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1954 M37 paint and markings

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rookieM37

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friendship wisconsin
Hello everyone .I'm New to the military vehicle hobby.I'm getting ready to restore my 54 and I am going to have ALOT of questions. For starters , does anyone have any suggestions on a good place to get the correct paint and stencil kit for all the markings ?It was used as a firetruck so many parts were stripped. The only marking i have are on the tailgate that was never repainted.What were the numbers on the front bumper and what should i put there ? THANKS
 
NDT

NDT

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Paint: Rapcoparts.com Stencils: militarystencils.com Parts: vintagepowerwagons.com The numbers on the front bumper and rear bumperettes are unit markings. You may be able to sand carefully and find them under layers of paint. The tailgate should have two 4" white stars to the lower right and left, and the Army registration number somewhere in the middle. Good luck and post pics as you go!
 
bulldog_mack13

bulldog_mack13

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Welcome ot the site, alot of this can be turned up in serches on here. The questions come up alot.

Heres some pictures of my old 52' , it wasnt fully done all the way with markings when thease pictures were taken but its a start. Its missing the yellow circle on the doors with the 4. And a couple others. I wasnt finished with with markings or equipment but I wanted to get some snow pictures.

Your numbers on the hood are your trucks registration numbers if your going with the correct 54' markings. Your bumper numbers can be what ever unit and truck numbers you want. -Jay
 

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stoney_bogg

Member
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ohio
For decals or stencils try
Delta Team Decals
Has both for a good price for M37, M715, and deuces.
There also are some good pictures of vehicles at his site.
Military Stencils.com has a more complete set also.
 
nattieleather

nattieleather

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If you sand the bumper down slowly and carefully you may be able to pull up the original unit or bumper markings. If being orignial doesn't matter of if you can not find the markings because they were removed by the FD in a repainte etc. then what you can do is pick a unit that you want to honor. Maybe a relatives unit when they served? Maybe your own if you're a vet? Then mark the vehicle as you think best. It's your truck no one will fault you if you decide to mark it with your uncle cousins half brother inlaws unit from germany in 1963.... :)
 
Mike_L

Mike_L

Member
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Marion, IN
Welcome.

A lot of folks go with the Gillespie (GCI) brand handled by Rapco. A few go with the Aervoe but most use GCI. Everyone seems to have their favorite primer system too. Frequently, a lot go with local sources for primer. Lots of discussion threads on those points.

Pretty much same with stencils. Militarystencils.com (Rick Larsen) is pretty popular though I know quite a few just go to their local print/stencil shops and have them made up. Shop around. Rick seems to be the preferred.

Parts are all over the place for these. VPW as NDT mentioned probably has the largest selection in one place. ABLinn (ebay dealer), Midwest Military (John Bizal in MN), Adirondack Dodge (NY), and many more. You have the Iola show in August that you can find just about any part made for these trucks.

If you haven't already, visit the G741.org site. All about the M37 series trucks and variants. Also, take a look at the registry and see where your truck fits in. And, by all means, it is strongly encouraged to add your truck to the registry. Quite a few of us haunt both sites but the registry is an added bonus that helps us all.

Good luck with it and hope to see photos of it soon.
 
3dAngus

3dAngus

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Perry, Ga.
Do you ever see M37's at GL anymore. My dad used to drive one in Alaska back in the late 50's and I would like to get one and finish it in his honor. I have pics, but they are not digitized, of a hunting trip he took a M37 on. If I can get the pic digitized somehow, I will put copies up.
 
67Beast

67Beast

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Silver Lake Sand Dunes MI.
Here is the direct link for my Delta Team Decals, Homepage I make all the decals from a 7 year outdoor material and the paint mask sets are made from a special low tack masking material. When compaired to the other "well known" decal guy, you'll find that my kits are half the price and provide more markings than his.

Here is the link for the resto job I did on my 53' M37 Dodge M37 It is painted with Gillespies OD #24087 and marked with a paint mask set that I sell.

Good luck and have fun.
 
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m376x6

m376x6

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Colorado
Just an alternative for you. I have found that over the many years and trucks I have restored that everyones paint oxidizes (chalks out) regularly. I've found that taking a piece of the truck that has the color you want to paint the truck down to the nearest Home Depot or Lowe's and having them scan it and getting it loaded into any number of gallons of semi gloss oil based enamel works just as good and saves you shipping and quite a bit over the cost of each gallon from some of these suppliers. There were a couple of colors used on the Dodges and David Doyle has done some exceptional research into this and has all the info on the correct period color for the M37 series. It would be a big help to you to search out this info here on this site. Good luck, these trucks are a blast and are a really neat part of history.
 
J

joseph m37

Member
26
27
13
Location
michigan
rookieM37 said:
Hello everyone .I'm New to the military vehicle hobby.I'm getting ready to restore my 54 and I am going to have ALOT of questions. For starters , does anyone have any suggestions on a good place to get the correct paint and stencil kit for all the markings ?It was used as a firetruck so many parts were stripped. The only marking i have are on the tailgate that was never repainted.What were the numbers on the front bumper and what should i put there ? THANKS
Click to expand...
 
J

joseph m37

Member
26
27
13
Location
michigan
joseph m37 said:
go to delta team decals, great place to do business with
Click to expand...
hey guys just a little heads up, we just finished rebuilding our second M37, had the engine rebuilt machined etc., we were able to pull out the water distribution tube, a lot of guys ignore this part, ill tell you what we found. inside the the water distribution tube were 2 pieces of solder stuck at the very end, by cylinder #6, we were able to get them out with a steel rod,they were the size of a large thumbnail,they definitely would stopped coolant getting to #6,this was something that must have happened during assembly, this engine was never rebuilt, so if anyone rebuilds an engine definitely look inside this tube they may be difficult to remove,usually rusted in place, but definitely try to remove them or at least look inside,or your whole rebuild may get scrapped
 
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