Update on my M715
Hey guys!!! I haven't had much time to post for a while. I found this site after I bought my truck in 2008. I posted a before picture in another post, but here is a quick history on my baby.
Here is what I started with:
It's a 1968, and appears to be a factory winch truck and a troop carrier. The winch was strange though because it had a full bumper with no cut-out. Not sure it this was modified or the way some of them came. It originally came from auction in Arizona, and I got the original auction papers with it. Somewhere along the way it got a Ford 390 swapped in. It appears that engine was swapped in right after auction. Everything else is pretty stock and in very good condition. When I got it, one brake worked, and the electrical was a disaster. The seats were also very odd. The outter seats look stock, but then there is a small jump seat in the middle, that looks like it goes in the truck. Did they ever come this way? The battery is under the hood.
Fast forward to now. Here is a shot how she sits now.
It took a lot of work to get her road worthy. I really wanted to strip it down and paint the truck correctly, but that will have to wait a while. So we rattle canned the truck with krylon olive drab, doing the the best job we could on prep. I had to get rid of the ugly green it came with! I replaced the fuel filler hose, cleaned out the gas tank, replaced the wheel cylinders with the E350 parts, replaced the tie rod ends, had to fix the spring center pins that were broke, cut off the snow plaw brackets welded to the frame, tuned it up, re-did the wiring, new radiator, new starter, etc. Lots of work to go through the truck to make it right. The other thing I had to do was install a new battery and a starter solonoid. I used the stock in floor foot switch to power the ford starter solonoid.
Since I do drive the truck a lot I had to change the seats! My back couldn't take the original seats. I found some grayish vinyl seats out of a Jeep Rubicon and made them fit, keeping the original center jump seat. I have the stock seats stored away in case I want to put them back in someday. The other change I made was leaving the bumper whole, and having a custom winch fairlead built. I also tossed to rusty cut up cable and used 150 feet of olive drab Viking winch rope. Also after a few weeks of dring the truck I had to put in power steering. I used a J truck steering box, and a bracket from a 390 in a car for the pump. A very easy conversion and it makes a huge difference in driving the truck.
I do drive the truck quite a bit. I goes into the forest a few times a year on some easy dirt trails. I bring it out for events and cruises. I also use the M715 to haul tires and parts around the town I live in during the winter in the snow. I own a Jeep shop, so this makes a great delivery truck! Everyone in town knows the truck!
I'll post up more soon.
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