Ordered some solar stuff to try and make a solar fan that will fit on the turret where the tow missile mount is located. A 10W panel will fit with ease and a small dc fan to pull air out or in while it is parked out side. Wish I would have had this coupon when I found the Scepter jerry cans and the window glass I bought in the last few weeks. Was tempted to order the short rear step that mounts to the bumper and use it as a place to put my jerry cans but passed as I think that is too much for a reproduction part even with the 20% off.

bleh.  so another problematic part on these is the brake light switch that is actuated by the brake pedal.

someone told me i didnt have any brake lights today but when i got home and poked the pedal with a 10' conduit i could verify that they came on just fine in either stop lights or service lights mode.

apparently both the original and the A2 version are junk and dont handle the amperage that flows through them well.  they wear out and stop operating at correct range.
ive read that LED stoplights may lighten the load enough to greatly prolong the lifespan of the switch, but ive read accounts of brand new ones going bad in 500 miles too.

sigh.  short of retrofitting another normal brakelight switch, there doesnt seem to be much of an option for a trouble free braking.  

i saw a set of LED stoplights and side running lights the other day, seems like it was $600.  is that what these things run?  god i hope not.

at least its 20% ebay day.  im going to grab a replacement A1 switch assuming that mine is probably on the way out

EDIT:  finished being mad at the truck, found and printed TM for adjustment.  literally all you do is slide the switch forward or backwards and then retighten it in place.  TM suggests 1/2" travel on pedal before switch closes.  i had a little more than an inch initially.  lights must have been coming on only for total stops.  when resting at a light i had nothing.  much more sensitive now and it would make contact on bumpy roads.  but for now i can jiggle the pedal hard and nothing.  gonna order a replacement in case the range of my switch is diminished or it finally gives out.  problem solved....for now!

Dawng!!!  I need to pay closer attention!
I ordered several things today and didn't use the 20% off and it was starring me in the face the whole time!
I did manage to get a few things literally at the last minute.
Once again, thanx Ryan, good thing I read your thread daily!

Went over to Dave's after work to put the hood back on and go for a test drive.

After the test drive, all I can say is Ho. Lee. Fuk!

The truck definitely has some balls now and hitting OD is awesome!

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That wasn't highway by the way, that was divided 2 lane. It just gets up to speed that much faster. I was trying to pull a full 6 o'clock but there was traffic ahead.

The truck is a lot quieter in part because of the insulation (which will get quieter when I do the hood and doghouse) but also the lower RPMs. Driving along there's times you won't hear much more than wind and tire noise. Getting up to speed no longer seems laborious, pretty effortless in fact. It won't snap your neck and do a 4 wheel burnout like a tuned Dmax or Cummins but this swap has really brought the truck into what it should be.

Something else to keep in mind, my fan is on full time since we cut the 54 lead. Once I get that repaired it should be even better!

But of course, it seems like I can't get good without bad...

I hooked up the new turbo TCM I got from beltfed and it didn't seem like it was shifting. Put the NA box I got from Dave back in and it was fine. I'll mess with the turbo TCM when I get the truck back home but it might be toasted. I suppose worst case I've got the newest and most water tight box and will put my working TCM in it. Maybe get some cash for the NA TCM housing. Sucks I put out money for it but at least it wasn't full on TCM price.

Also stopped by my LGS on my test drive to see my buddy Steve (his shop is actually pretty close to Dave's) and show off the truck. We went for a quick run out and he said he was noticing a noise/physical clunk when I was slowing down. We checked it out when I got back to his shop and it looks like my passenger side upper tie rod end is toast too. So, good thing eBay is doing 20% off because it looks like the whole steering assembly is getting replaced. I wanted to get the Moog ones but Wolfer Parts was the only one selling them and I don't trust them so I got some OEM ones to do both sides, upper and lower for about $100 shipped.

I'll be bringing her home Friday. Once back I'll be getting the wiring bugs worked out, getting the new electronic speedometer in, and then taking care of the steering and suspension.

