My '68 M715 Build Progress Page

[ColoradoSpringsRob]

Can you tell us what shocks you used, and where you bought them? Glad that snake lived long enough to see a M715. His life was complete.

[plumas.placer.miner]

Sure thing Rob,

The back shocks are OEM, I found them on eBay.

The front shocks were at Napa (Shout out to Rob from CA, AKA "Hiker" on this site).

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Part: NS 76991
Product Line: NAPA Shocks

Price : 41.39

Features & Benefits
The Gas Grande Truck Shock Absorber Is Designed For Mid To Full Size, Hard Working Pick-Up Trucks & Vans. These Units Provide Firm Control w/o A Harsh Ride. w/ Up To Twice The Fluid Capacity Of Standard 1" Bore Shocks, Gas Grande Truck Shocks Work More Efficiently w/ Less Effort.
Attributes
Lower Mount : Loop Type 5/8" x 1 5/16"
Shock Compressed Length : 13.25"
Shock Extended Length : 21"
Upper Mount : Loop Type 5/8" x 1 5/16"
Shock Dust Shield : Yes
Shock Parts Pack Part # : P573
Shock Travel Length : 7.75"

Warranty
Limited Lifetime
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They came painted blue, but some primer and a RAPCO rattle can fixed that right away for me.

[plumas.placer.miner]

I am sad to report that the AMC 232 in my truck has seen [much] better days. The top end is...um... rough. Heh. The pistons are slapping about in an undisciplined-like manner, the valves are "lashing" out in a way that would make John Cameron Swayze envious ( re:"Timex-it takes a licking and keeps on Ticking). Although, I personally didn't lick the engine. Ahem.

Poor old thing was struggling to get up a hill pulling an empty trailer. Frankly, it was embarrassing. Good thing I don't have the Air Force veteran plates on it yet.. or it would have made the Air Force look wimpy. haha

So, I pulled the trigger (so to speak) on a remanufactured AMC 258. It'll be here before June 14. It was spendy, but eBay is having a 0% APR for 24 months promotion that I couldn't pass up. Even my wife agreed that was the best way to proceed. Hallelujah! Can I get a witness! I love my wife (and no, she doesn't login to this site...haha).

BTW, I was able to get "715 M" for personalized Air Force veteran plates. Get this...I couldn't get "M 715" because in Nevada's past they used the "M" designator for trailers and there are still some "M" trailer plates out there so they couldn't give me "M 715" because the police writing tickets got confused. Ain't that just a peach! I told them that cops are smarter now, but they didn't believe me. I begged, I pleaded... but to no avail. *sigh*

I'll post a photo of those plates as soon as they come in the mail.

As far as the engine goes...when I take out that 232, I will be able to clean the inside of the engine compartment. score@m715berustynomore! haha

The 258 is the same as the 232 except it has a longer stroke for more low-end torque.

In my best John Lovitz voice: "Yeah..That's the ticket!"

I had better go find some gold so I can pay for all of this...

[plumas.placer.miner]

Big thanks to Jhartings (member here) for selling me the bumper spacers I needed. Reasonably priced and fast shipping!

This is what the spacers looked like after a night of soaking in rust remover and then a thorough wire brushing with a 3/8 drill. I had to drill out one of the old spacer bolts that was rusted in place, but it went smoothly enough.



The rubber bumpers too were corroded. This is the best I could do without compromising the integrity of the rubber bumper in some places. I had bought new rubbers but they aren't OEM, so I opted to save the new ones for the next time I need to replace the bumpers. I live in NV where the relative humidity is only 4% and the roads aren't salted in Winter, so old equipment lasts a long time here. I think these will be fine, even though I left some rust on there.



Lastly, I decided to spray coat them with rubber Rustoleum product. Since the frame is eventually going to be black and coated, it made sense to me. I prepped the pieces with a 3M product called "Prep All" and afterwards gave the parts several coats of spray rubber. That should do it the trick for now.

[jhartings]

Looks good Brian! Keep that truck rolling.

[plumas.placer.miner]

Thanks Jeremy! I seem to be advancing in the right direction.

I have been putzing-around with the tools for the last few days. These tools came with my truck when I bought it. The shovel had a plastic handle though, which didn't seem authentic.

I bought a new ("authentic") shovel from Memphis Equipment, but it was about 3/4" too long...Go figure. So, I took the handle off and cut 3/4 off of it and put it back together. Now the shovel fits in the designated area. Oooh Rah!

Now my tools look like this:


That's Marine Corps Forest Green on the steel and clear satin polyethylene on the wooden handles.

next up: I am prepping the engine core return on the motor replacement sub-project.

[Don Cavey]

A question: Does the pick head fit into the holder on the bed? I have bought a couple of them and they are all shaped incorrectly and are too long.

Thanks for checking!

[plumas.placer.miner]

Yes it does. It came mounted on the truck when I bought it.

[plumas.placer.miner]

Seemed a fitting tribute to an Air Force Kaiser Jeep M 715. Like I said in an earlier post, NV wouldn't let me have "M 715" so this is the next best thing I think....

[plumas.placer.miner]

As with all projects, as soon as I start working on something, it soon becomes apparent to me that I find more and more to do. I hate being perfectionistic, it has terrible costs. Rust...I hate rust!

The little AMC 232 engine that was in the truck was weak for a reason(s). When I started dismantling it, I found that many of the bolts were loose. I mean finger loose. The motor mounts, the crankshaft pulley, valve cover, exhaust and intake manifolds and on and on. My friend said, "That makes it easier to take apart", to which I replied, "Yeah, had I waited a little longer, it would have come apart by itself".

The 232 can't be used as a core return...nobody wants it. They originally came in AMC Gremlins, Pacers and some Ramblers. I am sending it as a core return anyway. It is a running engine and maybe they will give me a few bucks back.

So here's the new engine core. It's a Jeep 258 cid (4.2L). Good low-end torque and it will match the existing transmission adaptor perfectly. It's basically the same engine as the 232, but with a longer stroke. They came in CJ 5 and CJ7, Wagoneers, J10s and J20s. This one is a 1975 to 1979 engine. After 1981 the emissions became absolutely intolerable.



This is what the 232 looked like being dismantled and removed:



And here's what she looks like after we got her out. Did I mention that I am not a mechanic? I can't wait to find out how many dumb-a** mistakes I am going to make. haha. Add 20% to my budget for those!




Lastly, here's where I am going to work doing rust abatement and cleaning up until the 258 parts come in: