Two 1962 Ford M151's

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M37
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Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 7th, 2018, 12:13 am

I purchased two 1962 Ford M151's off of craigslist last week. I gave $1450 for everything. I joined the forum afterward. I saw they had been shared here on the for sale on Craigslist section the day after I bought them.

Both vehicles are a few numbers apart. The were sold surplus at a goverment auction in the late 1960's. The son of the original purchaser sold them to me. The son said they were two of ten his dad purchased in Anchorage for work on the pipeline. They have hard tops, arctic heaters and arctic foam floor insulation, glued to every inside surface. One has a 1971 Alaska plate on it. They are uncut. The only rust is in the battery floor, front floor pans and the transmission crossmember.

The yellow one is in better shape for the body. The green one was rolled in the 1970's, in Alaska by the son of the owner. The son said he was travelling side hill when it got too steep and he slow rolled it. He said his dad went and got the backhoe and used the thumb on the bucket to pinch and grab body panels trying to flip it back on it's wheels. You can see in person it was about a 1 foot wide bucket and thumb by the spacing between the dents.

They both appear to have mostly original 1962 era parts. They came with 7 original magnesium wheels. And a bundle of loose parts which appear to be for the green one. The yellow one has its original engine in it. I have the original engine for the green one outside of the vehicle.

I also received a used powerrpack with about 33,000 miles on the odometer. That engine has a 1974 emissions tag on the valve cover and a contract date on the engine tag of 1977. I think it is an AM General motor.

The yellow M151 has the original Holley Carburetor and early flat top air cleaner. I can't wait to get the yellow one stripped and blasted so I can install new front floor and battery panels. My boys are 6 and 12 years old and they are all about helping dad on the "jeeps".

I have restored my 1952 M37 and I also have a two WW2 Jeeps, November 42 Ford and a 1941 Willys slat grill. I have a good amount of welding and fabricaation experience so I am comfortable with metal work.

Everything I know about M151's I learned here. Feel free to educate me further on these two vehicles.

Thanks,

Joe

P.s. hopefully I linked these photos correctly



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Last edited by M37 on September 7th, 2018, 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

M37
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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 7th, 2018, 12:24 am

Early failed attempt to post pictures.
Last edited by M37 on September 7th, 2018, 3:51 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 7th, 2018, 12:27 am

A big thank you to rickf, I was finally able to get the pictures posted. Several of these pictures were taken before I brought them home. I need to post more close up pictures and several of the progress so far. I thought it was neat to see the fuel lines on the yellow M151 were copper, painted OD.
Last edited by M37 on September 7th, 2018, 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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rickf
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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by rickf » September 7th, 2018, 9:33 am

In Postimage once you have your pictures transferred there you click the share button on top and then you will see a drop down menu on the right of the picture. I think it is the second from the bottom that says "hotlink for forums", click that and it should flash copied. If it does not flash copied then right click and click copy and then come here and click paste. Once you get the hang of it it is easy.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by Surveyor » September 7th, 2018, 6:56 pm

I think that was a great deal. One to pass on to each son one day. Not all the pics are showing for me but I see the fun has already started. If you haven't done so, Muttguru likes to see a closeup pic of the data plate next to the steering wheel for his research.
1960 M151 Run #1
"There is one nut on a M151 that is very difficult to remove....." - K8icu
"She ain't a Cadillac and she ain't a Rolls, But there ain't nothin' wrong with the radio" - Aaron Tippin
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rickf
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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by rickf » September 7th, 2018, 9:18 pm

And he will also want to see the body tag numbers if they are still there. Either on the cowl over the valve cover or on the front frame rail under the edge of the grill. The one under the edge of the grill is just a foil tag so if it is there treat it very carefully. I usually start taking pictures as soon as I find it and from different angles so that as I work if anything happens to damage it I at least have some record.
Interesting that I see the insulation but no evidence of the arctic heater that would have been mounted between the seats.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

M37
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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 11th, 2018, 12:39 am

I will have to get some pics of the data plates and frame tags off to muttguru. All of those tags are present and these M151's are both delivered on 4-62, so this may help with other information since they can be compared.

Here are bunch more random photos, some progress and a lot of cleaning, scraping and pressure washing to get all the damned glue off that held the arctic insulation in place.

I also took some pictures of the underbody where the undercoat is peeling off in big chunks. The paint is glossy and like new underneath. These ones didn't seem to rust under the undercoat. Most of the rust is from top side, from trapped water in the floorboards.

I took a few pics of some of the mag wheels. They appear to be in really good shape. These vehicles have a mixture of Goodyear, Firestone and other brands of military NDCC tires on them. The Firestones have a mold date visible on the sidewall that reads 5-62. The also say "Gum Dipped".

The arctic heater is visible in a photo of the green M151 between the seats. In the Yellow one you can see the exhaust hole and control cable in the panel between the seats.

I will post more as I get further along. Thanks for all the input and keep the knowledge coming!

