Just acquired this 1952 project. Anyone have experience with restoring or getting these back to a good bill of health? Pictures for motivation please!
GMC M135 Deuce and a Half
- Thread starter cattleman99
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Midwest Military Equipment
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yea about the only restoration that would be harder is a fire truck.
I restored a 1986 5 ton and it was mechanically mostly fine. took me a year for a cosmetic resto. with help, parts were available and cheap.
I doubt parts are that available for the older deuce but I could be wrong.
it was cheaper faster and easier to buy new loaded doors rather than rebuild them for instance.
Hammer and dolly.... nope small sledge and big heavy dolly.
https://www.steelsoldiers.com/ is where to go for info
Here's my '72 when I finished it. She was a real pile of shit when I got her. Spent about 2 years, tore down to frame, built back almost to spec.
Made a ton of money on it, assuming you don't count my hours/labor that went into it.
I don't lose any sleep over not having it anymore, but it sure was fun a couple of times a month.
Steelsoldiers.com will be your bible.
Memphis Equipment is wonderful for parts.
Best of luck!
That would have been nice for my stone masonry business. We used to go way the fuck up in the Blue Ridge Mountains and tear out old stone walls and foundations. I had a heavy duty 4WD one ton GMC but it would only carry 4 tons.
Good friend of mine has an earthworks company up in the high country of NC, just picked up a 5ton for just that reason. Of course he had to one-up me and get the big boy, but then again he will probably just paint a "3" on the door and call it restored. 
Whereabouts in the BlueRidge? My clan was/is from the Burke Co area.
Whereabouts in the BlueRidge? My clan was/is from the Burke Co area.
Get up with one of those guys on youtoob that has a car restoration channel. It is amazing what they can do and how they can restomod an old car in 10 minutes!
That looks in awesome shape!
I’ve never done a truck, but other than everything being huge and harder to take apart and manhandle around… restoration is restoration.
Start with mechanicals. Move to wiring. Then cosmetics. Then cloth/interior. That order.
One thing that will make a big difference is taking the spring packs apart and bead blasting them, linear grinding, burnishing Re-arching and reassembly with persistent lube. Believe it or not, these has suspensions and they worked! The articulation is amazing if the springs work as they should.
Love that era of truck. Simple, fun and cool. You can make anything from a troop transport to a gun truck… and have a blast on the road!!!
Pictures as you restore!! Keep this thread as a repository of work!
Sirhr
Mostly Amherst and Bedford Counties. There were some amazing old slave built stone walls up there. One I remember was 7-8 feet thick at the base and probably 6 or more feet tall. Beautiful mountain granite. I wish I'd had the foresight to photograph some of them before we tore them down. Talk about Copperheads...fuck, we saw one that must have bee 6 feet long, thats huge for a copperhead, even the black guys working for me left him alone and we moved a few hundred yds down the wall.Good friend of mine has an earthworks company up in the high country of NC, just picked up a 5ton for just that reason. Of course he had to one-up me and get the big boy, but then again he will probably just paint a "3" on the door and call it restored.
Whereabouts in the BlueRidge? My clan was/is from the Burke Co area.
Check out “G503” lots of info and parts on there. Don’t think i would have gotten my half track done without all the parts and help from there,
It hasn't sold yet...and there may be a 1919 in my future
Engine is somewhat locked up and pretty rough inside. This may end up getting an engine swap soon.
Probably not going to do a full restoration on it, I'm liking the older paint and "rough" look. Already getting attention in my parking lot
Probably not going to do a full restoration on it, I'm liking the older paint and "rough" look. Already getting attention in my parking lot
Do mechanicals first. Those are simple engines. Don’t swp, just rebuild. Way simpler than messing with swaps.
Pull engine and have rebuilt. Do everything else yourself.
Sirhr
sold a pair of 853 for 3k. 1 had a cracked head, again.. God I hated those noisy ass engines. love the smell of a 2 stroke tho.
Repurposed one of the doors and the 2 windshields for my outdoor shower on the hunters cabin.
This is what is order the cover. Years of built up funk and crud. May try to save it yet. Only one valve is stuck
Pretty sure I wouldn't want to spend hours a day listening to one... But way back when I was just a little guy we lived in an area of MO that had a decent amount of logging... You could hear those log trucks coming for miles. Made quite the impression on me... And it just stuck with me.
Mike
Boyce Equipment, Utah, Military Surplus
Boyce Equipment & Parts Co., Inc. out of Ogden, Utah is the leader in Military Trucks & Parts. We are a Dealer in in the field of Military Trucks, Truck Parts, Surplus and Equipment.
www.boyceequipment.com
Done quite a bit of business with these folks. Mark is a good guy who moves a lot of iron. My dealings with him have been exclusively 2.5 ton Rockwells and Korean knockoffs but he has all sorts of parts.
This.
Even with that haggard valve assembly pic above, I'd still be willing to bet that it can be revived. Find the FM for that model/year, there are likely a few different ones; I don't think there was a single, all-encompassing volume.
The best piece of advice or rather the best phrase you can keep in mind during this project is: these trucks were designed and built to be 100% repairable in-field, by 19year olds with no formal education.
That place is 1700yds from my work. Cool. Didn't even know it was there.Boyce Equipment, Utah, Military Surplus
Boyce Equipment & Parts Co., Inc. out of Ogden, Utah is the leader in Military Trucks & Parts. We are a Dealer in in the field of Military Trucks, Truck Parts, Surplus and Equipment.
Done quite a bit of business with these folks. Mark is a good guy who moves a lot of iron. My dealings with him have been exclusively 2.5 ton Rockwells and Korean knockoffs but he has all sorts of parts.
Mark is good people. We’re the two biggest vendors of douce and a half parts in the world. Us for a niche market him for the monster truck guys.
Lot has happened since I got this. Decided against a full restoration - I like the patina and age.
Engined had a couple stuck valves, but after some soak time and a gentle touch, it’s free. Engine runs nicely. Fixing brakes now, then fingers crossed the transmission is good.
Had a metal cab top and back fabricated for it. Found staves, bows, and rear canvas for it.
Next up is a power wash and to repaint the stars and lettering.
Engined had a couple stuck valves, but after some soak time and a gentle touch, it’s free. Engine runs nicely. Fixing brakes now, then fingers crossed the transmission is good.
Had a metal cab top and back fabricated for it. Found staves, bows, and rear canvas for it.
Next up is a power wash and to repaint the stars and lettering.
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