TJ's Build Thread

[Twobit]

Hello! I'll start this by introducing myself. I'm TJ I live in Gig Harbor, WA and we are a Jeep family. Grew up driving my family's J pickups. 1976 J10 honcho (grandpa bought brand new), 1978 2dr Cherokee chief 401 (Mom's ride, our vacation curser), 1978 J20 401, STD trans (Dad's ride), 2nd J10 short bed pickup, 1948 Willys flat fender. My wife and I both drive JK wranglers and have been around the western states off-roading them pretty much everywhere. (13yr old daughter has a 125cc mini jeep (sold at tractor supply) that I've modified to 4x4 with off-road gearing. So we do alot of jeep related stuff. I'm a master mechanic at a local shop so I've always worked on everything myself.

I've always wanted a M715, Just the body styling I've always liked more then the J pickups. I finally found one just last month (10/24) Local to me for 5k. I'm sure the previous owner might have been on here.

Mine is #12874 (6-67) No winch. Looks to have been Fire truck, Holes had been cut in the bed for Water tank and Pump. Brackets below the bed. Chevy 350 with SM420 trans swapped. Other then that it's completely stock with original parts minus someone replacing lights and adding a old school Napa blinker switch. Headlight switch was missing and pull style switch added to turn everything on. Newer 255/85/R16's are on it, with 2 spares in the bed dated 1967. The rims look to have been cleaned up and painted, split rings cleaned and used for these tires. Custom headache rack added at some point. The canvas top looks to have been replaced recently almost new looking and a got a bare hard top included in the sale. It's just bare fiberglass the previous owner said it didn't fit very well. I have yet to try it. Also got a bag of misc parts including an extra gauge panel with gauges still installed.

No rust that I can find at all. Frame has some surface rust coloring but the interior looks to have been painted with rust encapsulate at some point. I own a few cars that I've done restoration work on so I do know how to spot a rusted panel hidden by paint. Bed other then the cut holds looks to have been sealed up too. This is a really solid truck. It doesn't look recently coated so maybe the fire dept. did it? I would love the history on this truck.

First drive home was about 20miles of backroads and boy you guys aren't kidding, the NP200 sounds like a jet engine inside the cab. bearings have to be bad for it to be that loud. I would compare to flying in a bellranger heli. It drove great!! I was really impressed with 4wheel drums it stops pretty decent. Steering is only rough when parking. The seats are original but the backs where completely gone.

Plans for this truck? We have a camping property we go to at least once a month as well as other camping we like to do. Plan is to make the truck drivable to 2-3hrs at 60mph min. So we can use it to haul camping supply's and just have fun driving it.

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[Twobit]

More progress. Doing tons of research on specifics on how I want to go about making the truck road worthy at 60mph. Transfer case upgrade is a must. I really want to keep the factory axles. I know they aren't specifically stronger then new 60's and it's a nightmare it seems to find tubeless rims. I've been going around and around. I want the stock axles, I want the stock gearing, Because 5.87's are great bragging rights. LOL But yes 60mph+ is rough. That means big tires + overdrive? ... Spent some time with the tire calculator and to get the rpms below 3k I would need 40's. Then that takes me to the Rims issue.. What a viscous circle. Seems there is only one company who makes rims for these now. (Red Barn Customs at $534each) That price is painful. Thinking I might stick with the stock rims and tubes? I think I can handle the split rings, I have tire experience and they seems to be in good condition. Hmmm....


Update: Got a NP205 transfer case (Chevy 32 spline, Divorced) for $600!!
So I picked up the transfer case local. Got the NP200 down easy enough and wow.. they are quite different. NP200 has the both outputs on the far end so the gears are always turning, Probably why they are so noisy.
The mounts are very different as well. So here's my solution. I modeled up so brackets, 3d Printed them in plastic to verify they fit, Then sent the files off to be made in 1/4 steel. Cost $129 total.
New brackets and the transfer case mounted up perfectly. (maybe I will add a rear support bracket later)

And then I realized the previous owner of the transfer case played musical yokes. All of them where different sizes. I should have checked. Found 32 spline 1310 yokes for $60each.
Got the new yokes installed and we where in business. The Rear axle (left) stick can be adjusted and pinned with no issues. The Front axle (right) stick has to be cut and shortened 2")
I loose my e-brake, I see there is a kit for $325 to add it to the NP205. I'll look into that. For now it will be compression brake

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[Twobit]

Updates: Picked up a SM465 w/pto for $100. Maybe I will upgrade at some point? I think it's a hair longer so that might mean shortening the driveline to the TC?

Sand blasted and painted the gauges panel. I really liked the original gauges, but they where mostly inop, and I need a speedo that better then 60mph eventually...
Found this gauges set for $140 cam with all the senders even the gas tank float. Speedo is GPS so I don't have to worry about the broken cable to the TC.

Lots of wiring fun. Ignition is dumb simple for a single wire 1969 chevy 350 with HEI. Added some hidden battery shut off and switches so nobody tries to run off with the truck.
Most of the wiring was putting the stock headlight switch back in. Got the parking lights on first service mode (stop lights) and headlights on service lights, Dash gauges work with panel switch. Blackout turns on the backup lamps.

Added an all aluminum radiator, new clutch fan, Hoses.

60-80mph!!! woot! She cruses fine at 60mph (~3200rpm) She ripps up to 80mph with no issues other then the rpms are a bit high. But drove 30mins to work a few days at 60mph without issue. Bigger tires will defiantly bring down the rpm's Current tires are 34ish diameter.

Coming soon... Heater box (ordered) Going to take a bench seat from a J pickup, Need room for 3 in the cab. Battery box was already missing when I got it. Battery mounted in the engine compartment.

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[Kaiserjeeps]

Good reading this morning... Lots of progress so far. And good idea printing the mounts for a fit check. I need to get a 3D printer. Your floors... wow they look great. So rare to find them without lots of pitting or just plain full of holes. I just pulled my truck into the shop yesterday evening. I have a painless wire harness for it. That and I need to build a few wire components to graft into it. I have a drivers door gap issue too. Not enough gap on the handle end. It's going to chip my new paint..LOL I don't have a lot of room in there but hope to fix that with unpacking and organizing. I just moved. Keep posting despite the slow nature of this site. I know some long time members read but don't always post much. This site is a very good resource. And the false shine of fakebook will pass and this site again will breathe like it used to. I am holding out for that. Great truck and like the mods.

[Twobit]

Updates: I took the dash out, Much easier then I expected. Decided to completely redo my wiring harness and put quick connect plugs to the gauge cluster and other removable parts. Added a heater unit and piped the heater lines though the bulkhead to the engine. Mine did not have any of the heater components so I designed my own heater vents to use the factory holes and got everything piped in. having heat is nice. Found a local M715 friend who was selling their aftermarket wheels and tires! Now that I don't have to worry about split ring issues anymore, and I'm rolling 37x12.5r16.5's Dropped my RPM's down to 3k at 60-65mph. This making freeway driving way more manageable.

Bench seat is acquired but still needs to be sand blasted and recovered. Researching power steering, I like the manual steering, but in parking lots it's pretty rough. Also looking into doing some kinda slider drawer system for the under cargo through compartment to make it more useful.
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[Kaiserjeeps]

Looking great. Glad to see you keeping this posted. Who made the heater? Or what brand is it?