Guntruck build "The Savior"

[muthkw25]

On Saturday I purchased a m54a2. Since I got into the hobby, I have always wanted one after learning about the guntrucks that served in Vietnam. I found one thats unique. The truck I believe started as a m54 or m54a1. The lower headlight position as well as the fenders on the inside of the hood look like this was a gasser in its previous life. My guess is the truck was repowered with the LDS 465-1a. Truck was picked up by previous owner from the forestery department.

Truck originally had the exhaust dumping out in front of front right tandem according to previous owner when he got it. Truck has a D turbo and a direct drive transmission. The 395s help get some speed but theres loss in torque. Truck runs well but needs some tlc. The plan is to build a guntruck replica using trucks that served in vietnam for ideas. Out of the 6 gun truck books I couldn't find a guntruck with the lower headlight positions.

Ive decided I'm going to name the truck "The Savior". First because Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and because these trucks were known as Saviors to those that served. I want to try to keep the heritage alive and felt instead of trying to copy a truck, id do one on how Id want it setup.

Plan is to use 5/16" steel for the gun box. Once the trucks been mechanically gone through I'll focus on cosmetics and then the gunbox.

 

[muthkw25]

After finishing paperwork at notary, I go to move the truck and the brakes are locked on hard on rear right tandem. Couldn't get to release, E-brake wasnt grabbing. I tried moving minor adjustment with no help. Tried the major adjustments but the bolts wouldnt budge. Called a buddy of mine that happened to be 20 to 30 mins away. He came and we took the drum off and the wheel cylinder wouldnt release. We cracked the bleeder and the wheel cylinder returned normally but not all the way. Cracked the bleeder at the left rear tandem and the right side wheel cylinder completely relaxed. Turns out the rubber line failed internally and turned into a 1 way valve.

My buddy happened to have the brake line at his place. We bled the brakes and got the truck rolling. What would have been a 5 hr recovery turned into a 12hr recovery. We got the truck rolling and off we went. Had 160 mile trip home.
We got about 40 miles from home to stop and use the bathroom and the left front tandem brake drum was smoking bad. Drum was 581F! Hubs weren't above 160F. We let truck cool for 45 minutes and finished the trip.

Truck drove great. Got home safely. Thank the Lord for him watching over me and my family that came to assist on the journey home. Thank God for my buddy who happened to be local AND have the part.

Truck will have all brakes lines gone through and all hubs and bearings repacked.

Plan is to have the truck completed by next fall so I have alot of work to do.

Going through truck now to see what needs replacing. Im trying to keep as much original as possible.

Going to go back to 11r20s (g177s because of miles we will be driving), spin-on filters, block heater, coolant filter, all fluid changes, pyro and boost gauge, mechanical coolant and oil pressure gauges. Just stuff to add safety, ease of maintenance and help increase reliability.

Here's some photos of the truck next to my 925a1.

Grandpa vs son.

 

[71DeuceAK]

These trucks truly do continue to run missions and protect their operators. Looks like a good score!

 

[muthkw25]

These trucks truly do continue to run missions and protect their operators. Looks like a good score!

Thank you sir! Its gonna be fun.

 

[muthkw25]

My wife was sitting down looking at potential art work and design for side of the truck. Its a long ways down the road but here's a mock graphic design. Im trying to keep with themes from other trucks with font and colors.

 

[muthkw25]

Decided to acquire parts and removing stuff I didnt want. I put a new led dash bulbs in the high beam indictator and other dash lights. I acquired new mudflaps for front tandems, rubber mudflaps for rear ones, and bumperettes. New spin on kits for fuel and oil are coming soon.

Previous owner installed these giant pvc tanks on either side of the frame tucked in under the bed. Driver side held diesel, passenger side held water. Going back to duals they will rub and I wasn't a fan of the look. Here's the passenger side installed and the driverside one removed.

 

[muthkw25]

Got the bumperettes and pintle installed. Bumperettes were a challenge. Needed a ratchet strap to pull the bumperette to get the 2 holes closest to the pintle hitch to line up.

 

[bkueber]

This is a cool project and i love the name

 

[muthkw25]

This is a cool project and i love the name

Thanks bkueber. Its gonna be a long project. But worth it in the end.

