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M1008 Build

ezgn

Well-known member
650
1,039
93
Location
Lake Elsinore Ca.
I took the radiator in to a place called Culpepper Radiator Service here in Portsmouth, VA. They told me a re-core would be around 1300 dollars. The guy that does it has been there for 40 years and I watched him work while I was there for about 30 minutes, it was pretty impressive to watch. He was working on a radiator out of an old Torino I believe he said, and to see him use the torch and compressed air combination to control the heat soak was very interesting. Anyways they were able to source a new one with the same specs made by a company called Thermal Solutions Manufacturing, Inc. and total price was $645. Unfortunate as it may be, that is actually a reasonable price, considering the ones from the chain stores are 6-8 hundred and aluminum/composite construction. The one from TSM is a direct fit but the problem is they only do commercial sales so they have to be purchased through a business. Looks like I’ll be ordering a replacement through Culpepper in the near future.View attachment 880778
I have been through 4 radiators in 22 years on my M1008 The best one so far has been the aluminum with the plastic tanks. All the other ones were the 4 row copper and metal tanks. The aluminum through AutoZone came with a lifetime guarantee.
 
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ezgn

Well-known member
650
1,039
93
Location
Lake Elsinore Ca.
I took the radiator in to a place called Culpepper Radiator Service here in Portsmouth, VA. They told me a re-core would be around 1300 dollars. The guy that does it has been there for 40 years and I watched him work while I was there for about 30 minutes, it was pretty impressive to watch. He was working on a radiator out of an old Torino I believe he said, and to see him use the torch and compressed air combination to control the heat soak was very interesting. Anyways they were able to source a new one with the same specs made by a company called Thermal Solutions Manufacturing, Inc. and total price was $645. Unfortunate as it may be, that is actually a reasonable price, considering the ones from the chain stores are 6-8 hundred and aluminum/composite construction. The one from TSM is a direct fit but the problem is they only do commercial sales so they have to be purchased through a business. Looks like I’ll be ordering a replacement through Culpepper in the near future.View attachment 880778
They say it is in stock 1 left https://www.partsgeek.com/ss/?i=1&ssq=cu850
 

DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Got the front winch mount drilled out today, ready to get up into place and figure out a mounting plan. It’s a little challenging because the frame isn’t flat under the radiator support so I still need to do some thinking there…
 

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DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
I received a lot of parts from ORD today. I was disappointed to find all the parts I ordered were bare metal vice a nice powder coat or even a paint or primer. I’ve used the shackle flip kits twice before and both times they were powder coated, so I’m not sure when they stopped doing that. Anyways, I had to do some clearancing for in the shackle flip brackets, then clean and paint them, but I was able to get them done and installed today and get the truck back down on its own weight. Got the front bushings installed too once I received the correct inner metal bushings from Skyjacker (two 7/16” and two 9/16”).
5219E8AB-DABC-4B84-9B01-A6CCD5BA0C70.jpeg4A009CE8-1097-4CE2-ACF3-BD4EF057CE03.jpeg8CD2FC57-F5CD-4027-A128-7793CAA4911A.jpeg85B8AF2D-A42E-4621-A5F2-E422968B308D.jpeg

I am going to have to modify the exhaust slightly to clear the shackles, but I can’t do that until I get the motor and exhaust manifolds installed.
 

DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
I received my u-bolts from ORD, and the shackle flip kit as well. Not sure why they don’t powder coat their parts but either way I got the u-bolt plate painted and installed. I moved the front axle forward one inch and got the zero rate add a leafs installed as well. I still need to figure out what I’m going to do for steering correction.
 

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DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Well if you’ve been following my posting for a while you’d know that several months ago I was defeated by the front drive shaft. Well, as I was cleaning up the shop today it stared me down for the last time. With renewed dedication and patience, I was able to remove the broken jacking bolt and get the ball removed. I got a new ball and rebuilt the CV and everything is perfect. Beside from the fact that I lifted the truck 4 inches and moved the axle forward an inch. So other than that, the front driveshaft is back together in it’s stock form, with all new u joints and cv joint. I’m sure I’ll have to lengthen it a bit for full functionality, but fitting it up will be a big win!
 

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DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Had to buy a new kit though. MOOG made in USA. SPICER made in CHINA.
 

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cucvrus

Well-known member
11,474
10,437
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
The Chinese have military vehicles.
The Chinese have big trucks also.
Many old vehicles would be parked and unrestorable if were not for imported parts. Even new domestic vehicles are built with offshore parts. All of them have some Chinese parts in them. It started back in the late 70's.
 

DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
The Chinese have military vehicles.
The Chinese have big trucks also.
Many old vehicles would be parked and unrestorable if were not for imported parts. Even new domestic vehicles are built with offshore parts. All of them have some Chinese parts in them. It started back in the late 70's.
Absolutely, just a little disappointing to pay 50 plus for Chinese Spicer part and American made MOOG part is only 30 plus…weird.
 

deank

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
217
384
63
Location
Florida
You have done some amazing work. I just read the entire thread this evening. Now I feel that the work I have done on my M1031 is subpar and that I need to take it all the way down and have a new truck when I am done. My last project was a ford ranger restomod that took 7 years as it was alo my daily driver.
I look forward to seeing how yours turns out!
 

DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
You have done some amazing work. I just read the entire thread this evening. Now I feel that the work I have done on my M1031 is subpar and that I need to take it all the way down and have a new truck when I am done. My last project was a ford ranger restomod that took 7 years as it was alo my daily driver.
I look forward to seeing how yours turns out!
Hey thank you very much! I love a Ford Ranger, I tell you what, what a great truck. What year?
 

DIVE DIVE

Well-known member
217
778
93
Location
Chesapeake, VA
What did you pull that out of? It looks like a civilian 6.2 not a J code?
It’s a j code out of an old cucv plow truck. Only has one alternator because it was converted to 12 volts at some point. I’m going to get it pressure washed today, get it on the stand and see what I need to do. I know I’m going to have trouble with the passenger side manifold bolts so I may need to use one of the other cylinder heads, but we’ll see. I’m not a big fan of drilling out bolts in cylinder heads since I inevitably would end in removing base material. The inner fenders were nearly completely gone. Fortunately the driver side had a leak so bad from the brake booster that it kept things over there well preserved!
 
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