Great looking pics! I hope you had fun. I have gone in the past with my deuce and some buddies but we didn't go this time due to some personal conflicts.

I can confirm that in the past the SS Haspin meet was much more organized and social - the last few years it has been more cliquey and less fun so we are not as likely to go out of our way to make it.

I know I read about it, but can't find the post- those of you who used Lizard Skin sound deadening, how much of a difference did you hear? Worth the $80-150 and time?

Jake and I both put Lizard Skin in our trucks.

Personally, I'm a big fan of it! The Ceramic Insulation, while definitely not a cure all, does help knock down the temps from the engine and exhaust. The Sound Deadener, while it isn't a miracle in a can either, does an excellent job killing the resonance of the metal panels. I also like them because you can top coat them with bedliner and not have to worry about interior mats that will hold water or trap dirt. I can tell you that my truck has zero interior rattle or panel squeaking driving down the road. The only noise I get now is from the engine and tires.

Something to keep in mind is that you'll probably still want to install some other thermal and sound control solutions in addition to the Lizard Skin. I'm planning on putting some insulation from dB Engineering under the tunnel when I eventually do my drivetrain swap. I may put some under the hood before then. I should mention I saw the biggest sound drop so far installing those trimmed to fit horse stall mats I got from TSC. With the top on the interior is still somewhat loud but you can actually hold a conversation without shouting. With the top off, these will always be noisy and one of the reasons I'm now installing a VIC intercom system in my truck.

The only thing is, you're looking at more than the dollar amount you mentioned in materials costs. It will probably take you almost 4 gallons of each product to completely coat the tub front to rear. You can probably get by with just 3 gallons of the Sound Deadener but the Ceramic Insulation seems to go on thinner and need more product for coverage.

Also, when top coating with bedliner (more specifically Monstaliner), in my opinion, I'd go with double the thickness (i.e. 4 coats instead of just 2). I've found that since the Lizard Skin is a softer surface than if you were just coating bare metal, if you drag anything too sharp across the surface, it has a tendency to scrape through the bedliner and into the Lizard Skin. Otherwise it holds up just fine to regular use. You could probably even get away with the 4 coat thickness in the cargo areas by themselves with just 2 in the passenger areas.

Thank you!!!

No problem! Just an FYI, I went back and added some thoughts to my post about top coating with bedliner.

Jake,
Here's those pics of the equalizer wired up as promised. Sorry i forgot to post them!

The extra wiring in the box is a combination of the laptop dock, cord for my combat crockpot, and Ibis Tek bar. I'd like to clean that all up at some point with dedicated 12v and 24v bus bars.




Where it will be mounted. Plenty of room for the monitor features plug to be added later:




Enlarged cutout with rubber trim:

Also, paying it forward a little bit...

I recently ordered some antenna related parts from beltfed34 on eBay. Among the items ordered were some of those offset GPS/PLGR mounts that install on the antenna mounts like Jake has on his truck. I figured I'd put some lights there like he has instead of the ones I originally mounted up.

So I ordered 2 from beltfed34 and he accidentally sent me 3. I messaged him telling him I could send the extra back to him no problem. He told me not to worry about it and keep it. At this point I really don't need it since I've got the two I need so I figured I'd see if anyone on here could use it.

This is about what it looks like but it's green:



Yours for shipping and I think it will fit in a small flat rate box (need to check that though). Just an FYI, I paid $20 each for the ones I did buy.

As Ryan said the Lizard Skin is an awesome product and so easy to apply. Also covers small imperfections in the paint and kinda self levels. I put the ceramic only on the tunnel and front area and then the sound deadener everywhere on the inside. Then topped it off with Monstaliner which adds another small level so sound and heat reduction. As Ryan said the more coats the better.

When I pull the drive train I also plan to add something on the firewall area and tunnel area, just need to decide what to put in and exactly where.

Interesting thread about Lizard Skin:

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/alternative-lizard-skin-103610.html

Looks like it's Latex paint with microspheres imbedded. Apparently you can make a close approximation for much less using exterior latex paint and some of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UVGZ7T2?tag=vglnk-c102-20

Mixed at a ratio of roughly 1 gallon of microspheres to 1.5 qt of paint.  I have some on order, will report back once I get this project going.  FWIW, it's not going on a HMMWV, but rather a LJ I just bought.

