First Purchase Butterflies

I went and looked at my first 715 this morning. The body and frame are in really excellent shape, hardly any rust and some small patches in the bed floor where someone filled in holes the fire dept cut out with a torch. New-ish tires, brakes, rear shocks and exhaust. Engine did not smoke, 4wd system works, although the engine is a ‘74 model. It felt like this thing could pull a house off its foundation!

Here is the bad. The wiring seems to be a mess. It was converted to a 12v system but there are numerous wires leading to nowhere that a fire dept installed according to the owner. He removed all the belts from the engine because he wasn’t sure if the alternator might cause a fire. Weird. This also meant the water pump was not running and the radiator was bone dry. Owner said he only uses the truck to haul dirt and mulch around on his 3-4 acres so it doesn’t run long. Again, weird and concerning. The original rear hitch was removed and a 2” receiver welded on the back bumper, and not very good welding. He also said the brake lights don’t work and I have a feeling that is because of the switch to 12v system and removal of the 24v light switch to engage “drive”. He cautioned me against driving it home because of the low max speed and given I would have to get on the Interstate for a few miles. The trans seals are leaking a bit, not pouring, and the NP200 case was a little wet. The shafts all looked good and didn’t have play in them.

Now just have to decide if the good outweighs the bad!

Might be a little confused here... you say it’s a “74 model”, the M715 was only built from 67 to 69?

Something sounds off... even if you take the belts off the alternator the truck still needs voltage to run so loose wires would still have juice from the battery. I wonder if he still has a 24v alternator on a 12v system?

Either way you need water flowing to keep the engine from overheating/causing damage. I would look at purchase expecting to change the engine. That should give you a good baseline. You can adapt a simple Chevy 350 in with plates.

I agree on the interstate/highway comment. With an unreliable truck I wouldn’t push it and damage more. It has s top speed of 55 mph.

Good luck and hope you join the M715 family!

To clarify, the engine plate had a build date of 7-12-74, didn’t mean to imply the 715 was a 74. However, you bring up a good point because if I’m not mistaken, the Tornado was only built until ‘73. If that is the case, I have no idea what engine this thing has in it.

As for the electrical, none of the gauges worked. I posted in another thread about using a Delco SI and where I could find a pulley. Someone in the past tried to convert it to a 12v system but I don’t think they changed anything out except for the alternator and removed a battery.

The asking price was in the upper four digit range, which is too high IMHO based on all the electrical and mechanical issues I’ll have to resolve.

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Originally Posted by Narcosis

To clarify, the engine plate had a build date of 7-12-74, didn’t mean to imply the 715 was a 74. However, you bring up a good point because if I’m not mistaken, the Tornado was only built until ‘73. If that is the case, I have no idea what engine this thing has in it.

As for the electrical, none of the gauges worked. I posted in another thread about using a Delco SI and where I could find a pulley. Someone in the past tried to convert it to a 12v system but I don’t think they changed anything out except for the alternator and removed a battery.

The asking price was in the upper four digit range, which is too high IMHO based on all the electrical and mechanical issues I’ll have to resolve.

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Just remove all wiring, and replace with an off-the-shelf harness. Mine is a Hot Rod Wires 18-circuit harness, running off a GM one-wire 12V alternator. Obviously, all bulbs & gages will have to changed out for 12V, and the starter replaced or rewound.

I'm guessing that date is not a build, but a rebuild date. 230 OHC engines weren't manufactured in '74.

My wiring was shot and things were missing when i bought my truck. I used a kwik wire 2002 fuse block and just rewired the whole truck. For some reason my pictures always want to flip upside down, i dunno.

http://www.m715zone.com/vb/picture.p...pictureid=1056

How long did it take you guys to rewire the truck?

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Originally Posted by jhartings

How long did it take you guys to rewire the truck?

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Id say a month or two of working on it at sporadic intervals.

It was pretty straight forward outside of making the stock turn signal play nice with the new fuse box and getting the indicator light on the turn signal switch housing to work when the turn signals were on without back feeding.

Heres a video of it working.

https://youtu.be/vyjZTIrkonA

In the US, the 230 was built:
Civilian Jeeps 1963 to 1965
Military 1966 (prototypes) to 1970

Most likely what you have is a motor that is sporting a rebuild tag and date...that would be my guess...post a pic and I can tell better...