The CUCV Build-1986 M1031 Mobile Field Maintenance Assault Vehicle

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Went to a military show/swap meet and picked up some more goodies. Also got the generator sort of working.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xJfqU8DHfo

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It would be nice to also bring this vehicle to the military shows as a display vehicle. So we'll try to keep the exterior true to it's original military roots. So we got some bumpers and guards that are supposed to be on the truck.

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Also scored some sweet fuel can holders! Need to paint them black though.

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Everything flat black!

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Had to make some repairs to the bumper brackets.

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Bolted fuel mounts right to the back of the contact body.

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Plenty strong to hold either fuel or water cans.

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Got all the bumper brackets fixed and bolted up with some new hardware.

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Got the bumpers all mounted and good to go.

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Got matching padlocks for all the cabinet doors.
 
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PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Oh, more goodies. Some communications and an original period correct light-bar that's supposed to be on this particular vehicle.

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On the road in the United States, everyone still has a CB radio right?

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"Breaker 1-9, breaker 1-9, Rubber Duck, you got a copy on me?"

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That looks like a good spot. The light-bar is a Federal Signal Streethawk, circa-1980's. The light-bar is probably supposed to go on the roof of the cab, but it didn't come with cab mounts and it gets better visibility up on the contact body. It also has halogen lights forward and to the sides that can be used as offroad lights and/or scene lights.

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We just had to make some simple brackets to attach the light-bar to pre-existing hooks on the roof of the contact body.

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The CB radio antenna is mounted right through the center of the roof of the contact body.

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Of course we had to install the PA siren speaker up in the light-bar... :D

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To get the wiring harness up to the light-bar, we drilled a hole into roof for a rubber grommet.
 
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PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Ok, so sleeping on the roof of the vehicle while camping is not going to work out as planned due to environmental reasons.

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So maybe it wasn't actual camping, but we still spent the night somewhere other than home. :peepwall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm59V18lu8w

Obviously, this sleeping arraignment will not work when the weather doesn't cooperate. So the back of the contact body will be converted into sleeping quarters. We wanted to do this in such a way that the bed area can still be used as a pickup bed if needed to. It's 8 foot long and 4 foot wide, good enough to carry sheetrock and plywood for whatever projects arise.

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A trip to Home Depot to find a good plywood that had the least amount of flex per foot. 3/4" birch seemed to be best suited for the job.

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Built two rails for the plywood to slide on and get support. This will make it easy to slide in and out if needed.

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Turns out the plywood bed works great!

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But there was one technicality that even the dag didn't approve of. We may have overlooked a few pre-existing holes in the roof. A nice rainstorm reminded us of that. We first grabbed some pots and stuff to catch the water, but that got too cumbersome with three of us in there, so I got mad and grabbed some Form A Gasket paste and just plugged the holes. That actually worked really good for the night.

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Just a few inconvenient holes. Got the TIG welder out and patched them up. One pain about the contact body is that it's aluminum, and welding aluminum outdoors, not on a workbench is not easiest thing ever. It takes a decent machine, a steady hand, and patience. Hopefully, one day we'll be able to sleep in the rain and not get wet...

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Speaking of aluminum, we had to make some aluminum brackets and reconfigure some other stuff to make the PA control box work with the CB radio being in the same box.
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Onboard generator is working much better. Some issues with the old controlling relays and control stuff. Might need some more work and/or replacement. But we can run power tools and stuff and the generator controls engine rpm on it's own!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-s4gMSv2E

Now that the generator works, time to look to the air compressor setup. The original tank was mounted inside where the bed is currently. And all the controls were just kinda hanging around. We need something a little neater that doesn't take up much room.

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First, need to give the air tanks a little tune up.

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Tank mounted up under cabinet with air compressor and generator equipment.

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This is the manifold setup I came up with. It has everything to control the onboard air all in one spot. Pressure switch, gauges, regulator, pressure relief valve, filters, and connection fittings.

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Here is the setup all mounted. Compressed air comes from pump in black hose on the right, goes through filter, past the air relief valve and pressure switch. Under the gauge, the red line goes to the tank. At the end of the tee-fitting to the of the pressure regulator will be the line that goes to the air hose reel on the other side of the contact body.

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The air hose reel is mounted right above the big tool box.

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The air hose reel is rather convenient. The hose is just long enough to swing anywhere around the vehicle. And when pulled up next to another vehicle, the hose can reach anywhere around that too. System runs air guns, air jacks, everything.

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One of the engine belts started whining a lot. Well, turns out the power steering bracket broke.

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A quick shot with the MIG welder and that's another thing off the checklist.

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Another thing to get off the checklist is a starter relay upgrade. These old stock relays have a tendency to "stick" and run the starter indefinitely, or until you disconnect the battery. Now that could be a relatively bad thing.

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A quick trip to Napa took care of that problem. This mod is very popular with these trucks and the newer relay from Napa is much better.
 
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PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
Thats awesome, I have been looking for a light bar for my M1009! That PA will be fun!

Yea, the lightbar is cool. It's nice to join in on the "military convoys" to events like parades and military shows and stuff with the lightbar going. It work's at the shows because it's the lightbar that's supposed to be on our trucks. They are out there, you just got to keep your eyes and ears open. The PA system is great, I use it to talk to people who don't have CB radios in their vehicles, haha.
 

PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
A few more odds and ends going on. The fuel shutoff solenoid in the injection pump went bad. The only way to shutoff the truck was to cover the air intake to "choke" the engine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ7Jaok3EL4

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Replaced that and truck ran good again.

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Another thing to fix are these awful mirrors.

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These stock mirrors are useless. You can't see around the contact body. Not safe at all for making lane changes.

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These mirrors should be much safer.

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Not too bad to install. Just have to drill a few holes and get everything to line up good.

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Ahhh, much better.

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And we were also doing silly things like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJBs56LMtM

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So we might have pushed the vehicle past it's designed suspension flex limits. Even broke this ground strap.

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The main problem was that the body mounts have rotted away and the body bolts pulled right through the aluminum chassis of the contact body. So these will definitely need to be addressed!
 
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PlethoraOfGuns

Adventurer
To fix the broken/missing aluminum chassis for the contact body, we TIG welded what we could and made some brackets out of steel plate. All the 30 year old rubber mounts were long overdue for a change, so they were all replaced as well as the mounting bolts. Also added a few goodies.

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These plates were needed for the two front mounts. That is were most of the weight is due to the generator being mounted up there, which is likely the reason they failed first.

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Next we'll have to replace the rubber cab mount.

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I know everyone is going to hate on me, but we got a microwave. Also installed a 1000watt 12volt-120volt inverter and fire extinguisher.

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Made some mounts so the microwave fits perfectly and the doors has just enough clearance to open. Also a good place to bolt up a LiteBox charger.
 

Bojak

Adventurer
I think a microwave is a super smart idea. Most wouldn't have the space, especially considering the power plant needed too but if you do then it makes perfect sense.
 

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