That's way too much for LED tails and markers. When I got my LED lights, I didn't even spend that much to replace all of my external lights with LED, including headlights.

Good to hear! Glad I could help bud!

By the way, under your thread subscriptions you can set the board to email notify you every time someone replies to the thread so you know to check it. Just click on the "Subscriptions" button at the top or bottom and then click on the envelope icon next to the tread.

A little more progress with the engine today and then a setback. First, there was no gunk in the engine from the water pump issue, very clean so the gunk was isolated to just the pump which was being replaced anyway. I now recommend to anyone to replace theirs before installing the new engine to be on the safe side, cheap insurance for a ~$40 AC Delco water pump. Next the oil pan is off and engine flipped over. There was no sludge and everything looks new. Now for the bad, apparently there are two types of oil pans and I got the older one that won't fit. So I had to order another one and different gasket. So a few day delays.

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That does look really clean! Nice to hear! Sucks about the oil pan though... I've tried to quit keeping track of mis-purchased parts. I'd almost bet I'm closing in on $1k in stuff I didn't end up needing.

Replacing the pump probably isn't a bad idea either considering how that's directly exposed to water and then air once they're pulled. That ship has already sailed for me but I'll be keeping an eye on it and my coolant condition.

ill keep that in mind for sure.  going to be difficult to reach later...

brushguard showed up!  holy shit!  its a pretzel.  i thought id be sticking one end in something and torquing up on it till it was mostly straight.



in reality, both end sections from the mounting pieces out are straight, and the middle upper and lower are screwed.  bottom bowed one way, top the other.  the brackets that are so daggone hard to find held on for the ride and bent just a little, but i straightened them enough to use in 3 minutes with taps from a sledgehammer.

im going to work the problem areas on my own but then once i run out of ideas im going to have to call in help from my dad.  hes a true engineer, seems to enjoy the challenge.  hate to bother him with it but its good to work on things together sometimes.

i ran into a hmmwv picture cache on g503.  mostly early war in the field stuff, m998s and some A2s with a few ecv mixed in.  came across two interesting trucks:



this is the only one not full of deployment gear and dirty.  im actually wondering if its a private owners GMV instead of something in service.  never seen the luverne guard on an ecv, and the bed rails (found a fabbed set of the fancy ones for $900, woah!) are just cut down troop seats next to a regular hardtop c pillar.  maybe Lawman knows if this could have been legitimate.



next is a helmet top with a turret in it.  that blows my mind.  there are threads about it but i dont know if anyone has ever found pics or info on the turret and support hardware for that.  with the extra height on the helmet top i would have actually fit in the cupola without stretching my legs out.  my toe killed the whole BFT and radio setup power switch once, TC was a little annoyed with me that day.

@Ryan_Ruck just wondering if you are still using the Vann-Guard battery equalizer now that the alternator has been upgraded and an extra lead run to the rear battery? Will the extra lead delivering 12V to the rear battery and the 200AMP alternator cause issues?

If I had to take a stab at it based off of one pic, I'd say it's a private owners attempt at a GMV as it's a hodge-podge of newer stuff combined with older. With that said even with working with the SOF community for the past 10 years and being around their vehicles a good bit along with my pretty extensive research building my own GMV - I'm still learning too. I wouldn't have figured that cut down troop seats were an actual "thing", but someone here posted a pic showing they were legit on very early GWOT trucks. If I had to guess, they were likely carry-over from pre-GWOT since I've seen invasion pics of AFG and IRQ and the bed rails and c-pillar were in use then.

Here's what causes my scepticism of it being an in-service truck:

- The cut down troop seats on a truck with a bunch of late features is unusual.

- The fording kit. I know dudes like to shove them on their truck because it looks "cool", but I'm not aware of any GMV with a full fording kit on it. I've never seen it, look at all of the pictures online of them in service, etc and they don't have them - even the Marine trucks. Anything is possible though, I'd just say that it's not likely legit based on this alone.

- I'm not aware of any GMV that was sent out with supplemental armor doors. The early trucks usually had none, had composite armor or were plain x-doors. The friend or foe identifier (inverted "v") is also not a GWOT thing. Again, anything is possible though since doors are an easy thing.

