time to report in on the M543 delivered yesterday to me
I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised with the truck but I must report that she is going to need more than I had been told by the seller (I know, always a big risk buying sight unseen)
here is the rundown on the good and not so good
here is the good:
>body in good shape
>engine sounds good
>clutch, gearbox, transfercase, steering all good
>NDT tires good with exception of one front tire/wheel which is a mismatch (have replacement)
>does not appear to have been cut or modified in any way
>the odometer and hour meter work so it is quite possible that it does have very low hours on the engine
now the not so good:
>engine can't develop enough power to drive in 4th gear and blows smoke (fuel pump or injectors?)
>brakes there but weak (gotta start stopping well in advance)
>drivelines for both winches are buggered and need replacing plus the cast mount for the drive gear on the end of the rear shaft is fractured and needs replacing
>all wire on the winches is shot
>the levers for the rear PTO controls are bent and don't move but the connecting rods to the power diverter are still there and connected
>the entire rear of the truck is very heavy coated with dirt and grease from an oil leak somewhere in the crane. (a steam cleaner is now required to see what I have under the truck)
>a fair bit of bent metal at the rear of the bed and on one side of it
>pretty rough paint under the camo (gonna need a lot of wirewheeling and sandblasting)
>no tools, rigging or spare tire (have a spare ndt for it)
so, I am going to get the steam cleaner soon to blast all the grease and dirt off the undercarriage of the truck and then start going through it beginning with the brakes and then the engine. I hate to say, but I may just sell the whole truck to someone else with more time than I to restore it. I am only into it $4k so shouldn't have trouble getting my money back. I may also take the entire rear bed off and part out all the wrecker parts but I really don't want to do that. Better to keep the truck intact.
one thing I did learn is that the power steering on my M54 does not work because steering the M543 is much easier than on the other truck.
below are yesterday's photos I took...looking forward to comments from the platoon
