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Hi Listees,
I have need of your sage advice once more. I have been looking into M8's
for several months and have gotten some GREAT suggestions from
ya'll...(Doug Greville, Claude Vaughn, John Steids, Mel Miller, and more).
I have read loads on the vehicles and studied all the manuals I can get. I
went to College Station, Texas and inspected Brent Mullins M8 (NICE!). I
thought I had one last week, but I am not so sure now. SO....I need a
reality check on this......ya'll are learned....so....let me have it!
(fitting for the day after the Alamo fell!)
Over the past 2 months I have been investigating an M8. It can be
viewed at http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Lane/9475/ (or I have more
photos if interested that I can email to listees). This is the story.....
It is a 1943 model...(hull #6700). It was brought back to the US in
the early 1990's from Italy by a Mr. Allen Cors of Virginia and "restored".
It was traded to the current owner for a beautifully restored M5A1 Stuart
in 1991. The only modification was the conversion from the hydraulic
throttle to a "boat cable" system (not an uncommon modification that was
picked up by Doug Greville in a photo I emailed to him). It was repainted,
but was not sandblasted prior to this.
I corresponded with the current owner and had him take 56 photos of
the vehicle (interior and exterior....though he did not take too many of
the interior despite my requests). The current owner characterized it as
restored with no mechanical problems and lots of extras. The owner had
"mechanically maintained" the vehicle and had done no further restoration
work. He said that he is getting older and wants to concentrate on his
Model T's. Everything was reported to be fine...not perfect, but fine with
the M8. No mechanical problems. The photos looked great...even Brent
Mullins thought it looked good from what he could tell in the photos.....SO
I told the owner that I'd take it if all checked out on a visit to
Kansas...which happened 3/4/99......
THE FIRST REALITY CHECK:
SO, what did I find.....Well, it does need to be repainted. There
is some body filler in parts of the sand skirts. There are lots of modern
nuts and bolts on the vehicle. The brakes pull hard to the right when
applied. Shifting into second gear is hard. The gears do not clash at
all, but a lot of force needs to be applied to shifter in order for it to
go into gear. The other gears take only a "moderate amount" of force.
Break fluid was spilled from the brake master cylinder and it has blistered
most of the glossy white paint under the driver's feet and on the area in
front of the driver. The boat cable throttle works fine, but the
reservoir, elbow, and lower half of the throttle master cylinder are gone.
The hydraulic lines for the throttle seem to be there; however, there are
some cut hydraulic lines barely visible near the gas tank. The
transmission leaks loads of oil when it sits....a seal probablly. The
water pump leaks probably because of the teflon packing used in a rebuild.
There is some surfaace rust at scattered places around the vehicle that
should not be too bad to fix. It does not have the correct front bollards
and lacks the correct tow cable. There are some other minor issues, but
those are the main ones with the vehicle. It is an older "restoration". I
would really consider it more of a "motor pool" level vehicle.
On the good side it has lots of extra parts. It has a working radio
(SCR-508) and interphone system (the wires for the interphone are modern).
It has a nice 50 and 30 cal machine gun set. It has all the extras for the
turret (37mm shells, etc.). In short it has good potential, but does need
the work as outlined above. I managed to argue the owner to....$40K. He
would not go lower.
REALITY CHECK #1-does the above make you think that I am an Alzheimers
Patient or does this sound ok?
NOW FOR THE SECOND REALITY CHECK.....
The owner never had a title for the vehicle.....so he has had a
friend write out a bill of sale and is using that to get an antique vehicle
title. It has always been insured, but never officially titled.
REALITY CHECK #2-does this sound ok?
NOW FOR THE THIRD REALITY CHECK.....(saved the best for last)
After we agreed on the price, I went to pull out a check to put
down a 10% deposit with the rest to follow by cashier's check. The owner
stated that he will only accept CASH.....greenbacks....the real thing. NO
CHECKS OF ANY KIND. He stated that chasiers checks could be canceled by
the bank so he did not want that. He says that cash is how it is done in
the "old car" clubs, and that is how he wants to do it. He figures that I
show up with cash and just take the 7.5 ton vehicle.
REALITY CHECK #3-does this sound ok? Sounds dangerous to me.....
SO...pour on the reality......I need your experience and advice... I am
really interested in getting an M8, but maybe this one is not it.....POUR
ON THE REALITY.
thanks,
dean
I
****************************************************************
* Dean L. Kellogg, Jr., MD, PhD *
* Department of Medicine *
* The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio *
* 7703 Floyd Curl Drive *
* San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900 *
* (210) 617-5311 FAX (210) 617-5312 e-mail:kelloggd@uthscsa.edu *
****************************************************************
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