My M37 Restoration Thread

[Kaiser2boy]

Having the hub locks on the front will not only cut down on drag on the engine but it will take a lot ware and tear off the transfer case seeing as how it will not need to be spinning all the time. That box has a tendency to get very hot from just driving. The hub locks will cut that down to almost zero.
I had a guy say to me " those lock out are not original"
I just smiled. I felt like saying -"Oh shut up".

[JStinson]

I had a guy say to me " those lock out are not original"
I just smiled. I felt like saying -"Oh shut up".

Not original? Preposterous!

[Kaiser2boy]

I should have said , niether are the pistons, rings, bearings, valves , valve seats, ignition, tires, paint, master cylinder but it do make it run better.

[JStinson]

Progress

Day before yesterday, I had one of those days in the shop. I decided I would finish rebuilding the front left steering knuckle and hub and have that done. So, I walked down and commenced to pulling the inner axle bushing. It wouldn't budge. I torqued on my homebuilt seal puller until parts of it started bending. I tried bumping it both ways, PB Blaster, heat and bizarre and increasingly hilarious puller designs. Nothing. I finally quit and headed for lunch. After lunch and a break, I went back and tried for a couple more hours. Nothing. I gave it up for the day and blasted and painted some stuff instead. My dad chimed in and built a slide hammer puller. That didn't work either.

So, yesterday I went to Advance Auto Parts and rented a slide hammer axle shaft puller.





It did in 5 minutes what I wasted more time than I care to admit trying to do. Lesson: don't be a Neanderthal, get the right tool.

[JStinson]

Progress

If you have room for one, cabinet sand blasters are the greatest thing since sliced bread and tiny hamburgers.






After the primer:

[jrodjared]

If you have room for one, cabinet sand blasters are the greatest thing since sliced bread and tiny hamburgers.






After the primer:

Those blast cabinets are great, agreed.

[JStinson]

One of these things is not like the other:






I have a sneaking suspicion that the truck will turn a tad easier after this restoration.

[Gordon Maney]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brinelling

[JStinson]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brinelling

The other side was rough looking too, but the left one was worse. It's interesting finding these kinds of things and think "huh, so that's why it did that when I was driving it."

[Gordon Maney]

It's even worse trying to ride a motorcycle with brinelled steering-head bearing races.

[Desoto61]

If you have room for one, cabinet sand blasters are the greatest thing since sliced bread and tiny hamburgers.

Absolutely! The only thing better is a laser. We had a company in to work showing off their laser paint removal system. It really is like something out of a sci-fi movie. Point the gun at a surface and paint/rust/oil/dirt just disintegrates. You can do 1 sq. ft. in about 5 minutes and there's no sand to dispose of, just the dust that gets vacuumed up.

Too bad the thing costs about 4-times more than my house and is the size of a small car.

Keep up the good work. I'm anctious to get back to work on mine once I get this kitchen remodel finished.

[JStinson]

Absolutely! The only thing better is a laser. We had a company in to work showing off their laser paint removal system. It really is like something out of a sci-fi movie. Point the gun at a surface and paint/rust/oil/dirt just disintegrates. You can do 1 sq. ft. in about 5 minutes and there's no sand to dispose of, just the dust that gets vacuumed up.

Too bad the thing costs about 4-times more than my house and is the size of a small car.

Keep up the good work. I'm anctious to get back to work on mine once I get this kitchen remodel finished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJVR0xM5l8

Is that what you're talking about? I had to look it up, that's some futuristic type stuff!

[JStinson]

Front left complete

I worked on the truck for a little while today. I finally managed to get the front left hub/knuckle/etc back together.

New gaskets and felt wipe.



Putting it back better than before





Mo' better.

Again, I really have high hopes for these lockouts. I spun the hub locked and unlocked and realized just how much drag the front drive train creates. That was even without the drag from the front drive shaft and transfer case. I bet it'll cut out a lot of noise too.

[Gordon Maney]

I worked on the truck for a little while today. I finally managed to get the front left hub/knuckle/etc back together.

New gaskets and felt wipe.



Putting it back better than before





Mo' better.

Again, I really have high hopes for these lockouts. I spun the hub locked and unlocked and realized just how much drag the front drive train creates. That was even without the drag from the front drive shaft and transfer case. I bet it'll cut out a lot of noise too.

It also eliminates any vibration you might get from a front driveshaft.

[Desoto61]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJVR0xM5l8

Is that what you're talking about? I had to look it up, that's some futuristic type stuff!

Not sure if that was the same system, but yes that's basically how it worked. This was the system we had demonstrated

http://youtu.be/dZ_90920Zbg

half a million $ and about the size of a small car, but no blasting debris, and the only safety gear you need is a set of special glasses. All you end up with is a vacuum system full of dust and a lot of clean metal.

Supposedly you can rent the system for $5000/week.