My 1954 M211

[mangler]

I've been wanting a Deuce for years and I have a buddy that works liquidating estates. A few months ago he comes over and tells me he has an estate to work on with an old Army truck stuck in the pasture but he only had 3 days left to inventory the estate and move everything to the warehouse.

We drove out to the property and sure enough there was the big old MV sitting in the pasture sunk a foot into the desert soil from 10+ years of sitting though monsoons and wind. To add insult to injury the truck was in a position where we couldn't get the trailer or a tow truck close enough to her. She was going to have to get herself out of the mess and climb up onto the trailer under her own power or at least get close enough to put the winch on her.

I checked her out bumper to bumper and everything was there, I couldn't see anything that would stop her from running. I went home, called work and took vacation, read nearly every thread on this site, downloaded the TM's to my notebook, grabbed the wife along with every tool I could carry, and off we went to get the big truck started.

Day one, we cleaned up the fuel system, installed the batteries, checked all her fluids, got her to crank over but no start. External fuel pump bolted on the frame rail wasn't working and by then it was dark so we called it for the day and went home worried and disappoint.

Day two, we got their early with fuel pump in hand and got it installed but still no start. I went through all the systems and started to get a little frustrated, I had compression, fuel, air, and spark but still she wouldn't light up and I mean not a backfire.. Nothing.

I will never live this next part down... My loving wife had been reading the TM's while I worked her and said did you read the book? It tells you how to start it... I barked at her.. something about I don't need a @#$% book to tell my how to start a truck. WELL.... She pulled the choke 3/4 of an inch, gave the throttle knob a pull out a couple clicks as instructed by the TM and wouldn't you know it black smoke came puffing out the exhaust and she was coughing as sputtering like an old man (me) waking up in the morning. I rushed over and gave her a short squirt of starting fluid and that's all she needed to get back on her feet.

Now when ever I'm heading out to take her for a drive my wife pops off, "Do you need me to start her up for you"

The Lesson: Read the TM's cover to cover because you can never underestimate the curiosity of a women when it comes to these trucks.

 

[Squirt-Truck]

The M211's are great trucks.

 

[rtk]

cool truck , looks like the sheet metal is in nice shape . I think the wife is going to be a LITTLE hard to live with after that !!!! LOL , some things they NEVER forget ! good luck on the ride , I think you got a deal and a half ! bob k

 

[rosco]

Sharp truck. Its going to blend right in with the neighborhood.

 

[AZDeuce]

Wish my M135 looked that good! nice truck, and a better wife. Have fun my friend.

 

[wreckerman893]

Thanks for rescuing a classic.....I predict a lot of good times for you and the Boss Lady (and you know she is).

 

[M35A2-AZ]

What a great find and nice looking truck!!!!

 

[Recovry4x4]

That is a super dry and unmolested looking truck. Lots of congrats to you. Did you happen to take a pic of it as it sat for 10 years? It's first move in 10 years would have made one heck of a video.

 

[mangler]

My wife got the whole thing on video including the water pump letting go on the trailer as she climbed up under her own power. Are we allowed to post Video's? Maybe I should Youtube it and post the link??

 

[arpatrick08]

Yeah^ also interested in best way to share videos

 

[mangler]

20 years as a Network Engineer and this is the first time I'm posing YouTube video's. I may loose my nerd card over this event!!!
Links coming shortly!

 

[mangler]

60 year old Deuce with only 1 option comes to life.
She was locked up in hardened desert soil way too far into the mud, the blood and the beer for the tow truck, which means no chance of getting the equipment trailer to her. She had only one option, get out of the river bed, drive through the desert, around the back of the 40 and to the house, and then to add insult to injury, manage enough power to push her formidable self up onto the trailer to get to her new home for TLC and a proper checkup and restore. She’s a true warrior that knows no boundaries, age alone should have put her down and given her a date with the scrap yard, but she’ll clearly have none of that.
Keep in mind I couldn't see anything but sky, no brakes, and no way to see where I was at. Totally dependent on hand signals from my buddies.
http://youtu.be/faW12FHHdgw


Deuce Ride 2 First run around the neighborhood Mechanical Check, 2 months into restoration.
http://youtu.be/fZdXrG_nm-I

 

[mangler]

I'd guess YouTube so we don't bury the forums with every video we have. Disk usage and steaming would break the servers back. Let YouTube do the heavy lifting and keep the forum pure.

 

[m1010plowboy]

That animal sounds too cool not to let everyone listen to it. Thanks for sharing, I found it by searching M211 videos and used 'search tools' to find videos loaded within the last month. Great 56 sec video of an M211 moving out. If we didn't share that video here, we'd be loosing history.