 

[muthkw25]

Ive been acquiring quite the parts list for The Savior. Today I completed the primary and secondary fuel spin on kits from Jatonka. I went with a CAT primary instead of wix. You can run a wix 3406 and I cross reference and got CAT 256-8753. Secondary is wix 33336. I put a petcock at top of secondaries and adding a small 1/4" hose so when have to bleed the filters it doesnt make a mess.
It was hard to not spill diesel all over the starter. I forgot the LDS starter is on driverside. Now that its done it should be easier next time. The canisters are longer than the spin-ons so ill have more room next time.
I also installed the crankcase ventilation hose. Its 1.25" ID and a clamp. Its 1 meter long and dumps out below the tierod. Next step is oil change, oil filter spin ons, mechanical oil pressure and mechanical oil temp gauge installs. Id like to see where the truck is at oil temp wise when looking at all the data.
The oil pressure gauge im running a 1/8" npt to -4an braided stainless ptfe line to the gauge. Over kill but looks cool and looking cool is 90%.

I bought all autometer Z series gauges, black with white numbers and red needles. I tried to get gauges as close to the original and stay mechanical. I got 24v led bulbs for the gauges and will tie into the dash lights. More photos coming soon.

 

[muthkw25]

Got a giant step bit to put the oil temp gauge in the dash. Decided to use a pre-existing plug and drill it out. I ran a 1/4" npt to -4an line for oil pressure gauge and ran into the cab. Wired the gauges and borrowed power from the dash lights so they light up when other dash lights are on. Used the red led bulbs. I installed a T fitting at the oil cooler so I could use that to measure oil temp.

Oil filter spin ons installed as well.

Next step is to work on replacing the coolant, adding a coolant filter, block heater, and mechanical coolant gauge.

 

[muthkw25]

Drained the coolant to prepare for the new coolant gauge, coolant filter and block heater. Found oil in the coolant. No coolant in the oil. Looks like the oil cooler O-rings failed. I ordered a kit for new gaskets and O rings. Im going to be purchasing alot of distilled water to flush the system.

When I bought the truck, the truck had green coolant on top. I didnt check the drain petcock. Truck didnt have any overflow drainage off the radiator cap and the oil level was in good shape. Should have back together next week and ill have to do a bunch of flushes.

Attached is a sample of what came out near the end.

 

[muthkw25]

Ran 21 gallons of distilled water through radiator today. Boiled the water. Got a ton of stuff out. Plan is to pull radiator and replace the belts, coolant hoses and clamps and have radiator boiled and or cleaned out off the truck.


I installed the block heater and working on installing the coolant filter and the needle mechanical coolant temp gauge while I wait for more parts to come in.

More photos in near future.

 

[muthkw25]

Made some progress on The Savior. In total we have flushed about 80 gallons of distilled water through the system and radiator. Dad and I replaced the o-rings in the oil cooler and new gaskets. We found one of the orings looked crushed. There wasnt a ton of oil in the system. We pulled the thermostat and ran a cummins oil flush through the system and didnt see any oil after the radiator was flushed. Makes me think that the rad wasnt properly flushed when it had an issue in the past. The truck never broke 160F going home so the thermostat wouldnt have opened and might have kept the oil deposits in the radiator.
I also replaced the coolant hoses as well. Replaced the belts, coolant filter.

Let me just say that this is the most difficult truck to work on comparing the m35a2 series and the m939 series. Theres no room to reach the bottom of the radiator to get the coolant hose off. Theres limited room from on top of the winch. The super singles dont help reaching components as well. The powersteering makes it hard to work on parts of the injection pump. I was not expecting it to be more difficult.

Since the truck is down for the winter, we replaced all the fuel return lines, blocked off the fuel heater and ran all new fuel lines. Fdc is bypassed. New thermostat, seal and gasket installed. New coolant added. So far so good. Plan is to keep an eye on coolant and see if theres any more oil issues in coolant. Oil level looks good.

Dad and I decided to do a front fender dump for the exhaust. Looking at what other guntrucks did, we decided it would help keep smoke and noise away from the crew in the bed and in the cab. We got a 3.5" to 4" adapter and ran a 4" pipe to the front right fender and dumps right below the step.