I'll buy it if someone else hasn't already.

I remember reading about all of the departments that don't use their gov't-loaned HMMWVs, so I thought I'd post ours. It gets used most days and highlights some special events.

Nope, not spoken for yet.

PM me your address and I'll try to get it out tomorrow. I'll let you know what shipping is and you can PP it to me.

ETA: That's a clean looking truck! Like the paint scheme!

The department got it from the gov't, used Kascar as a source for parts for things that were needed (like door locks), and provided the paint to the high school shop class. The class painted it to match the color of our cars. The light shop did graphics and wired it with lights like a patrol car. It got extra graphics (high school mascot, and the kids like it-those who haven't gotten too cool to admit liking something).

They got a seat out of the junk yard for the driver (from some van or pickup-I thought it looked tacky). That seat is out now and a matching, black pleather set of front seats is in (I think they look crappy, too, but the guy assigned to it has a soft butt apparently).

It's a '91 with a 6.2, I think. I didn't open the dog house. The doors don't latch all that well. The driver's window is clouded and prone to dropping down. I'm not sure if the winch has been used lately.

The ignition switch is as it was in service, but it has a keyed, Kascar switch that cuts power to the original start switch. I got online yesterday and checked the website. Seems that keyed switch is just over $100. It is mounted lower and to the right of the start switch.

I missed this earlier...

I had actually seen that exact link when I was researching Lizard Skin. Decided since I wasn't too familiar with spraying products, I didn't want to chance messing anything up with something that was a bit of an unknown.

Definitely keep us updated on how that works out. I'm very curious to see!

It'll take a few week, but I'll update when done.

'04 Unlimited 4.0, 35" BFG, Currie Customs F9 up front, GM 14 Bolt out back, Detroit Lockers, blah blah blah.

Not a HMMWV, but I need to get my wife there, this was a good first step.

Nice!

Are those 8 bolt HMMWV wheels in back? Because they sure look like it...

They sure are! Good eye!

Just an FYI, since you're running BFG radials with those, you may want to upgrade to the 12 bolts. Those old 8 bolts were originally designed for the Goodyear Wrangler RT bias plys which were low pressure tires and aren't really designed for the higher pressures of more modern radials. Also, make sure you've got some sort of beadlock in there if you're going to run R16 tires on HMMWV rims. The 16.5 rims only really seat fully with the bead on 16.5 tires but if you're running a beadlock insert or the runflats which work as a beadlock, I think you should be okay with R16 tires.

Just trying to lookout for your safety!

Wow... Look what I stumbled across on Craigslist.

https://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/6169798613.html

Someone sure put a lot of work into that H1!

Good thing his is so much safer and street legal without question!

Why did you ditch the coil rear end?  Move the wheel base back?

That's how H1'ers roll,

Now, that is like I remember in the service. Crap piled on everywhere. Looks awesome. Wish I had about a hundred grand to get it and finish it out.

M1045A2 Update

Talked to GovPlanet today -- sounds like the DoD/USMC have finally agreed/approved that no further demil will need to be done retroactively on the M1045's that were purchased in the initial auctions, and they were finally able to submit the EUC paperwork to TSC.  Lets hope that goes quick and I can go get the thing from Yermo, CA before they change their mind.  Will be interesting to see what they do/require for the ones coming up for sale (bought mine back in the March auction).

That's good news! I was actually just talking about your truck situation with someone and wondering how that was working out.

Go figure though... Government logic at work. You can buy turret setups surplus when you can find them, the turrets in the initial sales batch are cool, but all future ones are a no-no

Well, I just made the pilgrimage to Southern Metals. Don't think it could have been timed more poorly if I tried. They hadn't had any HMMWVs in in 2 weeks and were literally picked clean of nearly everything except some of the big stuff like engines and hoods. The pickings were even slim on tires and batteries. I had to work to find 6 good tires and I got the last of the good Hawkers only because I had a really nice battery tester with me to check them. I would not want to buy them without a good tester as their criteria is if it starts a truck, it's good. I ran into several batteries they didn't know the condition of that had internal problems.

