new to ss with m37 question

[WOLF 53]

So , im a brand new member of the SS family , very proud to be so , but not to sure if im in the right spot . I got a question about one of my projects that has to do with wiring of a 1951 m37 ! seems that the dash wiring is gone to hec and needs replaced , i bought a new front wiring harness with the douglas conectors and have not gottin it yet , question is ... is it all i will need to get the motor running ? once again plz bare with me as im not computer savy lol but i love this site and have learned alot from you all !

 

[DAP]

Welcome to the wonderful world of M37's There is a dedicated site for M37s it is the G741.org site. They have a forum that is great. Go to http://g741.org/PHPBB/index.php?sid=7fd5b0ecb24950e96fa7b93a3bb64ae9

 

[Storm 51]

There is more than one wiring harness and there are also individual cables (Generator to Voltage Regulator for example).

You will need to be a little more precise is describing your specific problem with your M-37. Are you just having problems with your engine? Are your lights not working? Is you truck still 24 volt? Do have the manuals and have you read the sections that cover the areas you're having trouble with? What about the distributor? Points, spark plugs, spark plug wires, coil? Have you done a compression test?

Let us and the folks over at G741 know. I'm sure you'll find lots of help when your project is more clearly defined.

Good Luck!

Storm 51

 

[WOLF 53]

Thank you for the reply , I have three m-37's 51 ,53 ,63b1 , a 52 m-56 ,a 45 m-29 ,a 45MB willys , my question was I guess because i'm not good at the wiring part of mechanics is does the front wiring harness have the coil wire? I cant imagine that it wouldnt but thats why I came to all of you ! plus I love this site and the info you can get from you all !!! I do have all the TM's for my trucks but they dont seem to have a break down in the harnesses , or at least that this old grunt can figure out lmao!!!

 

[hndrsonj]

John at Midwest Military should have the smaller harnesses that you might need. (I don't remember if the dist is a separate one).

 

[Storm 51]

I believe the distributor wire is part of the front wiring harness. John at Midwest would know or Charles at M Series Rebuild.

Currently over at the G741 website there are a lot of threads discussing wiring issues, so you should benefit from a lot of current/recent experience.

Good Luck with you project!

Storm 51

 

[WOLF 53]

Thanx guys , i just made an account at the g741 forum and am waiting for the email reply , I've been in the MV world for some time now and have always looked at these forums for advice , altho at times it has been hard to get all the facts with out being a member (pic's and stuff) so its nice to be able to finally ask questions and see all your guys work and not just read about it lol , I'm not to computer savy but as all things in life i am learning , thanks again guys for your advice and glad to finally be apart of the SS world !!!

 

[majorhitt]

Yes, the coil wire is in the front harness. On the 51 you will or should have a resistor box mounted on the fire wall. A lead from the harness to the box then a lead from the box to the distributor. Some don't use the box mounted on the fire wall, they use the distributor with the resister inside. The 51 did have the box on the fire wall. See the box just to the left of the carb.

 

[WOLF 53]

Thanx MH for the pic , mine dont have that box but i will look closer to see if it use to , i suppose that the resistor is/was what dropped the voltage from 24 to 6 to the points? these trucks have been a blast to work on and they are so tough , my 63 runs like a top and you wouldnt belive how cheap i bought it for , it was in great shape and i didnt really have to do much to it to make it look great either , if i can figure out how to post some pics i will show you all my collection. the 51 im working on is in great shape as well other then the wiring and windows but she should be a great rig as well when done , finish all the little stuff so she runs then start tearing down the axles and what not to do bearings and brakes , thank you guys for your input . . .

 

[majorhitt]

I may have used the wrong term for the box, I couldn't remember the proper term for it. Filter box is more correct. It doesn't drop the voltage, but cleans it from interference. I can't recall where, but it was stated that you could have the firewall mounted unit and the filter in the distributor and it wouldn't hurt. How factual I don't know. The distributor with the filter has a longer square box where the wire enters. I'll have to look for pictures. Don't know if I have any. Look at a later date.

 

[zout]

Easy way to find out - remove the outter 4 screws on the 24v input to the dist and out will come the resistor - be carefull not to pull too far or otherwise you will
pull something loose inside the dist - advance weights are near that 24v wire inside as it shimmies up to the coil.

Your question appeared to be if you could fire it without the engine wire harness - stick a solid 24 v lead off a hot ignition on switch and test. Hot to dist has to be off
when you set your ignition switch to off as well. DO NOT leave the ign on for any sort of long period while you test or you will absolutely FRY your points.

 

[WOLF 53]

Thx zout , thats what i was going to do at first tell i opened up the dash and found a mess of wiring without the sheithing on it , at that point i just ordered the front harness , I got the harness yesturday and a few other parts (wheel cylinders, gauges) so now i can just put it in and go from there , altho the silly season is getting closer by the day and it snowed here last night so it might be a couple of days tell i get to work on the old girl again , luckly my wife is a understanding woman and dont mind me playing with these old ladys of steel lmao ! love that woman !!! i will keep you posted on how it goes and i found my camra to take some pics but now need to find the cord to hook to the computer...uhg ! anyway thx guys i will keep you up to date with my project.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

You probably already have your answers over on the G741 site but I am sure you have a distributor that has the filter already installed. There is a VISUAL difference between the distributor that does and does not have it!! There is no need to pull out the connector to see the filter. If you go with the firewall filter, BRING A SPARE!!!! These were known to fail and is why the govt got rid of them, if it fails, your SOL on the side of the road. I have a 51 and I wanted to be a purist so I basically the two ends apart and drilled across the supressor filter and hardwired the two connectors and reassembled. So now that it looks like I have it, no internal failure will cause me to sit on the side of the road.

Post pics of your collection. We all love M-37s. I have two myself.