- The pioneer kit is definitely one of those things that came long after GWOT started and you wouldn't find them black on a tan truck. I would imagine that by the time a truck got this, it likely also got a c-pillar and bed rails.

- The Luverne brushguard is unusual and not typically seen on an ECV truck.

Again, anything in and of itself wouldn't likely raise a red flag - but everything together leads me to believe that this truck is a private owners.

Yep, still using it. No alternator upgrade. My truck came with the dual volt originally and the new drivertrain was missing it so it got swapped over to it. Had to buy a damn $150 serpentine pulley from Greg to do that. Could have been worse... Could have had to pay almost $500 retail for it.

I haven't seen any issues using the 200A and the equalizer together in all the months I've been using it. It's supposed to be "intelligent" battery management. As I understand, it doesn't start pulling power from the 24v side until it sees an actual imbalance.

She made it home a-okay! Good oil pressure and engine temps the whole 45 minute trip. It was really nice being able to easily take some of the hills that were previously a bit of a struggle. Will be nice to get the wiring issues squared away.





I've seen some pics of the helmet tops with turrets. Definitely not common.

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yep, still jealous.

got to work on my bent and twisted brushguard.  i was testing the waters with a regular 8lb sledgehammer and a scrap of wood, but i got the middle sections of pipe close to the same instead of having opposing bends.

one upright was bent and now its straight, brackets are straight and i managed to get some of the gradual bend out with help from my wife.  we maxed out the travel on a flat surface (you kind of have to go past straight to get it to stay straight i think) so i propped it up but i didnt have enough on my end to counterbalance when she would hop on her end.

we were in a hurry so tomorrow ill unbolt my spare and set it on my end and then stand on it.  if this fails i may have to drive a car up on one end.

i know we can make it "straight" but i hope my mounting holes arent off by little bits.  be a pain to try and adjust in small increments.  i think its cool to have fixed something that some specialist mangled.  (had to be an e-4.  i mean, cmon.)

tracked down some closeout panels for behind the front seats and under the b pillar.  looks like they bolt in rather than rivet, so thats even better.  be nice to keep out some water, tons of leaves, and cold air.

Bottom one is 2168 trans IA guard

i like the ANGs habit of having emblems on their equipment.  im not sure if active army does that.  ive got a horse head on my driver's fender, turns out its a FA unit out of the city im from.  i actually saw some soljas with the identical patch in lexington during a drill weekend.

when i paint ill freshen that up.

Engine wiring harness is repaired. Took less than 5 minutes to hunt down the problem.

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Must have been cut accidentally when something else was being done to the engine it was in as the spot where it is is right on a Y where 3 wires meet and, the wire ends are tinned with a crimp connector so it's not exactly easy to cut. Likely why it got replaced and ended up with Beltfed's surplus in the first place.

Toned it all out and all the leads off that 54 splice now show continuity.

Now I'll need to pull out the trans harness and figure out what's up with that. That's going to be a bit more of a pain since I already butt spliced the TCM plug to it which means I've got to cut all of those leads.

--------------------

Also, a word of warning to eBay buyers. I've found Wolfer selling under yet another name, the hard way. The new name they're listing parts under is Augusta Engine Parts. It's my fault that I bought my tie rod ends from them as I should have put 2 and 2 together but I was in a hurry with the eBay 20% deal.

I knew as soon as I opened the package with them and saw the bamboo cardboard boxes and that it smelled like a Harbor Freight inside the box they weren't AMG parts like they list them as.

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I'm going to be sending them back and have found some other genuine ones for a little more.

ETA: A couple pics of what I received.

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As you can see, no manufacture part number cast into it and no supplier/part number sticker like an authentic one.

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As if you needed another reason not to buy from Wolfer besides Chinese parts, you'll get a runaround on returning them when you point out they are.

I will say after confronting them with the info they did accept the return (as I'm typing this actually) and I will be sending them back.

A screenshot of the exchange for posterity so if they come across this thread there's no misunderstandings.

