Newbie M37 owner

[ton10291]

If you would have told me a year ago that I'd one day own an M37 I would have said that you were crazy but, you would have been right! As of last Friday I find myself the proud owner of a '52 M37.

Rather than doing a restoration my plan for the truck is to get it roadworthy and then bring it up to the lake and play with it on the back roads. Fortunately I'm in Minnesota and Midwest Military is near by so I can get the mechanical parts that I need but what about misc parts like seat cushions and an original instrument cluster panel? Again, I don't intend to restore the truck but would like it to retain as much of it's original charm as possible. Right now I have 'serviceable' seats and instruments but the panel seems to be a little taller than the original. Am I doomed to spending hundreds of dollars buying what I need off of ebay or can I reasonably expect to find parts off of vehicles being parted out in the area?

 

[knattrass]

John is the best and you are really lucky to be near him! I have a set of sets left that I purchased from VPW. They are mil spec'd cut and sewn vinyl covers over the board and foam construction (not springs). I also have a set of mil spec canvas covers for them from New Life still in the bag. Let me know if you are interested via PM.

 

[maddawg308]

You got a nice start there, almost complete and the sheet metal looks okay. Welcome to the site!

 

[SasquatchSanta]

I've bought several trucks and lots of parts off of John. He's a good source and a great asset.

Where in MN are you at?

 

[ton10291]

Thanks for the welcome and the encouragement.

John was a great source of parts and information needed to get my Civilian Power wagon on the road and I look forward to dealing with him again as I work my way through M37 issues.

Ernie - I'm located in Coon Rapids, MN (A northern suburb of Minneapolis) but plan to move the truck up to Longville , MN sometime next spring. (about 20 minutes SE of Walker).

 

[Capt.Marion]

Warning: You say you don't intend to do a full resto job on her. Like you said, if you'd been asked about owning an M37 a year ago...

Have fun, you've got a great truck there. Darn sight better than mine was/is.

Enjoy!

 

[neilhendrix]

Nice looking M37. Little work and it will be great.

 

[SasquatchSanta]

ton10291 wrote:

Ernie - I'm located in Coon Rapids, MN (A northern suburb of Minneapolis) but plan to move the truck up to Longville , MN sometime next spring. (about 20 minutes SE of Walker).

That's good --- one more Minnesota SS member! There's hope! but since we're still outnumbered by Alabama and Georgia I guess we had better mind our manners and not start another Civil War.

I'm located in Orr.

 

[ton10291]

A fuel pump rebuild kit was included with my truck and the crankcase oil smelled 'gassy' so over the weekend I rebuilt the pump and now it won't start anymore... Gee, I wonder what I should break next.

 

[TedG]

Was it a new kit or an NOS one? New gasoline eats the old diaphragms for lunch. Is the pump moving gasoline?

PS. I grew up in Corcoran and the family farmland is now houses!

 

[ton10291]

It looked like a NOS kit to me - brown corrogated box with a white tag on it.

I have had it moving gas, once for almost 15 minutes but then it ran dry and stopped. Now i have a line going directly from the pump intake into a gas can and had it running for a couple of minutes but it ran dry again. I wonder if I have an air leak in one of the fittings? Should I be using some kind of thread sealer on the brass elbow that goes between the intake pump and the line to the shutoff valve?

Funny about Corcoran...We've been thinking about moving and that's one of our favorite areas to look at houses.