G749 preservation

[m1010plowboy]

M135 Preservinspiration

Stan,

Wow, thank you so much. Visiting and visually stripping another M135 is very inspirational. The legion, maps, directions, campsite, tour, babysitting when I couldn't find the legion and breakfast was over the top. Just a great visit.

I headed up the Sea to Sky highway and after jumping on highway 97 between Clinton and Cache Creek, I was thankful.....extremely thankful I was not in any type of MV. The road past Lillooet is straight up for what seemed an hour and straight only refers to up. The longest straight stretch of road had to be less then a quarter mile....crazy drive.

Even North of Clinton the highway is a 60mph to 10mph to 40mph to 10mph race track. Watkins Glen is the only thing I can compare it to.

When I headed North of Prince George.......we stopped. It seems the river(s) along highway 97 washed out several sections and my white Chevy drove through hours of rain, road-crush and Mud. There's a nice photo of a 3 ton I followed behind pilot vehicles for 2 1/2 hrs.

The good thing is, unless we have floods that repeat the process next year, anyone coming from Vancouver up #1 to #97 North for the ALCAN tour......will have some nice sections of paved road.

The bad news is.....the trip to Dawson is not easy. Few gas stations, some areas where there are no shoulders or any place to pull over, limited passing lanes...wa wa wa. Bring the "A" game.

The scenery is almost as beautiful as a hot day in Penticton.

Back to my project:

We 'tentatively' pick up a parts truck early next week. The master cylinder...new from Asbury...is installed and we're playing with diff./ drive shaft seals. One was machined so the standard seals don't fit and there's only money keeping my girl from dripplin' when she sit.

I'm hoping the parts truck has some solid front end/ steering parts because that is next. Rollie the Goalie mechanic figures we have a battle still coming. Seems like things are pretty loose up front and getting it tight/ inspectable/ and safe is gonna take some luck.

Brother, thanks again for the time you spent when I was there.

I've included a couple mystery photos with some logging toys and a bike I saw in the garage of another amazing MV preservationist.

Photos of the hopeful parts truck recovery next.

 

[m1010plowboy]

mo picks

A few more shots of the road to Dawson, things you may follow.....and the only truck that I would ever do that run with.

 

[Stan Leschert]

I was glad to play tour guide. Come on back soon.

As for your fluid escapement problems, I told you earlier,
these trucks don't leak, They Mark Their Territory!

When it stops leaking, you got problems...
You are bone dry! Refill . Again!

 

[nattieleather]

Those tracks look like M4E3 Shermin tracks. If that's the parts truck yours must look even better. Great views up there too!

 

[m1010plowboy]

Box for M135 doesn't come easy

NattieL, I Had no idea what they were only that I want one. M4E3's would be great for pruning around the yard and hanging up Christmas lights. Did you want one?

After 10hrs and 2 trips to the dump through backroads, loosing a tire off the homemade trailer and half the day in the rain, I finally brought a box home.

A friend of a friend "thought" he saw a M--- sitting in a farmers field near Canada's Ukranian capital of Vegreville, 40 miles from home. After visiting the empty farm house and leaving a photo of my naked, boxless M135 and my number, a few days later I get a call from Al.

Back in Al's field sat 2 M series boxes on "homemade trailers" full of trash. One box was in great shape, the other one was banged up. He said he'd sell me the banged up one for $300.00 if I hauled it to the dump for him.
Fortunately for him, he knew I wanted the box bad enough that I would make a day hauling his farm trash to the not so local dump. Unfortunately, It rained and he had lots of smelly, moldy, heavy, stinkin' trash. Ten hours after we started we finally got back to his farm and drove up to the banged up $300.00 box.

Al happens be the happy, positive, hilarious Ukranian joke telling magician, welder, glass blower, musician, blacksmithin', ranching type. We ended up having a blast looking for lost tires in the bush, wading through mud at the dump and hauling the largest most ridiculous loads through the 'back country'.

Sitting beside the beat up box, Al says, "You're going to need the good box, and you have to take the extra stake rails and front end parts.....as I find them".

So after planning all the cutting and grinding I'd have to do fix the bent steel on the beat up box, my days effort netted me a sweet, solid, fairly straight box.....with a floor.

We drop the box off at the blasters tomorrow and sometime soon, real soon...real, real soon, we'll get it primed, painted, bolt it on and go for ice cream.

 

[hendersond]

Congrats on the box and parts.

Great story!

 

[Superdave]

Right on

 

[m1010plowboy]

Parts hunt

Dave, once again great advice. Had I bought the first parts truck I saw I would have spent a few grand instead of just a few days of labour and therapy costs for recovery.
Being patient is not good for my heart but great for the pocket book, I owe ya.

Went back out to Al's place and ended up at a flea market talking to a bunch of local farmers who know where a couple M series trucks are hiding.
One never knows who you're going to meet when you network a little.

I am pulling most of the remaining list out of Hank's farm but the boys still value the stuff pretty highly. Here's a few photos of the farm after chopping down some of the 6' thistle.

 

[Superdave]

Patience can produce great results, especially if a person is working with a tight budget. looks like he has grown a few M series over the years, good score. Yes once you get the word out that you are into military vehicles its amazing what is out there. PS if you find any carriers out in your travels I am still looking for parts for mine.


Dave

 

[m1010plowboy]

Parts hunt

Went to pull some parts today, toured deeper into the bush and found that time has hammered 8 of these trucks nearly to death.

