new one for the herd.. a CUCV story

[old Rusty C10]

one of the things I do for a living is to buy and flip houses and I have several that I rent out here in NJ. Last year i took my beater truck and restored it which caused me to lose the truck that I was using for all the dirty work. I had my daily driver 2011 F 150 but being its almost new I dont like to terrorize that too much, besides with all that new technology its screwey anyway
Ive always wanted a CUCV so on a lark i went on government liquidation and found a local one and low and behold i won it. Hopefully this week I can get it out of the base and get it back here and figure out how to get it running .
The plans are get it running , fix the hood ,throw a tool box and ladder rack on it, and maybe a tilt setup for the bed , a snow plow and a winch and call it a work horse beater
This should work also to pull deer out of the woods too
heres a pic as I won it... you guys have seen as much of it as i have more to follow as we go here

[68Timber]

Congrats! Stout as hell truck. Mine was advertised as not running but fired up and drove on the trailer - hope yours does the same. I think they advertise them that way in case the batteries have died or have driveshaft damage from being moved with a fork lift. Subscribed.

[hatzie]

Mine had no tie-down shackles, no key, and no batteries. The short battery to battery cable was missing as well. I showed up prepared with a CUCV key, driveshaft, batteries, battery cables, and a tow bar that hooked into the D-Ring points. It started up so we didn't have to push it out of the tight spot they parked it in to hook up. Looks like yours is a little easier to get at. I've heard that not all DRMO depots allow you to do anything other than hook it up to the tow-bar or drive/winch it on the trailer.

All of the CUCV Technical Maintenance (TM) docs are available in PDF format on the Steel Soldiers forum so there's no need to pay someone on eBay for them.

The electrical is a good NATO compliant hybrid 12v/24v that works well. Jumping from another MV when yours' has dead batteries cranks it right up. Just fix any issues it has and go.

6TL batteries aren't necessary or even desirable but anything else needs some re-work to fit. Don't just set them in there and drive it around. I used Optima Red-tops with custom fabbed tie downs.

Look up "Doghead mod" on Steel Soldiers to fix the flaky GM starter relay. I waited several months and then did it after I burned up my original starter from the flaky GM unit. I use a Delco 24v 28MT and the 6.5L 28MT tail bracket now. Don't run either the 27MT or 28MT without the right tail to block bracket. Don't buy the chintzy Chinese starters they don't hold up. I bought mine from a local re-builder re-worked with GM AC Delco parts and kept the heavy 27MT just in case.

Change the door and ignition locks immediately otherwise anyone could steal your new rig without even hotwiring it.

My M1008 had a bunch of intermittent electrical issues. Disassembling and cleaning the grounds with a brass brush was all it took to make most of the gremlins go away. I added a shot of Wurth HHS after I finished cleaning them but any electrical corrosion inhibitor like Fluid Film is good.

[Car'n'Guitars]

Cool truck, I look forward to seeing more of it.

[old Rusty C10]

first update is ive been able to locate a guy who can go to the base and get the dern thing home for me, thanks to one of the CUCV gurus here, Gerry, I met a professional tow guy who has alot of experience with getting things out of the base. Apparently mine was satationed in Picatinny Arsenal, Dover NJ.Hopefully tomorrow ill have some pics of the thing and a good idea as to what its going to take to get her running

[GM72K10]

On a positive note, Bob, one of the few CUCVs that I ever bought from GL that ran on its own power was from Picatinny Arsenal. Ritch will bring it back safely to you.

[old Rusty C10]

Off Road Richie got the truck to me today in the afternoon. His driver Eddie was nice enough to lend me his CUCY key and i had a few duplicates made. First order of business was to inspect the truck and it is apparent there are little to no brakes caused by a rotted rear brake line. In addition the batteries were deader than a doornail . I did attempt to charge them but one seemed pretty bad the other seemed like it would take a charge but it wasnt going to be easy as some cells were low, so after about three hours on the charger i broke down and bought a couple of batteries from AutoZone and threw them in. Apparently CUCVs have a priming thing so a few squeezes and a shot of ether into the air cleaner and suddenly the far side of the street disappeared in a thick cloud of black acrid smoke.. She fired up and idled after burning off a whole bunch of black stuff.
We also found out someone left the black lights on and that may have killed the batteries. Other problems with this truck include a small leak outta the rear diff, the right side wheel needs ball joints and the left front hub is a little sloppy.t needs the tailgate fixed and the door seals are shot
Once we got it going and left it idle a half hour we tried moving it and it went forward and backward and made it into my driveway under its own power .
I applied for the paperwork to register the truck and hopefully in a day or so Ill have plates on it and we will see how far it goes

[old Rusty C10]

one ladt pic.. tomorrow we start fixing little things on the truck to get it more road worthy

[GM72K10]

The adventure has begun . . .

[Keith Seymore]

She's a beauty. Congrats -

I don't remember both batteries being on the RH side....

The reason I say that is...well, because we built these trucks during my tenure on the line. The person that installed the battery in my area was a somewhat diminutive African American lady. She did ok installing the regular batteries but, because the CUCV trucks were so high up and because the batteries were a tad bigger - she simply couldn't reach. She tried for a little while and then eventually gave up.

So - guess who installed the battery on every CUCV truck that went by (every 12th build)?

Me.



Now that I think about it I have no idea why we didn't just move her to a different job....

K

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

She's a beauty. Congrats -

I don't remember both batteries being on the RH side....

The reason I say that is...well, because we built these trucks during my tenure on the line. The person that installed the battery in my area was a somewhat diminutive African American lady. She did ok installing the regular batteries but, because the CUCV trucks were so high up and because the batteries were a tad bigger - she simply couldn't reach. She tried for a little while and then eventually gave up.

