No help needed with M109 Restore..

[goldneagle]

Looks great in and out. now - what are you going to do with the rusty chain steering wheel lock? Spoils the image. Could clean it up and coat with liquid vinyl - stuff they make for reconditioning tool handles. Comes in lots of colors.

That liquid vinyl is junk! Used it before and found it peals off easily. I will try to remember and put a coat of paint on it or a soft vinyl sleeve.

Still need to repair the roof on the 109 box. Have to scrape the tar off the seams and apply seam sealer. Then I need to do some spot rust repairs and repaint the entire truck.

I will do that when i finish with the M931 project.

 

[zout]

You can cover up - hide - conseal chit for only so long before it rears its ugly head and makes you regret all the crapola you put on it when you know you should have stripped it to bare metal the first time and did it right from the start.

Anything alone the lines to make it right the first time was a waste of money - effort - products. Put chit on top of chit - the end product will produce chit more worse than when you started and should have done it all right in the first place.

Time - easier to do it right the first time and lest costly than having to tear all the chit apart - fight your self and then spend 3 of 4 times as much to then get it all fixed right.

Putting rubberized roofing on the roof of a 109 box is a waste of time and funds - while ya kiss your metal work underneath goodbye while it all rots before you see how worthless your efforts were when it all pops out.

 

[goldneagle]

Well she was a bad girl this morning! Took her 1 mile to the gas station and put $100 in Diesel in the tank. She ran fine on the way there! Took her out on the interstate for a trip to Camp Shelby for the group get-together at 8:00 AM. As I was speeding up to merge into traffic i felt a sudden hesitation! It happened again a minute or so later. I kept going hoping it was just some water in the fuel and would go away.

After another few minutes it seemed to go away. I took the exit to go on to 59 and it started to hesitate badly. I kept hoping it would go away like the first time, but it got worse! I was limping along in the right lane with the flashers on for few miles and took the exit to a gas station. Still thinking i had water in the fuel I bled some liquid out of the primary filter. The engine seemed to rev up to 2300 rpm ok so i hit the road hoping to still make the meeting.

No luck! The truck was barely making it down the road! Had to go a few miles until I could take the exit and go back home. (this was going on initially in the dark, since I started my tip at 6:00AM) Hard to work on a truck in the dark on the side of the road.

Truck ran like shi t and I was barely able to limp homeward. It even stalled on a slight incline on one of the bridges. Luckily i got her restarted. After making the bridge i pulled her tot he side of the road. I was pretty sure I had a spare fuel/water separator filter in my center console. Yep it was in there with the other spare filters! Shut off the engine and replaced the filter.

After installing the filter I turned the power switch on so the tank pump would fill the filter up. It took quite a few tries to get the engine to restart! I was nervous since i was not sure how long the batteries would hold out. I was not sure the filter change would solve the problem either.

Wait for it.....opcorn:

Wait for it....opcorn:

Wait for it.....opcorn:

Finally she started up! WOOOO HOOO! Got her back on the road and she behaved herself the rest of the trip home. Ran fine like nothing had happened! No hesitation at all!

When I got home I poured the fuel out of the filter I had removed. It was coming out dirty! So this whole headache was from a dirty fuel filter that didn't have many miles on it!

I ordered 3 replacement fuel filters for her as soon as I got inside the house.

 

[goldneagle]

You can cover up - hide - conseal chit for only so long before it rears its ugly head and makes you regret all the crapola you put on it when you know you should have stripped it to bare metal the first time and did it right from the start.

Anything alone the lines to make it right the first time was a waste of money - effort - products. Put chit on top of chit - the end product will produce chit more worse than when you started and should have done it all right in the first place.

Time - easier to do it right the first time and lest costly than having to tear all the chit apart - fight your self and then spend 3 of 4 times as much to then get it all fixed right.

Putting rubberized roofing on the roof of a 109 box is a waste of time and funds - while ya kiss your metal work underneath goodbye while it all rots before you see how worthless your efforts were when it all pops out.

That cold patch tar was there when I bought the truck! Was the handy work of the Mississippi National Guard. Dry ice blasting would get rid of it easily but no one around here offers it. I will try dry ice on the tar and a vibrating scraper to remove it. I am open for other suggestions.

 

[o1951]

No luck! The truck was barely making it down the road! Had to go a few miles Truck ran like shi t and I was barely able to limp homeward. It even stalled on a slight incline on one of the bridges. Luckily i got her restarted. After making the bridge i pulled her tot he side of the road. I was pretty sure I had a spare fuel/water separator filter in my center console. Yep it was in there with the other spare filters! Shut off the engine and replaced the filter.


Finally she started up! WOOOO HOOO! Got her back on the road and she behaved herself the rest of the trip home. Ran fine like nothing had happened! No hesitation at all!

When I got home I poured the fuel out of the filter I had removed. It was coming out dirty! So this whole headache was from a dirty fuel filter that didn't have many miles on it!

Sounds like you got $100.00 worth of bad diesel. I have had that happen.
Try the tank drain and see what is on the bottom.

 

[o1951]

That cold patch tar was there when I bought the truck! Was the handy work of the Mississippi National Guard. Dry ice blasting would get rid of it easily but no one around here offers it. I will try dry ice on the tar and a vibrating scraper to remove it. I am open for other suggestions.

