My M1009 Restoration Thread

[67_C-30]

I have been driving this truck daily for several months and since my summer side business is about played out for the year, I'm going to freshen it up. Right after I bought it, serviced all fluids, replaced the batteries, replaced mirrors, replaced a faulty blackout light, and got all the dash lights working. Everything is functional and it is mechanically sound, and I've put over 3000 miles on it last 3 months.

The plan is to do a practical frame-on restoration. I am going to keep military, and stay as close to stock as possible. I am going with the old pattern Woodland camo and I am going to use the correct stencils to replace the tire pressure, bumper numbers and star markings. I am going put in a litter bigger tire on it, but I have no plans to lift it.
Here's a few pics when I got it.

[67_C-30]

The tailgate, the driver's side rocker, and the passenger side fender was the only sheetmetal that wasn't really nice on this one. The tailgate and fender could have been fixed, but I decided to start with nice, straight, rust-free sheet metal instead. I bought a tailgate, and installed a new regulator and new crank assembly. I have a new rocker, and am going to weld it before I paint it. I'm going to have to blast the chrome off of it so I can paint it. I also bought NOS military surplus mirrors, and a Banks turbo system (a spare 6.2) for it that I'm going to install as well.

[67_C-30]

I ordered new tires last week, so I decided to go ahead and paint the rims. Since I am replacing the current tires, I took them off, did a quicky masking, and painted them with the tires on. When I had it lifted, I pressure washed the underside, and bought a gallon of alkyd equipment enamel and before I was done EVERYTHING under the truck had several coats of satin black paint on it. It looks really good and should help with rust prevention. I painted the rims flat black, and they look really good as well.

[67_C-30]

This is how it stands today with the new 33 X 12.50 Mudstar Radials. The are actually narrower than my most 12.50's I've had, which is good because it turns lock to lock and still has plenty of clearance. I looked everywhere for an old school looking tire with a squared off edge that looked similar to an old GoodYear R/T or Gateway Buckshots, and this was as close as I could find. They are making some REALLY ugly tires these days...


It looks so much cleaner not seeing the old dirty, brown colr in the wheelwells and axles. The tires should be here tomorrow and I'll get some new pics when I get them put on. I went Friday, and had the color matched from one of my NOS mirrors. It matches great. There's a dab of it on the mirror pictured, and you can't even see it in the pic. They mixed it with a higher percentage of flattener, and iit seems to be really flat. I am going to paint it next week or so.

[67_C-30]

Here is a few pics of them the Woodland Camo pattern that I am going go back with. The last pics are on the GM assembly line when they were new. The factory GM SPID tag under the hood actually reads "Special Paint - Camoflag" which is cool!

[spudz]

looks REAL good... I may paint my k5 something like that...

[68Timber]

I haven't really done anything to mine except fix the little stuff. I wish Valley were closer, we could help each other out. It's looking great, keep the updates coming.

[grayw0lf]

Nice work!

Do the 33 x 12.5's rub when trail riding?

[jkade]

Nice 1009!!!

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by grayw0lf

Nice work!

Do the 33 x 12.5's rub when trail riding?

No, I haven't been able to make them rub. These do run a little on the narrow side compared to a lot of 33 X 12.50's I've had.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by jkade

Nice 1009!!!

Thanks Kade! I see you're taking the 6.2 out of your's. You aren't going to have another good running 6.2 for sale are you?

[jkade]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

Thanks Kade! I see you're taking the 6.2 out of your's. You aren't going to have another good running 6.2 for sale are you?

I already sold that one to the guy I work for. He is going to keep it for a back up to replace a 6.5.

[67_C-30]

I have been doing nitpicky stuff like replacing the speedo cable, fixing the fuel gauge, replacing door strikers, installing the block heater, etc, but none of that stuff is pic worthy. I did come with a pretty slick idea on some wheel spacers, and I have some pics. I have always been bugged by the fact that the front axle tracking is so much wider than the rear on these old 4X4's. I've had a bunch of 70's and '80's Chevy 4X4's, and I've added a 1.25" spacer on the rear and it makes it look MUCH better, However, I've usually had Ralleys or some kind wheels that had a center cap that covers the "hole" left by the center of the spacer. Since I'm sticking with the factory wheels on this truck, there would be nothing to cover it up. I had a few ideas, and finally settled on making a hub for the wheel spacer with a dummy axle end. I took it step further and machined the rear of it to have a nice slip fit over the factory axle end, and machined the dummy axle end to saame dimensions as the factory axle so it would actually remain hubcentric. I machined the OD of the hub with step, machined a stepped bore in the spacer and pressed it in. I indicated it before and after, they ran perfectly true. They turned out really nice. I even popped a center drill in the ends, and they look like a good aftermarket axle. I am going to paint them black, and no one will ever notice them then, but I took a few pics before I do. The stance of the truck looks SOOOO much better, and the wider wheel track can't hurt on one of these short, already top heavy little monsters!

[81BLAZE]

What auction did you grab that beast from? It looks like they have quite a bit out there. I would love to grab one because that was one of the first vehicles I worked on when I joined the service. Thanks

J

[68Timber]

That's pretty trick...

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by 81BLAZE

What auction did you grab that beast from? It looks like they have quite a bit out there. I would love to grab one because that was one of the first vehicles I worked on when I joined the service. Thanks

J

I got this from Warner Robins, GA. There are a bunch of them that are going to be auctioned next Thursday in Mississippi. I've seen a lot of go in Hooks, TX but they don't have any right now. Here's a link to them:

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...Ntk=P_Category

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

That's pretty trick...

Thanks! There is a Steel Soldiers Georgia Rally in Oct. You should bring your '09 if you can. I missed it last time, but I'm going next time. The Rally is not far from Atl, so its not too far from Montgomery.

[81BLAZE]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

I got this from Warner Robins, GA. There are a bunch of them that are going to be auctioned next Thursday in Mississippi. I've seen a lot of go in Hooks, TX but they don't have any right now. Here's a link to them:

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...Ntk=P_Category

Much appreciated!! Good job on the 1009!!