Carla
New member
- 4
- 0
- 0
- Location
- Mt. Hamilton CA
Hello, M37 folk,
I'm a newbie to this site (tried to register some time ago, but didn't do it correctly....think I got it right this time)
I'm Carla, have a M37, and need some help. (I think thats supposed to be one's self-introduction for a 12-step programme, could be mistaken, tho)
The story is this. In the summer of 1989, my late partner Patricia Elaine (variously 'Trish'. 'Tricia', or 'Elaine') and I bought our M37, a 'common or garden variety', with winch, and, over a few years, built it into a comms vehicle, with the S-144 shelter from a MLQ-24 set, and steel arctic top. (the 'milky24' was a radar surveillance package) We removed the original gear, and fitted comms equipment, using the original antenna towers with commercial antenna rotators. I kept the M37 'as original' with the exception of fitting a slightly newer '265' Dodge commercial 'long-block' engine, copying Canadian M37's with the 251. The comms package, shelter and equipment, was right at the max road weight, so pulling any grade was 'not easy' with the original 230.
(that, and the 230 self-destructed, which was found to be a depot rebuild error, with the assembler substituting star washers for the original captive lock washers on one of the rods. The star pattern lock-washer was soft, and 'extruded' over time, allowing the rod nuts to loosen, scarring the crank, which was already .020 down.)
If you might be interested, have a look at our old web-site www.tactical-link.com, 'Tricia's pages', and http://www.tactical-link.com/wa6ube.htm for photos of the unit when we got it done up in the mid 1990's.
Patricia was a comms engineer, and was in charge of public-safety comms for our City here, and the comms vehicle was our volunteer emergency comms responder project. We rolled this unit from 1989 until 2007 for a variety of comms training exercises and display/publicity events, such as the Pacificon ham radio conventions, and the unit was listed as a comms reserve facility with Homeland Security through the Army MARS system. (Tricia was Army MARS AAR9JA.....I have basic radio license myself, but am not a comms engineer, and filed for her old ham call WA6UBE, which I now have)
We last rolled the unit for ham radio field day in 2007, after which it went dormant, as Tricia had some serious health problems, and had to have a heart pacemaker. She passed away in March of 2010 when the pacemaker malfunctioned.
The M37 has been dormant in storage since, altho I'd started it a few times and ran it just enough to keep the engine free.
Now, I've been asked to roll the unit for ham radio field day with our local R.A.C.E.S. group, but found, when we (a couple of old friends and I) tried to get it back on line, its fuel tank had rusted internally, and had developed a multiplicity of small leaks. The local firm which does radiator and fuel tank repair said that it is not salvageable, too far gone in too many areas.
Can anyone help me with finding a serviceable fuel tank for the M37?
From what I've been able to read on the internet, M37 fuel tanks were prone to rust, and serviceable units are 'not easy' to find these days.
Is anyone making good quality replacement tanks, or is there any readily available replacement tank which can be modified to suit the M37?
I'm actually a bit time-stressed, having promised to do my best to be able to roll the comms unit for ham radio field day, which will be the last week-end in June, so I've only a month's time, if I'm to get the unit on line for this year's event.
cheers
de Carla WA6UBE
I'm a newbie to this site (tried to register some time ago, but didn't do it correctly....think I got it right this time)
I'm Carla, have a M37, and need some help. (I think thats supposed to be one's self-introduction for a 12-step programme, could be mistaken, tho)
The story is this. In the summer of 1989, my late partner Patricia Elaine (variously 'Trish'. 'Tricia', or 'Elaine') and I bought our M37, a 'common or garden variety', with winch, and, over a few years, built it into a comms vehicle, with the S-144 shelter from a MLQ-24 set, and steel arctic top. (the 'milky24' was a radar surveillance package) We removed the original gear, and fitted comms equipment, using the original antenna towers with commercial antenna rotators. I kept the M37 'as original' with the exception of fitting a slightly newer '265' Dodge commercial 'long-block' engine, copying Canadian M37's with the 251. The comms package, shelter and equipment, was right at the max road weight, so pulling any grade was 'not easy' with the original 230.
(that, and the 230 self-destructed, which was found to be a depot rebuild error, with the assembler substituting star washers for the original captive lock washers on one of the rods. The star pattern lock-washer was soft, and 'extruded' over time, allowing the rod nuts to loosen, scarring the crank, which was already .020 down.)
If you might be interested, have a look at our old web-site www.tactical-link.com, 'Tricia's pages', and http://www.tactical-link.com/wa6ube.htm for photos of the unit when we got it done up in the mid 1990's.
Patricia was a comms engineer, and was in charge of public-safety comms for our City here, and the comms vehicle was our volunteer emergency comms responder project. We rolled this unit from 1989 until 2007 for a variety of comms training exercises and display/publicity events, such as the Pacificon ham radio conventions, and the unit was listed as a comms reserve facility with Homeland Security through the Army MARS system. (Tricia was Army MARS AAR9JA.....I have basic radio license myself, but am not a comms engineer, and filed for her old ham call WA6UBE, which I now have)
We last rolled the unit for ham radio field day in 2007, after which it went dormant, as Tricia had some serious health problems, and had to have a heart pacemaker. She passed away in March of 2010 when the pacemaker malfunctioned.
The M37 has been dormant in storage since, altho I'd started it a few times and ran it just enough to keep the engine free.
Now, I've been asked to roll the unit for ham radio field day with our local R.A.C.E.S. group, but found, when we (a couple of old friends and I) tried to get it back on line, its fuel tank had rusted internally, and had developed a multiplicity of small leaks. The local firm which does radiator and fuel tank repair said that it is not salvageable, too far gone in too many areas.
Can anyone help me with finding a serviceable fuel tank for the M37?
From what I've been able to read on the internet, M37 fuel tanks were prone to rust, and serviceable units are 'not easy' to find these days.
Is anyone making good quality replacement tanks, or is there any readily available replacement tank which can be modified to suit the M37?
I'm actually a bit time-stressed, having promised to do my best to be able to roll the comms unit for ham radio field day, which will be the last week-end in June, so I've only a month's time, if I'm to get the unit on line for this year's event.
cheers
de Carla WA6UBE
Last edited:
