M-Gator

[rob love]

Those are some great photos, thanks Craig. It looks like the mount is simply one of the LAV3 mounts. I will, however, resist the urge to install my (dewat) Mag58 onto the front of this one.

It has the tracker tires, which are runflats. Currently mine has worn out carlisle tires which would be more akin to those on a golf cart or lawn mower. I have to ascertain if the rims on it now are appropriate for runflats in which case I will procure the trackers.

I got all my fenders ordered yesterday along with the clutch assembly. I get free shipping to the border, so I'll have to make the trip in a week or so.

I had a head scratching moment on how to remove the clutch from the engine shaft. I almost ordered the special tool, or was going to lathe one up. In the end, a 3" piece of 1/2" bolt was inserted into the bore, and a lubricated 9/16 UNF was driven into the hole with an impact gun. The clutch popped right off. That was way better than prybars and a hammer. A John Deere clutch is around $600 USD. I'll give the chinese one (at just under $300 CDN) a try and see how it works out.

I picked up some seats from Princess auto. They have a universal bolt pattern underneath with maybe 20 different threaded nuts. Alas, it is almost universal...it doen't fit the gator and the extra 16 nuts mean even if I modify to match the holes on the seat, it won't sit flush with the plate. They will get returned and I'll order something online.

From my time in KAF, the gators were a well liked little vehicle. So much so that a few were mis-appropriated. On close out we had two with the same license plate, and another with no plate but a serial number that belonged to the Americans. The serial decal had been torn off, but a little searching found the serial numbers are stamped behind the rear right wheel station on the frame.

[Robin Craig]

The attraction of these vehicles is mostly from the fact there is no door to negotiate, you almost slide in and out. We suffered the same problem on another class of vehicle when we went from a door less simple flat floored vehicle to one with doors and air and radio. Wholly lost the utility that the previous model held.

[rob love]

I got the battery boxes painted with POR-15, 2 new batteries, some new cables and some cable repairs (there were some terminals that were poorly replaced over the years), and started the vehicle for the first time in a couple years. It fired right up. I replaced one broken LED blackout marker and also installed an LED Blackout headlight to replace the old plastic one. A quick light check and those were the only two lights working. John Deere wants $135 a marker light....I traced them to the CUCV and got some from ebay for a whopping $8 each.

Anyway, lots of parts ordered including seats, a missing motor mount isolator, front tires, switches, and a few other things. My fenders and clutch are in at the border so may head down tomorrow to get them. I still have to find 4 rear tires for it....the original P-tracker tires are not made anymore by GoodYear. Titan resumed production of them for a bit, but they seem to have stopped now as well. I am trying to avoid the chinese tires.

This is going to be a fun little vehicle.

[rob love]

It has been about a month since I updated this thread on the Gator. I have brought in a few batches of parts, and it seems you go to replace one thing and 2 other problems show up. I replaced the tires, and found the front wheel bearings have a bit of choppy drag on them (likely dry grease) so I am replacing those. I'll likely do all the rear bearings as well, since they will also be of the same vintage.



The front tires are a pair of the original P-tracker runflats that Frank Von Rosensteil picked up for me and passed to another collector to drop at my place. The rears are a readily available Chinese made tire for now. However I had superdave pick me up a very nice pair of the original P-trackers rear tires that I spotted on kijiji near him. I am now watching to fin another pair. I see some in Peterborough ON that are priced right, but they appear more worn than the ones I have. I would like it to have the original factory tires.



Got in a pair of aftermarket seats, and they are installed. I ordered the majority of the switches, some from China and some from the US, as the old ones were hard to read. I figured out that the missing switch was the 4 way switch. I have also ordered one of the fender lights, since it was broken at the back. It is coming from Latvia of all places...they had them for $20 shipped. In hindsight I should have ordered two. Then again, I am not sure if I am getting the complete lamp assembly which I need, or just the lens. I'll know this week.



I removed the hood so I could access the wiring, and also remove the "408" which was so poorly spray painted. That was the tactical-helicopter unit that had this thing. Once in there I found out that this gator had the John Deere winch kit installed at some point, although the winch and mounting plate did not make it to the auction. Winches rarely do.



So as it turns out, the 2007 Gators seem to have a few luxuries that the 2005 gators in Afghanistan did not have. There is the deluxe turn signal kit and the John Deere Warn winch kit. Evidence of these can be seen in the photos Robin showed earlier from a Gator sold by CADC about a year back.



I picked up some 383 green CARC substitute at the MVPA convention last week, so will repaint the cargo box and the brush guard/litter rack soon. I am also placing an order for all the nickle and dime items like certain washers, spacers, plastic caps, decals from a John Deere dealer in the US so I can get this project completed. Unfortunately, John Deere may have discontinued some of the M-gator specific items like the blackout switch and some of the M-gator specific decals.



There was a gator at the MVPA convention this year. The owner had a photo of him (or someone) with an M-gator in Iraq or Afghanistan. However the gator he had at the show was just a civilian trail gator, with the civilian cargo box and no blackout lighting. Perhaps, if my project turns out well, I'll bring mine down next year.

[Ed Storey]

Rob,

Will you be mounting a C6 on your vehicle....?

[rob love]

I only have a brit made copy, L8 I believe. I do not have a c6.
I am only presenting this vehicle as an administrative vehicle, and not a fighting vehicle, so there will end up being just the personal weapons, webbing and kit if it goes on display. I will not be presenting it as a vehicle that was in Afghanistan, but rather as a vehicle of a type that was. It did go to Mali with the UN, so it has a bit more history than your average golf cart.

Been busy in the shop with wiring repairs. There is corrosion in a lot of the connectors, so they have to be disassembled and the terminals cleaned or replaced. I have found a circuit that could not have possibly worked (front marker lights), so a bit of rewiring is required there. I may also add an interlock so the regular lamps, including brake lights, won't illuminate when the blackout lighting is energized.

[rob love]

I took the cargo box apart and sandblasted most of it. Then I decided I needed the Gator for an event in the area, so quickly painted the box and re-assembled it. It also got a Canadian fire extinguisher bracket to replace the US type, but that may get reversed.



I also found the winch on kijiji. Cost more than I wanted to pay, but a lot less than from John Deere. I doubt I'll ever need it, but this vehicle was set up for it, so it is there.



I still have to remove the front grill and stretcher frame and repaint them. But as it stands now, the vehicle runs and it is a hoot around the yard. I do have to say that the lack of a suspension on the back makes it a little rough on poor terrain. I may try and lower the tire pressures some and see how that works out.