Okay,

so after 3 years of ownership I'm getting the BRDM-2 tagged and street legal this summer. I've been able to save up the money for the registration taxes and when I get back home I'll start on it. With the help of @m35ben a couple things to do before it hits the road-

Shifting-rough/doesn't want to go
Brakes-make sure they work (only had it at low speed)
Change trans oil EP90

Drive.

Later on :

Needle scrape/sand exterior-repaint in 383 green CARC substitute
clean up rust spots on interior



Now, I've never done paint. From my understanding:

Needle gun paint and rust off, wire brush exterior, blow off, Air compressor-HVLP sprayer (Harbor freight)-mix according to instructions, spray on primer, let cure (day), then apply 2-3 coats of paint.

Sound about right? Never done this before, so I'm learning stuff here.

Areas to paint:



Interior




How they look new



Original thread:

Original "My quest to buy a tank"

From my research so far:

List of all known BRDM2 vehicles in private hands in the USA

1-DFW area, Texas - polish chemical detector variant small turret RKHB running condition, missing many pieces on the inside. Owner is known and in contact



2.DFW area, Texas -Czech chemical detector, small turret, I am the owner. Running condition as it left the military in almost new shape



3.DFW area, Texas - Iraqi big turret recon variant. Running but in rough shape. Know the owner (my old one). Owner is known and in contact



4.DFW area, Texas - Bulgarian chemical detector variant, not running. Owner is known and in contact



5.Florala, Alabama-Iraqi big turret model, missing engine and transmission. Very rough shape. Needs total
Restoration. Demil cuts. Located in Alabama



6-7. Seattle, Washington owner purchased 2 vehicles over several years, kept one, sold the other.

8. Minnesota- big turret command variant BRDM2, excellent condition, running and driving. Owner is known and in contact.



9.Ohio-Iraqi ATGM missile carrier, restored, unknown status, sold in 2009 from a museum. Owner is not known





10. Military museum
Of Vermont- sagger ATGM carrier. Rough shape. Owner is known



11. Mass, unknown chemical variant-no other details, owner not known

12. ATGM carrier, blue ridge, GA tank town USA. Sold to a new owner in Virginia. Known and in contact. . Sold to an owner in California, known, in Georgia temporarily on its way to CA

In Cali now as of 4/8/24









13. Brdm-2 rkhb Louisiana. Bought from mortar investments. Complete. Minor issues, will be a good runner



I will continue to update this as I find out more.

mask up...

Those are in abundant supply now

I would strip/sand with a nylon cup brush on a grinder after getting the heavy stuff off. Then I would paint with real CARC from Sherwin Williams. I would spray the inside with Lizard Skin for temp and sound control and then Raptor or Monstaliner the inside with a color of your choice. Monstaliner will match any color including the military stuff. I used the Home Depot Husky 30 gallon air compressor and a cheap HLVP gun on amazon as the Harbor Freight one clogged too much. IN the HMMWV thread there are pics of how I did it. Same for the other guys except some used the Bear house paint which I do not recommend as it fades.

Ive painted several MB's in my driveway. I clean off rust, pull easy to fix dents / fix sheet metal, sand to 220 with a da, mask with aluminum foil and shoot it with Olympic porch paint in 383 green and then brown and black last. Motor pool paint jobs are easy. I'm also super color blind and can't tell the green and brown apart when spraying. Every other year or so I repaint them.

Attached File

Tagged and following. Just got an off road trailer and looking to re do it. Same kind of metal I believe.

What’s the paint that matches shiny green gas cans?

I would definitely wear a good respirator while removing CARC paint and also while spraying CARC paint. When I was in the Army, we were allowed to do touch up painting with a brush only. If the vehicles/equipment had to be sprayed with CARC, a full PPE set had to be used. PPE required was respirator,  coveralls along with gloves.

It's not CARC paint to my knowledge. I don't know if russia used CARC paint on it to begin with even thought it was a CBRN vehicle and expected to get slimed.

I can get real CARC paint?

The inside is probably gonna stay as is for the most part except for a couple of rusty spots, mostly in the floor boards and a rear compartment.

Sherwin-Williams sells CARC, its about $140/gal iirc. Look in the paint forum on steelsoliders.

I've had good luck with the porch paint, easy to spray with a latex gun and I only sand the carc appreciably where I need to weld. Like was posted above, a good portion of the MV's are painted with a brush in the motorpool. In general it's much more like painting a tractor than a traditional automobile. If it gets sun faded or you jack it up with a pressure washer, repaint it.  I can shoot a second 3 color camo job on a Saturday. I'm respraying the CUCV in a month or so once the pollen stops falling, same pattern just need to fill in some light spots.  

Nice...140 a gallon

I'm learning as I go. So much to do!

Listen to this man. This will be your best route.