I have done small sections by brushing on kerosene and laying a rag soaked in it on top for a day. It softens the tar and makes it easier to scrape off. Best done when it is hot and sunny!

 

[goldneagle]

I just got my remote brake fluid reservoir from a member here on SS. I wil be installing it on my truck in the next few weeks. I am busy with the M923 right now. I will also be installing LED headlights on it soon.

 

[scottjhl]

Seems we had the same issue with the fuel.

This is now the second time that I have read your thread... a definite inspiration to me as well... the fuse panel is going to be a soon addition...

Where did you buy your equalizer. I think I may do this before I get down and dirty and install my second alt kit...

 

[scottjhl]

ALSO... check your secondary and final fuel filters... I had a TON of crud in them both!

 

[goldneagle]

ALSO... check your secondary and final fuel filters... I had a TON of crud in them both!

Secondary fuel filters have been upgraded to the spin-on set from Westfolk. The Vanner Equalizer was purchased from a seller on Ebay. 60A version. Good luck with your projects.

 

[functionalsolenoid]

@goldneagle
I know it's bad form to revive a decade-old thread, but would you believe that I have your M109 sitting in my driveway in Washington state?

 

[goldneagle]

@goldneagle
I know it's bad form to revive a decade-old thread, but would you believe that I have your M109 sitting in my driveway in Washington state?

Some pictures would be nice. It's been a long time since I've seen that truck.

 

[functionalsolenoid]

Some pictures would be nice. It's been a long time since I've seen that truck.

I posted the sale photos (here). There will be more to come soon, but I have the front end apart right now. Our intention with this truck was to convert the box into a camper, and no matter what the mod/upgrade was -- it seemed you had already done them. This gave me confidence in the rig.

I understand that you sold the truck to a fella in Louisiana in 2016. It sat on his property until I bought it last month. There was a brief list of "Crank Dates" on a sheet of paper, but I had no real way of telling how long it'd sat. It still has the Michelin 11r20 tires on it and the new v-belts in your custom center console. The odometer sat at 19,920. I did a morning's worth of maintenance on the truck (oil & filter change, fuel filter change, new batteries) before we set out. We had to pick up wipers at an Autozone and a slow-moving vehicle decal @ Tractor Supply near WInnsboro.

The air-ride seats have seen better days - the driver's side is torn up, to be reupholstered. The first aid kit was rusted through. I removed all of the aftermarket electrical work other than the fans - I didn't want to risk a phantom drain and DC-DC converters have come a long way. I build RV electrical systems for a living, so we have big plans regardless. There was fluid in the remote brake reservoir, the coolant was bright green, and the T for the seats was leaking air.

I had approx. 3-5 instances where the truck would stall. I attributed this to bad / old fuel and water. Once I managed to get the old seized separator replaced, this behavior went away. We had one of the Michelins on the pax steer position blowout north of Dallas. I managed to find several spares in Oklahoma City. The parking brake wire was seized, so I had to be extra aware of parking and picked up some larger wheel chocks.

The truck overheats under load. No signs of head gasket failure, but plenty of radiator trouble. Fluctuations of 50-70 degrees across the core it turned out. I pulled the thermostat in Texas roadside and shut off your filter (just in case). The radiator is with an old school shop this week for evaluation, my contingency plan is to install the 4-row late-50's unit for some midsized pickup that I have heard about on YouTube. I had arranged for shipping from several cities along the way, but once I got the hang of driving - I was able to keep it below 210 with a couple of exceptions and developed confidence in the truck. We switched to do most of our driving starting in the evening, and with that in combination with a cold front, I was able to cruise at 55 through the nights... though, the hazard indicator and my eyesight do not play nice in the dark.

I'll share more of the build as we finish it, I intend to start my own thread. Your restoration work on the box flooring has held up incredibly. No wood rot, all the flashing and stainless fasteners are still shiny. That contributed to my decision to put in the work on stripping the interior walls / ceiling.. which we've only begun working on this week.

The odometer is at 22,222.1 at this very moment. A testament to the work you did, no doubt.

 

[functionalsolenoid]

 

[functionalsolenoid]

Most of my time is going into a couple of old Wagoneers these days, but I figured I'd update the thread.

The overheating issue is resolved completely - radiator was clogged solid, unable to be rodded out. Weber's Radiator Service, an old school shop in Yakima, WA was able to recore it and returned it to me looking brand new. He even re-soldered the overflow pipe to the filler neck. Ended up running about $750.

Installed a new fuel sender & gasket to get the fuel gauge working again. I installed a new thermostat and gasket, filled it with coolant, and made the 185 mile trip to my new shop near Spokane, WA. Pedal through the firewall the whole time and not even close to running hot. The old girl survived the abuse on the cross-country trip after all.

Unfortunately, I had complete brake loss pulling into the new shop (good timing). No obvious leaks, but the remote reservoir is empty (rather rapidly this happened). I've got all new wheel cylinders, master cylinder, all soft brake hoses, brake shoes, and a ton of DOT5.. just waiting on the weather and motivation to start this rather intimidating brake job. Even picked up new parking brake hardware & shoes to get that sorted out. The speedometer started spinning in circles until the needle broke off, so that's on my to-do list as well. We have the shop box about 50% stripped of panels and insulation at this point. Torque multiplier is at the ready!