M1009 Little Red Riding Hood.

[cucvrus]

OK. Reporting back. I was at a loss as to why the truck would not start. Not even attempt to start. Nothing. I went to the starter relay and checked all good. I looked at the wiring which I knew was good and under the truck it was nice and clean. Nothing on the floor or any mice chewing's. I had charged the batteries all day yesterday and they were good last night. I did not load test them. But this AM I had the rear battery stone dead. Nothing. December 2016 battery sitting in the cold / hot barn. I guess that will do it. No worries. It started right up after I replaced the rear battery. I will meet my goal. It makes me Happy.

 

[cucvrus]

As promised I have it out of the barn and unpacked. I found a lot of already completed parts and things I will need for reassembly. I choose to remove the antenna brackets because they were torn off both sides and had nuts welded to the outer skins and body filler over the old holes. I ground that all out and welded metal back in there. I used a mig welder. The drivers side was the worst and on the passengers side they choose to just run long bolts thru both outer panels and attach the antennas. That body work was done 20 years ago. Enjoy the Labor Day weekend.

 

[cucvrus]

More pictures. I will be replacing the injection pump on this unit it starts right up but it is still the original one and I don't trust it. I blew it all out with my cordless blower. I will get it ready for a trip to the Line X dealer for a complete up to the rail coating. I will be removing the doors to make it easier and change the door pin bushings. I am going to take it for a ride on my hardwood bench seat. All the brackets for the bumpers and spare tire carrier have been sand blasted and powder coated. Best as it gets. I will try and preserve this decal but it is a bit loose at the edges. I will give it a good try. Enjoy your day.

 

[cucvrus]

A plain Jane M1009 with a real bench seat. I will be taking it for a ride today. Up the road and back. Breaking the law. With out a mask. WOW. I hope Nancy don't see me. Stealth mode.

 

[german m1008]

.......Good luck

 

[Sezzo]

Thank you. Every detail matters on this beauty - even an old but original decal. Rick, we know what we are talking about. Take care. Happy times.

 

[cucvrus]

This M1009 was built in 1983. It is an 84 but I think it is an early one. I see that both wing vent windows have chrome handles. I think these are original as I have seen them on a few other 1984 M1009's. Being that I have this in my barn since 1996 I think the mileage is accurate with 12,674 on the odometer. The brake pedal and steering wheel look good and still have grain. So I will stick with that. I took it for a drive not as far as I wanted but without knowing how much fuel it has in it I thought it better I not live risky. I pulled it in my work bay and I did absolutely no painting on my barn over this long 3 day weekend. Oh well I did get a lot of other things completed and under way. I must dig a trench 36 inches deep for electric and water to my barn. Moving on up. Hope to ditch the extension cord service I have been using the past 30 years. Old barn always had above ground wires running knob and tube. More later.
The bee lines on the paint are there from someone using a pressure water on it. Not me. But it looks good and drives good also. The injection pump does need to be rebuilt. It is a bit slow on acceleration. More later. Next I want to contact the Line X dealer. Be Safe.

 

[cucvrus]

I have a date with the Line X shop to get the floor areas and the cargo area sprayed in Black. I am going to have them coat up to the rail in the cargo area, to the seam at the B pillar seat belt area and up to the fire wall under the dash. I will have the doors, roof and tailgate removed so that area in the rear gate are can be thoroughly coated. They said they do the sanding and prep work. I always do my prep work and sanding first. They can do theirs if mine isn't good enough. But I doubt that it will be insufficient. The Army painted the floor with a brush and that was done hastily with nothing more then a blow out and paint. Makes the paint come off easier for me. That plastic coating on the floor up front is one of them things that I always remove before Line X. The Line X appointment is the week of Monday October 5, 2020. I told them they can have it till Monday the 12th. Game on.

 

[Sezzo]

Sounds great. Do you choose the standard, premium or platinum Line-X protection? And what about a dark grey instead of black? Take care.

 

[cucvrus]

On this weekend episode of Little Red resurrection I am going to start a complete washdown of the body panels and get an accurate assessment of what the original paint and body condition are. After seeing so many CUCV's completely repainted in every color imaginable I may consider keeping the original paint over the 75% of the M1009 and spot painting as needed. Even with no rust and minor to moderate dents it will be a nice looking survivor. I am liking the concept and so far I have cleaned the passengers door and 1/4 panel. I still have the original hood and it is in great shape with original paint. I also have to get busy cleaning the slopped on brushed paint from the floor. I also have a task removing the plastic factory film they placed over the front floors. That may have been good for a few years but 1 stone scratch in that plastic and the rust whores begin. It has a few spots worn and torn so I am just going to heat it and remove it. Same as the brushed in globs of paint and dirt that were painted over. Heat , scrape and its gone. I had planned on continuing on my barn project this weekend as I am only 1/2 way done and rain has showed up today on one of my 2 days a week I have to work undisturbed. I will make the best of the day as always and make progress somewhere. I have myself set up a CUCV picnic table in the bay that used to house Little Red for over 20 years. I found the flame works quicker and it don't take much heat to loosen and effect the plastic bond. The cordless Milwaukee would do it but I may be here at Christmas getting the same results that the flame achieves instantly. I will give it the old CUCVRUS effort and do my best to move in the right direction. I want to look thru my CUCV body parts and find a set of rust free dented original paint front fenders. I think I may have them. This truck has a 100% strong running driveline. So the body and reassembly are the only hold up. I say that lightly. I am fussy and it is hard to imagine rushing thru this project. But I do like the original patina concept. More later. Take Care and have a Great Weekend.

