Bonedoc's M35A2 modification thread

[bonedoc]

Well at the suggestion of a few others I figured I'd start a mod thread for my deuce. As many of you may or may not know I just picked up my deuce the weekend of July 31st and June 1st from Steel Soldiers member FORD MECHANIC in north Carolina. Here is the link to my recovery thread which was a blast and fortunately went without mishap. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...-Deuce-weekend-of-May-31-and-June-1&highlight=

So this thread will contain any mods, repairs, and changes I do to my deuce. So last night after work I was able to finally get started. So I did a few simple things. Installed my locking door handles on my doors. The original handles had one vertical and one horizontal. I choose to install both horizontal as it made the most sense to me as you reach up to the handle to rotate it down and then pull to open. Here are a few before and after pics.
I also installed my new airhorn solenoid which went easily and now have a horn.
I will keep posting pics as I go.

Thanks

Harold

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Truck looks great you'll get it going soon enough. If you need help you know I'm not far

 

[Valence]

You bring up a simple yet good point about the direction of the handles in relation to grabbing them, turning downward and then opening the door. I have the same or similar locking handles but now will consider your sound reasoning to moving them from their current vertical orientation to a horizontal position...

 

[skinnyR1]

Nice!

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Hey man how do you like the horn note? Awsome ain't it? PM me your adress so I can mail you the origanal horns and my record book.

 

[bonedoc]

Horn sounds great!! I'll P.M. you the address. I'm posting some other pics as well.

 

[bonedoc]

Okay, well got a few more small things done yesterday. Hopefully later today I'll be able to work on it some more.

Yesterday I installed new H4 headlights that I got from those military guys, new rubber pedal pads, new speedometer cable, and a set of airtank drains. All went well, except I had a bit of trouble with on of the airtanks that had a nipple installed in it. That was really stuck, ended up soaking it with a little PB, stuck a large allen key inside of it then grabbed it with vise grips. The allen key kept it from crushing completely under the vise grips and was able to spin it right out.
Hope fully today I'll get started on removing my air compressor. Need to install a new base gasket plus my fuel sending unit and valve cover breather are seeping so gonna seal those up.

Here are some pics.

 

[bonedoc]

Here are some pics of the airtank drain install.

First pic is the original set up, second is the nipple. Then all done, I just need to shorten the cables.

 

[FloridaAKM]

Good idea for draining the air tanks without getting under the truck to do so. The Deuce I have has two different drain valves, one with the petcock that you turn like yours & one that unscrews to dump the water. Your headlamp conversion looks really good too, do you feel it is worth it? The original head lamps leave much to be desired as far as lighting up the roadway @ night & when there is a reasonable replacement. I'm all ears! Enjoy your truck, it seems to be a keeper!

 

[bonedoc]

Good idea for draining the air tanks without getting under the truck to do so. The Deuce I have has two different drain valves, one with the petcock that you turn like yours & one that unscrews to dump the water. Your headlamp conversion looks really good too, do you feel it is worth it? The original head lamps leave much to be desired as far as lighting up the roadway @ night & when there is a reasonable replacement. I'm all ears! Enjoy your truck, it seems to be a keeper!

I like the air tank drains as well. Allows you to do it without crawling under the truck and at 6'4" it makes that easier. The headlight conversion was really simple. I feel it was well worth it. The pair of lights from those military guys was about 55.00. Seemed like a relatively inexpensive upgrade without taking the next step to LEDs or HIDs. The come with marked wires and all that is needed to swap them is a flat head screwdriver and some dielectric grease.

 

[olly69]

Great idea about the drains. Where did you get them? PB is a life saver!

 

[bonedoc]

I ordered them from an online vendor. They are an inexpensive mod. I ordered mine from Big Mike's motorpool. Definitely look around as I found that his kit wasn't complete. You only get the valves and then need to locate and purchase the elbow, strap for cable, and bolt that mounts the strap. Not a big deal but, I later found other vendors that sold a complete kit with everything needed. I'm happy with mine and the end result was the same, just would of had less running around if I had purchased a 'complete' kit.

 

[ls1rocker]

Truck is looking good, really like those headlights.
I got my air drain valves from NAPA - part #12-820 I believe, ran $11 a piece, just for future reference

 

[bonedoc]

Okay well in spite of the work schedule and unending rain here I managed to get a few things done today.

First off, I was able to seal up my fuel sending unit, which once I removed it I discovered it never had a gasket on it to begin with. And a gasket with a light film of RVT on both sides and new socket head screws. Also got my valve cover breather sealed up as well as that was seeping some oil, sealed that up with new gaskets and a little RVT as well.

