It has been about 1 year since my father and I caught the green fever and started this new hobby of owning military vehicles. After one year we have learned so much about not just our military truck, but other people's projects and other vehicles. I am still amazed at the wealth of knowledge this forum as to offer and it continues to grow everyday. I felt that after this one year, I wanted to inform all of you what I have completed on the truck. The truck was purchased from Kublos Surplus at the end of May last year and brought it home June 16th. The truck, according to Ken Sr., ran like a bastard. Everything was checked out before leaving their depot. My father also decided to make the second purchase with buying a M105A1. He felt that the trailer completes the package and wanted one to haul supplies for gun classes he teaches,as well as other things. We left and got the truck home and almost immediately started working on it. The truck was in good working order, but the paint work was the biggest obstacle by far. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have spent so much time in taking care of the paint work. We started by grinding the bed down. We got rid off all the surface rust and primed it. I then decided to use the grind wheels, countless numbers of them along with sand, and take the entire bed on the outside down to bare metal. I then primed and repainted the bed. We chose to use the 383 Green from Rapcoparts. It was very easy to apply and looks fantastic on the truck. We chose this color over others because we wanted it to match the vinyl 3 color camo pattern. Using a different green wouldn't match and we wanted it to all be the same so it looked like it belonged. We then chose semi gloss black for the wheels and gril and bumper because we wanted to have a little shine when its clean and sunny out but when there is cloud cover, it looks like a dark flat black from a distance. We then added the flat black star on the door for contrast. The White to me just doesn't fit well with those color combinations and the Black looks more sleek. After the paint We then focused on the cab portion which was in great shape minus a couple of pin holes, but nothing we couldn't fix. We got that all sanded down and repainted. During all this grinding, sanding, priming and painting, we installed Spin on filters all around the truck from Jatonka. His products for those that haven't looked into spin on adapters are a must.
We installed those and added a new exhaust since the J-pipe was rusted out. We changed the oil and antifreeze as well as adding a frost plug in the water pump. We installed a coolant heater for the cab that we also purchased from Kublos. We installed a breaker box and run all lights and accessories throught it and have a kill switch so it doesn't effect the batteries on the truck. We installed LEDs all around the truck. The brakelights, headlights and turn signals make the truck look so much younger and is so much brighter than stock. We installed a LED backup light and LED rear amber fog light for fog or heavy rain and snow for extra safety. We installed a VIC-1 system in the truck so we could communicate with each other in the cab. Having the whistler turbo makes it hard to have a conversation sometimes. We installed a solargizer on an antenna mount above the cab. We placed it at a slight angle and mounted plexi-glass over it to protect it from weather and debris. In fact it's very hard to spot unless you are looking for it. We didn't want to mount it on the fender or the hood. This keeps it out of plain sight but also up in the air for the sun to hit it from multiple angles. So far it has worked great and gets people asking questions.
We ended up needing to install a new lift pump. The other one gave out on us and replaced it fairly easy. A couple months ago we replaced the Magnetic relay which ended up failing and replaced it with a new one. I bought a snorkel and added it to the truck to give it a more aggressive look. After getting the truck in good shape, I spent last fall striping the trailer down to have it repainted, like the truck. The trailer was in much worse shape. I spent countless hours taking the surface rust off and priming and repainting. I repainted the wheels semi gloss black and the trailer 383 green to match the truck. I rubber coated the inside fenders to keep from mud and water and dirt from causing more rust issues crop up underneath. Before memorial day, I sanded down all the supports and bows for the trailer as well as had the trailer canvas resown because the front and rear cover were torn apart. They weren't in the best of shape when we bought the canvas and the weather did it's toll on the stiching. After finishing the trailer last week, we washed both down and added some touch-up paint to the areas I missed before. I just changed all the differential, transmission, and transfercase fluids so the truck was looking good and ready for it's first debut. I shined the tires and had it ready for it's first of many parades. I have probably forgotten all that we have done to the truck, but I have to say that it looks very sharp. The truck isn't perfect and I don't expect it to be, but for the first project truck, it looks **** good. There are some small holes in the bed that need to be fixed, but overall, it's in fantastic shape. After a long life of service the truck deserves to have a nice retirement. At the end of the post are photos that show what the truck looked like the day we drove it home and what it looked like in the Memorial Day parade. The Memorial Day parade is one of the most important Holidays we can celebrate in our country and I wanted the truck to be at it's best. We had countless photos taken of the truck, being the only military truck in the parade. We had vets come up and thank us for being there and told my father and I it was the nicest looking truck they have seen in 30 years. To some it brought back memories and others nightmares, but one thing is for certain, everyone smiled and enjoyed that a piece of living history was in the parade.
We installed those and added a new exhaust since the J-pipe was rusted out. We changed the oil and antifreeze as well as adding a frost plug in the water pump. We installed a coolant heater for the cab that we also purchased from Kublos. We installed a breaker box and run all lights and accessories throught it and have a kill switch so it doesn't effect the batteries on the truck. We installed LEDs all around the truck. The brakelights, headlights and turn signals make the truck look so much younger and is so much brighter than stock. We installed a LED backup light and LED rear amber fog light for fog or heavy rain and snow for extra safety. We installed a VIC-1 system in the truck so we could communicate with each other in the cab. Having the whistler turbo makes it hard to have a conversation sometimes. We installed a solargizer on an antenna mount above the cab. We placed it at a slight angle and mounted plexi-glass over it to protect it from weather and debris. In fact it's very hard to spot unless you are looking for it. We didn't want to mount it on the fender or the hood. This keeps it out of plain sight but also up in the air for the sun to hit it from multiple angles. So far it has worked great and gets people asking questions.
We ended up needing to install a new lift pump. The other one gave out on us and replaced it fairly easy. A couple months ago we replaced the Magnetic relay which ended up failing and replaced it with a new one. I bought a snorkel and added it to the truck to give it a more aggressive look. After getting the truck in good shape, I spent last fall striping the trailer down to have it repainted, like the truck. The trailer was in much worse shape. I spent countless hours taking the surface rust off and priming and repainting. I repainted the wheels semi gloss black and the trailer 383 green to match the truck. I rubber coated the inside fenders to keep from mud and water and dirt from causing more rust issues crop up underneath. Before memorial day, I sanded down all the supports and bows for the trailer as well as had the trailer canvas resown because the front and rear cover were torn apart. They weren't in the best of shape when we bought the canvas and the weather did it's toll on the stiching. After finishing the trailer last week, we washed both down and added some touch-up paint to the areas I missed before. I just changed all the differential, transmission, and transfercase fluids so the truck was looking good and ready for it's first debut. I shined the tires and had it ready for it's first of many parades. I have probably forgotten all that we have done to the truck, but I have to say that it looks very sharp. The truck isn't perfect and I don't expect it to be, but for the first project truck, it looks **** good. There are some small holes in the bed that need to be fixed, but overall, it's in fantastic shape. After a long life of service the truck deserves to have a nice retirement. At the end of the post are photos that show what the truck looked like the day we drove it home and what it looked like in the Memorial Day parade. The Memorial Day parade is one of the most important Holidays we can celebrate in our country and I wanted the truck to be at it's best. We had countless photos taken of the truck, being the only military truck in the parade. We had vets come up and thank us for being there and told my father and I it was the nicest looking truck they have seen in 30 years. To some it brought back memories and others nightmares, but one thing is for certain, everyone smiled and enjoyed that a piece of living history was in the parade.
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