12216 Coming Back To Life

[GIJoe911]

Hello all,

I started a thread on another forum but since this seems more specific and active to M715s, I'm moving over here.

I'm new to the forum and new to M715s. On Christmas day I acquired a M715 from my father-in-law and his neighbor. This truck was parked under an old chicken barn probably around 30 years ago and has sat ever since. I first caught a glimpse of the truck 3-4 years ago and from that point was envious of it.

We drug the truck out of the barn a couple weeks ago, and over to my father-in-laws house. On the way over, we put the truck in gear while towing it and noticed the engine spun pretty easily, I even smelled fuel pumping out on the way. The truck steered well but as would be expected, there were no brakes.

We disconnected the fuel line from the fuel pump, cleaned the points, and dumped some fuel in the carb. After a few cranks, the truck turned over. It didn't take long and we had the truck running as long as we continually dumped fuel in the carb. After sitting for nearly 30 years, its amazing it ran with only a few minutes of tinkering.

At this point, we pulled the carb because it needs to be replaced. The brakes were removed and wheel cylinders replaced. I ordered a new Master Cylinder but haven't installed it yet. I'll be removing the bed soon (its a dump bed) and sand blasting the back half of the truck and applying POR15 to the frame. After that, the plan is to redo the fuel and brake lines and see where we go from there.

Here are some pictures of the truck in storage and now in its current state.