Working on the MKT

[mkcoen]

Finishing up the Pre-Flight for Friday's drive to Camp Mabry and I noticed a pair of Carolina Wrens flitting about the back frame of the MKT. Upon closer inspection I discovered a well developed nest in the left/rear corner where the wiring plugs come together. I was just under there yesterday fiddling with the plugs and there were no birds to be found. Unfortunately they're not even big enough to make a tasty squab out of so I just jettisoned the nest. They would have had a heck of time holding on for 75 miles.

Pics:
1) Just about ready to roll
2) Remnants of nest after removal

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

MKcoen,
Pretty funny about the birds nest. I had mice nesting in my "new" MKT-85. So I got out the power washer and dismantled the whole trailer. Really is a like new trailer, not used very much, but missing the M59's and the ice chest. Going to do the upgrade like you have been doing. This trailer is going to be my personal trailer. Have new V3 stoves and Power converter for it. Have to figure out how to dye the travel covers? They are in great shape but are badly faded.

I am also getting ready for a show, but it is only 10 miles away. Good luck on your trip and let us know how you made out. I will post pics of our show which is next weekend at Sussex NJ. Plan on putting at least 2 MKT's back to back. Should be fun.

John

 

[mkcoen]

John,

Looks like you got a lot more serious cleaning yours than I did. I didn't move any of the cabinets but pressure washed it with them in place. Good luck with your event. I'm only cooking 3 meals this time out - Friday supper then breakfast Saturday and Sunday. The event provides food for the participants so no need for me to go all out.

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

MKCOEN,
I still have to clean my original MKT like I did this. That's another day. We will be cooking Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 4 days. Should be fun.

Like I said hope you have fun and takes some pics. I will so the same. Good luck!

John

 

[M1031CMT]

Sadly no matter how well you button up the truck or a trailer they always find their way in anyways.

We pull apart and pressure wash our MKT's the same way. You find a lot of "stuff" when you pull the cabinets. No matter how hard you try, there is always something that falls on the floor and flows under the cabinets. We have a hot water pressure washer so it helps get rid of the stuff that hardens up. We also have a full sized commercial deep fryer permanently installed in the MKT and the hot water pressure washer works great for cleaning it out when needed. Let the oil cool a bit (but not completely so that it flows better), dump it into a bucket, then put the pressure washer on the hottest setting and stick it in there and it comes out looking brand new once done.

 

[mkcoen]

Well I got the last piece for the MWO in the mail today - the invertor platform. It didn't come with the hold down bar but that's something I can make out of flat aluminum stock easy enough. Since the trailer is buttoned up for the show this weekend and then I'm leaving it at a friend's place until the air show at Temple (it'll be half the way there vs bringing it home and driving all the way in 2 weeks) I probably won't get the chance to put it in until the first part of May. The important thing is I've got it in my grubby little hands so the search is over.

 

[SCSG-G4]

Mark,

That's a good score. I've never seen one of the platforms loose. Of course, the inverters themselves are not easy to find either.

John,

Your's is looking real clean after the pressure washing. I can see the six vent roof, which is better than the older 12 vent type. Your roof canopy looks to be the original canvas type, which rot fairly quickly. Also, it sounds like your carry covers are the nylon type. Sadly there is nothing that can be done to salvage them once they start to fade. By that time the UV has destroyed the nylon and it is a matter of time before someone gives them a sideways glance and they rip to shreds. The best you can do right now is to get one of the forest green tarps like I did from Global to put over the whole thing to keep further UV damage from occurring.
I'm hoping by June to have all the canvas/vinyl/screens sorted out and on the shelving in the trailer. It's about half moved now.

 

[SCSG-G4]

John,

If your carry covers look like this, they need replacing!

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

MKCoen,
Wish I could find a platform for the power converter! Proably end up making one? Nice find.

Mike,
Thanks, the cleaning operation worked out well. Just have to do the upgrade best I can now. Hopefully, I can do as nice a job as Mark. As far as the covers go, they are nylon and yes they are faded. Shame of it is, the reverse sides are mint and not faded. The ropes are perfect though. And the integrity of the nylon is really good, even after power washing, no tears or holes. So I guess I just have to live with Artic White travel covers? Penn Metal Fab in Pa. will ship NOS brand new Tan or Green right to my door for a mear $5800.00! So far, I don't want them that bad. My original MKT-85 had travel covers worse than the pic you posted. Thanks talk to you guys soon.

John

 

[indy4x4fab]

MKCoen,
Wish I could find a platform for the power converter! Proably end up making one? Nice find.

