Canadian M151A2 Restoration

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by donjunior

Hi Scotty,
As per your request, here are a couple of photos of my next project:74-09397. The body was stripped by either chemical or sandblasting (I suspect the former) and is in very good condition - thankfully, most of the grunt work is already done. The underside appears rust free and would be perfect except for the weld -ugh! This is where I will probably spend a good chunk of my time as I am a sucker for punishment...

I have a whole bunch of pictures of that exact 151. Taken at the same time as those ones you posted. Cut or not, your starting out with a hell of a nice platform. It looks very clean with minimal abuse marks.

Originally Posted by donjunior

Your question about fasteners is a good one, prime and paint only to have them get chewed up during installation or paint in place. I guess the ideal would be the way some WWII vehicles were done - paint all the parts, assemble them then give the entire vehicle an overall spray.

I noticed most of the NOS hardware that I have been getting from various M151 suppliers happens to be the gold coated grade 8 or better stuff which survives nicely without paint although it may not go well on a camo jeep. Darcy

I'm actually just sandblasting my existing fasteners and reusing them, save for the suspension bolts etc. What i've done so far is just dusted them with primer, and then hit them with another dusting of color after assembly. So far its working well, but I wondered what others did. Your quite right, the coating on the bolts is quite good.

[Scott Bentley]

This portion of the resto is proving to be the time consuming part. I spent most of the morning reassembling the Master Cylinder and Pedal Assembly. I'm happy with how it turned out, and everything is cycling much smoother than before:



Fortunately, thats about the only "complex" item of equipment in the interior. The Heater will be next....

[Scott Bentley]

Well, finally wrapped up the weekend.

Lots of time spent sandblasting and painting small parts. I'm sure i'm not the first one who has thought of this, but for blasting my fasteners I used a scrap piece of Fence Board and drilled holes in it for the bolts to drop in to. It may seem strange to go to this effort to save bolts, but I always read about guys and "F" script bolts etc on their GPWs. The AM General built M151A2s all have "D" scripted bolts throughout, so I figured, why not clean them up and reuse them. Time consuming yes, but i'm sure its quicker than trying to inventory all of the correct bolts, grades etc, and then gather them all up at Fastenal, plus save a ton of money in the process. None of these will be exposed to the element without paint, so i'm not too worried:



Once I got all of my bolts done, I started installing items inside the dash. This is probably the hardest part of the assembly, and really, its still quite easy compared to a modern vehicle. I'm top coating most of the primed items with Krylon Camo spray bomb. It will all be painted again in 383 Green, but in case a spot gets missed, this will blend much better than Red Primer. The M Series wiring system is brilliant. I bought a NOS harness last year, so everything went together in a matter of minutes:



Unfortunately, I can't go any further in the Engine Compartment until I get some Semi-Gloss OD paint. My main effort is to get everything above the "Frame" reinstalled, then move on to the Suspensions, Brakes etc. When its all together, it will get the final coat of 383 Green. I'll start working on the Powerpack while the painted Jeep is curing.

[pauljboudreau]

really nice work!

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Looking good, Scotty!

When reassembly time comes, consider hiring these guys - they will have it up and running for you in a matter of minutes

Hanno

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Looking good, Scotty!

When reassembly time comes, consider hiring these guys - they will have it up and running for you in a matter of minutes

Hanno

Too bad my Jeep doesn't have a frame

[Scott Bentley]

Heater is in... Along with a few other small items.

Finally have a Speaker for the Dash. Thought i'd test fit it.

Only the Steering Column, Gauge Panel, Washer Pump, and Choke/Throttle Cables left and the Dash portion is done.....



I'm hoping to have the rest of the large parts (Hood, Windshield Frame, Gas Tank) back from the Painter late next week so I can get it back in for the final paint job mid August.

The scrap Jeep is really coming in handy as I've officially borrowed some small parts from it now