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Good for you! It seems like they backed off considerably when you mushroom stamped him with facts indicating you weren't an idiot.

You know what's funny, if they would just sell them as their own house brand parts under one company name instead of trying to pass them off as American made OEM parts under multiple names, they would probably have fewer issues with people like me having to confront them about what they are selling and doing. Plenty of people out there that would buy them knowing they are not OEM to save a few bucks, even with the abundance of surplus parts out there.

Anyone here purchased a roof from Black Dog Customs? Thinking of getting one but looking for some feedback.

https://blackdogcustoms.com/product/4-man-m1165-style-roof-system-12/

theres a dealer named Alan Post out there on some of the facebook hmmwv groups and i think he has a truck with the m1165 type back that is pictured there.  it may be one of those as I dont know if a person can get the real setup.

you could try to find him and ask.  or go to the m998 forum over at g503.com and search/ask.  some of the most knowledgeable humvee dealers and builders seem to hang out there and probably at steelsoldiers.com.

not much goin on on my end.  work has been stupid busy but parts keep trickling in.  kascar shipped me some parts in like 1.5 days which was impressive.  engine and ecv hood show up monday and ill get to look the drivetrain over and see whats really screwed up or cut.  im hoping to get alot of engine harness and trans linkages, and the crossover pipe appeared to be okay from above but cant see under.

trying to make myself go to the MVPA expo since its 1 hour away.  would love to take the truck but dont want to worry about the expensive bolt on things at a show where people know what they are worth.  dont want to remove them for the weekend either.  next time its nearby i hope i can feature the truck in it!

Mike is a friend of mine and his shop is about 20 minutes from me. While I don't own his roofs, I've ridden in trucks with them and have plenty of hands-on time looking over the stuff.

What kind of feedback are you looking for as I might be able to provide some? I can say that it's top-tier stuff and is definitely not flimsy garbage.

Really just curious about the b and c pillar and what they look like.

Also curious on the insulation. Product looks great on the site but I couldn’t find any interior shots

I've never installed one, but the installation looks pretty straightforward. It does require a bit of mechanical aptitude to install - if you're hoping for "install tab A into slot B" type of installation instructions - it's not that. I know Mike makes himself available if there's any issues though.

Well, all I can say is this 6.5TD engine harness is certainly trying my patience...

Got it repaired, put it back in the truck, hit the ignition. No wait light.



The truck did start though so voltage to the IP.

Toned out all the leads and everything tones correct. Except for one anomalous thing, I was getting a tone between ground and lead 54 which I'm pretty sure should not be the case but I'm confused why the truck would still start.

At this point I'm either going to tear all of the loom off of the 6.5TD harness and make sure everything is 100% but I'm also ready to reinstall my old 6.2 harness which I know is good. Only thing I'd need to do is make an add on leg for the TPS. I've got enough from the harness remnants of the one that came with the engine to make one, just need a WeatherPack connector which I can get from the current harness if I need to. However one thing I'm not sure about is if the some of the old harness leads are long enough to get where they need to. The fan cutoff and oil pressure senders are not in the same places. I'm going to have to lay them next to each other to check.

So basically all of my effort today was wasted... The joy of buying used surplus.

And today was the last decent day before we hit a heat wave which I could do without. I was hoping to have already had the trans harness out and starting to diagnose that. But at least it's not raining for a change I guess...

After working on my truck in Dave's pole barn with a lift, I now realize how much it sucks working on my truck in my gravel driveway and I am now much less enthusiastic to do so.

Worked on the 6.5TD engine harness this morning and afternoon.

Stripped all the loom off of it. Repaired the nicks just in case and even found an actual break in the 315 lead which starts at the 4 pin connector for the TDM. No damage to the wire insulation, just a straight break in it. Repaired it.

Drew up a more clear wiring diagram of just the engine harness. Everything toned out fine.

Decided to do a temporary install and test of the harness before rewrapping it. Good thing I did because I'm still not getting any wait light.

I swapped in my old green label PCB which doesn't use any signal from the TSU for glow plug control and got a wait light.

