Steyr's contribution to US military trucks

[David Dunn]

Christmas in October!

It has been a while since my last post, and there has been progress. I even started on doing bodywork .

To touch the high points. It has been running and moving between the display area of the museum and into the shop.

The day after my last post, The Flying Dump Truck must have known it was going for a test drive... while I was doing a pre-drive check, it perted up!... ok, maybe some non-believers might think it was the cab suspension kicking in... but me think they're crazy ...the truck's happy .

The short run had the trans working fine in the lower gears ( couldn't go very fast where it was) and brakes working great. Later it went into the shop to re-orient some the wheels to hook up the CTIS lines. Initially, there were some fault codes that I have worked around and I believe the system just needs to be exercised after sitting for a long time.



Now for my Xmas. In the last few weeks, I scored a brand spankin' new bumper in the crate from GL. Also 3 new "AO" doors ( SS's term for the air drop cab and associated parts) and 2 uppers, a later model grille, several clearence markers ( new and old style), a CTIS ecu., mud flaps and other misc. parts

Also received a pair of Goodyear tires complete to make a complete match set of shoes with spare.


Also, we've finally figured out some of the wood rigging on the truck. The stack of 2x6s bolted to plates by the middle axles were for lifting the truck with a forklift and used the fuel tank and guards for the other fork.... the horror of it all..

There is probably more, but I just don't remember right now.


I'm looking forward to fitting these parts in the next few weeks...

[Middlebury_Pinz]

Very cool, I love this truck!

[fesm_ndt]

Nice

[David Dunn]

Thanks guys
What makes this a "slow" project is that it is 10 miles away from me and not at my shop, and have to plan to what I need, and what jigs and fixtures I need to make.
Last week, I hung the doors to see what kind of nightmare the adjustments were going to be. This morning, I spent a hour and half to begin making adjustments to the body. Unlike a lot of MVs, this truck has "hidden" hinges, and not much of adjustment in the hinges on the door.
The Fly Dump Truck with new green "cheeks"

The driver's door with 1/2" gap at the top. The hinge pocket is deformed, the passenger's side is worse


This is the jig I made to hold the porta power and the tooling to press the hinge pocket back into the body. The square tube presses on the 4 surface hinge bolts and a heavy bar presses on the concealed bolt in the base of the pocket


After the initial adjustment, both doors on the latch sides had moved up

More work is needed on the right door hinge

This will give an indication of what the small movement of the top hinge made to the rear of the door
Before

After

I only have a good pic of the after on the right side, but the bottom of the door was barely clearing the fender before


This is the link to all the pics I've taken during this project
http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/ ... ?start=all

[David Dunn]

Its been a couple of months since the last update, so I thought it was time for one.
Among the repairs was the straightening of the right bed side rail, replaced the bumper and grille




And an indication of the size difference with a great uncle from the old country
And to think, 4 tires of the MTV weigh almost as much as the Haffy



And in the last few days I've removed the fenders in preparation of repairing the cab, and today Jim came out and we worked on the lights to see what works and to get them roadworthy. One of the main complaints I keep hearing from people are electricial problems on the FMTVs. Besides some corrosion causing some grounding problems... you can't blame the truck when a mechanic installs the wrong type and voltage bulbs! Unlike most all other MVs, the FMTVs are dual voltage and all road lighting is 12v, and only have a few 24v circuits.

[David Dunn]

There is light at the end of the tunnel! And hopefully, it isn’t a train coming at me.
Since the truck is 20 minutes away, I plan all my all moves and actions in advance. This last Saturday, a first on this project happened, I have never given a thought to when I was going to remove the platform and beam assembly in the cab. I just assume it was going to be needed for an extended amount of time…Saturday morning,, I started by removing the cab protector to give the truck more flexibility for parades (have a M1083 troop seat kit) and MV events ( still doing the War Pig), and joked about installing the fenders. By the afternoon, the doors were closing and latching, and the vast majority of the cab repairs needed are cosmetic. It appears I’ll be removing the braces to see what “spring back” if any will happen.

I also had been checking my archive pics to see what still needed to be done, when some of the early pics had caught my eye to how far the truck has come in a short time
The ol girl is cleaning up very nicely.

The platform and beams to reshape the cab


The left side, and progression



The right side progression

[VinceAtReal4x4s]

I just hope that hafi doesnt get sucked into that intake on start-up.

[David Dunn]

A quick update to the progress.
What is not present is any of the kit that is flowing in ( my mailman hates me). The progress to resurret a M6 pedestal for an M2 and swing arm for a SAW for the commanders station. And I got word that my mirrors have shipped from the factory.
[

[David Dunn]

The truck is now "one colorish".
A replacement fuel tank is in route and the last of the War Pig kit will be sourced this week. Still a little bodywork to be done, but will be taken care of at a later date, after a couple of events

[berger]

Love the floral pattern!!

What are your plans for this rig? Just curious.


Sent from my Mobile

[David Dunn]

Windshields replaced, mirrors installed and spare tire onboard


No more floral!

From the side, it reminds me of a LaFrance firetruck


Insurance is in place, the truck will be coming home for the finally fitting of its kit the 18th and first event the 25th

Oh, also received photo of one of the prototype War Pigs. Quite a bit different than the others.... it'll give me something to fabricate next fall

[mopar]

Looks real good!! You've done some fine work on that!!!


If it wasn't so big and if I only had more room I would have gotten into one. The size of the Pinz just fits so nice in a normal parking space which is what keeps me from one of these or the 5 tons they are just about giving away.

[edzz]

Very impressed with your progress, always enjoy seeing your updates.

[David Dunn]

Thanks guys. I was expecting more difficulty with the truck than I have had. Plus, with the truck at the museum, I planned what I was doing each trip..and the plans almost always worked out better than expected. There is still quite a bit of bodywork left to be done, just that it is presentable for events now

Expecting more resistance from the insurance underwriters, I had a lot of info and facts on hand when they called ( and they always call ) The FMTVs in both the 2.5 and 5t models are a bit smaller in overall size than their older counterparts ( with the exception of some special models). In fact, I had primed Hagerty back in Sept for this truck to be sure they would consider it for insurance. When talking to them this last week, they made a comment about the pics of the truck I had sent and about my new truck… ? I questioned him, then told him it was the same truck! He hit the floor !

I don’t expect to post any more pics until after the 1st event.. which I expect the truck to look radically different

[bonefish635]

Can I ask what the deal is with the pipes at the tailgate? To stop it folding right down? Smoke grenade launchers?

Tony