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THE JUSTIFIER Guntruck

AMGeneral

AMGeneral

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Well folks,after several years of planning, loads of figuring and contact with several of the original crew,I will be starting a replicia of "The Justifier" as soon as the last couple parts arrive.

I'll add more to the story behind The Justifier as time goes on ,but I'll post what I know here.

The Justifier was one of several Guntrucks operated by the 57th Trans,to include The Protector and The Assassin,a lot of the story is mentioned here in the Lam Son 719 Living and Transporting thread,
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?31357-Lam-Son-719-Living-amp-Transporting

I have been in contact with Mr. Claude Roberson(NCOIC) and he provided me with almost 500 photos as well as a collection of photos by Mr. Paul Bader.

I'll post more here as the build progresses, if all holds well,It will be at the Gathering 2014 in Columbus GA,maybe without the weapons aboard but there.

Below are the pictures of the truck I am going to use(my 1967 M54A1) and The Justifier itself.
 

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marchplumber

marchplumber

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ALRIGHT!!:D That's quite a tall order, but have confidence you can get it done! Thanks for sharing and keepin the site informed. Really looking forward to following along and watching the transformation!

God bless,
Tony
 
AMGeneral

AMGeneral

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marchplumber said:
ALRIGHT!!:D That's quite a tall order, but have confidence you can get it done! Thanks for sharing and keepin the site informed. Really looking forward to following along and watching the transformation!

God bless,
Tony
Click to expand...
This has actually been several years in the making,the truck itself has already had all the mechanical work done(brakes,engine,wheel bearings,wiring) it's just a matter of installing the winch and grill mounted 10 ton type mirriors and painting the chassis.

I had been on the lookout for a early style dropside bed for the M54,and the M813A1 I recently purchased had exactly the bed I needed.(see picture below)

I have already priced the 6 sheets of plate steel for the gunbox as well as the 2 for the door armor through an SS member that works at a steel mill,the sale of the M813 I mentioned will provide the money for that entirely.

The M54A1 I already have has been on the road and driven to several rallys so it's a trustworthy truck.

Hopefully the prepwork I have done will make the build progress more smoothly.
 

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papabear

papabear

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AMGeneral said:
Well folks,after several years of planning, loads of figuring and contact with several of the original crew,I will be starting a replicia of "The Justifier" as soon as the last couple parts arrive.

I'll add more to the story behind The Justifier as time goes on ,but I'll post what I know here.

The Justifier was one of several Guntrucks operated by the 57th Trans,to include The Protector and The Assassin,a lot of the story is mentioned here in the Lam Son 719 Living and Transporting thread,
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?31357-Lam-Son-719-Living-amp-Transporting

I have been in contact with Mr. Claude Roberson(NCOIC) and he provided me with almost 500 photos as well as a collection of photos by Mr. Paul Bader.

I'll post more here as the build progresses, if all holds well,It will be at the Gathering 2014 in Columbus GA,maybe without the weapons aboard but there.

Below are the pictures of the truck I am going to use(my 1967 M54A1) and The Justifier itself.
Click to expand...
OUTSTANDING!!!
If I'm not mistaken, didn't I call you and let 'ROBBIE" talk to you when we were at Pigeon Forge a few years ago?

I hope we can get as many replica/tribute Guntrucks as possible here in Columbus as I think we had 10 in PF that year.
 
AMGeneral

AMGeneral

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papabear said:
OUTSTANDING!!!
If I'm not mistaken, didn't I call you and let 'ROBBIE" talk to you when we were at Pigeon Forge a few years ago?

I hope we can get as many replica/tribute Guntrucks as possible here in Columbus as I think we had 10 in PF that year.
Click to expand...
That's correct PB,I have communicated with him a couple times via E-mail since then.
 
AMGeneral

AMGeneral

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EMD567 said:
No wonder Ferro was hopped up Monday.
Click to expand...

JP,I had actually planned on keeping it 100% under the radar,then just show up with it at the Gathering 2014,and had sworn all providers,helpers,co builders to absolute secrecy.

But,my better senses prevailed and I decided to start the build thread Christmas Eve.
 
EMD567

EMD567

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AMGeneral said:
JP,I had actually planned on keeping it 100% under the radar,then just show up with it at the Gathering 2014,and had sworn all providers,helpers,co builders to absolute secrecy.

But,my better senses prevailed and I decided to start the build thread Christmas Eve.
Click to expand...
I was at lunch with you and Adam when you swore us to be quiet. I am glad I don't have to keep it a secret any longer. It was killing me!
 
Ferroequinologist

Ferroequinologist

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It wasn't bothering me to keep it a secret! I was looking forward to having someone at the compound recording video, so after all the trucks where there, and everyone heard the sounds of a Mack coming, we could get the "what the **** is that coming?!?!" Faces. Oh well. I'm picking up the m813 for Brandon once the EUC clears. I'm also supposed to help B in the conversion. Going to be A LOT of welding. I'm ready, been itching to get started.
 
papabear

papabear

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Ferroequinologist said:
It wasn't bothering me to keep it a secret! I was looking forward to having someone at the compound recording video, so after all the trucks where there, and everyone heard the sounds of a Mack coming, we could get the "what the **** is that coming?!?!" Faces. Oh well. I'm picking up the m813 for Brandon once the EUC clears. I'm also supposed to help B in the conversion. Going to be A LOT of welding. I'm ready, been itching to get started.
Click to expand...
It's not as easy to sneak into a Gathering as you may think!!

We were gonna "sneak" the second build of Proud American into the second Gathering at Pigeon Forge. We were still about 10 miles out and Ugly Ranger called us from the hotel and said we had been "spotted"!!

It's hard to get past them ole Guntruckers I tell ya!:D
 
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