I had to look all the way back to page 12 to find this thread. There is finally some news to report on the '68 M123A1C. I travelled to Pennsylvania last month to work on the truck and get it ready for the big ATCA truck show in Macungie Father's day weekend. Since most of the paint and assembly was done last year this was going to be a relatively easy week. The main task was to get all the lights installed and working. Last year we got the fenders and grille installed but ran out of time for the wiring. The wires on this truck are in relatively good condition, but the harnesses are a mess, with lots of cut wires and disconnected wires. Still, somehow most everything worked before we disassembled it.
The first job was to get the truck running after it had not been started in over a year. I was afraid the batteries would be dead, but I hit the switch and it started right up. That was easy ! After painting the parking and tail lights it was time to install the front parking light guards. One of the previous owners had welded up the original bolt holes for the guards, so those holes had to be drilled out, including the one inch hole for the harness. Once the guards and lights were installed we just had to plug in the harnesses and we had lights. The hardest part of this was figuring out the military light switch !
The rear lights were a bit more of a challenge. This truck did not have any tail lights on it when we bought it. The tail lights were mounted on the sander that was removed. To mount the tail lights I had to fabricate brackets for them. After looking at some photos I was able to examine a friend's M123 and make a pattern. However, I discovered that the original brackets were made of much heavier steel than what I planned to use, so my brackets are just cheap repros lol. I'm looking for the real McCoy if anyone has any. However, everything looks good installed.
After wiring the tail lights I had lights and turn signals. But when the sander was on the truck the brake lights were separate from the tail lights, so the brake light signal did not come through the turn signal circuit like it should have. The wire from the brake light switch ran directly to the brake lights. So I ran a wire from the brake light switch (all the way at the rear of the truck) to the turn signal switch on the steering column. Now I had brake lights, er well only the left one worked, but both turn signals work, and the brake lights get their power thru the turn signal circuit., or they are supposed to. So both brake lights should work, but they don't. I decided this was something I could troubleshoot later.
I had the truck hauled to the show in Macungie and had a great time there. I got several nice compliments on the truck. However the Wheels of Liberation Collection where I have been storing the truck is moving, so I lost my covered storage. I am looking for a reasonable ride from Gettysburg PA to Mims, Florida for the truck.
