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Just another new guy. I'm in Southern IL, near St. Louis.

beck

New member
40
0
0
Location
Waterloo, IL
Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for about a week now, but had not posted before. This looks like a great forum.

I'm new to the military stuff. I didn't serve my country when I was of that age. I graduated from high school in '73 and went to college for 2 yr after that. At that time no one was being drafted. The military was cutting back. I didn't inlist on my own. That means I don't have first hand information about the vehicles that are dear to you.

I had always liked the M37. I did some flea-bay shopping for one a few years ago. Then I found the chopped Deuces and fell in love. I just couldn't justify owning one to myself. Here I am down the road a few years and still love the way they look.

I came to this site looking for information on the Reo 331 gasser motor. I'm researching the motor for possible use in a land speed race car. It's called an "inliner" class. The motor has to have been designed before 1959. It has a 325 cu in limit. I figured the 331 could be destroked a little to make it legal. Currently the motor of choice in that class is a bored 302 GMC. I don't know if anyone has ever attempted to seriously hot rod a 331 Reo. The HP is in the heads. If it can flow as well as the GMC it should work.

After I got here I started looking at the Deuce hot rod trucks. I started thinking (thats dangerous for me). If I built a chopped Deuce I could play all the time. With a land speed car it is a once a year thing.

I am trying to learn some of the unique terms here. Some of the basics to everyone else here is information I am still trying to pick up. "Recovery" + "extraction", I wouldn't have considered that was the same as buying / taking home of a vehicle. I've traveled some distance to "recover" vehicles before, but local is always nice. Is there anyplace in the St. Louis area that offers these vehicles? Ft. Leonardwood or Scott AFB maybe? There used to be a place in Alton IL, but I think it is closed.

I've been a hot rodder since I was a teenager. I have built a lot of street rods. That hobby has exploded and become big bussiness. I am nearing completion of a '62 Chevy stepside 1/2 ton pickup. I put a Cummins 4bt in it. It's 2wd and lowered on a '84 Chevy pu frame. It's satin black with light yellow wheels. I haven't decided on what logo will be painted on the doors yet. It will be some form of "nose art" or speed shop logo. My next project is a '68 Mustang that I promised I would build for my youngest daughter's 16th birthday. After that, it will be a land speed racer or a Deuce. Righ now I'm leaning toward the Deuce! My truck would have to be multi fuel and turbocharged. The only thing changed would be the big singles, a single rear axle, and possibly shiney paint.

One of my motos is, "Nothing leaves my garage stock." I once cut up a '58 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud to make a custom. I'm not knocking you guys that are into the restorations. I can appreciate your efforts. It just isn't my thing.
 

EO2NMCB

Member
643
23
18
Location
DeSoto, MO
Just don't bend over in front of PC3, he's kinda light in the shoes:p

There use to be a guy in waterloo that owned 4 or 5 m35's, I think at the time he owned a uniform cleaning bus.
 
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KaiserPower

New member
85
4
0
Location
Pottsville, PA
Welcome aboard Beck... it's great to have a fellow motor-head with us... I use to build custom choppers for awhile before finding my first M35... it's like you said, "fun all the time, not just once in a while"... have fun and good luck with your first rig.:beer:

Eddy
 

beck

New member
40
0
0
Location
Waterloo, IL
Welcome from Granite City IL. My wife works in Waterloo, her company is overseeing the new High school that is being built.
My daughter will be a freshman there next year.

EO2NMCB said:
There use to be a guy in waterloo that owned 4 or 5 m35's, I think at the time he owned a uniform cleaning bus.
I think that was a Columbia business, but I'm not familiar with him.

I didn't realize there were that many guys near me here on the board. I saw 54reo was also local. How many more locals are there?

KaiserPower said:
Welcome aboard Beck... it's great to have a fellow motor-head with us... I use to build custom choppers for awhile before finding my first M35...
I was into the custom bikes for a while also. I built 4 of them. After riding about 50 miles in a day I was scared to death of getting hit so I quit them.

Two items I realized that wasn't on my wish list for my rig would be a hard top and a good cab heater. I hate being cold. It isn't near as cold as some places her in the St. Louis area but it will be 0 later this week. I don't like that!

I forgot to mention my occupation earlier. I am an electrician/instrumentation tech at a chemical plant. We make oil and gear lubes and automatic transmission fluid.
 
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