M151A1 Price Question

[rumplecat]

A local guy has a 151 that has been sitting in his garage for four plus years? He wanted to restore it but no time. He now wants to sell it for $1,500. I am a M37/M715 guy but I like the Mutts! The tub is in fair shape, front passenger side fender is crumpled, he has a cutout to replace it, their is a pretty bad rusted out spot at the corner of the drivers foot well. The engine will turnover, and he has two additional engines(one complete power pack radiator through transmission), extra parts like gas tanks and spare wheels/tores. The one big problem appears to be the frame, I took a couple of shots under the truck with the digital camera the frame is rusted pretty bad, how tough is this to overcome, is it expected in a '65 vehicle or should I pass? Photos link below.
Any insights are appreciated.
James G.


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jtmmjaymeg@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=/7e70scd

 

[Recovry4x4]

Rust is the enemy of the mutt. If you feel comfortable doing the rust, by al means its a good deal. If you have to pay someone, get a second mortgage. Lots of work to fix that and for the most part, it comes back. MY opinion!

 

[rumplecat]

Frames?

A dumb question is there a frame that can be replaced or is the frame part of the tub??
James G.

 

[rdixiemiller]

The MUTT has a unibody.

 

[poppop]

I have a 65 M151A1 and it was in the same condition as yours. There is no frame but you can buy a rebuild kit with all the major pieces. It fits over the rusted out rails and is welded in place. Most of these have severe rust problems. I did not know about the repair kits when I got mine. I suspended mine from my two ton overhead hoist and spent two days welding One quarter by two inch flat bar over the rusted out places. I have been driving it for five years on the farm and had no problems. They are great little vehicles, just remember to not make real fast turns because they will roll over.

 

[rumplecat]

Lloyd:
This is a '65 as well, is $1500 a reasonable price for the jeep? All three engines will turn over, the tires are new and everything but the canvas appears to be there. I have a brand new Miller Mig welder just looking for a project. How expensive are the kits you mentioned? It looks like the spring shackle has all but pulled completely away from the body, this seems like the worst of the damage on the underside.
James G.

 

[poppop]

James
With all the spare parts I think the price is good. I paid 400 for mine but the trans was apart and the fuel tank was missing, no seat cushions and all the tires were rotted. Sometimes you see the repair kits on e-bay but I think dealers would have them. They make a small kit and a major kit. the big kit would replace most of the underneath I think. I fixed my floors by appling fiberglass. You can get a lot of parts on e-bay. Go to e-bay motors and search military.
Someone local had an A2 in orginal condition, never repainted or fixed but ran and drove good. It had some rust problems underneath and he was asking $4000.00. Mine has held up good and I just applied flat bar to the to the rotted out places and attached it to good metal. You can't see it unless you crawl under it.

 

[gnu2this]

Hello fellas, I have recently purchased a 1961 M151 M.U.T.T. and I ahve the same rust problems on the frame as rumplecat mentioned. I have contacted 3 different dealers and no one seems like they have heard of the kits mentioned in the previous posts. Does anyone know of a dealer that stocks them?

 

[poppop]

Check out MUTT Motor Pool on Yahoo. Those guys can answer all your questions.

 

[poppop]

repair parts

There are some underbody repair parts on e-bay now. I don't think is a complete set but the bid is $7.95 and closes today. Go to e-bay motors, search military, anf you should find it. Seller is kcgonza.

 

[bazookajoe]

As always, you get what you pay for.I purchased 3 mutts in my career and paid 6 grand for each unrestored.Restoration was a snap.None of my mutts were cut or rusty.When it comes time to sell them ,the only thing I will have to apologize for is the price. I have done extensive rust repair on other jeeps,it's time and money.Can you weld? Do you want a perfect mutt and how much do you want to spend? I sold a very rusty,cut mutt to a friend who then had it PROPERLY repaired for $2500. It's your call.

 

[m38inmaine]

Underbody Corrosion repair Kit they made a large and small kit, you want the large, flmv.net had them in stock last I checked. Have done 4 myself.

 

[ida34]

This thread is 2 years old.

 

[poppop]

This thread is two years old. But we have a brand new member who is reading all the posts as has been instructed by the old hands for the last couple months. Maybe he did not notice the dates in his inthusasion for what he has found. He is contributing his knowledge to what for him is a new place. I thank him for that. And if you notice he did not start a new thread, he just responded to an old one. I think we are spending way to much time critizing new members for their lack of knowledge on the workings off this site and not enought time making them feel welcome. SS is growing by leaps and bounds, and I think that is great, so lets don't run thses people off by insulting them in their first posts. When I first found this site it was much smaller and most of the questions had not been answered before. I still did not know what I was doing but the site was new enough that I did not get flamed for my lack of Knowledge. I think we should afford these newcomers that same courtsey.