The M715 Zone


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Al's Pics





These first 5 pictures are from the time Al bought the truck and his ordeal getting it home:
Picture 1, This is outside Jacks Gov't surplus in Tucson. The truck went from a white neglected rig to a sharp example of what it was like back in 68.
Picture 2, Another shot that shows the fine work of New Life resources. Our three day trip had heavy rain on one day and the canvas never once showed any signs of being damp. This cargo cover proved to be an excellent camper and home away from home.
Picture 3, This is four hours into our three day trip. I had overheated the transfer case driving at a whopping 55 miles per hour. The oil was boiling out of the case. We let it cool, changed the oil, and lowered our speed to 50 or below. This was north west of Tucson at ten AM before it was even hot yet. I was starting to get worried. We ended up stopping every 80-100 miles to fill the X-fer case. By the time we got home we had pumped 10 quarts of gear oil into the gearbox. I'm glad we brought oil.
Picture 4, This is heading towards Palm Springs from Phoenix. It was a small memorial to General Patton. Outside were several tanks set up in a mock battle field behind a fence. We were actually pulled over topping off the X-fer when we spotted the memorial.
Picture 5, Here we are myself on the left and my good friend Bill on the right having a cold one in my driveway just after we rolled into Portland. It felt so good to be home, and even better to be able to finially see an M715 sitting in my driveway. With front hubs we averaged 11.2 miles per gallon. We burned around 160 gallons of gas at 260.00 dollars. Total miles driven 1586 and was it all worth it???? YES!!! and I still smell like canvas!!


And heres the new stuff:

Here are two great sources of pride. My 69 CJ-5 and my 68 M715. I bought the M715 2 years ago and have been replacing many things since. Mostly rubber parts, Tranny mount, motor mounts, bumpers, pedal pads, ect. I also added a gas fired heater from Mr. Bizal at Midwest military. It was a great deal and heats like a heatwave in the Sahara.This winter I would like to rebuild the transfer case. It has a bad seal and slings oil out at higher speeds. Other than that everything works and runs pretty good for an old truck.

You can see in the heater pic's that its a different color. The heater is the color I want the truck to be. In a couple years I will strip the truck and detail it and change the color. The fuel pump is not a self priming pump I learned. Once I manually pulled gas through it it fired off right away. Had me worried for a bit. The only thing the heater kit did not come with was fuel line. Understandable since shipping would have been difficult. One trip to Napa and I was set. I did move the gas bulkhead connector inward towards the center of the vehicle. The plans had the bulkhead connector right next to the side of the rig creating a difficult access for the fuel line and interference with the fender skirt. You can see in the under dash pic where I moved the gas line over several inches. I should mention the very cool ten foot long blueprint. I hung it on my shop wall for kicks...

In one of the shots I included it shows my rear canvas and bows. When I purchased my truck I told them I wanted the rear canvas but not the troop seats. I didn't know that the troop seats were part of the wood frame for the top. Jack at Jacks gov't surplus cut down someDuece and a half bows and set me up that way. Now I wish I had paid for the troop seats. Thats OK though, these fit well and from the outside it looks normal. All In all I really like my M715. I became attached to Jeeps 20 years ago and have owned commando's, still have a 69 wagoneer, pickups, CJ's and flat fenders. Most of all I like the military truck. I took it to a 600 car car show last week end and was amazed on all the cool comments I got. I was the only military rig there. It was fun.

Here are the latest additions to Al's Gallery. There are several shots that show the outside of the truck from the sides and corners to illustrate a stock truck from these angles.


And heres some interior shots including the arctic heater and his M1 Garand.


Heres a shot of the finished troop seats:



Al's truck used to drive up a twisty mountain road to an observatory...heres a shot of it.:
Al received quite an honor by having his truck in a magazine article. Heres a pic of part of it...:

Till next time....Kaiserjeeps..(Al)..