1962 Ford M151 Restoration

A place to post pics and descriptions of ongoing restoration projects

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Refit1701
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1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » September 27th, 2018, 8:42 am

I purchased this mutt last weekend after an 8 hour round trip to TN from Alabama. It's in fairly good condition with the worst rust being in the front "crossmember" under the front pans. It will need some patching on the floorboards and side panels.

It may have been restored before, surely it has been painted grey at some point, but the OD is under the fenders, beneath the peeling undercoating. It is uncut.

Here are a few photos:
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I was told the transmission is locked up. I haven't checked on the engine but I have four in storage. I've been collecting parts and bodies for a number of years, waiting to find a decent body.
Last edited by Refit1701 on May 12th, 2019, 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

redcoat54th
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by redcoat54th » September 28th, 2018, 10:35 am

Now the fun begins. My front crossmember is rusted out also but the floors are fairly solid so I will work on that at a later date. I will help that you have been collecting parts, mine was missing a lot a small items. I think the hunt for parts is half the fun. Bob
British Army (Royal Signals). US Army 1st Air Cav (UH1H pilot)
Prime mover 1965 M151A1
Trailer M416
MVPA #37617

Refit1701
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » September 28th, 2018, 1:11 pm

Sometimes I think the hunt is more than half of the fun! I've bought this and that for years, including two spare engines and two jeeps which probably aren't repairable due to rot but have lots of parts and two more drivetrains. Now I am photographing every inch of it so I can refer to the photos later if needed. I love to document projects.

I am about to order a metal garage to store my restored M37 in to get it out of the shop so I have room to start stripping this one down.

It's amazing how much junk you wind up with in this hobby. I think I could build another 37 just from extra parts! "Oh, that's cheap, buy it!"
-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

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m3a1
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by m3a1 » September 28th, 2018, 5:55 pm

Most of us know exactly how you feel... :mrgreen:

SturmTyger380
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by SturmTyger380 » October 1st, 2018, 10:13 am

Interesting that the front bumper says Army on one side and Navy on the other.
45' MB, ??' MBT, 47' CJ2A, 48' CJ2A,
51' M38 #1, 51' M38 #2, 51' M100,
52' M37, ??' M101A1 (1st Gulf War Vet),
53' M38A1, 53' M211, 65' M151A1, 67' M416,
MVPA #31724

Refit1701
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » September 19th, 2021, 10:46 am

Wow, no updates in three years. I've had three surgeries since then and then last year happened. We are getting the body ready to go on the tank engine rotisserie to finish the panel replacement and stripping of all the paint and undercoating.
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-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

Refit1701
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Posts: 255
Joined: April 6th, 2009, 9:39 am
Location: Odenville, Alabama

Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » October 1st, 2021, 1:18 pm

We worked on adding the curved sections to the Cameron MFG rear panel yesterday. It took about six hours to get this done and I ground the welds this morning and primed them so I can see where else they need attention. Once these are acceptable, then it's welding on the brake housing brackets followed by putting the panel on the truck.
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-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

Refit1701
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » October 1st, 2021, 1:21 pm

More photos. My buddy did most of the fitting and is a perfectionist, so it will look better than if I was left to my own devices. As I said before, the images of primed corners are before the final grinding/sanding. 8)
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-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

lpcoating
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by lpcoating » October 1st, 2021, 2:14 pm

Hello John. Couple things to keep in mind - when grinding, avoid all temptation to use a hard stone. I use 80 grit with a rubber backer. Hold the disc flat to the panel and finish with DA. Also, whenever I install panels, If I can weld it from the inside, I do. That way you don't have to worry about blending all of the outside panels. Not being critical, just a suggestion.

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

'68 A1 - Under full resto

lpcoating
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by lpcoating » October 1st, 2021, 2:15 pm

I also have the goal this year to sell the rear panels complete so people do not have to weld the corners on. It's a pia to do and we'll make some tooling for forming the fill pieces. I also will have the footman loops and weld nuts installed.

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

'68 A1 - Under full resto

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rickf
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by rickf » October 1st, 2021, 2:49 pm

I am curious as to what all the holes are in the panels? That is going to be a LOT of filling!!!!
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

lpcoating
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by lpcoating » October 1st, 2021, 3:30 pm

They are going to plug weld and then grind them flush in place of the factory spot welds.

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

'68 A1 - Under full resto

Refit1701
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » October 1st, 2021, 7:39 pm

I prefer flap disks to stones but my buddy is the opposite. I'm going to finish with a rubber backed pad, like you suggested.

I know you had said in the past about welding from the inside to avoid plugs but I don't have the skills for that and I can't expect my friend to do all that.

All those holes are just the same holes that mimic the factory spot welds.

Hopefully in a week or so I'll have photos up of the body on the rotisserie.
-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

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rickf
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by rickf » October 2nd, 2021, 9:00 am

With a spot weld there is very little heat transferred to the surrounding metal, and no added metal. When spotting with a mig by plug welding you are adding metal and filling a hole so you are adding metal which adds substantial heat to the surrounding area. This will cause warping. The way I spot with a mig is this, I do not drill any holes other than a very few to put in sheet metal screws to pull the panels tight together. I make sure the panels are clean and sprayed with weld through primer before doing this. Then I set the welder at roughly 90-100 amps, all welders vary so yours may be different. I pick my spot and then I hit it with a fast and hot weld, I am talking 1 second at most. This burns hot enough to weld the top panel to the bottom panel with very little heat transfer or metal transfer. The same thing can be done with TIG. In your case you already have the holes so you need to plan out how to do this. You need to set the welder so you are hot enough to get a good weld but not too hot as to transfer a ton of heat to the surrounding metal. Then you need to spread out the welds, do not run them in a row or you will have serious warping. A heavy copper backing bar would also help with heat transfer. And above all be positive that the panels are perfectly tight against each other because with plug welding if they are not you will bulge out the panel as the weld flows between the panels and then that area will need to be cut out and a patch made. I am not trying to play expert, I just do not want to see this go bad on you. And Like Guy said, grind with light grits. Flap discs are fine but use a light touch. Do not overheat the metal with the grinder because that will warp it just like welding heat will. And hard grinding discs are out, I can see the damage done by one in a previous picture on the curve. They are far too aggressive and once gone the metal is gone. You can clean it up with a finer disc but at that point the metal is paper thin.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

Refit1701
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Re: 1962 Ford M151 Restoration

Unread post by Refit1701 » October 2nd, 2021, 9:21 am

Rick,

You've pretty well described our procedure using holes and we will investigate your method without holes on future panels. We have been plug welding on minimum heat settings, practicing on the same thickness of metal used in the patches. So far, we've had little or no warpage.

The curved pieces are going to need some repair anyway, and I have my DA sander ready to work on those.

Thanks for taking the time to write that all out! It will be nice to have made good progress after the jeep has been in my shop waiting for three years.
-John
Dixie Division MVC/ MVPA member
1953 M37 Air Force w/o winch
1953 M37 USMC with winch!
1967 Pioneer Trailer
1962 M151 under restoration
1967 M416 trailer
1942 1.5 Chevy Ton Bomb Service Truck (sold to English collector)

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