What to do with 77 M880?

[buckspa]

This is my first post as I just bought a 77 M880, in operating condition. The body is in decent shape, but there is a some rust in the cab at the drivers floor and interior roof. Other than that, the dash bezel is cut up and the paint job was given a "home depot" job instead of a Maaco job.

Anyway, I can only think of 3 options. What do you think?

Option 1: Leave it as is and see how well it muds, 4-wheels in the snow, sand, and mountains, takes jumps, etc while I beat it in the ground.....not to mention pull down some trees with it.

Option 2: Go mini-monster with it. 8 inch lift on 35+ wheels, roll bar, winch, nice paint, etc. Like that 440 custom wagon i keep seeing on the web.

Option 3: Go M880 with it.....paint, wheels, cb radio, etc.

Seperate note: I'm loving the pintle hitch, but am wondering if they do sell 4 bolt ball hitches to swap out when needed.


Here's a pic of it as is. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...184948462.jpg/

[712edf]

Thats Green!

Before I looked at the picture I had option 1 in my head..... Now I'm not sure.

Looks too nice to just hammer to death, but not sure if it would be worth the expense to restore as M880 or make a "monster truck" out of. But its yours too enjoy. You are at a good place to learn about it.

WELCOME!!!!!

Bucky

[Gordon Maney]

I vote for options 2 & 3.

[Bruce]

Same Here

I vote for options 2 & 3.

2 & three for me as well. Good luck what ever you decide!

[74w300uteline]

Mvpa

Find a Military Vehicle preservation Assc. in your area. great bunch of guys , they will give you some guidance. I picked up 77m884 that was an embarrising rotbox, the MVPA fellows welcomed me with open arms and helped me get it road ready. watch the brake fluid it should be silicone, do not mixwith reg brake fluid it will turn into cottage cheese. I gotta tell ya driving a cammo truck gets ya into lotsa places that a civilian paint job can't.

[n1265]

If it was mine , I would re-paint it in a flat finish and drive it the was it is. the truck is in good shape and I would not put a lift on it and make it a mud truck.

What makes this truck look bad to me is the sheen of the paint. you can't paint a truck with GLOSS house paint and try to pass it off as a good job. No matter what you do it will look cheep. and this is the problem with your truck IMO.

However, you CAN paint a truck with house paint in a FLAT finish and make it look like you have a good "utility" vehicle, designed for a special purpose. I have been using house paint on my M880 for years and have even won awards at car shows with it, but the seceret is to make the truck look, like that is the way it is "SUPPOSE" to look, Even if it is flat finish.

Trust me, if you painted the truck with the same colors, even with the chrome rims but in a FLAT or maybe even a SATIN finish, It would look 10 times better than it does now.

If it was mine I would sand it down, fill that dent, and re-paint it with Flat OD green ( I personally don't care for JD green ) and FLAT yellow stripe
( Yea I would keep the stripe because it looks kinda cool )

Need proof of using house paint, all of the paint on this truck ( both cammo patterns and solid green ) came from Lowes or Sherwin Williams. Acrylic exterior laytex.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmVxjpPKoCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcEW3ts0YZg

[Gordon Maney]

if it was mine , i would re-paint it in a flat finish and drive it the was it is. The truck is in good shape and i would not put a lift on it and make it a mud truck.

What makes this truck look bad to me is the sheen of the paint. You can't paint a truck with gloss house paint and try to pass it off as a good job. No matter what you do it will look cheep. And this is the problem with your truck imo.

However, you can paint a truck with house paint in a flat finish and make it look like you have a good "utility" vehicle, designed for a special purpose. I have been using house paint on my m880 for years and have even won awards at car shows with it, but the seceret is to make the truck look, like that is the way it is "suppose" to look, even if it is flat finish.

Trust me, if you painted the truck with the same colors, even with the chrome rims but in a flat or maybe even a satin finish, it would look 10 times better than it does now.

If it was mine i would sand it down, fill that dent, and re-paint it with flat od green ( i personally don't care for jd green ) and flat yellow stripe
( yea i would keep the stripe because it looks kinda cool )

need proof of using house paint, all of the paint on this truck ( both cammo patterns and solid green ) came from lowes or sherwin williams. Acrylic exterior laytex.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amvxjppkocu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcew3ts0yzg

+1

[Hobcobble]

I'd repair the rust issues, give it a flat camo
paint job and enjoy it.
John

[Carver Speed]

880

Looks to nice to me to abuse!

[buckspa]

im with ya on at least the flat camo paint. I haven't done anything except for drive around town enjoying it. I swapped out the distributor cap/rotor, plugs, air filter, and gave her an oilchange with filter thinking that some/all of the above would enable me to no longer have to "warm it up" for 3 minutes before trying to drive. unfortunately, i still have to warm it up for 3 minutes before i consider giving it any gas.

[2x1972]

Cooler paint job, 4" lift, 35's, cruise around, play every now and then, sweet chic machine...

[buckspa]

I agree with the camo. Someone asked me if I was a John Deere fan or a Green Bay fan..... I said, neither and that confused him. Flat Camo paint it is!