Thread: M62 wrecker
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Old 19-12-18, 23:21
rob love rob love is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
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Your story about Levy/Tecmotive might have some relevance to this truck Bob. The engine was rebuilt by Tecmotive in 1990. It must have been installed that year, because I went to MooseJaw in 91, and we never put an engine into this unit...it had to have been done before I got there.

So I have made some progress with the wrecker. The engine was cleaned up a little (plugs and fuel system), and the starter and starter solenoid both had to be removed and have their contacts cleaned. The old style fuel filter bowl had been brazed in it's service life and had since developed some new holes, so another one from the backroom was substituted. They are the same as the CMPs and WW2 Jeeps. One fuel tank was full of pinholes and the other side was completely rotten. The oil was changed, and the oil system pressurized. When I went to replace the two oil filters, the housing was bone dry, so it seemed important to me to pre-lube the system. With all of the above done, it fired right up and purred like a grizzly bear. Power steering had to be topped up, and I am happy to say it is now functioning perfectly.

Bodywise, the cab roof and back were patched or had major cracking or rust. The cowl had suffered greatly from having two different hinges on it, as well as more of the amateur oxy/acetylene bodywork.

Base maintenance has 4 MLVWs they are ready to send off to the scrapyard, having been cannibalised for the past few years. So I was able to get two fuel tanks from them, along with a new roof, windshields, back wall, doors, and a cowl was cut off. I spent a bit of time breaking the two million spot welds on each, and cleaning and shaping the two halves so they would go back together nicely. I decided to go with 3M structural epoxy for the firewall and sides, and drill and plug weld the metal at the door pullers. As well, prior to that, I had to weld in several of those caged nuts that love to spin. Again, the old MLVWs provided.

So this morning the cowl and firewall each got their bead of epoxy, and everything was clamped back together. Welding is all done, and now it sits until tomorrow.

Before re-installing the dash, it is my intention to replace the wiring harness. Although most of it was in decent shape under the cowl (but not all), there were more than a few jury rig repairs, and lots of bare wire underneath. Again, the MLVWs have provided new harnesses, although there will be some lengthening involved due to the longer engine as well as conversion to the metal shells in a lot of the locations.

Attached are some photos of the progress. While waiting for the glue to dry, I also put on the back wall. I actually lucked in on finding a cowl that hadn't been walked on all it's life. It was necessary when camming up a truck to walk on the hood and cowl, as well as the roofs if they didn't have roof racks. The donor truck was an AVCON (avalanche control) truck, so likely had not been to the field. The chassis was, however, quite rusty from the BC salt.
Attached Thumbnails
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Last edited by rob love; 19-12-18 at 23:29.
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