The other thing I did was install a few parts from those military guys. I ordered their blinker buzzer and magnetic cup holder. The installation of the blinker was really simple, remove cover, swap the bulb. Now if you reinstall the green cover as it was it really muffles the buzzer and with the deuce running, even with a muffler it is barely audible. So I drilled 4 1/8" holes around the sides, they really are barely noticeable and the volume of the buzzer is almost as loud as without the cover all together.
The magnetic cup holder is well...very east to install...lol. It holds tightly and I would imagine that if you wanted to yo ucould easily drill a couple mount holes and mount it permanently if needed. I really wish I had this for my 400+ mile recovery trip several weeks a go.

Still haven't gotten to my compressor removal to do the base and mount gaskets. Hopefully that will be this weekend. Will photo that one as well.

 

[peashooter]

That cup holder is a neat idea. Looks like the harborfreight spray can holder, is there a good spot to mount it in the truck if you have a stock bench seat still?

 

[bonedoc]

That cup holder is a neat idea. Looks like the harborfreight spray can holder, is there a good spot to mount it in the truck if you have a stock bench seat still?

You know it does look just like it. I'll double check when I get home later as I don't recall taking note to if the screwdriver holes go all the way through. Bottom line I don't know if it is re painted one from harbor freight or it was copied from. Either way it is a cool idea and works well.
I'll have to check on space with stock seat, can't speak for that. I was even thinking of sticking it to the glove box door as it is easily removable if needed.

 

[rustystud]

That cup holder is a neat idea. Looks like the harborfreight spray can holder, is there a good spot to mount it in the truck if you have a stock bench seat still?

Yes Aaron I believe it is the same thing. Only the green one goes for $25.00 while the Harbor Freight one goes for $8.99 . I do have a problem with people who gouge others who don't know better. It's one thing to spend time and research and find a solution for a problem no one else has found and then make a little profit on it, it's another to take a widely known companies product and say it's yours and charge almost 3 times the amount.

 

[peashooter]

Thosemilitaryguys do seem to make/offer some clever and usefull products for a reasonable price. I think I'll try out that cup holder idea myself on my next visit to HF. I like that it isn't permanent. Really even at $25 that isn't a bad price for it painted and all. It's sometimes amazing harbor freight can make a profit on some items since the prices are so low. There is a lot of good value on much of their stuff, even if you just end up using them once or twice they are often cheaper to buy @ HF than to rent somewhere else. Of course they have the items that aren't worth using even once also but they have a nice customer review section on each product that gives the honest truth and is only edited for the "potty mouths".

 

[bonedoc]

View attachment 498494View attachment 498495

Yes Aaron I believe it is the same thing. Only the green one goes for $25.00 while the Harbor Freight one goes for $8.99 . I do have a problem with people who gouge others who don't know better. It's one thing to spend time and research and find a solution for a problem no one else has found and then make a little profit on it, it's another to take a widely known companies product and say it's yours and charge almost 3 times the amount.

I understand your point. I did look at the unit this a.m. and it has the holes in the bottom for screwdrivers and such to go all the way through. It definitely looks like a repainted version. While I have to say it is a cool functional idea, if I had know of the harbor freight unit I likely would of bought that and a 3.00 can of spray paint and made my own. But unfortunately I didn't, nor did I think up the idea to repurpose it. I'm not against anyone coming up with an idea, repurposing something and then selling it and I'm all for supporting local, U.S. small businesses. From a business standpoint, when you figure the cost to purchase, paint, package, and shipping, 25.00 isn't a bad price nor as much of a gouging as implied, especially since if you needed to order this from Harbor Freight you would be paying an additional $5.00 plus to ship it, unless you got a free ship coupon.
I don't know if this forum has one but the jeep forum I'm part of does and that is a thread that is just full of inexpensive/near free mods or repurposing of items that people have come up with and want to share with the community. That could be a good idea if it doesn't already exist.

 

[rustystud]

Thosemilitaryguys do seem to make/offer some clever and usefull products for a reasonable price. I think I'll try out that cup holder idea myself on my next visit to HF. I like that it isn't permanent. Really even at $25 that isn't a bad price for it painted and all. It's sometimes amazing harbor freight can make a profit on some items since the prices are so low. There is a lot of good value on much of their stuff, even if you just end up using them once or twice they are often cheaper to buy @ HF than to rent somewhere else. Of course they have the items that aren't worth using even once also but they have a nice customer review section on each product that gives the honest truth and is only edited for the "potty mouths".

I agree Aaron, Harbor Freight does have some good products. You just need some common sense when buying there tools. I bought a small rollaway tool box for $200.00. It has turned out to be an excellent unit. I even smashed it to the ground (accidently) and it still works fine, after straightening the top.