I have some clamps and making brackets to hold the pipe.

The pipe came from a m925 under the cab that has the flex pipe in it. I thought it would keep with the hillbilly armor theme and repurpose parts and equipment lying around the shop.

Next step is to install the pyrometer since the fdc is bypassed prior to any road tests.

Relocating the breathers on axles, trans, and transfer case to the engine bay, greasing the truck and draining/refilling oil in the axles, trans and transfer case is up next.

I'll add some photos soon.

 

[SCM35A2]

Subscribed for updates!

 

[muthkw25]

Here are some photos I havent posted up. First photo shows the new silicone hoses and the coolant filter installation. I also put the block heater inside the thermostat housing instead of in the water pump. Next photo is the quick disconnect for the boost gauge on top of the intake elbow. Following photo shows the filters and fuel lines all replaced. The next series of photos shows the exhaust. This was fun. Got to use an exhaust from another truck and decided instead of reinventing the wheel? Id run a 3.5" to 4" stainless steel adapter and then run the 925 stock exhaust down. Used some clamps ans cut the end off. Sticks out a couple inches and below the step.

Significant difference in the cab for noise. Driving around the property it didnt require hearing protection mounted down low like that.

Last photo is running new monroe shocks. Used the same shocks on the m925a1. Install was easy. Old shocks were shot.

I was blessed to find a great deal on some Goodyear G287 tires mounted on 5 ton rims for the build. Truck will be a pavement princess and deal was too good to pass up. Should be here in a week.

Acquiring parts to work on the axles with new seals and gaskets before tackling the brake system with new lines.

 

[msgjd]

The truck I believe started as a m54 or m54a1. The lower headlight position as well as the fenders on the inside of the hood look like this was a gasser in its previous life. My guess is the truck was repowered with the LDS 465-1a. Truck was picked up by previous owner from the forestry department.

Truck originally had the exhaust dumping out in front of front right tandem according to previous owner when he got it. Truck has a D turbo and a direct drive transmission.

IIRC, the gasser M54's in motor pools I had worked out of in the 1970's-80's had an exhaust pipe extension dumping out between the RH tandems..

(however, the M51, M52, M139, and M62 gassers I either own or were in the motor pools of my day had the exhaust pipe coming out between the RH front tandem axle and fuel tank, as did a few of the A1 macks we had in the inventory.. The majority of "our" A1's , and all of "our" A2's , had stacks)

Your truck may still have an exhaust pipe bracket bolted to the frame in either of those two locations, or perhaps a residual piece after being cut off ..

A red-flag feature i notice on your truck is the cargo bed is likely not original to the truck if it were a gasser.. All M54 (gas) cargo bodies IME had a compartment below the Left Front corner of the bed , as seen below .. We used to keep the rearward end-tarp (among other things) stowed in there when a truck was doing daily hauls ...




Headlights/Grille features: Yes the lower-quadrant location on a non-winch truck typically flags it as being a gasser or former gasser, however, a PO may have preferred "the look" and did the flip or had to replace the grille .. The slotted (horn) section above the passenger headlight (versus a lack of) came with gas-powered trucks.. I think some of the very-first A1's had this feature too, i seem to recall an example back long ago but am unable to find a picture at this time.. It's possible I am remembering a former gasser that had gone through the initial A1-conversion contract Mack received in the late-50's/early-60's. Perhaps someone here has precise information about that gas-to-mack remotor contract

As for your tranny, IME , multifuel A2's of the M39-series supposedly all have direct-5th trannies and gassers that were converted to multifuel retained their direct-5th tranny, including examples i've bought direct from the gov't. To only complicate matters, I drove many A2's back in the day that had been remotored with the Mack ENDT673 and obligatory OD tranny, but they had kept their "A2" dash tags for whatever reason

The inner fenders on gassers are different from A1/A2 , most-noticeably the exhaust manifold side for the different exhaust pipe locations .. IME, conversions received the appropriate inner fenders , unless of course as you mention, a PO did the swap and did not change the inners, which makes me wonder how much clearance you have for the turbo, exhaust, and also the things affected on the drivers side as well

There are some specific easy features that may help solve your mystery ..