Mike,
Thanks, the cleaning operation worked out well. Just have to do the upgrade best I can now. Hopefully, I can do as nice a job as Mark. As far as the covers go, they are nylon and yes they are faded. Shame of it is, the reverse sides are mint and not faded. The ropes are perfect though. And the integrity of the nylon is really good, even after power washing, no tears or holes. So I guess I just have to live with Artic White travel covers? Penn Metal Fab in Pa. will ship NOS brand new Tan or Green right to my door for a mear $5800.00! So far, I don't want them that bad. My original MKT-85 had travel covers worse than the pic you posted. Thanks talk to you guys soon.

John

If you take your time and lay the paint on a little thin, spray paint could be a cosmetically fix for the cover or maybe even try painting the cover with bear house paint. Check out the bear thread in the paint forum, it may be of some help. I seem to remember one of the members painting one of there deuce or m105 covers with it and it held up quite well.

 

[SCSG-G4]

John,

The reverse sides are mint because they have never been exposed to the sun beating them down with UV radiation. Vinyl travel covers and roof canopies are nice. If my sources have not dried up, a full set of six pieces should cost less than $300 shipped (two roof canopies and the four travel covers). I may not be able to come up with a full set, so you should look into the 18 x 24 Global tarp to keep further damage from happening, at least while they are in outdoor storage. That thread is "M105 cover savers".

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

Guys,
Well a long day of dirty cleaning, scraping, sanding, grinding, and than some EP Priming. Thankfully, the weather in the Northeast today was gorgeous for working outside. Perfect temp for painting, no wind and clear blue sky. Tomorrow there will be more of the same. Than rain over the weekend. So I will have a breakfast get together for some local MV guys and than pack the trailer up and get ready for Sussex 2012. Will try and find time to take some pics.

Mike, yeah, I figured that the trailer sat at an AirForce base somewhere in Vt. under a bunch of trees? Amazing how powerful the sun is. Would appreciate an a chance at a set of the covers, if you source did not dry up. Your price would be ok with me and there is no rush on it. PM me when they become available and I will send payment. Thanks for the help. Turning in for the night, so I can get an early start in the morning. Take care.

John

 

[mkcoen]

Well my lack of memory came back to bite me in the behind today. Keith_J came out to help finalize the hookup when I "rediscovered" the fact that I had leaky brake lines that I had neglected to repair. We replaced both of the lines going across the axle and things seemed great until we lifted one side to try things out. The emergency break away kept locking up. Everything worked fine on the supply side and as long as we didn't have the emergency hooked up there were no problems. We went through everything using a liberal amount of air tool oil to try lubing things up and finally around 1830 tonight we were good to go.

We're heading out between 0900 and 1000 in the morning which gives us a lot of time to go slow and, hopefully, not have any roadside repairs along the way. I'll try and post something from my phone WHEN we make it tomorrow afternoon.

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

Mark,
Sorry to hear that, but sounds like you got a handle on it. Good luck tomorrow and keep us posted.

John

 

[mkcoen]

Made it. Just finished cooking the jambalaya. Very well recieved and finally tried some baking. Biscuits and chocolate chip cookies.

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

Mark,
Glad to hear you made without any issues. How did the biscuits and cookies come out? Love to see any pics of the baking in progress? Some of the women in our group want to do some pies and cookies next week. I will let you know how it comes out. Thanks for the follow up.

John

 

[mkcoen]

Didn't take any pics of the baking last night as it was full dark by the time we started. Hardest part was keeping the temp even. I have a BBQ temp gauge and we needed to keep adjusting the burners to stay around where they needed to be.

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

Yeah I figured it would be a challenge to bake with MBU's.

john

 

[mkcoen]

Finally got recovered a little bit from the weekend. When we buttoned up the trailer yesterday afternoon it was 93F. I asked around if anyone wanted to buy a "frickin, frackin (insert appropriate swear words here) MKT" but got no takers so I guess I'll keep it.

Keith_J and TexAndy helped out for the weekend with driving and kitchen duties (much appreciated!) and we're all going to give it another go in 2 weeks in Temple, TX at the air show. Keith_J also got started on the invertor platform installation. Not complete but good enough to perform it's intended purpose for now. The upgrade to the ice chest was AMAZING. We still had half the ice left over at the end of the weekend and only about 3 ounces of water in the bottom of the chest. Last year you had to stick you arm almost to your elbow in ice water to get anything out.

Here's some pics including some of the museums out door displays. I got to set up next to the M60A3 again. There's a little more shade over there and with the MKT sitting up we got a nice breeze the whole time.

 

[stampy]

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