There's doors, fenders, frames, a trani, box rails, one engine block, bows, boxes, diff's, a few marginal steering wheels all under 30 years of snow and sun.

No great tailgates or fuel tanks.

We pounded for a while trying to remove the last of four seized pins from part of the front suspension but some things are just harder then they should be. We'll take the drive again once the wd40 kicks in and bring along bigger hammers.

I did scoop a valve cover, steering linkage, the front seal cover-plate off a diff, lights and the remaining steel off the rotting bows......so cool.

Nice to have the parts trucks.

 

[m1010plowboy]

m 135 grave.

The local security hung in the corner while I wrenched but they had no stinging comments.



How do you know an M135 is still worth saving.




There's still a woody in the fire . . . . . . . wall.

 

[Stan Leschert]

Do any of the donor trucks have a PTO and winch control lever? PM me if so. Thanks, Stan.

 

[m1010plowboy]

M-135 diff carrier seal

Had a little delay and failure finding a local source for seals and sleeves on two of the diffs.
National carries a seal part #450104 but it would require machining the flange to 2 7/16".

I have NOS parts coming and solved this with help from Brian Asbury this time, but there must be other solutions.

Seal from the Levy book part #74-13229
Sleeve #74-11220

How do you stop your 50 year old rear end from drippin'?

We have a break comin' Stan so I'll keep you posted on parts.

 

[135gmc]

The 135 looks great! A good OD paint job always helps, but you also paid attention to the details. It always amazes me how much paint a 2 1/2 ton truck can need, but it usually seems that you need just as much to do the odds and ends as to paint the rest of the truck.

The hard top was also a good choice. If you have a canvas top, it never is 100% waterproof. Since there aren't many GMC canvas tops around that haven't shrunk a few sizes, you would have to go to someone like Beechwood for new canvas, and that runs into money real fast.

You mentioned that you ran 10W in the trans, and later mentioned that shifts were jerky. I had the same problem when my 135 was done - a friend of mine recommended 10/30 hydraulic oil instead of 10W (winter) and 30 W (summer). I tried 10/30 hydraulic oil, and it shifted much better.

As Forest Gump might say - "You dun gud!"

 

[m1010plowboy]

Pinion seals and sleeve

Got the 135gmc tip on the trani fluid and ran 10W weight in it for the first change. Once we're 'road' ready we'll run it, follow TM shift adjustment and might just try some different lube.

We also heard "whale oil" was used in the trani's and all I can say is 'whale oil' 'beef hooked', I'll try anything.

2-Seals and 2-sleeves showed up in the original packaging from the 60's and looking brand new. Total cost $132.00

The seal is stamped #2279461 and the bag 2520-741-3229 A-10/69. It would still be nice to find a modern equivalent.

Targeted Remembrance day for an 'insurable, road ready' date. Just need to mount and wire all the lights, steering, front diff seals/ brakes, paint and mount box and we'll be done....soon, real soon.

 

[135gmc]

Whale oil??? Lots a luck on that idea. Canada ran the GMCs longer than the USA did, so there are parts floating around in Canada that you won't find in the USA. I replaced all my wheel cylinders with NOS Canadian - they were 1 3/8 instead of 1 1/4", so stopping was a lot better.

Asbury is a good source - Not a cheap source, though. But what he has is the right stuff, and after you try to match something up locally, and get to redo it a few times, his prices get better and better.....

 

[m1010plowboy]

Lights and another wrong purchase

I took the PTO bearing to a bearing supply company and got the nod that they could get me the bearing and it would be right. They measure, smile and shake their head up and down that it's going to be correct.

Wrong again.........

I guess building a 50+ year old truck is like baseball. Sometimes its a swing and a miss and sometimes I hit it out of the park.....

As we did with the front turn lights....Clear lenses with a colored LED inside looks inconspicuous and sassy...don't ya think!

The rear bumper was part of the truck when I bought it and will be a safety feature protecting the paint on the diff' in the event of a rear ender. The holes were cut already at 4x6 and we'll fab a plate to fit the LED's in.

The spider web of wires will get cleaned up when we mount the new signal switch assembly which means another visit to SuperDaves to see how to do it better....right Dave....

One day closer

 

[m1010plowboy]

Box bottom considerations

The box is back in the paddock and I'm going to poke through SS to see if anyone has done anything special to keep the bottom healthy for a long time.

2 part ENDURA Primer / Sealer is sitting on the shelf but does anyone have any suggestions on keeping the metal sealed and protected from 50 more years of road rash.

Wondering if Herculiner or a similar 'rock gaurd' product might be a wise application prior to the OD going on?

Also need to consider the box floor so we're not slippin and slidin on the poly paint.

We had the side rails blasted as well and Franks obviously spent a lot of time on the detail.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Salvage yard success

Loaded up torches, generator, grinders, hammers, tools, fire extinguishers and spent four more hours wrenching in the bush.

Found most of the remaining pieces I need to nearly complete my truck

including

- Spare tire carrier
- Box sides
- Cross stabilizer front end
- Fuel tank....no pump or cap but in ok shape
- Pintle hitch . . . . Torch, heat and an 8' snipe

- - 4 Bows for Stan

We covered most of the piles and did not find a PTO or the correct lever. We'll keep diggin'.
Pics of trees growing through the frame of a 52', piles of diff's, Trani's, jeep parts, dana's, heater? power unit?, willys flathead, and so much more rotting gold

 

[Superdave]

Looking good, A little primer and paint and wala a complete truck