After finding that hidden break on 315 after the original cut on 54, I'm really not having much confidence in this harness at all.

Decided to try to put the old 6.2 harness back in. Got several connections made on it but, I'll have to take the air intake off to run the passenger side of it. The TD harness runs in the front of the engine, the 6.2 harness runs at the back of the engine. It looks like it should hook right up or be really close. If there's anything short I can just make jumper wires with Packard connectors or extend the wires. Not going to worry about getting TPS signals to the TCM until I get the wait light/glow plug issue resolved.

Really hoping I get a wait light with the old harness and it's not an issue with the S3 box. I can live with losing $75 on the TD harness. It was a gamble after all but really don't want there to be an issue with the S3 box.

Anyone have a tow carrier model?

There have been some that have gone through auction. Not a ton though. IIRC, member @bravojmc has an M1045A2.

i didnt take a single damn photo at the mvpa show.  i was too busy being in a state of euphoria around it all.

unless people began pulling their trucks out by the last day, there were only 2 humvees in the show.  i saw pics from cleveland last year and there were many more.

there was a 85 tan air force two door with a sliding window from a pickup camper installed above the cargo divider, and a 90 4 door m998 with a slantback made out of another vinyl top.  that was it!  id hoped to get to see firsthand a gmv or slantback so i could better understand the parts involved.

tnj murray had a parts booth and a rolling chassis/drivetrain with hood and snout from a m1113 for sale for $18K.  the front winch plate was pretty well bent and things had been shot over with a black paint but they didnt look like carc.  it had the ecv cooling setup installed which was cool, i wasnt sure if those were even available.  is there more to it than just a larger radiator?

there was a decent amount of overpriced hmmwv parts.  $600 ragged and rusty 4 speed shifters, 24 bolt wheels with MTRs that were worn in the middle too much for $550 a piece (!!!) and crap like that.  saw some decent prices too, though.

of course jeeps were the star of the show; there were countless from MBs to m151s.  there were a few m38a1s that made me respect mine quite a bit more.  id begun to regard mine as a leper and have gotten tired of looking at it because its just a reminder that i have some work to do and money to spend on a antique side by side.  but it really is in good enough shape to put in the show if i just fix the radiator and the carb.

any of our humvees would have been the finest examples in the show, btw.

there were several light tanks that were involved in a ww2 reenactment and i caught the end of that.  a few german light armored thingamajigs too.  a blackhawk from the kentucky guard was on site and i got to see it up close for the first time.

overall an awesome afternoon.

engine showed up today.

alot of prep went into it, i was worried i wouldnt be able to get it off the trailer.  i borrowed the neighbors bobcat but its about as small as a skid-steer gets.  plan A was to use engine hoist hanging out of the front of the garage, but plan b was the bobcat.

bobcat was supposed to top out 200lbs lower than what the whole pallet weighed, but it picked it right up and from then the load was so low we made it right into the garage and set her down.

i didnt go through everything but the frame rails still attached were bent to hell which wasnt a good sign.  i noticed bent brackets and broken parts all over.



the Good:
price was very reasonable.  200a alt was still included, all pulleys and fan and clutch are intact.  trans dipstick tube and dipstick are there and not bent.  mid driveshaft is intact and hopefully not bent.  the transmission crossmember isnt bent and not cut.  the exhaust crossover is there but maybe out of round underneath, it may be supposed to be that way.  transmission linkage is there and theres alot of wiring left behind with numbered tags on them.  probably alot more i havent found yet.

the bad:
random brackets bent all over.  fan has one blade that spent some time near a torch and bubbled up but isnt otherwise damaged or melted.  some plug that i think is temp sender on top of water crossover is broken off leaving just threads.  trans linkage brackets are bent but repairable.  the big electric plug on side of trans was there but pulled right apart.  one plug on voltage regulator is broken but probably repairable.  the male end of the brass quick connect on fan clutch is broken off but still threaded in.  the power steering reservoir is friggin toast and bashed to hell.  im sure there is more.  sigh.



sold extra radio tray and some bumper shackles to the guy who sold it to me, which was nice.

tomorrow i will begin noting all that needs replaced and what i already bought but need to turn around and sell.  i know ill need to repair the internal trans harness and  need a used engine harness.  sigh.

also ended up with an ecv hood that is immaculate save for dry rotted lift hook gaskets.  harness is still there and looks great.  hope the brackets with the rubber arent expensive.

