M37 Restoration (53-41242)

[Wayne Hingley]

Finished with painting for now. All the body parts, other than the cab tub and doors are painted and stored.

The remainder of the truck is back inside for further disassembling. As usual, I have fallen well behind my desired timeline.

[Bob Carriere]

Never worry about the time line............ years from now you will still be tinkering on it to add some details.....besides until it is completely fully finished it keeps you from starting another vehicle....

Bob C

[Wayne Hingley]

Good point Bob... another vehicle project is exactly what I don’t need. I already have a couple of trailers lined up that need a bit of work to get on the road. My biggest problem is space for all the M37 parts scattered everywhere.

[Wayne Hingley]

Another small step this morning.

[SteveJ]

Hey Wayne did you do your sand blasting down at Consolidated in Calgary. I thought your pictures looked like a familiar place. Nice work as usual by the way.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Never worry about the time line............ years from now you will still be tinkering on it to add some details.....besides until it is completely fully finished it keeps you from starting another vehicle....

Bob C

And add to that statement that when you finally do finish it, it will all be downhill from there. The first scratch, the first dent, the first breakdown, the burned out headlight.........

[Wayne Hingley]

Originally Posted by rob love

And add to that statement that when you finally do finish it, it will all be downhill from there. The first scratch, the first dent, the first breakdown, the burned out headlight.........

Yes, I don't expect that I will get bored. There always seems to be something to do.

Steve: Yes, Consolidated Compressor is the spot. Its so nice to have unlimited air and sand. I sold my sandblaster because it was so frustrating waiting for the compressor to catch up, and then stopping to dump another bag of sand in the tank.

[Wayne Hingley]

The most widespread issue on this truck is the aged and damaged wiring. Almost every single wire has bare sections where the insulation has dried, cracked and fallen off. If I bend a wire, the insulation immediately disintegrates. One large power cable for the slave receptacle was routed in such a way that it was pinching between the brake peddle arm and the floorboard. It would be a fairly major (and frustrating) undertaking to replace a vehicle wiring harness without removing and stripping the cab from the frame. For me, one if the things I’m looking forward to is getting all new wires, fuel lines and brake lines on the truck.

Some examples of crispy and damaged wires:

[Wayne Hingley]

Lifted the engine and transmission out yesterday. Unfortunately I need to go away for work, so it will be a couple of weeks before I can get back at this.

[Wayne Hingley]

At some point someone had a need to cut a crude series of 4” to 6” holes to create a passageway from under the drivers seat, through the back wall of the cab, through the front wall of the cargo box, and then through the cargo box floor into the tool storage area. I have no idea what it was for. Some of the holes were cut out with a torch, and some with a mechanical cutting tool (possibly something like an air chisel). The holes were not pretty.

I repaired the cargo box floor and front wall many months ago, and finally started on the cab repairs.

A few photos of the tunnel of holes... I’m puzzled by this one.

[Wayne Hingley]

This is what the holes in the cargo box looked like.

[Wayne Hingley]

Cab tub bottom side. Kind of dirty and crusty looking, but very solid. Should be like new once cleaned up.

[Wayne Hingley]

I opened up the transmission a couple of weeks ago. Very clean with new looking oil. No rebuild tag.

[Wayne Hingley]

Over the past several weeks I found some time to finish repairing the holes in the cab under the driver’s seat, stripped the doors and rebuilt a winch and PTO. I’m planning to get the frame stripped down this weekend and ready to sandblast next week. Hopefully the weather cooperates for the sandblasting.

[Rob Crombie]

Hi Wayne,

Looks like great progress. Did you find the frame to be straight and free of rust? I found the middle cross member on my truck to have pretty well rusted through from the inside where it attaches to the frame rails. It all seems to have occurred from trapped dirt and moisture.
I’m looking forward to watching this truck go back together.

Rob

[Wayne Hingley]

Hi Rob. I haven't taken any measurements to confirm frame straightness, but there is no damage evident on the frame or body components to indicate any trauma has ever occurred to the truck, and there are no tire-wear indicators. The frame condition is excellent with no rust. The black frame paint is almost fully intact where bits of the layers of OD and flat green paint have flaked off during my pressure washing. This truck appears to have been in the west for its entire life, where it was not exposed to road salt etc. Ill post a few more frame section photos in the next couple of days.

[Wayne Hingley]

A few photos of the cross members. Rob: I’m assuming you had trouble with the large boxed-in cross member to the rear of the transfer case. All cross members on this one are solid. They should clean up nicely.

[Rob Crombie]

That does look really solid. The boxed cross member is the only one that warrants repair on my truck. It was utterly rotten where the spring perches are, and had several pounds of dirt/rust inside. So out it will come to be patched up. It has also done a number on the fuel and brake lines where they pass through the cutouts in that crossmember. What are you planning to replace your lines with? I decided to go with some copper/nickel alloy lines as They should outlast steel, and are easy to work with.

