M215/m221 build

[hendersond]

I had a top that was plywood covered with fiberglass for waterproofing.

The big question is what do you have to pull with this truck? Do I see a sweet camper thread in your future?

 

[hendersond]

So, is there a way you can make it so you can pull a goose neck trailer too?

 

[135gmc]

You were lucky to find a truck with great sheet metal - most of them are getting kinda leaky after all these years.

When you are doing any mechanical work, be careful of the muffler - they don't exist as surplus anymore. Your only option is to modify a civilian muffler. Also treat your exhaust manifold carefully - they are also getting very hard to track down.

 

[butch atkins]

i did all the hub seals and all of the brakes at one time in the yard on asheet of plywood ,not that bad ,but **** those tires were heavy,dont lay them down,prop them against the truck,a special dual tire jack is made to remove both rear duals and the brake drum at one time,if you dont have one ,dont even think about tryig to pull all that at one time,easy way to ruin the seals when you try to put all of it back on,good luck on your project,keep posting

 

[73m819]

So, is there a way you can make it so you can pull a goose neck trailer too?

I saw some truckers in cal. that pulled end dumps, thay all lived in a RV park during the job, what thay did was weld a fifth wheel pin on one side of a plate(1/2"x12"x12") and a goose neck ball on the other side, when the job ended, thay took there end dumps home (northern cal.) then came back, slipped there adpator plate into the fifth wheel jaws, then backed under the goose neck of there RV, lowered it down, locked it, hooked up chains, lights, there went the peterbuilt pulling there RV

 

[blizzardwarrior7]

Muffler?What muffler? I already took that off, I plan on running dual 5" stacks behind the cab straight piped. As for trailers the only things that I have that would work are a 28 foot 5th wheel foatbed , a couple of 10 ton equipment trailers (pintle), and a couple small car trailers(ball hitch). As for gooseneck I'm going to install a retractable ball on the plate that the 5th wheel is going to be mounted to.

Got the 5th wheel off today, along with the metal it was mounted to, pictures to come in about an hour or so. The new mounting plate for the 5th wheel is going to be 1" plate and the rear center panel will be 1 1/4" plate.

 

[135gmc]

The advantage with my 135 is single tires, but they were also 11x20's. When I did my brakes, I removed the tires, then I used an adapter I welded up that bolted onto my hydraulic floor jack and slipped over three of the brake drum wheel studs. I pulled the drums with it, then used it to reinstall the drums. It held them at the right height, and let me roll the drum back on very easily.Then I rolled the tire back into place, a wiggle with a square shovel to slide it back onto the wheel studs, and a minute with a rattle gun and it was a done deal.

The adapter was a 10x12" piece of 1/4 plate with three pieces of 1/4 x 1 1/2 flat stock welded to it that reached out to the wheel studs. I used an extra washer or two on the bottom bar to adjust for level, and burned a notch in it to clear the wheel hub. It took about an hour to build, but I never regretted the time....

 

[blizzardwarrior7]

Ok guys here are some pics!

The goofy pic that shows the crowbar attatched to the end of the engine hoist: I was too lazy to set up my overhead crane, so used the engine hoist. However, when I pryed the 5th wheel free from the last few welds, it flipped upside down onto the frame...I couldnt position the hoist in a way that it would reach, so I put the crowbar on the end...

Whoever attatched this thing must have gotten a new welder and was so excited they wanted to use it on everything....Every square inch where the hitch touched the frame or the corrugated steel, it was welded....And it had 8 3/4" bolts on top of that...Had to crank up the old gas cutoff and this was some pretty thick stuff.

**I had some fun with the 2nd picture using some new editing tools on my tablet.

***135GMC, my tires are also 11.00x20 How hard is it to get the drum off? I havent even looked, just a few bolts and a couple blows with a mallet or something? Im thinking about using a pallet jack.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Yahoo! GIT R DONE! A pallet jack is a good investment, I hate removing those big lug nuts because all I have for now is a 40" breaker bar. Some of mine were torqued to over 1000ft lbs by some trigger happy idiot. I had to use a 7 foot copper cheater pipe to break them loose. About sling shotted me across the **** yard and I am 195lbs.

What are your plans for the truck? Daily Driver? Or am I the only one eccentric enough here to use one as such? Truck is looking great, it's nice to see so many posts lately on people restoring old Jimmies. I really hope they become popular again. Most are nearing 60 years old.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Wait a minute, does your truck have a blue engine?

 

[topo]

Your fuel tank fits nice what is it off of ?

