1953 REO Deuce Joins the Farm Motorpool

[TheQuaker]

This past week I brought home a 1953 REO Deuce to join her big sister M923 at the Farm.

I tracked her down back in March and waited for summer to recover her. A personal connection for me with this truck...as a kid I lived within spitting distance from the plant she was built at in downtown Lansing, MI.

We spent a couple of days prepping her and going over the major systems and then drove her 3 hours to the farm. No problems.

A mix of original parts and upgrades on her.

She's LDT powered with a D turbo (runs strong). Still has a portion of the original exhaust hanger bracket from when she was a gasser that did not get completely torched off.

A nice, clean and straight truck, especially for her age.

Enjoy the pics...

Meeting her big sister:

Deuce hood "Art":

 

[71DeuceAK]

The small world stories like that never cease to blow my mind, and I thought they happened to me often. I may be scoring an M51 at some point that's one street over from a childhood home.

Good looking truck! I see the 923 got a paint job?

 

[TheQuaker]

The small world stories like that never cease to blow my mind, and I thought they happened to me often. I may be scoring an M51 at some point that's one street over from a childhood home.

Good looking truck! I see the 923 got a paint job?

Thanks.

Agreed. It can be a small world sometimes.

Yes. I am slowing shooting the 5-ton with 30277 Camouflage Sand. I like the khaki tint of it and she looks quite good IMO.

I don't have anywhere "controlled" to paint so I am at the mercy of the wind, weather, bugs, etc. along with her actually being needed for work. So I prep and paint sections of her as I can. Now I just have to resist the temptation to go all-in on the Deuce and buckle down and get the rest of the 5-ton shot first...

I guess I should update my progress on the 923 as I have done a lot to her in the past year...will do that soon.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Definitely both looking good! Some of us civillian owners are the best things to have happened to these trucks in many years.

 

[CHIEFSONN]

Nice truck, I like that year as a matter of fact my first military truck was also a 1953 REO M35a2 made deuce with a LTD Multifule engine,Contentinal with a D turbo. air shift transfer case hard top, I then had to prep for a 300 mile trip home. all went well on the trip home with no problems.
As long as i had this truck and still do i have never come across another m35a2 with the same hinged mudflap which i like except yours.

 

[TheQuaker]

As long as i had this truck and still do i have never come across another m35a2 with the same hinged mudflap which i like except yours.

Yes, it was the only one I ever came across with hinged flaps as well.

To have them still attached and in relatively good shape is rare to say the least.

It makes our trucks very unique.

 

[m715mike]

Yes, it was the only one I ever came across with hinged flaps as well.

To have them still attached and in relatively good shape is rare to say the least.

It makes our trucks very unique.

Sir, I don’t want to highjack your thread, but I have the same mud flaps on my REO Deuce. I thought that was normal until I started meeting other Deuce owners (same thing with the box driver’s seat and wide front fenders).

 

[TheQuaker]

Hey everyone!

Sorry. I have owed you all an update for a VERY long time...

I've had a busy 9 months with my "new" REO. A big list and not everything is here but I will hit some selected high-lights:

-Scrubbed , scrubbed, scrubbed dirt, sand, lichens...whatever was all over her!!!
-Complete fluid/filter/belt change. Did both the Deuce and the 5-ton in one weekend...that's a lot of oil and other fluids!
-Blew the alternator back in August (covered that in another post). Replaced it and no problems since.
-Found out the fuel pump was running but not pumping when I changed fluids and could not get her to prime. Pump was falling apart inside the tank. Replaced it and working fine.
-Drained the fuel tank and cleaned out the sludge at the bottom at the same time when I replaced the pump . Shiny in there now!
-Installed the hard top I purchased at the same time as the truck. Disassembled the top for painting and some minor rust rehabilitation and reassembled and installed with all new hardware. Found a good price on 2 NOS gaskets so used those at install instead of any gasket makers. Turned out super! Did it all solo with no mechanical lifting assist, so yes it can be done working alone if you take it apart and take your time.
-Bypassed the FDC, turned the fuel up just a couple of flats and installed a pyrometer to keep tabs on the exhaust.
-Air governor went bad. Replaced that and the related air lines with DOT nylon. Had several small leaks with the hard lines/fittings so out they went.
-Horn solenoid started leaking. Replaced.
-New J-pipe.
-Replaced Oil pressure gauge and sender and air pressure and fuel gauges. Oil pressure gauge got fried by a short, I could not read the air pressure gauge due to scratches on the lens and the fuel gauge lens/case was cracked, didn't work and just flopped in the mounting.
-Replaced the instrument panel light lenses with new, non-clouded lenses so I can actually see the gauges at night.
-Front drive air shift switch housing cracked and started leaking air. Replaced.
-She came with no windshield wipers as she was converted at some time to electric and those were removed before I bought her. So I installed a complete new air-op wiper system.
-Added lollipop lights and wired them in as turn signals so drivers on the sides of me can see my intentions (did the same to my 5-ton). Converted the original parking lights to come on with the headlights. Did not cut the harness at all...just used the mil-spec Y splices. It wouldn't matter that much, to be honest, if I had cut into the original wiring as the wiring throughout the truck is in pretty rough shape and I have replacement front and rear harnesses hermetically sealed and waiting on the shelf for when I am ready to tackle that project.
-Added front side marker lights for additional side visibility to others.
-Added a 90 degree elbow at the air cleaner to stop rain water from collecting in the canister.
-Started dealing with the surface rust and painting her as I could depending on wind, weather and time. Had to stop for the winter but should resume soon. I am painting her in Rapco 23070 Semi-Gloss OD. It matches the original factory paint under all the thick re-coats she had over the years and really looks good on her.
-New passenger seatback and new passenger seat cover.
-Added an alcohol dryer so I could take her out over the winter when there was no salt or sale residue and still have operational brakes.
-Fixed innumerable leaks and drips and replaced more air/fuel lines, busted/rusted fasteners, gaskets/seals, etc. than I can possibly count.
-Still managed to put about 1000 miles on her even with all this going on (750 or so since the recovery drive to the farm).