 

[cucvrus]

OK. That concludes todays progress. The rain has stopped and I must get up on the roof of the barn and begin painting. I used many chemicals to get the adhesive off. It seems paint stripper worked best. I also want to deal with the poor brushed on paint that was applied. I dug out the loose seam sealer. I spent about 5 hours getting just the front and side cleaned up. Imagine doing that and charging someone time and materials. They would think I was dishonest. Hard work and time consuming. But it looks great when you have basically all new steel to work with. i found a small rust hole in the pinch weld of the kick panel. That is why I dug the seam sealer out and will clean paint and reseal the joints with fresh seam sealer.Have a Great Day. I will report back next time I make CUCV progress.

 

[cucvrus]

NOTE) 1984 M1009 had the rear busbar power cables run on top of the floor inside. Note the holes were the cables ran. Also it had a bolt on transmission tunnel cover. I may remove that and paint/coat it separately. Just so it is still removable. Have not decided yet. I still have that plastic cover to remove from the drivers side. Ain't I a lucky guy? Well I have that going for me which is good.

 

[Sezzo]

These many hours of detailing and hard work make a good CUCV a great CUCV. I know a very honorable man who said: „Do it right the first time or don‘t do it. Haste makes waste.“ Think you know him, he is from Pennsylvania.

 

[cucvrus]

Let us review a few original CUCV factory painted parts. These are the real thing with minor to moderate damage but little to no rust.
Gate now the only rust. Right fender That area at the bottom has no rust thru and is minor surface rust. Left fender has moderate damage but CARC paint and scraped. No Rust. Hood is excellent condition with no rust and can be scrubbed clean. All parts together and the left fender is the odd ball. I have a parts wanted ad for the left fender. Anyone have one locally? I can spray the black and brown on to match and will be working on a green. What about another flat green? As close as possible. Lets work this out. Mechanically it is 100%. I have the interior covered just need to work out the survivor look of the body. Have a Great Day. Back to work for me.

 

[Sharecropper]

Say.......... what engine is going to be in that thang?

 

[cucvrus]

The same engine that was in it when it left GM in 1983. I have had this sitting in my barn since 1996. 13K miles on it. Actually 12,674. And I believe it to be accurate. It came from Indiantown Gap. 28th Infantry Division.

 

[cucvrus]

I am locked in the barn and working every hour of the day. The virus has me maxed out in hours on the job and the rain has me held back from completing the roof. Today I wanted to give a paint stripper a try on the floor CARC. . Massive fail. I put the stripper on the floor 3 times and went and sanded the barn roof. An hour later no luck. I have the air compressor running and am going to try the needle scaler. If that don't work I will get some aircraft stripper. Not sure why I am being so picky on the floor but I can't do a half fast job. Not in my DNA. I will get this maybe not today but soon. Yes the Monday October 5th appointment has been set back a bit. I will report back later.

 

[2INSANE]

Too bad you are not closer. I would love to have you as a neighbor.

 

[cucvrus]

Everyday since May 10th this has been my view. Now that the temperatures are not as sweltering I am able to complete a panel a day. I am on my last 10 as of today. Joy. I know I could have just sprayed paint on it. I paid $1700. to have it painted 12 years ago. I was wondering how they done it before lunch time. I now know. They never prepped the surface by sanding or scraping. They came the day before with the equipment and pressure washed the barn roof and the next day they sprayed. I found the flaked paint in the seams with new paint on top. I used a scraper, cordless Milwaukee wire wheel and 5" DA sander and spent about 2 hours to complete each panel. I could only do one panel a day because of dust and dirt from wire wheeling, scraping and sanding. I tried 2 panels at a time and it was labor intense. Moving the ladder. I decided that the sanding was going to be the method I used to remove the horrible slopped in brush CARC paint from the M1009 floor. These are going to be the winning combination. I think that with a little sanding and sealer this floor will be ready for Line X. Very light surface rust with a few pits that can be treated and sealed.
I think I will braze the holes shut where the power cable was attached. Hope to get working on this again. But I still have the roof and east wall of the barn to paint. Take Care and Be Safe.

 

[Sezzo]

I really advise you to apply rust converter before sealing, priming and painting (LineX). Sanding will not remove the rust in the little pinholes. I always use „Fertan“. A german product. Easy to apply and very effective. Not applying rust converter would lead to failure.