- 19
- 85
- 13
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
I have been on this forum for quite sometime now looking at various helpful build/restoration threads and figured I should start a thread considering I have had this truck in my possession for a little bit and work is being done slowly.
How I came to acquire such a great vehicle is actually thanks to my grandfather who had purchased it in ST.paul, AB, Canada, in 2006. He had drove it 550 kms north and 140 kms offroad on sand to his trapline property in the great northern alberta forest. His plan for the truck was to use it for hauling Fuel/Water/etc. on the sand road which is not very suitable for vehicles. All had went well but quickly found out it is not ideal for the road anyways as it couldn't keep the speed going up the sand hills. So he ended up using it to haul wood around instead which of course a 12ft box can carry a lot more than a ATV Tub trailer
. Carried on like that for years up until 2014 when he had to sell the property and move closer to town due to health concerns. Almost everything had been moved however most of the vehicles including the 1952 M135 Deuce was left out there to rot and probably never be driven again... Until recently. 2019 I had bought my first side by side and of course one of the first trips I had wanted to make was back to the old property to see how it was considering nobody had lived there since 2014 and of course, the M135 was still sitting there waiting to be rescued.
Now on to retrieving the M135, now this was not an easy task actually as you might believe because the road to get there is sand in the summer and the only way would be to wait for the winter road to open and try to drive in there with my truck. So waited until the winter road opened and attempted it, unfortunately I was unable to even come close to the truck as I would've had to drive through 2.5 ft of snow.
Ended up buying a plow for the truck to plow the road however later in the season the amount of snowmobile tracks had packed down the snow so much it was like trying to plow concrete. I had no choice but to wait until next winter
. Summer came and went and in the fall of 2021 a few buddies and I had loaded up the side by sides with pretty much everything we could possibly need to get it going and we headed out.
Got to the truck spent probably 3-4 hours to get it going, had to clear the fuel lines from the rust and other remnants take apart the carb clean it, removed the air filter housing and sure enough something had nested in there, removed all that junk. Fuel Filter was clogged so luckily was able to find a fuel filter off an atv or something and made it work. The carburetor seals had become so brittle they disintegrated during removal so we made the main hat seal out of tire plugs and sealed the surrounding areas with duct tape so it wouldn't draw in air. Believe it or not after sitting for 6-7 years the greatest joy to our ears it fired right up with good oil pressure and started building air pressure. After moving for a while we stopped to check for leaks put more fuel into it and drove it 35 kms so it wasn't far from the main road and we'd be able to get it easily once the winter road opens.
Winter came and before the road opened we were able to get a key to the gate giving us early access from a friend who's trapline is nearby on the agreement that i'd plow the entrance to his gate, a small price to pay. Soon enough and after 4 kms of plowing deep snow we had got to the truck, put the batteries in, put fuel in, fired it up and drove it to the main road. After that had a friend of mine haul it from there to my driveway as I wasn't gonna drive this truck 180 kms with no brakes on the highway lol.
Now the fun begins on the build for it as I finally have it in my possession, the big plans for it are 5.9L 12V P-Pump Cummins NV4500 Install bigger tires (395/85R20) and Lockers for offroad use.
But first you gotta start with the basics and that of course is fixing the brakes and getting it to stop. I had also ordered a Carb seal kit to rebuild it from the deep woods rigging job I had done.
Luckily my Grandfather had replaced all the brake components years ago but yes of course the wheel cylinders had leaked after sitting for so long, I ordered 2 1-3/8" Wheel cylinders and 2 rebuild kits incase they were salvageable, pulled off the hub got to the brakes and found out he had replaced all the wheel cylinders with 1-1/4" wheel cylinders, and thats why I had only ordered 2 rebuild kits as I was unsure what the size would've been... Now I know.
Tried to find rebuild parts and/or wheel cylinders for the 1-1/4" and no luck tried all the local parts stores and nothing was available. So bit the bullet and ended up buying from rockauto again and just went with the 1-3/8" wheel cylinders which wasn't cheap compared to rebuilding.
