I found a M54A2 for sale, need advice

[longgunreaper]

IM new here fellas and ladies and heres the deal, ive been looking for a M35A2 for a long time, had a friend refer me to a company selling a deuce, I went and checked it out and wow! I served as a mechanic in the Corps, worked on many 809 series, I noticed 10 lugs not 6, long front fenders and a huge winch, shes a big girl, not a deuce. I read the tag barely and shes a M54A2 w/w. it has a multi fuel, turbo'ed, seats are destroyed but ok, dash has simple modifications I can repair back to original, the owner says the truck goes through brake fluid like crazy but no visible leak, ill find it. but it only does 45 mph, it has a stick pattern like a pickup not like the 809 series I know, I'm a diesel engine tech by trade but I can do anything to a big truck, it makes no sense to me to trade out tranny's to get more speed, final drive is final drive, what am I missing? is this a monster geared at 10.00 to 1 or something crazy? I want a project but not a 20K project, they want $2000.00 for the truck that's it, it runs and drives, power steering works, only the brake issue and the pto shaft for the winch fell out, easy fix and a couple hundred bucks. Advice?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Welcome to the forum. From the factory the m54a2 has a direct drive transmission with 4th and 5th gears opposite of the m809 series' shift pattern. To lower the RPM and gain a little top speed you can swap the direct drive for the overdrive unit found in m809 series trucks as well the m39a1 mack powered 5 tons. $2000 seems like a fair enough price for what you described.

 

[longgunreaper]

whats the input shaft size on that tranny? I have a spicer 7 speed that will fit the truck, I did a clutch once on a 813 in around 98, ive seen many many trannys, I don't know what the input shaft was! I do know you don't leave the driver door open, I got out from under the truck hit my head on the door corner and got 6 stitches!!!

 

[longgunreaper]

I mostly do big trucks with 2 " input shafts, the smaller trannys are 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 " my 7 speed can have either and parts are easy to get and inexpensive, I can make it to fit behind the multi fuel

 

[Bill Nutting]

Welcome aboard. You stumbled into the best place to treat your sickness... Opps, I mean you're in a really good place to enjoy this hobby. What other car/truck collector hobby can you even consider getting in for $2,000.00? It's crazy, you can't buy a rust pile pick up with 200,000 miles on it for that kind of cash. I picked up a 31,000 lb, M934 with 5k miles on it. Paid 10 cents a pound for it and drove it 1,000 miles home in sub zero weather. There is no other hobby like this one! Ya'all come back now.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Good luck, buy it! Welcome to the hobby, it is incredibly fun and there are great people here.

 

[topo]

Input shaft is 1 3/4 the transmission sits very close to the frame on the right side a wider transmission may not fit .
bell housing is SAE# 2

 

[BEASTMASTER]

hey topo, good idea with the pvc pipe. I've got a few scars on the old noggin from leaving the door open too. I'm gonna whip me up a piece of that pipe tomm.
thanks for the idea.

 

[longgunreaper]

does anyone have a pic of the left side of the dash of the m54? I want it original no chrome toggles. I looked today at the truck again. it is a direct 5 speed and has to go, seats are destroyed but its only money, but they have a toggle under the upper power switch, whats it supposed to look like? it has a continental multifuel with a turbo ive not seen on any sites, it has an exhaust housing with a extended housing to the left, WHAT IS IT?

 

[lindsey97]

If a M809 series trans bolts in, then those can be had for less than $1k new in the can. Original seats are plentiful. If you desire a higher top end, consider super single tires, as you will probably need newer tires in order to be safe anyways with a vehicle of that vintage.

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[98G]

does anyone have a pic of the left side of the dash of the m54? I want it original no chrome toggles. I looked today at the truck again. it is a direct 5 speed and has to go, seats are destroyed but its only money, but they have a toggle under the upper power switch, whats it supposed to look like? it has a continental multifuel with a turbo ive not seen on any sites, it has an exhaust housing with a extended housing to the left, WHAT IS IT?

I should have dash pics available tomorrow. (M52A2, should be the same)

 

[SCM35A2]

Welcome to the site, new member myself & this site is awesome!

 

[longgunreaper]

I am going super singles and yes the tires on the rig are junk, a air ride seat is in the garage waiting bolt holes, im going to bob this truck found springs and hardware for a good price, will install a 105 bed cause i want it, what i cant find is a spare tire rack to mount behind the cab in front of the bed. replacing the 6352 tranny for a 6453 o/d model, different shift pattern but its the one I know and the one I want. this truck has the multifuel engine not the cummins, ive looked and measured the front end and it seems I can fit a cummins or a modified c model cat engine in this truck, yes the hood is shorter but theres 18 inches from the fan to the radiator. ive done many many big truck conversions and 18 inches is a mile when your talking about stuffing a space shuttle booster in a chevy vega!

 

[longgunreaper]

thank you, I want the dash original

 

[red]

I am going super singles and yes the tires on the rig are junk, a air ride seat is in the garage waiting bolt holes, im going to bob this truck found springs and hardware for a good price, will install a 105 bed cause i want it, what i cant find is a spare tire rack to mount behind the cab in front of the bed. replacing the 6352 tranny for a 6453 o/d model, different shift pattern but its the one I know and the one I want. this truck has the multifuel engine not the cummins, ive looked and measured the front end and it seems I can fit a cummins or a modified c model cat engine in this truck, yes the hood is shorter but theres 18 inches from the fan to the radiator. ive done many many big truck conversions and 18 inches is a mile when your talking about stuffing a space shuttle booster in a chevy vega!

855 series Cummins and the C15/3406 CAT's won't fit. When I had a m51a2 parked next to my m816 I checked that out (could get my hands on another NHC250 for cheap at the time). The pulley's from the NHC250 would be in the radiator on the m51a2. There's a reason the manufacturer spent the modern day equivalent of millions to redesign the m39 series to the m809 series and the front end extension was a necessity to fit the bigger engine. You ain't the only mechanic or fabricator on this board. Can easily take the pictures of the engine bay of my m816 to demonstrate the size fact. The grill/radiator have to be moved forward to attempt that engine swap, and the hood/side panels extended as well. At that point, it basically has the front end of the m809 series.

A Cummins 8.3 will fit in the deuce so it would fit in the m39 series 5 tons with some room in front, maybe even enough space there for a engine in the 9-12 liter range.

 

[lindsey97]

He said the "B" word............ yikes

 

[topo]

Pictures of dash M52A2 with extras added . I repowered this truck with a non military Mack motor the A1 military trucks had Mack motors so I knew it would fit the block basically is the same size every thing that bolt to the sides bottom and front of the motor are different . The frame had to be trimmed to move the engine over to the right more then what multi fuel was mounted some of this is to clear the front axle this is some thing to watch . Next was moving the radiator up about one inch that is about all it can go to miss the hood . any thing at the front of the engine has to below the top radiator this makes mounting a fan some to watch out for .

 

[98G]

Pics. Data plates are missing on this one. Perhaps the pics are still useful.