 

[blizzardwarrior7]

I tried to take the lugs off with my 3/4" drive socket set with no success I too stood on a 4 ft pipe and I weigh just over 200lbs. Indeed it does have a little blue stripe that resembles an engine under the hood. I'd love to swap it but not exactly sure where to start.

Today or tommorow I will have to drag out the big compressor and 1" drive impact to get the lugs off.

 

[blizzardwarrior7]

Good question about the fuel tank. I assumed it was the original tank, I will have to find out what it is off. And btw I plan on using mine as a DD also .

 

[m1010plowboy]

Wheel studs

If you didn't already .....check the studs for reverse thread. I think it's drivers side.

I had two veteran mechanics stand behind me....watching me try to wrench mine off for the first time.....laughing. I should have read the TM first.

Great build

 

[hendersond]

I took mine off with a big breaker bar and a 6' pipe (1.5" DOM tubing) I'm 220 and my weight was not enough sometimes. I had to lift up on the pipe. I swear the pipe had 3-4" of flex and then bang! the nuts would snap loose. The shock was so painful on my hands even with heavy gloves. I was waiting for the thing to fly apart, fortunately it did not. I'm getting the military lug wrench at the next swap meet. It is just too hard and dangerous the way I was doing it. Maybe I can find one on ebay????

 

[Gunfreak25]

It can be very nerve wracking standing on that cheater pipe. I do not enjoy it. I thought I would. I don't. A geared wrench is on the list too. That is fantastic to hear you are going to use yours as a DD. I am happy to hear there are other nuts out there like myself. Course, it helps to live in a small enough town with modern conveniences at every street corner. I use the excuse, "I want to be safe". And with AZ having the highest percentage of auto accidents in the nation, I think that is justified.

I thought I recognized that truck. Tom from Alfa Heaven was selling it, correct? It's a looker for sure, Tom knew how to take care of stuff. If memory serves that engine and tranny have under 500 miles since being fully rebuilt. Are you looking to throw a different engine/tranny in? You know what i'll suggest. 6.2/Th400. Easy as pie. I am 20 years old, never done a motor swap before and it's still easy.

Keep the pics coming.

 

[blizzardwarrior7]

I'd love the same engine combo as you, where could I pick up a 6.2. What year is your engine/tranny? I'm only 21 also. I'd love sometime for a detailed set of instructions on your swap cause I think that's the way I want to go. Got some grinding done today and a bit more painting spent about 3 hours removing the intake/exhaust manifold and replacing gaskets, pictures to comevlater tonight.

 

[butch atkins]

just a word about your lug nuts,dont let an idiot with an air wrench ruin your day,your truck is issued,HANDLE,SOCKET WRENCH,3/4 dia x 30 in long,this is all you should use to tighten/loosen your lugnuts,if you have a flat and cant change it yourself,that is SIS,(self inflicted stupidity).Tighten them yourself with this handle and you wont have this problem.Who says this?. TM 9-8024,and ORD 7 SNL G-749,good luck on all your projects

 

[blizzardwarrior7]

Well here are a few pictures....Like I said a good part of my day was taken up with removing the carb, governor, intake and exhaust manifolds....BTW, can you reinstall just the carb? Or does the governor need to be on there as well? Didnt even think to look. For whatever reason, now the truck doesnt want to start, and I think maybe has something to do with the governor.

Pictures show a tiny bit of the grinding that I did, basically just grinding down some of the welds where the hitch was attached, PITA. Welds everywhere. Trying to remove all the welds without removing material off of the frame itself. Another picture shows the back of the cab painted, all thats left is the roof and passenger side door, and the entire inside (and the frame, and the axles). The other picture shows the crappy piece of metal that the old deck was bolted (and welded) to. I've decided Im going to remove it was well, even though its welded like crazy to the frame flanges, and bolted in behind the airtanks.

As mentioned earlier, Id love to swap in a 6.2 with a th400, but until than if anyone has any info about removing the governor that would be great, and to anyone that mentions it, I CANT use the search function, for whatever reason on my tablet everytime I hit the search button and get ready to type in the search field it closes it.

 

[Gunfreak25]

If anyone wants info on doing the swap, just PM me and I would be more than happy to talk the details over with you on the phone, provide pictures, take measurements, etc. Since your M215 weighs less and has some well matched 11.00 tires, you can expect to see a minimum of 15mpg. I hope to install 11.00's in the not so distant future. They reduce RPM's by about 200 compared to the 9.00's. Which can make a big difference with a diesel's narrow power band.