Garage

No work today.  Just cleaned up the garage from all the metal cutting and filings.  Extra parts are now stored.  I ordered a small media blast cabinet that should arrive next week.  Then onto the small parts....lots of small parts!

Tie rod

After finally removing the tie rod ends (the castle nuts were rusted on), I placed the tie rod flat only to find there was a nice 1 1/2" bow to it!  Nothing that a sledge hammer and two blocks couldn't fix :)  Off to the media blaster and painter.

Stripper!

Brought the large pieces: axles, springs and tie rod to Specialty Stripping in North Hampton.  Some media blasting then PPG epoxy priming and acrylic black.

Back of Suburban....lots of room!

The stripper.

Rear axle drain plug and transfer case cross member rivets

Tapped new drainage plug for rear axle to 1/4"-18 TPI NPT.  Used brass plug.

Centered rear axle, originally without a drainage plug.  WWII expendable.

Tapping.

1/4" brass NPT plug.

 Used cut-off wheel to remove rivet heads from transfer case front cross-member on frame.  Six rivets each side.

Transfer case front cross-member.

4 1/2" angle grinder with 1/16" kerf cut-off wheel.

Now to drill and punch out the rivets.

Road Trip!

Was visiting friends in Lunenburg, VT this weekend.  Looked at the GPS and saw that "middle-of-nowhere," Vermont where my NP-205 transfer case, 2nd generation starter, flywheel and engine adapter were located was only 1.5 hours away.  Got up at 6AM and made a quick trip to get them in the pouring rain.  Lots of pretty fog in the valleys.  Got back to the log mansion just in time for pancakes and eggs :)  The parts look a bit dirty, but in good shape.  The seller was a character.  Quite a nice guy with 4 mastiffs.  They had a good time smelling the back of my truck where my dogs ride.

Front springs and rear axle

Picked up the WC centered rear axle from the welding shop.  The spring perches look good in their new location.  Also picked up the re-arched front springs and new front U-bolts, which look good.  Now to figure out if I should take them apart to media blast and prime everything.

Stopped by at Robbins Auto to talk about PPG paint.  Gotta figure out if it is more economical for the blaster to prime and paint them or for me to do them.

M37 spring perches move to the centered rear axle with correct distance and angle.

Spring perch.

Re-arched front springs with additional 2".  The rusty leafs are from the old rear springs.

New front U-bolts with added length.

Front springs and centered rear axle

Dropped the NOS front springs off at Donovan Spring in Londonderry, NH to add 3 leafs to the front springs to get 2" lift for the heavier Cummins diesel.  They will also forge some new "U" bolts.  The extra 3 leafs will come from the old rear springs as I've got other NOS rear sets.  The 3 will be put between the original top 2 and bottom 3.  New center bolts and shackles will be made.

Dropped the M37 and WC rear axles at White's Welding in Hampton, NH to move the M37 spring perches over the the WC.  Need to maintain the same center distance and angle.  One of the bolt holes on the WC brake flange has a crack that needs to be welded.  I noticed that the WC axle has no plugs to add or remove oil.  Hmm....I guess these trucks were made to not last long during WWII.  I'm going to have to drill and tap some plugs as I'm going to want to change the oil :)

Start of M37 Rebuild

This is a blog for my 1952 M37 rebuild.  I bought it five years ago with the expectation to rebuild it once my garage bay was empty, as I was building a Herreshoff Haven 12 1/2 in there.  Well, as things often go,the boat took a bit longer to build then I thought.  Mostly because I added teak decks, mahogany cabins and doors and other non-necessary items to make it look like a mini-yacht :)  The boat was finally finished this past spring and the garage bay was open.

The M37 had been sitting in the driveway all winter with the batteries out.  It usually started without problem so I thought that I'd drive it into the garage.  No luck.  It wouldn't start, even with much coaxing of ether and gas in the carb.  Oh well, I thought, I'll use my Suburban and push it into the garage.  Not so easy as one of the rear drum brakes was locked up.  I finally got it in with some coaxing.

I took the whole truck down to the frame in April and May 2010.  Initially I thought I'd have the original in-line 6 cyclinder engine redone and build the truck back up to original specs.  It already had 4.89 differential gearing installed, but even with that, the speed was a slow for today's cars.  The NP200 transmission was great in the low-end gearing, which is great for a 4x4, but not great for what I usually use it for....driving on paved roads.  I want the final truck to look like one of the pictures below.  Lots of work as my truck has a lot of rust cancer.  In other words....a GOOD project :)

Nice CAT Yellow Color

After many discussions with Paul Mierop, in New York, I decided to install a Cummins 3.9/4BT diesel with a NV4500 transmission and a married NP205 transfer case.  Paul has redone four Dodge trucks with Cummins engines: an M37, a Power Wagon, a Power Giant and a Carryall.  He is a great guy and quite helpful and free with his experience and fund of knowledge.  Thanks Paul!

Paul Mierop's Cummins M37

My M37 with the sheet metal removed.

Engine out and front axle removed.

Front and rear axles awaiting tear-down.

Front axle primed.

Saturday, August 14, 2010:

On to the rear axle.  Haven't been able to work on it lately as I've been recuperating from surgery.  I'll be switching out the non-centered M37 rear axle for a centered WC 3/4 ton axle so the drive train is in-line with the new new NP205 transfer case.  Should be less noise and heat.

Used a 4 1/2" angle grinder with 1/16" kerf cut-off wheel to remove the outer rivet heads.  Lots of sparks, which was cool.  Center punched then drilled the 1/2" rivets with consecutively sized drill up to 3/8".  Learned that cutting oil really helps things go faster (and saves the bits) :)  Used a drift and hand sledge hammer to remove rivets and drum plate.  Of course there was more grease to clean up!  After 58 years it's amazing how much grease and crud builds up.

Removed the 3rd member studs with two locked nuts.  Will bring both rear axles to the welder tomorrow to move the wider M37 spring mounts to the centered axle.  They need to be moved outwards about 1.5" and their angle is kept the same.

Rear Brake Drum Backing Plate Riveted On

Drum Backing Plate Rivet Heads Removed

Drum Backing Plate Removed

WC 3/4 Ton Centered Rear Axle

WC centered (back) and M37 off-center (front) rear axles.