Meet Mr Rusty

[cucvrus]

Last week I had a long time customer contact me about his 1985 M1028. It was running poorly and had an arms length list of issues. Well let me tell you it has some issues. It is very rusty to say the least. Nothing that can't be fixed but this is one of the worst ones I ever saw. He dropped it off and my Son and I tore into it today to make an estimate and get a parts list together for the repairs. I have most of the parts justr a few odds and ends common parts that I can pickup at a parts store are not in stock.

 

[cucvrus]

I guess the outside don't look that bad, Just a new bed cab corners and rocker panels. Think again.This work was all done in about 4 hours by my son and I. We used all hand tools and a cutting torch. The small pile of bolts with the wrenches pictured are the only fasteners that we could salvage. The front eye bolts on the leaf spring came out with the ratchet. The rear cross member is toast. I think the rest of the frame I can salvage and repair with some heavy blasting and a few new brackets. This is not for show. This is a plow truck and spends it's life in the woods plowing a long mountain drive way then sits in the wet all the time.

 

[cucvrus]

Well after cleaning up all the tools and putting everything away we left Mr. Rusty rest and await it's fate. The owner will be coming by tomorrow. I hope he wants to fix it. I know he can not buy another plow truck for what it will cost to do these repairs. This reminds me of am M1028 I bought at DRMO 20 years ago it had the rear axle missing and no batteries. It had the rear axle in it when I bid on it but when I went to pick it up it did not. I put it on the trailer by putting batteries in it and putting in 4 LO and driving it onto the trailer. The employee at DRMO would not help me load it and thought it was funny HA HA that I was there and had no way to load it. I erased his smile and only damaged the spare tire carrier and 1 of the tailpipes. I think he knew what happened to the rear axle. He was to cocky and just sat in the shed the whole time I was there to pick it up. Heck the u-bolts that were cut were not even rusty. I have 35 mm pictures of the old days. Thank you for looking and have a nice day.

 

[m109a2]

No weekend project there.Al

 

[maddawg308]

That ship needs some zinc anodes on it BAD!

 

[Recovry4x4]

You know, I complain every single day about the weather here in FL. I have forgotten what flake rust was like until looking at these pics. Maybe FL isn't so bad....if you're a truck!

 

[dmetalmiki]

Crikey..can't believe that is worth bringing back to order. No task too..... ? your motto.

 

[R Racing]

And here I thought it was a picture of rustystud LOL. Glad it wasn't lmbo !!

 

[cucvrus]

Amazingly the frame from the cab front is descent. The customer told me it had a banging sound coming from the back when he hit bumps. I wonder why? I will await it's fate.

 

[cucvrus]

Crikey..can't believe that is worth bringing back to order. No task too..... ? your motto.

The man has a $5K Fisher V plow on this truck and it is worth it's repairs on the truck. No other truck can take the plowing abuse that the old Chevy K30's do. I have not seen any that I know of. I have been plowing with these trucks for the last 20 years.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Did he have a salt spreader in the back?

 

[EwaMarine]

Wouldn't it be coo to have a big pool you simply submerge her in and then do electrolysis treatment for a month...come back drain, dry, and then treat/prime paint?...lol

 

[maddawg308]

I think a pool filled with EvapoRust would cost more than the CUCV did. And after 24 hours of soaking, you'd have a cab and some misc. pieces of sheet metal floating in the pool.

 

[EwaMarine]

Lmao!!

 

[rsh4364]

I hate to admit this but my #1 1009 is rustier,I drove it 40k miles in 3 years,and hope to get her up and going again.

 

[NDT]

Wow. Trucks like that get parted out by me without even giving it a second thought.

 

[rsh4364]

I have to post again,dont want to deal with the unlucky # on my last post.My newer 1009 is much more solid.And is going to get much nicer due to my education gained from ownership of #1 1009.I feel better having 667 posts,better than 666. Sorry Im already having enough bad luck!

 

[rustystud]

And here I thought it was a picture of rustystud LOL. Glad it wasn't lmbo !!

Hey ! I might be decrepit but I'm in better shape then that truck !!!
If it was mine I would just put a bullet in it and put it out of it's misery !!!

 

[cucvrus]

I see what they are paying for CUCV's at the surplus sales. This is still worth the cost to repair. It is not worth much torn apart at this point only its value in parts. I hope to be doing the repairs to this truck. I will blast it and weld the frame if needed. All the mounts and brackets can come off and get cleaned and coated or replaced. I have all the brackets and cross members. I even seen a member that had a M1031 frame and cab for sale. I don't think it needs a complete frame for what it is being used for. It is not a show piece or a hobby truck. It is just that a snow plow truck. It runs perfect and everything works on it. It does have the main fuel feed line that rusty it sweats diesel. But these are all replaceable items and all fixed up will only be the fraction of the cost another plow truck. I think it will last 10 more years if it is cleaned up and gone over properly and a good rust inhibitor applied to it. Once everything is bolted together and a more solid bed is in place it will give it some more structural strength. I will replace all the frame cross-members and the leaf springs. Not good as new but good enough to pass inspection and still plow a lot of snow. I think it should have been taken a bit better care of after the plowing was completed. Thank you fore looking I will post any progress.

 

[turnkey]

Is this going to be used as a underwater reef for fish ????