I got frustrated with it being too hot to do much outside so decided to start on something I could work on inside.

So I made a soft half door!





It's not perfect but I think it's about as good as it's going to get working with the soft door frames and material.

What makes it hard to get the top perfectly straight is how the bar rises for the window area instead of being a solid bar all the way across. I still need to glue the fabric to the weatherstripping on either side of the window frame rise.

Since the frame is heavy wall tube, I thought I might be able to bend a section of the vertical tube horizontal to make a solid horizontal bar but the tubing wall is just too thick to easily bend and if you could bend it, I don't think it would easily give you a sharp enough radius. So I just trimmed it even with the top of the horizontal bar.

I spoke with Austin about some soft half doors he had listed on eBay after I couldn't find a post on SS talking about making soft half doors. He said he bought some pipe insulation and glued that to the horizontal bar.





It works but I thought it had to be possible to use the existing weatherstrip to run across the top.

So to start off, I drilled out the rivets holding the weatherstrip to the top half of the door, leaving it otherwise intact. Then I made a cut in the weatherstrip behind the top hinge pin mount so the line couldn't be seen. After that I cut off the top half fabric and then used an angle grinder to cut the frame.

Next I wanted to figure out a way to keep the fabric tight on the frame as well as keep it from moving around as I tried to put the weatherstrip on the horizontal bar section. So, I decided the best way to do this would be to replicate the way it's affixed from the factory, with rivets. I pulled the fabric as tight as I could on the horizontal bar and then clamped the fabric to the bar with a ViceGrip. Then I drilled the fabric and horizontal bar and riveted the fabric in place. I put 3 rivets down to hold it tight. After that I went and laid the weatherstrip over the horizontal bar and put down 5 more rivets through the weatherstrip with one behind the hinge pin to finish it, again, using the ViceGrip to keep things in place. As you can see above, the end result doesn't look half bad!

Thankfully it looks like the heat wave is breaking today so I can get back to the truck wiring but we've got a threat of storms clear through Monday. I guess if it rains, I start work on more of the soft half doors.

Out of curosity what did the engine / transmission cost? I’ve seen a few sites with demiled power packs still on the rails like that for ~$3500

Nice score on the ECV hood I’ve been looking for one. You can get the rubber gaskets for ~$60 a pair NOS

i got the ecv hood for more than i wanted but it was coming from the same guy who was delivering the power pack so the shipping was essentially free.  i got him from $700 to $600.  saw one that appeared undamaged at the MVPA show for $500 from tnj murray but mine was already strapped down on the trailer and about to head my way.

i think ryan ruck got his for a price that i try not to think about, lol.

i checked the lifthook gaskets again and they arent cracking apart but they are a little shrunk and twisted.  ill probably replace them for that price.

brushguard is "straight"!!  i ld say i saved $300 but i have to sand and paint it.  



i got out the TSU that was broken off almost flush with the water crossover, and the fitting that was snapped off flush in my fan clutch.

wonder if my voltage regulator still works?  


EDIT:  forgot to answer about the price of the drivetrain.  it was $2600 plus shipping but he delivered 4 wheels/tires, that hood and the powerpack so it was worth it.  few high dollar items being broken wasnt great but i still think i did okay.  i would have had to buy the 4l80e and a newer np242 anyways so i feel like i got the engine portion alone for maybe $1200 of the $2600.

Finished up my soft half doors yesterday since it rained all day.

Finally caught a break in the weather today with no rain and not boiling hot so finished getting the old 6.2 harness installed in the truck. Just had to extend the wires for the fan cutoff switch to get it to fit. Clicked the start lever to run and still no wait to start light. Looking like there may well be an issue with my Smart Start box. The troubleshooting flowchart seems to back this up but I'm going to take it over to Dave's tomorrow to try it out in his truck to verify.