Joe

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rickf
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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by rickf » September 11th, 2018, 9:49 am

Amazing condition and Ken will be enthralled to see matching body tags and data tags. That is something that is VERY rare especially on ones that old. You got yourself a really good deal there. The complete holley with the correct fuel inlet fitting is another rare piece although it is not going to be much good since rebuild parts are limited to a couple gaskets. Treat the top cover of the Holley very carefully since they tend to break at that fuel inlet, probably why you have just the bottom of another one in your hand. I have about 20 of the bottom sections and only four or five tops and a couple of them are hurt.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

M37
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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 11th, 2018, 10:59 am

I took the complete Holley off and opened it up. Amazingly it is all there and in serviceable condition. There isn't any pitting or missing pieces. Hopefully a cleaning and adding new gaskets is all it will need. All of the jets are there and it has never seen ethanol fuel. I plan to have a guy cadmium plate it, to help protect it from future ethanol corrosion.



I will be very careful with the top. I read a previous post where you, or someone described them always breaking at the fitting from people over tightening them.

Could any of your tops be repaired by welding and machining? I have a tig welder and a milling machine. I've also wondered about the possibility of casting and machining the tops. I realize that would be a large undertaking, drilling, tapping and all the venturies.

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 11th, 2018, 11:20 am

Since both of these Ford's were delivered on 4-62 I wanted to see how many production numbers existed between the manufacturer serial numbers, body numbers, and engine numbers. That is assuming the engines are original to these M151's.

I took the manufacturer serial number, both are in the two David series followed by four numbers, 2DXXXX and subtracted the lower number from the higher number, the difference was 189.

Body number 14XXX, were 259 apart.

Engine numbers16078 and 16026 are only 52 numbers apart.

I thought this might be of interest to show the numbers don't all correlate with an even linear progression. Maybe this is due to product flow in the factory. I thought it was interesting how few numbers the engines were apart.


Joe

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by rickf » September 11th, 2018, 6:51 pm

You might be able to TIG weld the carbs but I doubt it. That are a pot metal alloy of aluminum and I have no idea what filler you would use. On top of that I am missing floats for a few of the and those angles gas inlet fittings are extremely hard to find. Don't lose the fitting or the thin locknut and sealing washer. The sealing washer can be made, the rest will be tough. That part that threads into the carb is a machine thread, it is not a pipe thread even though it is the same thread count as a 1/8 inch pipe. That is why everyone thinks the filter should just screw into the carb. Even one of the manuals showed it!
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by m3a1 » September 11th, 2018, 6:52 pm

Maybe now would be a good time to get some Marvel Mystery Oil into those combustion chambers.

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 11th, 2018, 9:38 pm

m3a1 wrote:Maybe now would be a good time to get some Marvel Mystery Oil into those combustion chambers.

I've had Marvel sitting on the pistons since last Friday. I attempted to roll the engine over by hand on Sunday..... Nope it's stuck! I think the rear cylinder near the firewall has had some moisture in it at some time. I think the rings are stuck / rusted to the cylinder wall. I am planning a full rebuild on this engine later on. I will put the later M151A2 engine in it in the mean time.

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by M37 » September 11th, 2018, 9:44 pm

rickf wrote:You might be able to TIG weld the carbs but I doubt it. That are a pot metal alloy of aluminum and I have no idea what filler you would use. On top of that I am missing floats for a few of the and those angles gas inlet fittings are extremely hard to find. Don't lose the fitting or the thin locknut and sealing washer. The sealing washer can be made, the rest will be tough. That part that threads into the carb is a machine thread, it is not a pipe thread even though it is the same thread count as a 1/8 inch pipe. That is why everyone thinks the filter should just screw into the carb. Even one of the manuals showed it!
I will be very careful not to loose or break any parts on the Holley. Thanks for all the advice gentlemen, it really is appreciated!

I am not sure what filler rod to use if I were to attempt to weld your carbs. If they are a pot metal of an unkown alloy. I thought they may be of a zinc compound type alloy.

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Re: Two 1962 Ford M151's

Unread post by lpcoating » September 13th, 2018, 6:25 am

M37 wrote:
rickf wrote:You might be able to TIG weld the carbs but I doubt it. That are a pot metal alloy of aluminum and I have no idea what filler you would use. On top of that I am missing floats for a few of the and those angles gas inlet fittings are extremely hard to find. Don't lose the fitting or the thin locknut and sealing washer. The sealing washer can be made, the rest will be tough. That part that threads into the carb is a machine thread, it is not a pipe thread even though it is the same thread count as a 1/8 inch pipe. That is why everyone thinks the filter should just screw into the carb. Even one of the manuals showed it!
I will be very careful not to loose or break any parts on the Holley. Thanks for all the advice gentlemen, it really is appreciated!

I am not sure what filler rod to use if I were to attempt to weld your carbs. If they are a pot metal of an unkown alloy. I thought they may be of a zinc compound type alloy.
I've used Aladdin 3 in 1 rod in the past. Worked well for what I was doing. If you are going to attempt I'd recommend using a "real" TIG welder. By that I mean a high end machine. I have a Miller Econo TIG. Works great for basic welding but is limited in it's cleaning and arc stability when it comes to welding "dirty" aluminum or pot metal. An industrial TIG is a night and day difference when it comes to this type of work.

Guy
M151 Body Panels - http://www.m151bodypanels.com/

'68 A1 - Under full resto

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