Besides my two batteries, I ended up getting an ECV hood setup since they were on sale and I was determined not to leave nearly empty handed after making the trip. Even got the ECV nose with some LED headlights for basically just the price SM charges for LED lights and scrap value because one of the harness connections had been cut by a rookie they had hired. I'm not afraid of repairing it and I may not even use that specific harness until I have to put an A2 harness in the truck for my eventual turbo upgrade. I'm thinking I might adapt my existing hood harness to work, if it's possible. Also got a couple other odds and ends like a correct, regular jack. Most all of what I got was for everyone else though.

No winches and no soft doors there. Those are all ending up on eBay with HMMWV parts neckbeards. And yeah, I'll point fingers. Namely carolinaoneauto for one. This $800 set of seats cost $170+7% tax. This $1,200 winch cost $300+7% tax. I'm sure there are others... I'm not against capitalism and get supply and demand but where there is no competition in the supply market and you're a local hording parts to flip, it's a shitty thing to do for people who are looking to fix their trucks and not supplement their SSDI with unreported income.

Here's the whole price list for anyone wondering:



The shifter wasn't for me, by the way. It was for a friend who also had me get a TCM box and is considering doing 4L80E upgrade. Found out about the shifters after I got everything else so he had me go back and get one. As you can see, not everything SM sells is at a huge discount. That's basically going rate all around for one of those.

I did luck out and find an Ibis Tek tow bar in their resale warehouse for just $50! I'd consider that my great deal of the trip. Still need to get the rest of the parts to hook it up.

Jake got his engine shipped and should be on the way to him (eventually). That was an adventure on it's own! Just an FYI, Southern Metals is of minimal help with anything but loading stuff onto your vehicle. Bruce did a great job helping me get the drivetrain, hoods, and tires in my vehicle but, when it comes to packaging it's what you see is what you get and sometimes that isn't so great. Jake's engine came loose on the pallet on the short jaunt over to Fastenal. Thankfully Fastenal is pretty lax about the palleting and it's pretty much to prevent any liability from anything hanging off bumping into something and breaking. They were good with the drive train just being ratchet strapped to the second pallet, not actually having to board and nail two together. Interestingly, Bruce told me the engine Jake is getting is one that was originally supposed to be sold to fellow ARFCOMmer, the owner of Battlefield Vegas! It was apparently the wrong engine though so now it's Jake's. Only about 5,500 miles on it too!

Supposedly they're going to be getting more trucks in to process in the next two weeks but, I think Jake and I heard that two weeks ago...

Looks like a pretty good shopping list Ryan -- and some good comparison info to the "resellers" on other sites.  Well done on the ECV hood!  I trust the 200A generator is the 12/24v one?  That's a deal in and of itself.

Seems alot of stuff is going up.  I ordered another batch of CARC paint from Sherwin-Williams today (called Jason at the Cincinnati shop, he referred me to Matt at the Chem Coatings store 513-771-8212) in prep for repainting the newly acquired desert tan truck.  CARC has gone up since the earlier postings in this thread -- $175/can, no discounts allowed.  I think you or someone else had posted the data sheets with a price quote of $60 back then...  Had to order a case (4 cans) plus a couple gallons of the catalyst to get it shipped from the warehouse in IL.  Still cheaper than what I see some folks selling it for on e-Bay though

That wasn't my actual list though I wish it was. I would have liked to have brought a turbo 6.5 back with me.

I neglected to explain it... That's the price sheet Bruce uses. He marks quantity of each of those items you're getting (and adds specialty items at the bottom like the shifter) and you take that to their resale warehouse office to pay it. I wanted to post that up so you all could see the markup some people are putting on items on eBay and I guarantee the vast majority of the stuff you're seeing is coming from SM, especially on the east coast.

Yes to the 200A being the dual volt. They also have 80 MPH complete gauge clusters for $100, by the way, in addition to the shifters. I got the last one of those for my other local friend.

Yep, that was me that posted the SW sheets. Sucks they're going up but, at least you can get it from them. Maybe just sell the extra cans on eBay!

