Scott's LMTV build thread.

[Sgthoffer]

Hi Folks, I am new here. I bought a 1998 Stewart & Stephenson 1078 LMTV from Indiana. I drove there in my personal truck with a friend of mine and I drove the LMTV to my house while my friend followed me in my F150. I have not noticed alot of things mechanically wrong with it, but it does have a ton of missing parts for the cosmetic side. I am not sure if this is going to turn into a camper build or if this will be a restore so I can drive it to car shows while the wife takes her car to shows. I am considering just making an off road camper on a 1082 so I can keep the truck original. I have always wanted a military vehicle and this was my chance to get one at a decent price so I jumped at it and now have one. I could not be happier. Below are photos I took of it the day after I got it home.



Picture above is on the drive home stopping for fuel twice in the LMTV.



The dash is not in all that bad of shape. Just needs cleaned a little.



My selfie to the wife.. because when I found out about this truck.. I left work to go get it. We ended up not getting to see each other for about 30 hours straight and it was a long drive back at 55mph.



The front, appears to be missing the shackles and the grill is broken. I have looked and cannot find a grill anywhere. I need one if anyone has one in new or newish condition. The windshield has some scratched from running broken wipers on it, pure neglect issue that make me angry. Not sure if that can be buffed out or if I will need new glass. Drivers side mirror missing, that sucked driving home using that tiny mirror on the arm.



Cab left, door handle broken. I ordered a new set with matching keys from ebay. Seller said he updated shipping to 3 day priority because he was on vacation when I ordered them. I have not gotten them yet but cannot wait for them to come in.



Entire left side, you can see it is missing everything from the bed of the truck. I have looked online but it appears to be cheaper to either A buy another LMTV and get parts from it, or B, buy a 1082 and take the parts of the bed of that. I may not need parts if I decide to do the camper build.



Picture of the left side.. front tires a worn some.. I will need to replace those at some point. I will probably repair everything and then put 4 new tires on it.



passenger back corner



drivers back corner



Drivers side.. door handle missing (on the way) and a few dents in the trim above the tire. Missing mirror.

 

[Sgthoffer]

Roof damage, I am guessing maybe they tried to go to McDonalds in it lol.



The LMTV compared to my ford in the driveway. Makes my f150 look like a baby.









Windshield damage, do you think that will buff out? Suggestions of how to fix it?

 

[Sgthoffer]

So you can see this clearly was a 101st ABN truck, but I cannot tell what unit.. Do you recognize the unit, It is almost completely blocked out on it and I can't tell.
I am really stoked this came from the 101st, because I was in the 101st while in the military.

 

[1951M1078]

Get the DA out with some 320. My truck was in the 3rd. CAV,8th. CAV and 13th. something ? Its the letter on the door that I don't know ? AX on one a /60 on the other ?

And always take lots of photo's !

Look great.

 

[Sgthoffer]

The interior is not terrible, but the seats are so bad they need thrown in the trash. Vent is missing in one of the panels, couple buttons missing from the heater panel, The labels are all scuffed to the point you cannot read them and the floor insulation has been cut out and completely missing. I ordered these parts to repair alot of the things wrong with it and upgrade some of the other parts..



Bought this winch panel, going to mount by switches, CB and radio in this panel.



Going to use this cab mount for antenna for my CB antenna mount.



Got this to replace one of the labels that is missing.



New vent to replace the missing one.



New cab insulation



New steering wheel, mine is crooked and a little messed up.. has a sticky feel to it.



New door handles



new ignition switch so It uses a key to start it.



new beacon light, the one I drove in Iraq had one.. Thought I needed one too. (this was delivered a couple days ago)



New windshield diffuser, mine is super dirty and solid metal where you cannot see through it.

 

[Sgthoffer]

ordered new seats for all three seats.. mine are in such bad shape they need thrown away.





Ordered a map box, the one I drove in Iraq had one in it. I don't think they came with these but I am not sure. I just wanted it to match pictures and memories of mine from Iraq.



