My MUTT, then and now

[platoonboss]

Here are some pics of the hulk that my MUTT was until now.

[toptiger]

71 Ford?
Nice save and it looks very well done.

[moose53]

71 Ford?
Nice save and it looks very well done.

good call! That is what it appears to be! To be sure though, would need to see floor drains. It's possible side drain got bondo'd over....

Jim

[rickf]

Ford? No straight fenders?

Rick

[davegargiulo]

Another MUTT to the neighborhood,I see my buddy Jim thompson in the trailor pic.Looks a hell of a lot better than before.Worth saving due too it was uncut.
Dave

[Cobra5]

platoonboss,

I'm interested in knowing how you repaired the corrosion on the rear above the bumperettes between the taillights. I see a lot of corrosion in that area in the before photo but in the after photo it doesn't appear to have any repair done in that area. Did you replace the entire back panel? Anyways real nice job.

[SV2IPW]

Tell us about the tires. it seems very good for our military vehicles.
What about the dimensions of those???

[platoonboss]

Thanks everyone. Yes Dave, that's Jim Thompson with young Jim in the foreground. I actually had two hulks and Jim did the major mechanical work on one in exchange for the other. He hasn't gotten to that one yet, but it WILL rise again.
It's an AM General and I called it a 1972 as a best guess.
I drove it around for a year looking pretty rough and started the body work in May. Had to rush a bit to be ready you the parades on the 4th. Believe it or not, I did the touch up over the body work with 3 1/2 spray cans of Gillespie 24087. I'll be doing a complete paint job at some point, but it's OK for now.
As for drains, it has one on the passenger side, but not on the driver's side. I'm no expert. Is that correct for a '72 AMG? I wonder if one disappeared at some point, but is was that way from the Army.
The rear panel rot was cut out and a plate welded in. There was a ROPS support remaining on the driver's side which I removed and then filled all of the ROPS holes. Since the last pic, I installed a corner antenna mount on the passenger side and added a length of 1 1/2" PVC to the inside edge with 2 U-bolts for easy mounting of a flag for parades.
The tires are Hankook Mud & Snow, LT 215 - 85 R16 tubeless. When I painted the wheels I sand blasted the insides as well and sprayed on a heavy coat of paint. there have been no leaks with the tubeless tires. I see that Hankook has started advertising on TV, so they should be easier to find in the future. I found them online and a friend in the business ordered them and mounted and balanced them for me. I don't worry about driving in the rain anymore now that I'm not driving on 1" slicks.
Thanks again to Jim Thompson for getting the job started. Otherwise they might still be wasting away in my driveway.
Bob.

[SEABEE62]

Nice job!!!!! ......Seabee

[Bill, Idaho]

I don't mean to stir things up, but with the curved front fenders, I would have thought is was an AM General?

[moose53]

Ford? No straight fenders?

Rick

I don't mean to stir things up, but with the curved front fenders, I would have thought is was an AM General?

70 Ford = straight fenders, floor drains
71 Ford = notched fenders , floor drains
72 went to AMG, side drains instead of floor drains

Jim

[platoonboss]

Oh boy. It has a floor drain on the driver's side and a side drain on the right side. The valve cover has an AM GENERAL sticker on it, but could be an engine swap I suppose. what does it all mean? I'm confused. HELP!

[moose53]

Oh boy. It has a floor drain on the driver's side and a side drain on the right side. The valve cover has an AM GENERAL sticker on it, but could be an engine swap I suppose. what does it all mean? I'm confused. HELP!

the return of Frankenjeep lol

it sounds as if some bodywork has been done... to determine what you started out with look for the body tag, if its under the hood, centered on the firewall then its a Ford w/a repair panel from an amg on the passenger side. If no tag there look on the transmission hump about where your right ankle would be if sitting in the jeep. if you find a tag there, hidden behind the fuel line then its an amg with a ford repair panel on the driver side.

Jim

[rickf]

My guess would be that the driver side has had the floor replaced and the side repaired. Side collision maybe. Does it have a BUDD tag under the hood in the center of the cowl?

[platoonboss]

UPDATE: On closer inspection I find floor drains on BOTH sides, to the rear, outboard. (Pic #1.) I cannot tell if there was a filled side drain on the left side or a replaced panel. The floors are pitted, so it appears that the floors are original. There are repairs to the forward floor sections recently done by Jim Thompson. The pic of the right side drain is also included.
I do not see any tags in any of the three areas mentioned. Are we thinking Ford, even with the AM General labeled engine?