how to drive them.

 

[DT466Man]

RE: duece noob......have some questions

haha thats fine. my cousin had an old round fendered power wagon when i was little...man that thing is what got me started liking these things......that and i did 4 years of Rotc in hs and 1 year in college....and i was going to go into the military. but i like being home and i am kind of a rebel. sometimes that helps me and sometimes it hurts me. and in the military it would hurt me. some people call it stubborn....i got it bad.

there are two other SS members around me, one isn't active, and the other deals with the old mutts, he may know where a duece is. idk

Say i got one from GL do they make you haul it out of the yard? or can you drive it out......that would be a concern with an unknown truck....if it would make it home or not.

agreed about private sales.

how hard are they to find?? the trucks that is?

 

[m16ty]

Hey, I'm in Dickson,TN. Been to Adams many times. Used to go to the big Threshers Convention there when I was into old tractors. Let me know if you need some help with a deuce. I have one myself and may know where there are some for sale.

 

[Capt.Marion]

If they run, you're fine to drive them out of there and drive them home. If they don't run, you'll have to tow it out of there somehow.

 

[ptg530C]

4000 or so. Call Ken Kublo at Kublos surplus in Penn. Drive one home from Kublos.

 

[m16ty]

You're welcome to come buy and look at mine and drive it. It's a m35a2c.

 

[DT466Man]

i may just have to take you up on that m16.

just shoot me a weekend when it would work for you.

i appreciate it.

 

[bugei]

i invite any dueceless heavy truck mechanics in the reno area to come by and "work on" my duece whenever they have an itchy wrench. i am sure i can find something that needs doing.

welcome to the site, these trucks are fun to play with and fun to work on. plus the tm's make it pretty easy to "dive into that big project", because at least you will have a clue what it will look like inside.