Nice truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZdXrG_nm-I

 

[mangler]

Thanks for posting that m1010plowboy

 

[armytruck63]

I rode in an M211 as a kid and I have been hooked on MV's ever since. Thanks for the great video!

 

[mangler]

This trucks being peeped for Parade duty, she'll never haul anything but but Old Vet's and kids that are just starting their passion for these old work horses of the Military. I still have a lot of work to do. The troop seats have been devastated by the UV from the AZ desert Sun and need replaced to safely allow people to climb on her and sit down on the seats and that seems to be what every old Vet want's to do. I have bought a digital camera and tripod so I can start capturing their stories when the memories come flooding back. I've been trying to find the right original wood and paint so if anyone can help out with advise to keep her as true to original as we can I'm all ears and I'll pay the extra money for the right stuff.

I'm really hoping no one tells me the troop seats were Oak, Buying 20' pieces to replace them will make me cry when I have to write that check... I'll still do it but sometimes it's Ok for a man to cry and I think buying old growth Oak and painting it green is one of those times when it's Ok for us to find a private place to sob while we write the check.

The other think I'd love help with is identifying the truck and where it may have been. The kinds of duties an M211 may have seen etc. my research is pointing toward this year being a kind of in between campaign service vehicle, We desperately want to include an interactive kiosk for folks to learn when, how, and where M211's contributed. Being that I'm a Nerd/IT Engineer by trade and Mechanic by love, interactive Kiosks I can do. Figuring out how to change the trans fluid slows me down a bit. All I need is pointed in the right direction for finding the details on these trucks to put together an entertaining history lesson.
.

 

[mangler]

I figured out how to do a youtube channel so you can check out her progress as she get's back to combat/parade ready. Please offer you suggestions and opinions because I want her to be as original as we can make her.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7kaiSV0ELNse9LQ0yM-6mQ

Or search on the keys I set to ​1954 M211 Military Truck and it's under Jim Smith.

 

[m1010plowboy]

I bought all the G749 manuals here..... http://www.portrayalpress.com/ I don't want to leave anyone out so do a search for "G749 manuals for sale" and have a peak what's out there. You can read the TM's here, http://www.jatonkam35s.com/ and do some shopping while you're there.... http://www.jatonkam35s.com/jatonkaM135-211sTMdownloadpage.htm

I started copying info off the net but having the books is just easier. There's a ton to learn on the jolly green giants, including the "In gear running, foot on the brake, e brake on, hoping it won't stall, checking the trani levels" process, awesome.

I left the troop seats to my kid and the genius did his phone flicky thing, called a few places and found "Ash" wood at the correct dimensions. I don't recall how much he paid but it wasn't bad. We treated our wood to a good quality polyurethane paint, Endura, but we're seeing some peeling. Could be the prep, primer, temps or inhalation rates of genius teenagers however lets see what the rest of the forum says about painting wood,,,,,,

What do you say guys, should he paint the wood?

As for the trucks history, I understand from some buddy of Johnny Carson that the info for the G749 trucks is gone. Maybe someone can elaborate on what our Governments did with all that information....all that information. There must be a thread somewhere on how the guv directed and tracked gear in the 50's. Finding a guy that actually drove that truck and can tell you the stories of where they were together is still number one in my books.

Did anyone tell the gov that someone might be interested in a trucks history in 50 years,,,,,so they should track it? Are they doing it now? Where's Carnac when ya need him?

Keep the pics comin'.

 

[mangler]

You hit multiple nails directly on the head, when I called looking I learned that the US destroys the records when a vehicle is determined ready for auction. Were one of the very few countries who still do this and it makes reconstructing history very difficult. I understand the Gov wanting to keep some things under the radar but she's 60 years old, there can't be an secrets left and if there are... They'll make really good stories today.

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear the wood may be ash, having sat on those 60 year old planks and being amazed at how strong they still are made we worry. I can't identify the grain because of the degradation but I can tell it's a hard wood and it's very durable, we had 12 people on those seats last weekend... I was sweating bullets but they didn't fail.

i think paint code is critical, the old guys are going to notice if the color isn't right and as much as I hate to put paint on fine quality wood I think it needs to be done and in the right color.

I already missed one old guy that I caught stopped in the middle of my street staring at the truck. I have a couple little dogs that bark if you think about looking at the house from 2 blocks away. I'd scold them but our big dog doesn't hear so well so if they make enough noise she'll get up to see if somethings really wrong. Anyway, the old guy time warped and didn't realize where he was. I got him to park and spend some time sitting in the truck and I was so mesmerized by his stories I didn't even think to put a recorder on the dash. I garon-f-ing-tee that will not happen again and now that words getting out I have Vet's once a week that come by to look at the truck. We need to preserve not just the history of the trucks but the people that used them when we can.