M543A2 Winner On GL

[jasonjc]

I don't know what to tell you on this one I think we have some on here with more expertes than me. But at leaset check all the filters and brake MC.
Get the -10 and go thought the Prevetive maintenance checks and serices chapter that will tell you what to check and how to do it.

 

[AMGeneral]

Rumplecat,
Unfortunately i'll have to sit this one out,as i'm not able to get off work at such a short notice,otherwise I would be there.

 

[rumplecat]

AM sorry to hear that, I was hoping to meet you in the flesh! I appreciate all your advice and I will take a lot of pictures! I hope all I need is a couple of good batteries to get her started. After all the headlights are still there and from what I have found if a vehicle has been used for parts the headlights are the first to go, so I hope it is complete and easy to start because I am not a mechanic!
James G.

 

[rumplecat]

Starting the drive to Ft. Bragg this morning, hopefully 15-16 hours from now I will be at the gate. Just reallized yesterday, Friday is a national holiday! Since it falls on Sat. they are pulling it forward for those who get it off. Of couse all federal employees do so Ft. Bragg will be closed so GL has to be. 32 hours of driving time for 7.5 of on site work time, I hope it will be enough to get the 543 running. I will post photos this weekend.
James G.

 

[rizzo]

good luck

 

[rumplecat]

I am back. 34 hours of driving for 4.5 hours of working on the truck, but well worth it. Truck started up on the second try of the button, all main fluids were drained so I spent two hours collecting and filling. I will post photos Sat.
James G.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Great news Sir. Does it look complete as far as driving it? Have Brakes? Anything goody wise in the boxes?

 

[rumplecat]

It was a fast trip, 17 hours to get there Wed., got there two hours later than I had hoped, spent two hours draining water from the fuel and air system. Spent another two hours finding and replacing oil and antifreeze, the truck had been drained. The GL guys were great easy access and helpful, different from what I have encountered before!!!! One of the GL guys were just out of the Marines and gung-ho( no Offense intended) helped with the batteries then jumped in to get it started, cranked on the second push of the button, I let it run for 30 seconds or so then turned it off since all the fluids had not been checked! GL said they never came in drained! But this one had, I am glad I errored on the side of caution. Anyway it starts, runs forward and reverse, I am a little suspect of the brakes but it has been sitting for over a year. The tuck came from the NC Highway Patrol not from Ft. Bragg as I had been told, but it was recently painted and in great overall condition for a forty year old vehicle! I have a photo link attached, I intend starting a webpage on the restoration, it will look great with my 5/4 ton 6217.
James G.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jtmmjaymeg@sbcglobal.net/album/576460762337855701

 

[jasonjc]

So when is it coming home

 

[Desert Deuce]

What a great deal. The original GL pictures did not do it justice. Very nice!!!

 

[rumplecat]

It will be coming home next week if I can get the shipper to call me back, good prices but their customer contact stinks! If Friday wasn't a holiday for US government workers it would be here now! While at Ft.Bragg I hit up a couple of truckers about back hauling through Arkansas, $1000 cash would have done it if I had had a little more time to source one of the two hundred flat bed drivers who were delivering, what looked like everything there was at Fort Polk in LA! I still need a dock to unload on!!!!!
James G.

 

[doghead]

wow ,it looks real good! good luck with the haulin'

 

[clinto]

I am a bit "green" with envy - looks very good!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Thats a nice looking wrecker. Lots of goodies too! You did mighty fine and a hair over 6 large.

 

[M1075]

James, looks like you got one heck of a deal especially since you get the snatch blocks, slings, shackles, wiffle tree, etc. For your inspection trip, I bet you were anxious during the 17 hours there, but smiling big time during the 17 hours back!

 

[rumplecat]

Absolutely Right! I told my wife the trip over seemed a lot longer than the trip back, buying something as large and complex as a 40 year old wrecker without inspection can leave a lot of room for doubts and worry until you actually put your hands on it. I wish I had now stayed on Friday, holiday or not, to find a ride for it home, it would be here now and I could have saved $500-700 to boot.
James G.

 

[rumplecat]

One problem I was unable to remedy while I was at Ft.Bragg, the accelerator pedal does not return when you let off the gas. I sprayed Silikroil all over the linkage still it would not return, you could pull it back up with the tip of your boot and it would stay up but it would not return on its own. I also noticed the hole in the floor looked like it had been enlarged to maybe help with the pedal return? I couldn't really see the linkage, is their a spring set up to force the pedal back up??
James G.

 

[JDToumanian]

Yes, there is a return spring that hooks onto the linkage near the injection pump. The other end hooks onto a little tang with a hole in it on the pump itself. This spring is known to break...

Jon

 

[CGarbee]

Great looking truck. HATE that I ended up having to work all day Thursday and that the yard was closed on Friday as I really wanted to slide over and help you with the truck... Glad that it turned out to be in such good shape!

 

[rumplecat]

Missed shipping the wrecker by 30 stinking minutes today! Had a drive-on-drive-off type hauler all lined up, finally worked out a cost of a wrecker moving the M543 outside the GL gate for late pickup and the d--- wrecker got caught up in traffic and did not make it to the GL yard before they closed!!!!!! Maybe next week!