Whew! More to come now that Spring has finally sprung but my 5-ton is also looking for some attention as well now. I like to stay busy on my weekends if you can't tell and I thoroughly enjoy every minute of it...



She's come a long, long way already:

7/20 vs. 4/21:

 

[SCM35A2]

Looking good!

 

[NY Tom]

Great job so far keep at it. I love that paint color.

 

[TheQuaker]

Looking good!

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

[TheQuaker]

Great job so far keep at it. I love that paint color.

Thank you.

I debated back and forth internally for awhile about what color to go with. Glad I decided as I did.


Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Nutting]

This is one nice truck. Thanks for saving it!

 

[G744]

Interesting home-made instrument panel. Some were done like this accommodate the tach et al in the original dashboard opening.

I'm partial to '53 trucks---we're the same year!

DG

 

[Mullaney]

Hey everyone!

Sorry. I have owed you all an update for a VERY long time...

I've had a busy 9 months with my "new" REO. A big list and not everything is here but I will hit some selected high-lights:

-Scrubbed , scrubbed, scrubbed dirt, sand, lichens...whatever was all over her!!!
-Complete fluid/filter/belt change. Did both the Deuce and the 5-ton in one weekend...that's a lot of oil and other fluids!
-Blew the alternator back in August (covered that in another post). Replaced it and no problems since.
-Found out the fuel pump was running but not pumping when I changed fluids and could not get her to prime. Pump was falling apart inside the tank. Replaced it and working fine.
-Drained the fuel tank and cleaned out the sludge at the bottom at the same time when I replaced the pump . Shiny in there now!
-Installed the hard top I purchased at the same time as the truck. Disassembled the top for painting and some minor rust rehabilitation and reassembled and installed with all new hardware. Found a good price on 2 NOS gaskets so used those at install instead of any gasket makers. Turned out super! Did it all solo with no mechanical lifting assist, so yes it can be done working alone if you take it apart and take your time.
-Bypassed the FDC, turned the fuel up just a couple of flats and installed a pyrometer to keep tabs on the exhaust.
-Air governor went bad. Replaced that and the related air lines with DOT nylon. Had several small leaks with the hard lines/fittings so out they went.
-Horn solenoid started leaking. Replaced.
-New J-pipe.
-Replaced Oil pressure gauge and sender and air pressure and fuel gauges. Oil pressure gauge got fried by a short, I could not read the air pressure gauge due to scratches on the lens and the fuel gauge lens/case was cracked, didn't work and just flopped in the mounting.
-Replaced the instrument panel light lenses with new, non-clouded lenses so I can actually see the gauges at night.
-Front drive air shift switch housing cracked and started leaking air. Replaced.
-She came with no windshield wipers as she was converted at some time to electric and those were removed before I bought her. So I installed a complete new air-op wiper system.
-Added lollipop lights and wired them in as turn signals so drivers on the sides of me can see my intentions (did the same to my 5-ton). Converted the original parking lights to come on with the headlights. Did not cut the harness at all...just used the mil-spec Y splices. It wouldn't matter that much, to be honest, if I had cut into the original wiring as the wiring throughout the truck is in pretty rough shape and I have replacement front and rear harnesses hermetically sealed and waiting on the shelf for when I am ready to tackle that project.
-Added front side marker lights for additional side visibility to others.
-Added a 90 degree elbow at the air cleaner to stop rain water from collecting in the canister.
-Started dealing with the surface rust and painting her as I could depending on wind, weather and time. Had to stop for the winter but should resume soon. I am painting her in Rapco 23070 Semi-Gloss OD. It matches the original factory paint under all the thick re-coats she had over the years and really looks good on her.
-New passenger seatback and new passenger seat cover.
-Added an alcohol dryer so I could take her out over the winter when there was no salt or sale residue and still have operational brakes.
-Fixed innumerable leaks and drips and replaced more air/fuel lines, busted/rusted fasteners, gaskets/seals, etc. than I can possibly count.
-Still managed to put about 1000 miles on her even with all this going on (750 or so since the recovery drive to the farm).

Whew! More to come now that Spring has finally sprung but my 5-ton is also looking for some attention as well now. I like to stay busy on my weekends if you can't tell and I thoroughly enjoy every minute of it...

View attachment 832182View attachment 832184View attachment 832185View attachment 832186View attachment 832187

She's come a long, long way already:

7/20 vs. 4/21:
View attachment 832194View attachment 832195

.
Wow! 9 months... You definitely did a lot for your girl.
Looking Good!

 

[TheQuaker]

This is one nice truck. Thanks for saving it!

Thank you.

She's coming along nicely.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

[TheQuaker]

.
Wow! 9 months... You definitely did a lot for your girl.
Looking Good!

Thanks.

Yeah, I definitely went all-in on her to the slight expense of my 5-ton TBH. The Deuce needed a lot of my attention.

But my big girl has been very understanding about it I must say.

I'm already rectifying my neglect this spring and giving my 5-ton some good TLC.

Guess I owe everyone an update on my M923 now as well...stay tuned.

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