new m37 saved

[Ferroequinologist]

John hasn't updated this thread, so I will!

He has gotten the fuel tank off, and after pulling off the fiberglass patch, we found that the low spot had rusted through. Other than that, the tank is pretty solid. It is at my radiator guy getting dipped and repaired, should get the call any day now that it is fixed.

He also took the brake hoses and lines off on the rear, and has brand spandy new wheel cylinders and MC sitting at his house now. I'm going to see how bad the lines are on my M37, then we might order 2 sets of new lines at the same time from Vintage Power Wagons.

It does run really well, and sounds cool with no muffler. i'll try to take some video's of it next time its running.

 

[EMD567]

I will take some pics of the work next time I am at Ferro's FOB. Right now the work is to get brakes, then lights. All of the brake lines are badly rusted, and would bust with the pressure of of a soft fart. So far I have the back half off, and just have the front half to go.

 

[EMD567]

Bout time for another update. I haven't had much time for photos, as all you would see is a pair of legs sticking out from under the M37, while I worked to replace all the brake lines. I have rebuilt the rear brakes, and I am now working on the front.
When I tore the fronts down, to inspect/repack the bearings, I discovered some greasy rust on the left front. The rear hub seal was bad, so I decided to inspect the knuckle, and renew all the grease.
Went to do the same on the right, and found gear oil in the knuckle. So, at that point, I decided to tear both sides down to the inner axle stubs, and replace the inner seal, and all the bronze bushings. Getting the inner seals out was a PAIN, but I finally triumphed. Ferro said that the seals looked like they were fresh from the dodge factory, which would make them 60 years old.
The next step is to start the rebuild process, which I hope to have completed by the end of next week. Here are the pics............

 

[Ord22]

Great Job! Hard work will pay off at the end!

 

[EMD567]

It has been a trying time with the M37. Many problems, which I am solving one by one.

Went to the Graves Mtn Rally in Virginia. This was supposed to be her coming out party, but she let me down big time. I had overheating issues, and spent the entire weekend turning wrenches trying to fix the problem. Finally realized that the head had to come off, and the block get a good douching inside with a steam cleaner. Ferro and I tore her down, pulled the water distribution tube, modified the steam jenny with 1/4" copper tubing so we could reach down into the block, and proceeded to blast the inside of the block's water passages for 3 hours. I also had the radiator boiled, rodded, dipped and tested. This fixed the overheating problem, and none too soon, as it was time for the Ga rally.

At the Ga rally, I then had problems with vapor lock, hard starting, and catastrophic clutch failure. Of the three, the clutch was the easiest to fix, taking just one day, and some parts flown in from Vintage Power Wagon. I then went out into the woods on trail rides, where my hard starting and vapor lock then came back to haunt me. I really owe a bunch of thanks to all the folks the pulled, pushed, towed, and helped me wrench on the M37. I traced my hard starting to very under sized batteries, which just could not run the electric fuel pump, starter and Ing. system at the same time. Two new BIG batteries have hopefully solved that problem.

The whole time I was driving the M37, I had insurance, but no registration. I finally went down today, and got the title and tag. Went with Antique tags, so I am restricted on how much I can drive it on the road, but no taxes, and it is a one time plate fee.

So now I can test legally. The plan from here on out is to rewire the M37, and put my new tires on truck.

 

[swiss]

EMD is it running pretty good now? Have you had a chance to do much since the Rally with her?

 

[EMD567]

I haven't done much. Just some odds and ends. It seems like I got home from the Ga rally, and work reared it's ugly head. I went and got the batteries back first of December, and just installed them today. It just seemed easier to jump start it off the 5 ton, since it was right there. I did fuss with the voltage regulator, and it seems to be charging better.

Since I didn't have registration, all I could do was drive it up and down the driveway. Now I can cruise the 49 states, Canada and Mexico. Can you say road trip?

 

[steelypip]

I look forward to seeing it at the Graves rally next year.