No idea what would have caused a problem with it as I'd been religious about unhooking the battery before doing stuff. Might just be it's time to go since I got it used and had it in my truck for 2 years. Funny that it would have been working right after the swap though. Maybe something with having that jumper wire on 54 to get power to the IP without having power to the rest of the circuit, I don't know.

At least I've got my original green label PCB. Don't really want to spend money on a replacement S3 but would prefer to have one in my truck instead of the PCB. I'll probably just make do with the PCB until it gives me problems though.

I guess I'll know more tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.

Rain has slowed me down too. If all goes as planned I will move it tomorrow to the guys place to get the next phase started. Right now it is sitting in my driveway out of the garage for the first time in almost a year.

When pulling it out, I was reminded by the big blind spots as I can't see out the back. Really need to get a camera system figured out.

The good news is it's not the S3 box that's the problem, which is a huge relief. Put it in Dave's truck and it worked perfectly normal.

Since this is going on with the new and old harnesses, the only other commonality I can think of is the glow plugs so I'm going to test those.

Maybe the S3 box has some sort of internal protection to not fire off the glow plugs if there's an issue with them. I do know it can detect and log certain glow plug conditions.

My local NG unit is packing up and going somewhere, some local dushbag vandalized several trucks with paint.
https://flic.kr/p/LmVXE7

GD earlier today

https://youtu.be/PT1lYx1sZys

Well, I had the truck moved this morning. When the guy I hired to move it showed up I was a bit worried as his trailer and truck were undersized, I actually thought he was someone's lawn service. He claimed on the phone and on his website to have a larger truck and trailer (102" wide). No wonder he was half the price of the others as I am crossing three counties in my 70 mile trip and here that jacks the price up. He moved it with no issues and that part is done.

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Also for those that are looking for a military antenna that can by easily modified for CB, Ham, other uses and still retain the military look there is one on ebay right now and the seller has several. After confirming with Ryan what I was seeing, the price is too good to pass up. Its a training model.

Link below (I left the complete URL as sometimes it gets messed up on here)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rugged-Military-Antenna-Mount-with-315-Mhz-Antenna/253705182241?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D180c69ccc8e24ed08ad318e81108afcc%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D253705182241%26itm%3D253705182241&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A257f0287-77fa-11e8-b373-74dbd180fbdb%7Cparentrq%3A33d0f23b1640a9e4ab2492defffa9961%7Ciid%3A1

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Looks like it was the glow plugs!

Out of 8, 1 was good (barely) and I was even lucky enough to have one break a tip off.

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I'm getting a special injector socket from Dave tomorrow to try and get that fragment out. It's the cylinder right behind the alternator. Could be worse I guess...

I knew I should have ordered some new ones and replaced them before we stuck the engine in but I didn't against my better judgement. Funny enough all of the ones I pulled out of my 6.2 tested perfect when I replaced them.

Douchebags...

Neat!

Just curious... How easy is it to disengage one of those knuckle couples between train cars and is it something that could actually be done with a drone. Asking for a friend...

These wheels are pretty darn cool, 100% better than mudtracks

https://youtu.be/HrQrJ57J9eE

Those tires are pretty wild!

Just need to get that whole width thing fixed.

And Raytheon, I am disappoint. You use an RV for a technology demonstrator and it's not a 1970s GMC Motorhome? I would not award any contract on that huge whiff alone.

I've been following this thread for a while, considering a HMMVW purchase.  However, as I am in Ohio I'm now worried that I won't be able to title the vehicle for on-road use if I get one.  Some of the M1045A2's GovPlanet is selling look pretty good.  Just hate to get one and not be able to use it.  Ryan, any updates/ideas if it's still possible to get a title?  I remember seeing information from you that stated it may no longer be possible.

Hey @Rock44!

I've heard nothing different on where things stand. So far as I know everything is still in a bit of limbo. That said, you should be able operate one on the road under 1 of 2 possibilities I can think of.

