M37 Dodge Project

[J5 Bombardier]

Chased by some rain clouds , so decided to strip the partially blasted frame making it easier to sandblast. Everything came apart , spring pins , u bolts , pretty good for 71 years old. In the eyes of my Shepherd , it wasn't that exciting.......but I thought it was.
The screener works good , recycled around 1360lbs of sand , I lost 140 lbs through bad tarps and the wind . My pit sand is to damp to run through , so going to try drying it in a cement mixer with propane heat , haven't got time to spread it out thin and let the sun dry it and it is the last week of aug.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Cut open the top of the fuel tank and sand blasted the inside this week , it was rusted through at one spot on the lower corner. Cut out and welded in a small patch , then painted the inside with fuel tank sealer. Once in hardens up , the top can be welded back in place and I'll paint the outside with the same sealer.
J5 Bombardier

 

[m1west]

Heck of a sand blasting rig you have there

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Heck of a sand blasting rig you have there

175 Compair (ex Canadian Military) compressor ..... no trouble inflating bicycle tires. The sand pot is the third homemade version I've made and they keep getting larger , the capacity is 550 lbs of sand , so your good for a while .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished sandblasting the frame ,a few cracks appeared on the running board brackets that had to be addressed. Sprayed some Krylon Red Oxide on the frame and parked it in the shop.....I beat tomorrows rain.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Diffs and springs blasted and primed , they'll get gone over this winter .

 

[J5 Bombardier]

A toasty 85 degrees today , sun beating down , but cab is blasted and in the garage , will prime it tomorrow.
Must have dropped 4 pounds in sweat doing it , currently in the AC , putting the weight back on. Just got a new air supplied helmet and going to order a Clemco filter to have for the next blasting session .

 

[pixie]

I got a supplied air helmet for sandblasting my Skidozer. Made a big difference.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

I tried running it today with a small oil less compressor , not enough ,so I had to order a charcoal filter to tap into my big compressor. Expensive but better than poisoning myself. Lol. J5 Bombardier

 

[pixie]

My helmet has a separate pump ( it was fairly cheap) and 50 feet of hose.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Can you post the model # for the helmet some time . Thanks

 

[pixie]

It's a 3M full helmet. Wasn't cheap. I can't find one like it on the internet. I'll look for the number.
Got the air pump and hose separately on ebay.

 

[pixie]

I had to make my own connection for the helmet. They wanted too much $ for one.
Can't find a model on the helmet ( 15 years old). New ones look cooler and lighter.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished building a rotisserie out of scrap in order to paint my frame on monday and I put the primed cab on the shelf for the winter. J5 Bombardier

 

[m1west]

Finished building a rotisserie out of scrap in order to paint my frame on monday and I put the primed cab on the shelf for the winter. J5 Bombardier

Damn I better get moving on my project, you are blowing me in the weeds. At least looks like you will be done for the winter soon and give me an opportunity to catch up.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

I won't be able to compete with Cali weather that's for sure. 4-5 weeks from now we'll be firing the outside boiler

 

[m1west]

I won't be able to compete with Cali weather that's for sure. 4-5 weeks from now we'll be firing the outside boiler

Its the opposite here, you do all your projects in the winter months.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Slapped together some scrap steel into a rotisserie , and managed to get my frame painted. Couple days of rain coming so glad this job is done , I can strip and straighten parts for blasting when the weather is bad.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Welded the top back in the fuel tank yesterday, one more coat of sealer and should be ready for paint. High today of 60F , so I guess it's back to blasting and a chance to try out this new Clemco air filter.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

New hood and filter work great , certainly makes the job more tolerable. Got lots of parts blasted ,hood was tough with at least 4 layers , will prime them tomorrow and need to replenish my sand supply.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Priming done on yesterdays blasted parts. I'd say that I'm close to 2/3 done on the sandblasting , the box ,roof , 5 rims , 2 front fenders , transfer case , doors and a few misc items remain. I'll keep poking away until the weather goes , the small stuff (rims) can be done in my blast cabinet this winter.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

2 days of blasting this week and primed the parts today , pretty well just the rims and truck box left . The roof needs work , it seems Dodge thought stapling cardboard between the roof channels and roof skin was a good idea . It's fixable , but will be the last part to be done, I'm hoping to find the American tubular frame and hardware setup for a canvas top. I've never seen one up here ,their all hard tops .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Stripped down the box yesterday , a couple cross members need some attention , along with the sides. All will be revealed when blasted , guess I'll have to dry /screen some more sand first.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished the sand blasting for this year, all the M37 is blasted except the rims . The box is going to need some work , found brass , coat hanger , stick weld , lead and good old bondo on the sides. It's all flat panels so not to bad , that's for later.
I may paint some stuff to go on the frame if the weather holds and I need to get the rear springs leafs out of a donor truck before I rebuild my springs.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Scaled ,blasted and primed the M37 springs , replaced one broken short leaf on the right rear . Still have to clean up some spare leaves , will be adding at least 1 leaf per spring. We'll see how they arch out , got a buddy coming over who was a spring chucker/ builder, when he was young and "Strong like Bull ". I'm probably staying with 36" tires which is about the height of the stock 9.00 x16 originals. So other than gaining some needed oil pan / diff clearance won't be going to much over stock height.
J5Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Painted some parts yesterday , so installed the fuel tank , shocks and the rad mount today ,mostly needed somewhere to put them. The rest can stay on , but the rad mount will have to be spaced to match the cab- fender height later on. I wrecked the paint on the steering idler while shimming it , so it can go on after a touch up.
J5 Bombardier

 

[m1west]

Painted some parts yesterday , so installed the fuel tank , shocks and the rad mount today ,mostly needed somewhere to put them. The rest can stay on , but the rad mount will have to be spaced to match the cab- fender height later on. I wrecked the paint on the steering idler while shimming it , so it can go on after a touch up.
J5 Bombardier

Coming right along.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished welding up the aluminum winch housings where the cable cut into the edges. Blasted and primed , hope to get some paint on them tomorrow . Once assembled I can bolt it onto the frame and get it off the bench. J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

The weather went sideways fast today, rain just above zero, supposed to warm up. So spent some time on the winch , threaded some aluminum stock , the old one was bent and made a couple spacers for the drum. Had to rivet some brake lining material on the drum brake tab it was wore out. Got to make some gaskets tomorrow and get the worm shaft in and shimmed.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Painted my winch yesterday , left it overnight in my insulated paint booth on wheels. Used a little electric heater to keep it 77F inside overnight as the temp dropped to 23F. Another piece of the Puzzle done , next up reseal the transfer case.
J5 Bombardier