So the sealed bid comes up and I go in on it. I didn't
expect to win but hey okay now I have 20,000 pounds of
steel waiting for me at the shipyard.
I showed up this morning and got to eyeball the truck.
I hadn't seen it in about 8 months when I was there
inspecting some M35s. For some reason I had it stuck
in my mind that this M54 would be a good one to bid
on. As I go back to my notes I didn't inspect it at
all just made a quick note. The M54 had a broken
steering assembly (more later) and I made a mental
note "Oh, that must be why they passed it off to DRMO.
At least I know why. Easy to fix." [somebody smack
me if I do that again!]
None of the paperwork had caught up from Battle Creek
yet so I couldn't have too much fun. BUT I did get to
comb it over pretty well. First thing I noticed was
about 100 pounds of dirt on the hood. The yard attendant
claimed it was deposited there from snowplowing/snow
removal when snow was stored in the back of the trucks
and they scooped a little extra dirt with the snow. Well,
whatever. But I saw that dirt there this spring and that
told me that _nobody_ had even lifted the hood on this
truck to inspect it for the sale. Hm, interesting.
Under the hood things look good. Plenty of oil, full
radiator (had some film on top of the fluid), engine
stop and accelerator appeared to work. I lucked out in
that this one has a cab heater and a complete ragtop.
(yay!) I cracked the fuel filter petcock and after a
second got the familiar smell of diesel. I didn't see
a bleed valve on the top nor a second fuel filter.
Engine was a LDS465-1A turbo. Dash plates said
multifuel, but the tank was labeled diesel only.
I will have to look further to see if it was converted
to diesel or other reasons why it would me marked
for diesel only. Thoughts?
Inside was in good shape. The light switch cluster
was missing, as was the backing of the passenger seat.
Cobwebs were protecting most of the dash :) One side of
the soft top was caved in, I thought it was from setting
water but it was from dirt on the soft top, too. It's
got a little bow to it now but I think some sun will
square it- at least it works on the jeep.
Batteries were junk as suspected. I was hoping to take
the old batteries out with me and return with fresh ones
but the yard man wouldn't let me without papers, so I
took some numbers and will head to NAPA soon.
The steering looks like it will be a small challenge.
I don't know the name for the part but there's a pivot
arm that bolts on the frame up front. One linkage goes
from that pivot arm to the pitman arm, and the other
linkage goes to the steering knuckles. Anyway, the
bracket that holds the pivot has actually split. The
mounting bolts and ears are still mounted to the frame,
the linkage dangles there helpless. Poo. I had remembered
this as a broken pitman- and will have a replacement
pitman here tuesday. I'll have to scrounge hard for that
mount. Suggestions?
I'll have to do a little more digging on that steering
bit to be sure that I can get that squared. Part of me
would almost consider chain/comealong to secure the pivot
for about a 10 mile ride to my buddy's farm where I can
get the rig ready for the other 100 miles home. Maybe
if they'd let me weld I could try tacking mounting ears
back on the bracket...
The good news is that the yard attendant remebered the
delivery of this particular truck because it was being
driven in as the steering mount broke. Hey, sounds good.
The other snag may come on the SF97 form. Just as
bad as not running for a year or not being steerbale.
The sales listing cited it as a "1955 M54A2" with S/N
M54-M1683. Not being an MV buff I was only a little
concerned with a '55 A2. Well... Bzzzzzzt no such bananna.
Reading the dashboard data plate, it's got S/N
"M54A2M1683/112xxx" AND for manufacturer, it reads
"R/P 3 15 89". My civvy eyes tell me it's a 1989 truck.
But who's the manufacturer? Is it possible to determine
this by somewhere else? I forget the tag on the bed
(rack bdy) but that had a "55" stamped on it so I
suspect that's where DRMO got their 1955 date.
That's the story and I'm sticking to it!
I'm a little bummed that I ordered the wrong part for
the steering. Other that that I think it should be
drivable in short order. Only 9500 miles and a couple
hundred hours. Even has a spare tire, too.
First photo is up:
http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/2472/m54intro.jpg
Thoughts/comments anyone?
-Damon
...and thanks for the help and inspiration!!
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