New guy from Illinois with an M37

[anonymous1]

Hey all,
New guy here from Central Illinois. Last year in late August I picked up an M37 that had been turned into a brush truck a couple hours away towards Southern Illinois. A friend of mine hooked me up with it and helped me pick it up and bring it home. The story was it had been sitting in the same spot for at least 15 years. I dreaded the worst the whole way to pick it up. But once there I hooked up to it with my truck to move it around and it actually rolled. We loaded it on the trailer and brought it home. We started looking it over here at the house and realized the fire department that had it didn't get rid of a thing off it, it was all still there. There is some rust, but nothing too bad that can't be patched. The most surprising part, I grabbed the pulley off the crank and it still turned over!

Later on we tried to light a fire in it, but had no spark. So after some talking around I found a guy with a Civilian model and I got his 12v distributor and starter from him so I could set the magneto aside. So a couple weeks ago I put new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and points in it, greased up the carb and had it running two days later. Two days later only due to my work schedule. It runs like a dream, sounds like a sewing machine. So after we got it running we thought what the hey, we'll see if it moves too. So we pulled it out of the barn to ensure I didn't rip a barn door off, started it up again and drove it around. After at least 15 years of sitting it still runs and moves. Who needs technology. It's a great little beast and I can't wait to get it painted green again and get my 11x16 Michelins on it so I can put it in the County Fair Tractor Pull.

I've started getting the fire department stuff off of it. Next up I think I'll be working on the brakes. There isn't a stitch of them, the pedal don't even return. Haha. Then I'm going to have to be looking at some kind of wiring. The whole harness seems to be shot, and I want to convert it to 12v for drivability. I've got a few plans for it, but it will mainly appear stock. I might try to hop up the flat head just a little, for fun. I'll be keeping the rest of the truck close to standards so it looks right.

Well thanks for looking everyone. I'm sure I'll learn a lot around here.

 

[Scar59]

Welcome from Kentucky, neat find. Put the Z71 in the tractor pull and keep the M37 original. Give it a good home.
Have fun
JC

 

[RodUSMC1962]

Welcome from Indiana, great find!

 

[anonymous1]

Thanks guys. I plan on keeping it mainly stock, with only doing some upgrades to help it out a little.

 

[marchplumber]

Welcome aboard! Neat truck. Amazing how things used to be built to last. Enjoy her. After sittin that long, I'd need some TLC too!
God bless
Tony

 

[rtk]

Congrat's on your find ! M37's are one of the easiest MV to work on and find parts for . BTW ,M37's don't have magneto's , just a set of points . When you changed over to a civilian distributor , did you remember to change over the oil pump gear ? What year is your M37 ? doesn't look like a B , so it is probably from the early 50's class .

 

[anonymous1]

Very good to know. Yeah I figured it was a mag. I didn't change over the oil pump gear, but I think they looked the same? Like I said, all great things to know! Thank you. Guess I could of mentioned before, its a 1953. I haven't done much digging on it yet to find out anything else, just the obvious stuff. Right now I'm too focused on getting it running and driving, and legal so I can start fully enjoying it.

 

[61sleepercab]

Good find and good luck fixing her up. Our local VFD had a M37 with winch which served Department well as a do all. You had to have a two weeks prior notice to get to a fire scene while the coals were still hot as She was slow on the road and the brake shoes are narrow and not much in the stopping power. The motor family was used in lots of Dodges and Plymouths as I am looking at a 1950 Plymouth car with the same engine type. Have fun. Mark

 

[rtk]

Yes , they are Fun MV's . 1953 was a big year for M37's . Mine is a 1953 . BTW , serial # is on a cowl tag and on the L/F frame rail ,behind the wheel . They should match . The deal with the oil pump gear is that the Military engine blocks are somewhat different than the civilian version , plus there is a industrial version ! . The reason I asked about the oil pump/distributor is that the Military Distributor uses a OFFSET tang on the drive shaft , civilian does not , you can jam it in , but it will wear out the distributor shaft and oil pump gear in short order . The fix is replace the oil pump gear with the civilian unit if you plan on running the 12 volt set up . If you have not done it yet I would down load all the TM's on your ride ,they will explain a lot better than I can . BTW the engine has about 95 HP and a set of 5 series gears in the rears , top speed is 45-50 downhill !! LOL

 

[anonymous1]

Haha, thanks guys. I've already heard speed is not the Wagon's strong suit. Heard they can be a hand full to drive too. That's why I'm going to give it a shot at the truck pulls. Show up those kids that built a truck to pull with, with my stock truck. Ah well, anyways. Well I guess I'll have to pull my distributor out at my next chance and check that out. It came out of an old dually civilian Power Wagon, but I'll check it over and see what it says. I appreciate the help. I downloaded the TM's a while ago, but haven't really read through them. Guess I'd better get on it with all these rainy days we've had! Thanks everyone!