updated pics of my hemtt restoration

[dma251]

Hey Damon, Great restoration on the HEMTT. The detail work is coming out JOB #1......!!

I really enjoy seeing the pic of the work in progress......Please keep us up to date with the latest and greatest....

Keep up the good work.

Cheers,

C'dub

I really appreciate it. I take literally hundreds of pictures to help my reassemble everything the way it came apart, and also to document my work for eventually putting together a folder to show people what I did, and for the next owner to see the quality of my work. I find it's kind of a struggle to decide what to post on here and what may not be interesting enough or too fussy a detail.

To tell you the truth I expected people to start telling me "enough of the cab! Start showing us the rest of truck already!" It's coming! REALLY!!! I really do own a hemtt, and not just the cab of one!

I was just out yesterday talking to the owner of the shop that is helping me with all the heavy lifting about when we can plan on putting the cab back on the truck.

Here's my plan -

In about 2 weeks I will have the rest of the new interior isulation pieces from Oshkosh, and the roof hatch installed, and the cab should be about functionally ready to operate the rest of the truck.

I will trailer the cab over to the truck, and spend the rest of the week or so getting the truck operational so I can drive it back home to it's new garage at my house.

Then I will wire-wheel and flap-disc the rust off the top edge of the framerails where the bed bolts down, and paint it and the tops of the axles with a fresh coat of 383 green.

Then back to the restoration shop it goes to get the bed installed, and then over to the sandblasting shop, where I will boom out the crane, and mask off all the critical areas and sandblast the entire truck (except the cab and engine area) basically from transmission back will be blasted. Then it goes back to my house for the front fenders and gun turret to be installed and then the final painting of the whole truck will take place.

After that, I will be enjoying my hemtt, and fiddling around with some of the more detail type stuff like the thermal imager and back up camera, etc.

So there's the basic plan. Let's see what else can jump up and surprise me...

 

[joec]

Well when your done with that one let me know when to bring mine over...LOL

Great Job!!!!!!

 

[dma251]

Here's a few more from today. Since my last post I've been plugging away at the electrical and air plumbing.

I installed the modified MK48 roof hatch frame and slider today, and began seam sealing all the body seams before I paint.

Also installed the control panel for the remote spotlight and the dc/dc converter to power the 12v items (intercom, spotlight, accessory socket for my mp3 player...)

 

[joec]

Great Work..!!

 

[Offroadfabworks]

 

[Djfreema]

Looks like a top notch job! I dont have the patients or time for such detailed work.

 

[M813rc]

DMA, my 2c worth, I don't think you CAN post too many pics! So far on this and other threads, I have looked at buckets of pics and not once said to myself "Gee, I wish he hadn't posted that one". For those of us who are learning how to do this stuff and struggling along, it is both informative and inspiring. So please keep putting them on here so we can look at your fantastic work and be sooooooo jealous ...

 

[Bozor1000]

That is one awesome looking restoration that you are doing on that thing!!!!!! GOOD JOB!! Wish I had the skills that you have!!!

 

[dma251]

Well - you got your wish. Here's a couple from today. I'm beginning to install the insulation, and finishing up the electrical system.

We're getting there.... I'd like to be installing it on the truck in a week or two.

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

DMA you are doing an awesome job much better than some of the rebuilds I have seen in the Army shops. I think you should go to AMC headquarters at Fort Belvoir with your entire portfolio and show them how to do it right. Thanks for the updates they are great to view.

I know I really liked what you did to your five ton and can't wait to see this one out there showing it's flex or stepping on errant cars.

When I was a kid I rebuilt a CJ3B with my dad and we welded a big steel bumper on the front with a Ramsey capstan winch. It had two teeth that stuck out and I used to go out and ram abandoned cars leaving a telltale two hole signature in them.

 

[timntrucks]

i am speakless and that is a miricle in itself. that is a super good looking truck if i ever seen one. i need to start to work on my projects in order to finish them this century. that is if i start tonight. keep up the nice work and the pics are appreciated Tim

 

[jodka]

I am in agreement with everyone else here, it is a beautiful restoration.

With a wiring job this complex, to what degree can you test the wiring as you go along? Can you switch on individual subcircuits as you complete them to verify that they function correctly? Or do you wait until the entire truck is complete then throw the switch?

- Allen

 

[dma251]

I am in agreement with everyone else here, it is a beautiful restoration.