For those wondering the CFR Is 52/50221
How I came to acquire such a great vehicle is actually thanks to my grandfather who had purchased it in ST.paul, AB, Canada, in 2006. He had drove it 550 kms north and 140 kms offroad on sand to his trapline property in the great northern alberta forest. His plan for the truck was to use it for hauling Fuel/Water/etc. on the sand road which is not very suitable for vehicles. All had went well but quickly found out it is not ideal for the road anyways as it couldn't keep the speed going up the sand hills. So he ended up using it to haul wood around instead which of course a 12ft box can carry a lot more than a ATV Tub trailer
. Carried on like that for years up until 2014 when he had to sell the property and move closer to town due to health concerns. Almost everything had been moved however most of the vehicles including the 1952 M135 Deuce was left out there to rot and probably never be driven again... Until recently. 2019 I had bought my first side by side and of course one of the first trips I had wanted to make was back to the old property to see how it was considering nobody had lived there since 2014 and of course, the M135 was still sitting there waiting to be rescued.Now on to retrieving the M135, now this was not an easy task actually as you might believe because the road to get there is sand in the summer and the only way would be to wait for the winter road to open and try to drive in there with my truck. So waited until the winter road opened and attempted it, unfortunately I was unable to even come close to the truck as I would've had to drive through 2.5 ft of snow.
Ended up buying a plow for the truck to plow the road however later in the season the amount of snowmobile tracks had packed down the snow so much it was like trying to plow concrete. I had no choice but to wait until next winter
. Summer came and went and in the fall of 2021 a few buddies and I had loaded up the side by sides with pretty much everything we could possibly need to get it going and we headed out.Got to the truck spent probably 3-4 hours to get it going, had to clear the fuel lines from the rust and other remnants take apart the carb clean it, removed the air filter housing and sure enough something had nested in there, removed all that junk. Fuel Filter was clogged so luckily was able to find a fuel filter off an atv or something and made it work. The carburetor seals had become so brittle they disintegrated during removal so we made the main hat seal out of tire plugs and sealed the surrounding areas with duct tape so it wouldn't draw in air. Believe it or not after sitting for 6-7 years the greatest joy to our ears it fired right up with good oil pressure and started building air pressure. After moving for a while we stopped to check for leaks put more fuel into it and drove it 35 kms so it wasn't far from the main road and we'd be able to get it easily once the winter road opens.
Winter came and before the road opened we were able to get a key to the gate giving us early access from a friend who's trapline is nearby on the agreement that i'd plow the entrance to his gate, a small price to pay. Soon enough and after 4 kms of plowing deep snow we had got to the truck, put the batteries in, put fuel in, fired it up and drove it to the main road. After that had a friend of mine haul it from there to my driveway as I wasn't gonna drive this truck 180 kms with no brakes on the highway lol.
Now the fun begins on the build for it as I finally have it in my possession, the big plans for it are 5.9L 12V P-Pump Cummins NV4500 Install bigger tires (395/85R20) and Lockers for offroad use.
But first you gotta start with the basics and that of course is fixing the brakes and getting it to stop. I had also ordered a Carb seal kit to rebuild it from the deep woods rigging job I had done.
Luckily my Grandfather had replaced all the brake components years ago but yes of course the wheel cylinders had leaked after sitting for so long, I ordered 2 1-3/8" Wheel cylinders and 2 rebuild kits incase they were salvageable, pulled off the hub got to the brakes and found out he had replaced all the wheel cylinders with 1-1/4" wheel cylinders, and thats why I had only ordered 2 rebuild kits as I was unsure what the size would've been... Now I know.
Tried to find rebuild parts and/or wheel cylinders for the 1-1/4" and no luck tried all the local parts stores and nothing was available. So bit the bullet and ended up buying from rockauto again and just went with the 1-3/8" wheel cylinders which wasn't cheap compared to rebuilding.
For those wondering the CFR Is 52/50221
. I will be uploading as many photos as I can since the last update on this post. This truck will also be 100% Cummins swapped in the spring/next couple months and I will document everything to answer a lot of questions on the process and to make it easier for the next person looking to re power their unit.