1: Build date and manufacturer (IF the original dash tag)
2: Frame s/n stamping IF it is there
3: Plugged (or unplugged) 1" starter pedal hole in floor/firewall transition just above accelerator pedal
4: Plugged (or unplugged) 1/4" or 5/16" hole for choke cable on lower dash at immediate right of gauge cluster
5: Casting # on windshield hinges and U-joint yokes (gassers usually have IHC #'s ending with R1, R2, R4, R91 etc)

There are some other things but not as easy as the above ..

You have a nice truck and a wonderful project idea !

 

[muthkw25]

IIRC, the gasser M54's in motor pools I had worked out of in the 1970's-80's had an exhaust pipe extension dumping out between the RH tandems..

(however, the M51, M52, M139, and M62 gassers I either own or were in the motor pools of my day had the exhaust pipe coming out between the RH front tandem axle and fuel tank, as did a few of the A1 macks we had in the inventory.. The majority of "our" A1's , and all of "our" A2's , had stacks)

Your truck may still have an exhaust pipe bracket bolted to the frame in either of those two locations, or perhaps a residual piece after being cut off ..

A red-flag feature i notice on your truck is the cargo bed is likely not original to the truck if it were a gasser.. All M54 (gas) cargo bodies IME had a compartment below the Left Front corner of the bed , as seen below .. We used to keep the rearward end-tarp (among other things) stowed in there when a truck was doing daily hauls ...

View attachment 959743


Headlights/Grille features: Yes the lower-quadrant location on a non-winch truck typically flags it as being a gasser or former gasser, however, a PO may have preferred "the look" and did the flip or had to replace the grille .. The slotted (horn) section above the passenger headlight (versus a lack of) came with gas-powered trucks.. I think some of the very-first A1's had this feature too, i seem to recall an example back long ago but am unable to find a picture at this time.. It's possible I am remembering a former gasser that had gone through the initial A1-conversion contract Mack received in the late-50's/early-60's. Perhaps someone here has precise information about that gas-to-mack remotor contract

As for your tranny, IME , multifuel A2's of the M39-series supposedly all have direct-5th trannies and gassers that were converted to multifuel retained their direct-5th tranny, including examples i've bought direct from the gov't. To only complicate matters, I drove many A2's back in the day that had been remotored with the Mack ENDT673 and obligatory OD tranny, but they had kept their "A2" dash tags for whatever reason

The inner fenders on gassers are different from A1/A2 , most-noticeably the exhaust manifold side for the different exhaust pipe locations .. IME, conversions received the appropriate inner fenders , unless of course as you mention, a PO did the swap and did not change the inners, which makes me wonder how much clearance you have for the turbo, exhaust, and also the things affected on the drivers side as well

There are some specific easy features that may help solve your mystery ..

1: Build date and manufacturer (IF the original dash tag)
2: Frame s/n stamping IF it is there
3: Plugged (or unplugged) 1" starter pedal hole in floor/firewall transition just above accelerator pedal
4: Plugged (or unplugged) 1/4" or 5/16" hole for choke cable on lower dash at immediate right of gauge cluster
5: Casting # on windshield hinges and U-joint yokes (gassers usually have IHC #'s ending with R1, R2, R4, R91 etc)

There are some other things but not as easy as the above ..

You have a nice truck and a wonderful project idea !

Thanks MSGJD for all your feedback. As far as the bed, I see holes on the bottom that look like they would have lined up with that box that appears on the driverside front corner of the bed. I don't see brackets for the exhaust dump between the tandems. It has an m54a2 data tag. It has a lot of room on turbo side fender so the appropriate fenders were replaced at one time. The driver side sticks in alot which doesn't leave alot of room with the later style power steering. I think passenger side was replaced but driverside was kept? Other thing is I see holes for where the front glad hands would be mounted but no lines tucked in showing that it had front glad hands.

I haven't looked at the frame stamping yet. I need to look for the hole for the starter above the pedal. I did see a hole on the firewall for where a choke cable could run through. In fact I ran the oil temp gauge through that hole to the oil cooler.