1) You said you're interested in the 1045s. Those have all been sold with clean, non off road branded SF97s. Depending on where you are and what office you go to, you may be able to take that SF97 into a BMV office and have no problem getting an on road title since it isn't branded. Maybe...

2) If you strike out with #1, you can go with Vermont out of state registration. Normally if you're dealing with an off road branded truck, it would need to be older than 15 years so you can use a bill of sale to register it but, since the 1045s are sold with clean SF97s you may be able to go newer than 15 years but, I suspect just going the bill of sale route might be easier than having the Vermont DMV deal with an SF97 through the mail. From what I've read and talking to my brother who is a deputy, there is no restriction against an Ohio resident with an Ohio driver's license having an out of state registered vehicle. The ORC mentions that new Ohio residents need to register their vehicles coming in from out of state and, that you cannot be a legal Ohio resident and operate any vehicle with an out of state driver's license but, nothing about having an Ohio license with an out of state registered vehicle.

Here's the process for going the Vermont registration route:





A third possibility which I mention only because I know such a thing exists is a court ordered title. I don't know the details of how you go about getting one but I do know that is something that's done in Ohio since we don't have bonded titles like other states.

As you may have seen, KY got their laws amended to allow registration regardless of branding. I suspect if an effort is put forth, we'd get one as well. The ORC allows historic registered military vehicles to go without a license plate displayed (the number needs to be painted on the bumper) as well so, there's clearly intent for FMVs to allowed to be registered. I suspect the real issue is there are just liberal bureaucrats in Columbus that hate military vehicles and want to make things as difficult as possible. I do know, first hand, that the BMV is not above outright lying to you to prevent you from doing something 100% legal so don't count on being able to ask them for guidance and get a straight answer.

Like I said, you should be good to go worst case with Vermont registration and if all else fails, I guarantee you'd have no problem re-selling the truck to a KY resident.

Received a progress pic today. Starting the stripping process. When I dropped it off one of my wheel hubs started leaking so now I have to get that fixed when the engine is done. The guy is willing to show me as I know I will be doing the others in the future.

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That's a familiar sight...

If you get a chance, I recommend hitting the underside with some degreaser and a pressure washer when you've got the drivetrain out. It may feel like you're waterboarding yourself for a half hour spraying the undercarriage down but you'll be amazed at the crap that washes off.

Got my training antenna in today!

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100% brand new! Will work perfect to do what I had originally wanted to do before I picked up my whip antennas. A 3' Firestik CB antenna should fit perfectly in it. I'll need to measure to see if the 4' would clear. Might need a wire for the ground plane, I'll have to see how it's wired internally. Will definitely have to paint the body green.

Now I'll have to decide if I want to sell the MX-6707 since that's the one I was going to re-tune to CB band and the Harris does the ham bands.

Thanks for sharing the find Jake!

@Lawman734
Did you see these? Might be a good addition to your GMV!

Went and saw Sicario 2 earlier. Great flick! Lots of HMMWV action!

awhile back i saw a gray slantback with supplemental armor x doors for auction on govplanet or whatever it is now.  ive noticed trucks going up that look like theyve been made over by civilian owners and then auctioned side by side with the surplus trucks.

i couldnt help but wonder if it was one from that movie.

nothing going on over here.  im halfassedly on the lookout for rear door filler panels with the hinged access at the bottom.  they arent too expensive but the shipping usually does them in.

maybe this weekend ill get around to installing the shelter carrier closeout panels that close off the footwell between front and back seats.  greg alley had a pair for $50 so i figured for a little body sealer and 12 bolts id like to eliminate some water and cold air intrustion into the cab.  water can still come in under the cargo divider but im going to try those seals that people sell.  then it will still come over the flat part behind the seats.  as long as i park uphill a little, everything is good to go in the cab even during hard downpours.  some likes to come in through the firewall but ive caulked the spots in the driver side.

That actually could have been. Did it have an Ibis Tek tire and jerry can carrier and mud flap kit? All 3 of them featured most had that setup. Got a link?