[Wayne Hingley]

Yes I can see how that would have an unfortunate impact on your leaf spring mounting brackets. Let me know if you need any measurements or photos as you fabricate the pieces for your repair.

I haven’t made any decisions on material for the replacement brake and fuel lines, but that will be needed soon enough. I did however pick up a few lengths of stainless steel coil armour for the new lines.

[Wayne Hingley]

Frame ready to go for blasting.

[Wayne Hingley]

Well, today I learned that the major tire shops won’t even touch the split locking ring wheels like on the M37. I even went to a commercial shop that does heavy duty equipment, highway trucks, farm equipment, etc. They looked at me like I was carrying a bomb in my truck. I was planning to stop at a non-franchised shop on my way home, but ran out of time and decided to give it a try myself.

I did a quick review of Bob’s 2016 thread where he tried out his fancy new tool on some stuck CMP wheels and tires and got a few ideas.

I tried breaking the bead with my pickup on one side of the tire, and tractor bucket on the other... no luck.

[Wayne Hingley]

That’s when I realized that I would have to cut the tires off. So I copied the method described by Jacques Reed in Bob’s thread. After learning the technique on the first tire, I was able to salvage the flaps on the other 3. I have one more to do tomorrow.

[Wayne Hingley]

While handling the wheels and tires, I noticed that one of them was particularly heavy. It felt like it was a loaded tire, but no sloshing noise. As I was cutting that tire, I found it to be almost twice as thick as all the others. It was 8 ply rating Good Year tire, just like all the others. Cross-section comparison below.

[David Herbert]

I would have thought that a small amount of damage on a flap wouldn't cause much of a problem as long as it would sit flat without big bits missing. As for the heavy tire, that is very odd. It's not a run-flat but all that extra rubber got there somehow.

I have had success in the past using the stabilizer leg of a truck with a crane on it to crack the bead loose. In your photo of the pickup and tractor you do look to be achieving something. I know it is hard work cutting tires off - I burnt out a nearly new 9" angle grinder doing it once.

David

[Wayne Hingley]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

...As for the heavy tire, that is very odd. It's not a run-flat but all that extra rubber got there somehow.

From the 5 tires, 2 were of the thick/heavy variety. Upon closer inspection I note the thick ones are designated as "BLX 8 ply". Anyone know what BLX indicates?

UPDATE: I found the following paragraph online from TM 9-1870-1

[Wayne Hingley]

I was able to get out and sandblast the frame, wheels and other miscellaneous frame brackets today. Once the frame paint goes on, I can start the rebuild process. Things are now moving in the right direction.

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by Wayne Hingley

If anyone out there can help, I have a few questions as listed on the photo attached.

The second photo is on parade, and the formation sign appears to be red background with yellow maple leaf.

Wayne,

Sorry for the late response but I've just seen your thread for the first time today. I think I can help you with your questions about markings for your truck.

In 1958 the Canadian Army Field Force reorganized from an infantry division to separate infantry brigade groups.

According to Annex F, Vehicle Unit Signs, of CAMT 1-36 Vol III, the unit sign for the infantry battalions of an Infantry Brigade Group was a red backing with a white serial. The serials used were 7, 8 and 9, which were allocated based on the seniority of the battalion within the brigade group. As the Black Watch would always to junior to the Van Doos, the other regiment in 3 CIBG, their serials would be either 8 or 9. These instructions applied to all three infantry brigade groups in Canada and to the one in Germany.

The formation sign would have been for the 1st Canadian Infantry Division rather than for Atlantic Command. All of the Canadian Army Field Force units within the brigade groups were designated as a part of 1 CID. Non-field force units would have used the Atlantic Command shield. So you're correct about using a red rectangle with a gold maple leaf.

Now the light coloured squares are a bit of a mystery. I'm inclined towards tactical signs, which would have designated which company and platoon the vehicle belonged to within the battalion. But it's hard to tell from the photographs. I don't think it would make your vehicle any less authentic if it didn't have them.

Cheers,
Dan.

PS: I've attached Annex F should you wish to have a look.

[Wayne Hingley]

Many thanks for the help and explanation of reasoning behind the markings, Dan. I really appreciate your help. Darrell Zinck has offered to help me get access to do more research for additional photos in Gagetown, but the travel restrictions have slowed my ability to be in NB for the past few months. Hopefully something will turn up regarding the white squares that appear to be on all four sides of the vehicles. Your suggestion of it being an indicator of Coy/PL sounds reasonable. Perhaps that will become less of an unknown with more photos. Now I can begin to prepare the markings on some of the painted pieces.

[Rob Crombie]

Looks good. I had the same fight with the tires. I tried quite a few things but nothing would budge them. Thankfully the local truck tire shop was willing to break them down, and did so without damaging anything.
I’m looking forward to watching your truck go back together. It’s always a good feeling on any project when you turn the corner from disassemble and clean/ repair to putting everything back together again.

Cheers,
Rob

[Wayne Hingley]

With a makeshift rotisserie, I got some frame paint on today. Hoping for decent weather tomorrow to spray some semi gloss OD.