Real CARC from Sherwin Williams varies based on your account and location. In the Houston area you have to order from the Professional Coatings division. Sometimes the local store can order it and have it shipped to the store for no additional cost. Its a two part paint with a third part being a little water to make it easier to spray. I paid under $200 for two gallons and the quarts of the second part.

As for the Lizard Skin it was very easy to spray with their kit and covered up a lot of the imperfections from multiple layers of paint and sanding. Provided a very smooth and level surface to top coat with your choice of paint or spray in bed liner. Again the Lizard Skin was for temp and sound which was a must here in Texas for the temp and well anything for sound helps.

How does that hold up in high foot traffic areas? The circled areas above are where folks stick their boots.

I can't comment on Russian vehicles. Every US combat vehicle is either painted white or a light green on the inside. Unless they are new, you will see the paint rubbed thin/off from where soldiers feet constantly rub.

As far as exterior pain goes. If you use a true CARC paint, make sure to wear proper PPE, CARC is very caustic and cancer causing. That is why we were only allowed to use a brush to touch up vehicles in the motor pool. Complete strip and paint jobs went to special shops with proper ventilation and air filtration.

The new sherwin williams stuff is a different animal, type 2 is even waterborne and cuts with distilled water.  It smells like green apple jolly ranchers and downright pleasant.  

Im sure its still not wonderful to breath in....So i suppose PPE is still warranted.

Was the armor demilled? I've heard of that with many European armored vehicles sold privately. It looks quite nice, could be a lot of fun off road. If I had the scratch, I'd get a Scorpion for desert use out here, just because.

Never. Trying to figure out if we can mount a GPMG in the turret.

Why not, if you can scratch build  an adapter from an existing Soviet mount to fit a US made weapon, or would you rather get one of the semi auto Soviet era MG clones on the market today? Id think the most awesome thing would be a mount that puts a Barret L82 inside the turret.

I wanted a semi PKM but I'm not sure the butt stock and all will fit in the turret. It's designed around a PKT which is stockless, just like the 240 vs 240B in tanks and AFVs.

A semi 240 is a lot more.

Probably me.

I originally bought a very, very well used Iraqi vehicle. It had a burnt up clutch, bad head gasket, and numerous other issues. It did have a history. Used by saddam, captured in the gulf war.

I sold it in 2016 and put money down for a brand new one, the one above.

The new one has some issues relating to age. It has only done a few hundred miles since new and was issued to a Czech reserve unit until surplused in 2008.

I wanna say there are buffers in the stock that it needs.

Also not sure if the receiver for the pkm and pkt are the same dimensionally

Yes. Only one. It does have a hydro leak on the belly wheels.

Hmmmm

It’ll float like a fat girl stuck in an inner tube.

It’s exactly as it was when the Czechs sold it 12 years ago.

Only 2 More months until I can get to the registration.

@WGTactical should know all you need to know.

It’s got the r-123m, good radios. Don’t know much about them other than they turn on and the dials go zooooo

Might have to try some things

https://military.trcvr.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/R-123M_User_Manual_English.pdf

I need my ham license but this pesky military thing keeps getting in the way

I want to buy a Soviet T72 tank, they are not that much but shipping is prob a bitch.

This is my only account



Me too, but I just got married and have one of those fancy european wives so gotta cut out some stuff

If you keep the tank in good running condition you will recover the shipping cost if you ever sell it.

Verily.

Got the paperwork greenlight from the inspecting officer. Nothing has changed.

I've got the money ready for the sales tax on the vehicle. Spicy.

Update to keep from getting archived.

My man

Thanks Striker!

I contacted the DMV and set up an appointment today for the registration. The earliest they could see me was 11/19/20. I set an appointment for 11/23/20 since that was my day off. I still have to go there and show the bond I paid and hopefully it won't be too complicated.

What

I have a local guy who is going to come out and pressure wash everything. His price is half of what I was previously qouted. Inside and outside degreased and blasted with HOT water and he has his own water tank.

Good news!

I obtained a pristine PKT parts kit from Bowman arms.

8 new tires (no cracking or dry rot) on the way from Alabama.

I'll never financially recover from this.

Seems on par with MV ownership.  Even moreso when its rare.  

The good news is, we are all very jealous.

Or motorcycles

I miss my honda. It was fun tho..and actually did save me money. 65 MPG was nice

That is why I haven't done much with my 1962 Willys M170 Ambulance. Willys only made about 4,000 of them and some parts such as the tub, gas tank, and seats are unique to the M170. No other Willys or Jeep vehicle used the same parts as the M170.

That's Awesome OP!

I have to remember how to boresight.

It's been almost 10 years.

F.

And I need a bore sight kit.

This is awesome, I love the BRDM-2.

Are you replacing the GAZ V8 with something else? Russia modernized most of theirs with a 4cyl TD. I bet a 4BT would be a nice swap.