I'll have to check the casting numbers on the windshield hinges and U-joint yokes.

The truck came from the forestry department and I don't know how long or when it was purchased or what changes they made to the truck. If I could find that storage box on the side of the bed, I'd mount that back up.

 

[msgjd]

[QUOTE="muthkw25, post: 2630789, member: 50691". It has an m54a2 data tag. Other thing is I see holes for where the front glad hands would be mounted but no lines tucked in showing that it had front glad hands.
[/QUOTE]

Well, at least your dash tag matches the engine .. My M62 (a former IH gasser w/multifuel "upgrade") retains all its original gasser dash tags , no rebuild tags anywhere other than a couple 1990's MWO tags riveted inside the doorway .

One of the tags indicates the M809-series power steering upgrade complete w/M809-series front axle.. The other MWO is the installation of a Bostrom-type driver seat and/or the seat belts, unsure which fix it's for, perhaps that MWO is a 2-fer .. An inconvenience is that they didn't replace the big old steering wheel with a M809-series type, which is smaller diameter.. Barely enough leg room to squeeze between the new-style seat and that big ol' steering wheel when you're trying to get in/out of there , and I'm under 200# !

My truck's A2 "upgrade" appears to have been done by a upper-echelon military shop since all of the associated parts are application-correct, are in their proper placements, and the floor starter button hole has the proper blank plug.. It was well-done , however, I prefer the ol' 5T gas engines over any multifuel when hauling OTR.. Mine doesn't display any of the shortcuts or cobs one may see done by a forest service shop , at which mine spent a few years before I bid on it ..

Front gladhands: Someone can pipe in at any time , but I have never seen a 5T without front gladhands in any motorpool or in my hands, except for a particular one on a jobsite which appeared to have had some of its front piping removed and capped off by the worksite contractor, the pipe plugs were galvanized (not military).. That situation should've created problems because the service side needs to be vented for the brakes to release properly , but I didn't waste more time looking for a vent somewhere, wasn't my truck nor my problem . . It was just a brief curious observation

One thing is for sure, there's many former military trucks that have a certain degree of mystery when it comes to undocumented variations that don't fit their OEM norm

 

[muthkw25]

[QUOTE="muthkw25, post: 2630789, member: 50691". It has an m54a2 data tag. Other thing is I see holes for where the front glad hands would be mounted but no lines tucked in showing that it had front glad hands.

Well, at least your dash tag matches the engine .. My M62 (a former IH gasser w/multifuel "upgrade") retains all its original gasser dash tags , no rebuild tags anywhere other than a couple 1990's MWO tags riveted inside the doorway .

One of the tags indicates the M809-series power steering upgrade complete w/M809-series front axle.. The other MWO is the installation of a Bostrom-type driver seat and/or the seat belts, unsure which fix it's for, perhaps that MWO is a 2-fer .. An inconvenience is that they didn't replace the big old steering wheel with a M809-series type, which is smaller diameter.. Barely enough leg room to squeeze between the new-style seat and that big ol' steering wheel when you're trying to get in/out of there , and I'm under 200# !

My truck's A2 "upgrade" appears to have been done by a upper-echelon military shop since all of the associated parts are application-correct, are in their proper placements, and the floor starter button hole has the proper blank plug.. It was well-done , however, I prefer the ol' 5T gas engines over any multifuel when hauling OTR.. Mine doesn't display any of the shortcuts or cobs one may see done by a forest service shop , at which mine spent a few years before I bid on it ..

Front gladhands: Someone can pipe in at any time , but I have never seen a 5T without front gladhands in any motorpool or in my hands, except for a particular one on a jobsite which appeared to have had some of its front piping removed and capped off by the worksite contractor, the pipe plugs were galvanized (not military).. That situation should've created problems because the service side needs to be vented for the brakes to release properly , but I didn't waste more time looking for a vent somewhere, wasn't my truck nor my problem . . It was just a brief curious observation

One thing is for sure, there's many former military trucks that have a certain degree of mystery when it comes to undocumented variations that don't fit their OEM norm
[/QUOTE]
Yeah there is definetly some mystery to the truck thats for sure. Slowly figuring it out.