New guy with M135

[SEADUCEME]

Hey all, new guy here from CT.and my 1st post...well I'm the proud new owner of a 1952 m135 302hydramatic. It sat in a wharehouse for 30 or so yrs and has no rust which was a lucky find. My issue is the trans, I pulled the Seized eng n trans and installing the original eng that came with truck after I freshin it up with cyl hone and rings and bearings which I haven't found yet if anyone can direct me please chime in. The original trans got pressurized with coolant pressure so must have a bad seal in it but I don't know where . I want to avoid a trial n error situation so I found a 5sp manual from a ccwk or older deuce that comes with everything but a clutch pedal or linkage, I was gonna hit up the scrapyard for a master n slave cyl n fabricate a hydraulic setup but someone said I can use the pedal/linkages from an m35 does any have experience with an auto to manual conversion, I can't find the 211 conversion article in 1989 oct/nov 16th issue of military magazine? Also any suggestions on a good olive drab eng paint or general for the rest of the truck. I'm power washing n scraping top coats to find the original paint in decent shape but it's tedious gathering those chips, I assume the original is CARC but not sure bout the top layers so I treat em as so! Once again hello to all hope to be driving my deuce by oct., any good military meets coming up where I could find m135 stuff, if I can't find original parts I'll just pimp it out

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Welcome from VT.

 

[SEADUCEME]

Thanks neighbor comin up next week for deuce parts

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
Welcome.

You can check this engine paint here , it is the green on a generator.

Overall paint. There is a whole forum on that. Paint and Bodywork

 

[18operator]

Welcome from Northern Ohio!

 

[Flyingvan911]

Welcome from Kansas City, MO.

 

[twisted60]

Welcome from South Florida, if you haven't joined your local MVPA do, it is a good way to meet others in your area.

 

[MWMULES]

Welcome, I moved you over to the early Deuce forum as there only a few of us owners left!
​

 

[metal magnet 1963]

Hello "new Guy".... just a few words of encouragement to help with your new found passion., and a few words of advice...take things slow, and save everything you take off. Go really gentile with tearing anything apart as the replacement parts are mostly VERY hard to find. All you need to do to find the reason for the pres tone in the trans is pressurize it (low pressure)with air with the pan off and listen for the leak. The cooler in the trans is the only thing where it can leak from. Drain and flush it a couple of times or so with fresh 10 wt oil, after fixing the cooler. Don't throw away the auto trans. I have a truck that was set up (converted) over to standard and I notice it has no real bottom gears like my other trucks. It's a four speed, but even a five is still not enough. So......fix what you have. The engine bearings and rings are for me the most hard to locate parts so far, next to brake booster stuff. I unstuck an engine that someone removed the head and left it like that for several years, and saved most but not all the rings. Yours probably is not anywhere near as bad as that one was. I would take my time, remove the valve cover and chech for some stuck valves, then try to turn the engine BY HAND ONLY at first. Pull the plugs and soak with your favorite penetrant and let it work. Good luck and keep posting.

 

[Merle]

Hello "new Guy".... just a few words of encouragement to help with your new found passion., and a few words of advice...take things slow, and save everything you take off. Go really gentile with tearing anything apart as the replacement parts are mostly VERY hard to find. All you need to do to find the reason for the pres tone in the trans is pressurize it (low pressure)with air with the pan off and listen for the leak. The cooler in the trans is the only thing where it can leak from. Drain and flush it a couple of times or so with fresh 10 wt oil, after fixing the cooler. Don't throw away the auto trans. I have a truck that was set up (converted) over to standard and I notice it has no real bottom gears like my other trucks. It's a four speed, but even a five is still not enough. So......fix what you have. The engine bearings and rings are for me the most hard to locate parts so far, next to brake booster stuff. I unstuck an engine that someone removed the head and left it like that for several years, and saved most but not all the rings. Yours probably is not anywhere near as bad as that one was. I would take my time, remove the valve cover and chech for some stuck valves, then try to turn the engine BY HAND ONLY at first. Pull the plugs and soak with your favorite penetrant and let it work. Good luck and keep posting.

.
Good advice and welcome from Idaho

 

[SEADUCEME]

Thank u I'll check it out

 

[SEADUCEME]

I'm not sure what that is but thanks, I'm still learning the sited. And yes m135 seems to be a little rare and parts aren't jumping into my lap but I love the taller single wheels and the rounded nose�� I have the standard 11/20 tires but I know where there's new 12/20's that shud look pretty good if I can get over 200.$ ea.

 

[SEADUCEME]

Hello again. I'm supposed to pick up 5sp trans this weekend but gonna hold off now, not sure what u mean by no bottom gears, but the trans came out of a deuce and a half so i would imagine the ratios would be somewhat close to adequate. I'm hesitant bout the hydramatic, I've read a few internet stories bout lot of different issues & they must be true if there on the net(lol) right. i tow a lot & live in a hilly area so i definitely want control of shift points the hydra seems to have a reputation for irregular or hard shifting and should be driven with a certain technique. the manual states to remove power plant as an assembly but it looks like i can remove the trans leaving eng in. i toyed with the thought of adding a trans oil cooler && plugging off the coolant from the trans but don't wanna take the risk unless somebody else has done it 1st!! so i guess i gotta decision to make....wanna shed more light on my life???

 

[hendersond]

The 2 speed transfer case with high and low range....isn't. The transmission has the high/low as part of the transmission. When you convert to a manual transmission you only have high range. That is what Metal Magnet means by no bottom gears. It is ok with no load at 50 mph speeds. Not good in the woods on a logging road going uphill. I think we are running about 130 hp???

Welcome.

 

[hendersond]

If the 5 speed is cheap and you have the money, grab it. It would not be my first choice either, but it could be a plan B.

 

[gentrysgarage]

Welcome to the club,
I have found that the parts are out there you have to look alittle harder than if they were M35s....but a dang sight easier and cheaper than the parts for my COE in my signature. On another note alot "assories" like bumperettes can come from M35s (the bolt holes line up just one size bigger. light switches are standardized also. The biggest hangup for years has been the transmission but Team G-749 is on the job and at the top of this forum lists all the parts with modern part numbers as they are found!

 

[SEADUCEME]

yes i plan on gathering waterer i can for future need but If i understand correctly the 5sp comes with a transfer case(2sp) its out of a cckw if I have that earlier deuce model right.

 

[SEADUCEME]

i heard no more hydramatic parts around.. another reason for the conversion.

 

[SEADUCEME]

im pulling the head from the original eng that came in the bed of the deuce to see what I'm up against ,that eng rotated 350 deg both directions so shouldn't be too bad, by the way I'm not far from chaining my m135 to my 4x4 so the wife can tow me around in it (lol) patience is something I'm still working on at 54yrs old.

 

[hendersond]

"No more Hydromatic Parts around".
If you look you will find them. Whenever I go to a salvage yard I show them a picture of my deuce. Most guys won't know what a M211 or M135 is. If you say GMC Army Truck, they will tell you they don't have any because it got painted another color somewhere down the line. Fire truck, farm truck, potato hauler... I'm guessing that I've run across 40 trucks since I purchased mine in 2012. Most were just parked because they just got outdated. Now they have other problems. The other reason that is common is Brake problems, fuel tank problems and 4rd most common is transmission went out. That means I've crossed paths with 10 good transmissions.