So - guess who installed the battery on every CUCV truck that went by (every 12th build)?

Me.



Now that I think about it I have no idea why we didn't just move her to a different job....

K

Really? Batteries typically are always on same side as the starter motor, which on GM engines 99% of the time is on the RH side. The only exception that I have seen are the GMT800 trucks with the stupid 10 mile long battery cable to cross over to the passenger’s side in order to reach the starter. I have yet to see a CUCV with the batteries in any other location than where they are in this picture. It has been close to 30 years since they left production so we won’t hold it against you that you don’t remember which side of the production line you stood on to install the batteries for the little lady.

[GM72K10]

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

Really? Batteries typically are always on same side as the starter motor, which on GM engines 99% of the time is on the RH side. The only exception that I have seen are the GMT800 trucks with the stupid 10 mile long battery cable to cross over to the passenger’s side in order to reach the starter. I have yet to see a CUCV with the batteries in any other location than where they are in this picture. It has been close to 30 years since they left production so we won’t hold it against you that you don’t remember which side of the production line you stood on to install the batteries for the little lady.

On the civilian 12 volt set up for 6.2s there is a battery on each side.
BTW anything you would ever want to know about CUCVs is over on www.steelsoldiers.com

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

I have yet to see a CUCV with the batteries in any other location than where they are in this picture. It has been close to 30 years since they left production so we won’t hold it against you that you don’t remember which side of the production line you stood on to install the batteries for the little lady.

Dang. I must really be losing it...

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

Batteries typically are always on same side as the starter motor, which on GM engines 99% of the time is on the RH side. The only exception that I have seen are the GMT800 trucks with the stupid 10 mile long battery cable to cross over to the passenger’s side in order to reach the starter.

That one...uh... that would be my fault, too

I was the air induction engineer at the time and was able to convince the Chief Engineer I needed that spot in order to meet his flow (and therefore HP) requirements. We had a little meeting with the battery guy and I had better data.

K

[old Rusty C10]

the deka CUCV batteries that came out of those well lets just say im glad they have rope handles on em to make em easier to swing otherwise there would have been a number of expletives in lifting them lol

[D13]

Do NOT ether it again! That is a major cause of failure if your glow plugs are working! BTW it probably wuill not start with bad glows. One of the best mods I ever made was Delco 60G's, Ferd starter relay, and override switch. But ether and 6.2/6.5's don't mix. If you must use a starting fluid use WD-40. But fix the glows and you should have no problems. I actually started my 6.2 after leaving the headlights on for 6 hours. And I've had it start on the 2nd crank after sitting 6 months. Good glow system is the key.

[86c20]

if for some reason you doont want the brush gard and bumpers i will take them off your hands its looks in good shape should give years off work for you. also with the glow plugs put them on a toggel switch that way if need be you can use wd40 with no problem and with mine i dont need the gp all the time just after sitting for a few hours do i

[68Timber]

The dieselplace and steelsoldiers are good sources. The doghead mod is as easy as it looks and works as advertised.

Originally Posted by 86c20

if for some reason you doont want the brush gard and bumpers i will take them off your hands its looks in good shape should give years off work for you. also with the glow plugs put them on a toggel switch that way if need be you can use wd40 with no problem and with mine i dont need the gp all the time just after sitting for a few hours do i

Drive down to Alabama and you can have my brushguard. Unless you want to pay shipping.

[legendman]

Nice score on CUCV, stop by dieselplace and you will find a lot of good info.

Steel soldiers is good for info too.

Ditto on not using ether, very bad.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by legendman

Nice score on CUCV, stop by dieselplace and you will find a lot of good info.

Steel soldiers is good for info too.

Ditto on not using ether, very bad.

X3 on the ether. It's really bad stuff. An eyedropper of gasoline in the intake will kick it off without damaging the engine.

CUCV glow plugs aren't the same as the civvy units. Steel Soldiers has an article on the glow plug system sitckied in the CUCV section.

[old Rusty C10]

Im keeping the brush guard lol the guys who work for me need every bit of help they can get to not bang it up. Today i had one of my guys remove all the racks and clean out the bed. Its surprisingly clean in there no real rust. I had the old tailgate we had from the restore on the other truck so i swapped them out.. six bcks for a can of camo paint and it looks decent on there.
We replaced the brake line and she had decent breaks.
Im going to replace the inner fender wells and the passenger fender as theres some rot on that but thats only to support the new batteries
Alot more cleaning and it wont be a bad work horse..

[Axle]

Nice score.

And your street is crowded. Nobody have a driveway there? =-)

Alex.

[old Rusty C10]

lol I just did the concrete in my driveway so i cant put all my wrecks in the yard.. the neighbors are getting peeved lol

[old Rusty C10]

thanks to the other thread on glow plugs and Gerry GM72K10 i found some good information. I ordered a card from CUCV electric which is less expensive than others i had found, and after searching around I met a guy who says hes a member here, John "Hillbilly Wizard" who specializes in all kinds of 4X4s and parts out Military trucks. Hes right down the road in Toms River NJ so last night I went shopping. I scored 8 glow plugs NOS, a good hood ( mine is dented and rusty) the right fender ( not from a CUCV but a yellow Navy suburban) a front seat, a relay for glow plugs, a good spare on a rim, and a box of extra bolts for $200 plus me and my helper scored his company tee shirts for free lol Im told he is a member here so a kudos and thanks to ya I will post pics later

[legendman]

^^^^ Nice, Hillbilly is cool, wish I was closer he had a set of mirrors I was looking for.

[GM72K10]

"Hillbilly" is a nice guy, met him at the Gilbert mv show in September.