With a wiring job this complex, to what degree can you test the wiring as you go along? Can you switch on individual subcircuits as you complete them to verify that they function correctly? Or do you wait until the entire truck is complete then throw the switch?

- Allen

Well - I am not truly rewiring the truck. I carefully noted where everything went and am slowly re-installing the factory harness back into the cab. I am, however, installing a second 12 vdc system that is fed from a 24vdc-12vdc power converter mounted under the passenger glovebox area. You can see it in one of the recent pics above.
This 12vdc system has it's own fusebox and powers all the stuff that is 12v. I know, it's kinda lame to have to use two seperate voltages, but some of the goodies I'm installing in this weren't available in a 24v version.

To answer your question about testing it all, I have no easy way to test anything until the cab is plugged back into the truck. I am fairly confident in the integrity of the original wiring, and I know that the new stuff I put in will work. The truck had a mysterious bug that caused the engine to crank whenever the dash light switch on the 3-way light switch was used. While I had the harness out I traced some of the wiring that looked like someone modified it, and I think I found the problem. I'm not going to plug in my new pushbutton lightswitch until I've verified that it is fixed, though. I don't want to burn out a brand new switch that I had custom powdercoated to match!

If you really want to see some craftsmanship with building a wiring harness from scratch - talk to Leonard Jones. He's building one for his Baby Hemtt. (The lil' brother to my truck...) We've swapped enough parts back and forth there's some shared DNA in these two beasts!

 

[dma251]

When I was a kid I rebuilt a CJ3B with my dad and we welded a big steel bumper on the front with a Ramsey capstan winch. It had two teeth that stuck out and I used to go out and ram abandoned cars leaving a telltale two hole signature in them.

That kind of talk will get you in trouble.... What if the owner of those cars were single mom's that just ran out of gas, and that was the only car they had to use to deliver meals to aging veteran's after church on Sunday...

Shame......

 

[cranetruck]

Question for you dma, what is the MS number for the transmission temp gauge, also which is the matching sending unit number? The parts manual is not clear on this.
Thanks,

 

[Bozor1000]

I love looking at this thread. Such attention to detail!!!!

 

[dc3coyote]

Ok not trying to be rude, but what kind of man labor have you put into her.
Looks like alot, you must have a understanding wife, or do you tell her you are going on a business trip, and hide in the garage for a few weeks.
Beautiful, keep the pics rolling in

 

[dma251]

Question for you dma, what is the MS number for the transmission temp gauge, also which is the matching sending unit number? The parts manual is not clear on this.
Thanks,

I will be pulling the gauges back off in a day or two so I can remove the little triangular panel that the ignition switch and shutdown switch is mounted on. I realized after I put it together that it would be better to powdercoat it the same matte black as the other stuff. I still need to have all the little metal trim plates that screw down to the edges of the insulation sandblasted and coated black also.

When I have the gauges out I will see what the pn# is for the trans temp gauge. You will have to remind me later when I get the truck back home to look for the sender number.

 

[dma251]

Ok not trying to be rude, but what kind of man labor have you put into her.
Looks like alot, you must have a understanding wife, or do you tell her you are going on a business trip, and hide in the garage for a few weeks.
Beautiful, keep the pics rolling in

I have the kind of wife that if I didn't have these kind of projects to occupy my time, we'd be heading for an early divorce. (These days it's more a question of when then if)

Because I work at nights, when I wake up in the middle of the day, I go out and mess around with this project, or go to the various businesses that are helping me with this.
Then on my two days off each week, I can't get to sleep at night like a normal person because I am usually awake at night at work, so I go out to the garage and drink cheap wine until I can't hold a wrench anymore and then go to bed around 4am....

It works pretty well. We've been doing this for a lot of years now. You have to recognize that you aren't going to change your spouse. One way or the other, you're stuck with each other's habits and needs, good and bad.... She knows that I'm insufferable when I don't have a project to keep me occupied. I'm already planning the next project in my head.....

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

I know I would be ashamed if the cars were just left somewhere. When I was a kid and just driving we are talking in the late 60's so there were a lot of junk cars that got left out near our farm. City folks I always reckoned, but they were usually stripped an just hulks.

That out of the way I still think your work is amazing and really like to see the updates with the attention to detail. I found that cheap wine does not give me that kind of perfection. Having worked many a night shift I can relate to not being able to sleep on days off and I would often slip out of bed and head to the shop. It was hard to keep the noise down though because I like to cut metal and weld things