Got a new floor mat for the drivers side. Did they not have floor mats on the passenger side?

 

[Sgthoffer]

Get the DA out with some 320. My truck was in the 3rd. CAV,8th. CAV and 13th. something ? Its the letter on the door that I don't know ? AX on one a /60 on the other ?

And always take lots of photo's !

Look great.

What is DA? The spray paint covering it? and what is 320? Sandpaper? Sorry.. I am new to this.. I drove one of these for 2 weeks at the end of my enlistment in Iraq. I was an infantry grunt. Don't expect me to be bright

 

[wheelspinner]

Sharkbait in Charleston WV had a whole sets of bed sides. I pinged him to see if he still did.

 

[Sgthoffer]

Sharkbait in Charleston WV had a whole sets of bed sides. I pinged him to see if he still did.

I hope he does. Wife hates the flatbed look compared to the way the other ones look with the side panels. that is close enough I could make a trip to get them.

 

[NormB]

Outstanding. Congratulations. sounds like it went to a good home.

Keep the pictures coming.

Norm

 

[Sgthoffer]

YAY.. some parts came today! Exciting..

So for those who have replaced the carpet, how do you get it to layout flat? heat gun? Warm day? what is the best way to get it to take the shape of the interior?
The interior in mine is completely missing the carpet, floor mats, etc.. appears to be cut out of it because you can see where it was under the center seat. (they cut around it)

 

[utahpow]

I know you probably checked, but thought to ask --- there are no bed sides in the holder-compartment thing in the back?

I need the link to the door handles if you don't mind PM'ing me that? Thanks

 

[Sgthoffer]

I know you probably checked, but thought to ask --- there are no bed sides in the holder-compartment thing in the back?

I need the link to the door handles if you don't mind PM'ing me that? Thanks

I checked.. empty

The ladder is still there though which is a plus.

 

[wheelspinner]

I hope he does. Wife hates the flatbed look compared to the way the other ones look with the side panels. that is close enough I could make a trip to get them.

Yep he has everything. PM me for his number. Great guy

 

[Shark Bait]

I hope he does. Wife hates the flatbed look compared to the way the other ones look with the side panels. that is close enough I could make a trip to get them.

I cleared my message box out. It was full.

 

[1951M1078]

Its a type of sander. Just sand easy and just burn through the cover paint.

 

[Crapgame]

Welcome Aboard, Sarge! I was a 5-0-Deuce myself, Bastard Bde. My own M1081 LVAD is going to be a 5th SFG War Pig Gun Truck. I haven't decided if I am keeping the original bed hardware/troop seats or keep it on hand to use without the Expeditionary POL Racks.

Any chance of using acetone to wipe the **** Oblitterating Compound off the original unit markings to see which BCT it belonged to?

Edit: Suprman has some A1 all metal grilles on the way.

 

[coachgeo]

Did I see that you have the *updated Air Dryer in your items you ordered? If not check with Will aka Suprman

*Located by Battery box on chassis. Old has a finned casing. Newer one does not.

 

[Sgthoffer]

Welcome Aboard, Sarge! I was a 5-0-Deuce myself, Bastard Bde. My own M1081 LVAD is going to be a 5th SFG War Pig Gun Truck. I haven't decided if I am keeping the original bed hardware/troop seats or keep it on hand to use without the Expeditionary POL Racks.

Any chance of using acetone to wipe the **** Oblitterating Compound off the original unit markings to see which BCT it belonged to?

Edit: Suprman has some A1 all metal grilles on the way.

I will try that. Thanks for the heads up. If you were able to recreate a war pig, that would be awesome. Would steal the show at parades etc in my opinion. I need a grill badly. I will check with him.

 

[Sgthoffer]

Did I see that you have the *updated Air Dryer in your items you ordered? If not check with Will aka Suprman

*Located by Battery box on chassis. Old has a finned casing. Newer one does not.

I did not have an updated air dryer. I was not aware at this point they needed one installed. I will check tonight and see if mine is updated or not. Can you send a pic of what I am looking for?