Hardtops and Heaters

[hendersond]

Please share pics of your GMC HARDTOPS and HEATERS! An appropriate request from a Wisconsonite as we head into late fall. I have only seen 2 different heaters so far, both this week. Seems to be quite a variety of hardtops. Let us see what is out there.

Close ups of corners, curves and seams would be nice as well as above shots.

Dan

 

[hendersond]

My hardtop Windshield frame and cab back panel. The cap is green and the back panel is white. They were poth primed and painted as pictured. No olive drab anywhere. I assume they must have been after market???? I have seen one other exactly the same in a picture once. I wonder who made it. There is a 1/2 x 2" solid flat cold rolled steel flat that sits between the windshield frame and cap. The windshield frames look the same between canvas and hardtop with the exception of the curved front panel for the rag top is not there. That panel is spot welded on.
You may notice the body work. Someone else lifted the complete cab with a strap adound the top.
Maccus and Hndrsnj found perfect ragtop windshield frame in WY for me. The red one is going to be stripped as it is rusted thru.

 

[GTO Tiger]

Hendersond,
Attached is a pic of the heater under the hood of my 17 year old son's 1962 M51 5 ton dump truck. Engine is the Continental R6602 gasser.

The heater is an engine coolant to air heat exchanger which is the common type used in automobiles. Note the coolant hoses running over the engine to the unit. Also note the blower is attached to the heat exchanger and the flexible air ducting running from the engine compartment side panel to the heater and then to the firewall.

 

[hendersond]

Here is my heater. Very simple. One wire fron an on/off switch to the enclosed fan. It bolts to firewall. need to drill a couple 1" holes for the nipples to pass into the engine compartment. # 1/4" studs secure it to the firewall. It hooks up to 3/4" heater hoses. It looks like you close the little doors to direct heat. The defrost duct slips under the dash and directs air to blow on the windshied. The hoses were about 2" diameter spiral wound wire inside a cloth tube. The air duct hoses are not shown as they had rotted away.

 

[wreckerman893]

One of the great ironies I have found in buying deuces is that 99% of all the deuces I have seen sold out of FL have heaters........but I bought a bunch out of Indiana and Ohio that didn't.

Some things never make sense.

 

[hendersond]

One of the great ironies I have found in buying deuces is that 99% of all the deuces I have seen sold out of FL have heaters........but I bought a bunch out of Indiana and Ohio that didn't.

Some things never make sense.

While we are trying to use our hands to thaw a tiny spot to see out of. You never realize how much moisture exits your body thru your breath until you cough in a M715 ragtop driving thru a wisconsin intersection at 50mph, and then you realize how fast it freezes on the windshield.

 

[hendersond]

I'm told there is a GMC heater that used the hole in the Left side of the hood?

 

[Darwin T]

for the late 60 on the deuces have 2 basic under the hood cab heaters that i know of. one is a collant heater that gets it heat from the radiator and is only as hot as the collant. then there is the fuel fired heater that gets it fuel from the fuel tank and heats up fast and hot. i have a collant heater in both of my M35a2's and a fuel fired heater in the boxes it came in the back of my M109a3 along with the fuel fired heater for the box on the M109a3, neither is installed. it just does not get that cold for that long down here.

 

[jasonjc]

No heater but here are some shot of a military hard top. Oh the last one is my new puppy

 

[hendersond]

Thanks for the picures Jasonjc. What material is the roof made of? It looks kind of thick in the pictures. Is this on a M135 or 211?

 

[jasonjc]

It's on a M135 and it is made of sheet metal (steel). I'd guess it's about as thick as the boady panels (16ga). I can try to measure it if you need me to. It's a military hard top.

Funny thing is the tag says it for 2 1/2ton 6X6 M133 series must be a type O.

 

[hendersond]

I believe the the M133 may have been a Canadian kitchen truck or a US single wheel cab and chassis much like the M135 only without a bed. Does it have a bed or any angle iron brackets to mount one? Is it US or canadian?
Maybe someone else can shed some light on this.

 

[hendersond]

Here is a picture of a home made hard top. It is a standard ragtop frame with some 1x oak cleats screwed to the front and side panels with a center rib running front to back. The back and top are 1/4" plywood. The entire exterior is covered with glass mat and resin. It was very strong. I could actually stand on it. It probably was very nice in its day. Unfortunately the cab laid on its back in the elements and collected water. As a result, the plywood was delaminating.

The truck belonged to another Minnesota fire department and was sold at auction. The buyer lived in a town that did not want it parked in a residental area. He removed the cab and sold it to a hotrodder who had intentions of setting it on a Dodge pick up frame and making a rattod out of it. He lost interest and listed the cab, front clip and radiator on ebay where I purchased it. I tried to contact the original purchaser to get a hold of the chassis an A-frame but it had long gone to the scrap yard. He mailed me the pictures and title.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Lids and heaters

I'll get better pics of the plumbing on the heater and how it's set up on my truck . . . . . . It's not original but works great.

There's also a few left in the bush, cool old shots.


Spare lids in the field.

 

[butch atkins]

the resources section has my copy of TB 9-2855-40,personel heater kit hot water 24v for the G-749 series of trucks ,alsoTB 9-2855-17,instructions for installation of hard top kit for G-749 series of trucks,if you cant download them PM me and i can mail you a paper copy,you can use an M35 heater kit and have 99% of the parts you need,the hard part to find is the defroster part that bolts to the windshield,good luck on your project

 

[MWMULES]

My GI issue hard top was lined with a thick dense foam. It was glued to the inside, mine was hard and decomposing. I had been looking for replacement foam and the light came on, it is the same stuff GI sleeping mats are made of.

 

[hendersond]

MWMULES, thanks for turning the light on for me too!
I just peeled the same hard stuff out of my cab.

 

[Oldfart]

Our M220 spent its life in Yuma AZ before we got it. No heater and defroster, but it has dual roof mounted AC's on the van body. Cab hard top is original. I have seen an engine coolant heater mounted on the driver's side just inside the fender panel on an Early Deuce Forest Service Fire truck. I think it was actually for an early M35 gasser. I have been told the original Early Deuce cab heater was actually gas fired and mounted under the driver's floor board. ~~ The Army went so far as to remove the gas fired van body heater (probably when they installed the dual roof mount AC's). Clearly they did not see any need for heat or defrost in Yuma.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Heaters

Hendersond, was that heater in your truck when you got it? It's so similar to one I saw laying in the bush.

What do you know about it?

It's obviously not the one in the TM's so 'thinking out loud' is it possible some of the trucks got farmed out and IH or somebody else put heaters in .....more then one truck.

I haven't seen two the same yet. Real nice, another learning curve.

If one try's to 'authenticate' a truck with heat, maybe there's more then the TM option. Cool

 

[hendersond]

It was mounted in a cab when I got it. It has only one coat of primer and 1 coat of white paint that matches the back window panel of the top. I assume it may be from an aftermarket winter kit???? Mine is a little different than yours.