I will tell anyone that is planning on dealing with Southern Metals to be very patient as it was a complete pain. Several calls and lots of planning went into this. It would be a nightmare and worthless trip for anyone not semi close as they may or most likely not have what you are looking for. Ryan and I both called Bruce the owner two weeks ago and everything was instock, checked prices and I confirmed that they would place the engine on a double pallet, but he will not hold any thing. I called again last Monday and confirmed everything again and it was a totally different call as the owner was short and wanted me to call back later in the week but did confirm that the parts we wanted were instock and that they were stripping 8 or 9 trucks. Well Ryan and I had a conference call with him last Wednesday and a majority of what we were looking for was gone, but he confirmed some of the parts (engine, bumpers, tires, batteries, s3 boxes). Plans were made and off Ryan went to get everything that we could and make plans for getting the rest in the future. Then yesterday was the big day and it mostly went bad in my opinion. Good thing is there are plenty of engines for Ryan to choose from, bad thing is Bruce forgot all about the double pallet and was no help there, plus their banding sucks. As Ryan said, everything else was gone. You will see a lot of it on ebay as most of the bumpers, smart boxes, winches, lights, and seats on the east coast came from Southern Metals. I wish they had a better business model and plan, they could really grow and provide more jobs to their community and support the hobby by supplying more parts. When you look at the money our group was going to spend, it just amazes me that Southern Metals acts the way they do, but I guess the neckbearders are regulars and he prefers to deal with them.

But, the bright side is the engine is on its way. Fastenal originally said 7 days, but called last night saying due to the storm in the Gulf near me there would be a delay. I am still hoping by late next week. Still need to get the winch so I canb do everything at one time and as Ryan said we were told two weeks but I am not holding my breath.

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So glad I found this thread.  I just won this bad mother fucker today:




It comes with a transferrable road-use title out of Utah, no EUC or HHA required.  I'm probably going to have to do a few things to it to get it registered here in VA as far as safety inspection goes, but I don't think it'll be huge.

That's a Plan B Hummer. Is it in Utah? There was a member on Steel Soldiers that got one and seemed happy with it as it was turn key.

I'm learning as I go and kind of dove into this head first.  What's a "Plan B Hummer"?  Yes, in Utah.

Bought by a company called Plan B, refurbished, then sold at a huge profit by them on Gov Planet.

http://www.planbsupply.com/hummers-h1-humvees-hmmwv-for-sale

Plan B Supply (click here) is a vendor in Utah that buys HMMWV and then works on them and turns around and sells them via their site and via Gov Planet. They have various levels in their pricing and add their own in house made doors and tops.

how in the hell do those windows work? looks like RV style

Ok, gotcha.  Well, this was, obviously more expensive than many of the EUC/HHA vehicles, but worth it for someone without a ton of time and space to do work.  I appreciate the info.

That is the only negative I have seen from Plan B are the doors. Some love them, a lot hate them. They are windows from a boat/rv setup and the hinges are from the soft doors. If they had better windows, hard door hinges, and ditched the fake x they would sell a lot better in my opinion.

For a turn key vehicle with little to no maintenance required they are good. As I posted above the doors seem to be the only gripe and it is an atheistic issue not a functional one as I have been told they don't leak like regular X doors.

How soon do you get it since there isn't as much paperwork?

Good info on the doors.  Are you aware of a better option that I can buy and have painted if I want?  

I'll pay for it tomorrow, VeriTread carrier will pick it up on or about the 25th and it'll be here within 5 days of pickup.  Not too shabby.  

I looked at the Plan B site...for what's on this one it seems like I got a pretty solid deal.  I paid under $30k for it, and just a hair over $30 with the 10% fee from GP.

I would run the doors it comes with, its just an atheistic issue for some people and they are fully functional so I would not replace. If you want a more military look the get the real X doors or half doors might look nice, but I would spend my money on other things such as LED light bars (lots of LEDs all around) and radio(s) and a M6 pedestal gun mount for the bed (I always like shooting positions mounted on vehicles).

Right on.  Thanks Jake!

I'll just leave this here.

Niiiiiiice. I'd need the gun and the girl to go with the mount though.  Where does one buy those?  LOL

That's the thing. You think our group was spending a lot but, from what Bruce told me, we really didn't.

He's had people coming in and buying a half dozen engines, 20 hoods, 20+ 4 speed shifter assemblies, 40+ gauge clusters, etc.

In that regard, our purchase is pretty small potatoes. I get the impression he'd much rather be dealing with the people buying volume than folks like us. His job is to move inventory, not help HMMWV owners or the hobby.


Nice looking truck! Like Jake said, folks with the Plan B trucks do seem to be happy with their purchases and they do seem to be a good solution for folks who need  a turnkey solution for one reason or another.

And like Jake said I'd not worry about the doors, unless they're really something you want to change, and put the focus on LED lighting. Upgrading just the headlights to LED goes a long way! Maybe get yourself a rear bumper too...

Also, I hope you don't run into any titling issues in VA. I would mention that another ARFCOMmer, @MaverickH1, has run into issues with even his non-off road only branded M1123 so I hope everything goes smoothly!

Yeah, I called and spoke with the DMV and the state police inspectors office.  This is coming with a transferable on-road title out of UT, so while the nice lady at the DMV wasn't really sure what I was talking about when I told her what I bought, she didn't seem to think that an M998 with a road-use title out of another state would be a huge issue.  I guess we'll see!  I may HAVE to add a rear bumper to clear inspection, I'm not sure yet.  I'm pretty sure I'll have to add lighting to the rear-license plate.  I'm working on getting a state inspector I've been using for years to come out and give it an "off the record" inspection before I take it to him for formal inspection.  The DMV tells me that as long as the vehicle a) is titled for on-road use, and b) can pass the safety inspection, I should have no problems.  But I know how it goes with government agencies, so this part of it does have me a bit nervous.

Speaking of rear-bumper....where is a good place to get something like that? I assume they're basically a "bolt on" component?

I just responded to your PM through e-mail.

The only thing I had to add for VA inspection beyond what a typical complete HMMWV has was a license plate light and reverse lights.  In our case, the reverse lights can be activated by a switch.  I chose to kill two birds with one stone and make them high powered enough to be rear illumination as well.  While that's technically against code due to them not being DOT-R approved or whatever crap is required, nobody has said anything about it.

I guess I'll add some pictures of my M1123, although it already looks a little different right now since I've added X doors, a spotlight, and maybe something else that I've forgotten about... :





With my niece on Memorial Day, one of my 2 rear lights added for VA inspection can be seen in this picture, and also the license plate and light obviously:



I'm in the process of starting up a business and I might manufacture some HMMWV products.  My goal is not to make cheap things that LOOK cool and sell them at a premium like some companies out there... but to make high quality things that add to the utility of the truck.  And sell them at a premium.  

That's not a Humvee brush guard, your going civi...lol

Just swapped in an A2 style fuel sender. Total job time 15 minutes thanks to the access door.

This thing fixes everything wrong with the original ping-pong ball float style sender. Easier to get to connections and, most importantly, no more bouncing fuel gauge! I tested it out in my driveway doing a few quick, hard stops and the gauge doesn't move at all now. Totally worth the $60!

ETA: Oops, forgot the pic...




Bumper... Unless you feel like a gambling trip to Southern Metals, I'd say message 86humv on SS or G503. Or you could get one from one of the eBay flippers selling a SM bumper. Personally of those two I'd rather give Greg/86humv the business. He's always priced fairly. I got that A2 fuel sender from him actually...

I got lucky and got my bumper (just the actual bumper, no brackets) from eBay before the bumper feeding frenzy started and paid only $125 for it.

And I bet you paid more for the mounts and tie downs than the bumper. But defiantly check with 86humv/Greg for the bumper. I got a complete one from him shipped via Fastenal. Made it easier than tracking down all the brackets. I did have to get all of the bolts which can get spendy if you don't shop online or have a tractor supply or Fastenal near by.

Yep, I'm interested in utility instead of purity.  I found the military brushguards to be either too light duty or not sufficient for protection.  This is AM General's heavy duty wraparound brushguard.  I needed wraparound protection because the trails I'm on are like this:



The brushguard has already saved my hood twice.  And my property has trees waiting for you to make a mistake and eat the fiberglass hood.  This is my biggest clearing:



Granted, I don't completely like this one because it takes away significantly from the approach angle.  That's something I plan to fix when I make my own, and then sell this one off.

I love it!