J10 / M715 project - Bellingham, Wa

[rollie715]

Here's a shot showing how my bumper sits higher then a stock M715 bumper and covers some of the lower front sheetmetal. I hadn't noticed that before, but I kinda like it that way, especially for a non lifted truck which I hope this will be when I'm done.

[fisherman]

Rollie, I guess you didn't know that I only live in Snohomish Washington. That's a lot closer than Oregon. Anyways it will be pretty easy for us to meet up sometime soon.

[rollie715]

Rollie, I guess you didn't know that I only live in Snohomish Washington. That's a lot closer than Oregon. Anyways it will be pretty easy for us to meet up sometime soon.

Sorry, Oops, I guess I don't read the profile info very well. I got so use to dealing with Zone members in Oregon, I let myself think you were down there also. An hour and a half drive is way better then 5 or more hours to Oregon. I would even be tempted to drive all they way to your place just to see your wonderful truck.

[rollie715]

I think I may have decided on a color for this project.

Gillespie 34052 Lusterless Marine Corps Forest Green. I understand this was the color the Marine Corps used during WWII until they changed to 24052 Semigloss during the Korean and Vietnam War which is what the M715's in the Marine Corp would have had. The Lusterless should be more of a flat finish which I might like better especially for a rough body truck such as mine. I decided against the typical 24087 Army color found on many M715's which seemed to have more brown in it then I wanted. I ordered a case of 12 rattle cans from Rapco, which I will use to spray the various parts as I start cleaning them up and installing, such as the new bumper I just built.

Not sure about the trim color if any, such as what to paint black. I'm leaning towards making everything the same color but will start surfing the web to see what paint schemes other people have done.

We will see how the colors look with the rattle cans, and if I like it, I might order a few gallons of the same color and get someone with a paint gun to help me paint the whole thing.

[Flingarrows]

post up some pics as you start painting things, it sounds like it will look good in that color

[rollie715]

Drove down to Snohomish WA today and met up with Fisherman from the Zone, saw his nice M715 and traded him some parts for one of his custom made brush guards. I really like it and this will save me from having to repair my original which is in very poor shape. Here's a mediocre picture of it sitting on the ground in front of my truck so you can see the differences between the two grills. What I need to do now is bolt it up and fabricate the little straps that extend under the hood and bolt the top of the guard to the truck. My new USMC Lusterless Forest Green paint came yesterday and this grill might be the first thing that gets painted.

[fisherman]

It was great to finally put a face to the name and meet with you. The truck is looking tough. Thank You for the wheels they are exaclty what I've been looking for. This afternoon was beatiful and I finished up my work in the shop took the M truck for a drive and a BBQ. Lets keep in touch.

[defbob]

I'm still trying to work it into my budget to get one of those grill guards (drooling)

[fisherman]

Sorry, rollie got the last one.

[rollie715]

I really wanted to see that front grill bolted on, but need to finish up a few other front end related stuff before I get too exicted.

Here's what I've been doing in the last couple days:

Received a set of stock 401 exhaust manifolds. working on replacing the smog fittings with plugs, bought some new 3/8" grade 5 bolts and gaskets and plan to unbolt the existing headers and bolt the manifolds in place. Then I can proceed with what ever exhaust route I decide to do. Not sure about the stacks idea yet, as I'm still thinking of possibly closing up the gap between the cab and bed. Going to take a look again at how much work it would be to move the rear axle forward.

Bought a couple standard truckers style 4" rubber grommeted round amber lights to mount in the front grill for turn signals. They were cheap, $10 new per pair on Ebay. Measured up the holes in the grill and am fabricating some adapter rings to bolt in and mount the lights in. If I like that style, I may do the same thing in the rear for tailights and backup lights into a new channel iron rear bumper.

Found a set of original gussets that go between the front fenderflares and front sheetmetal. Thank you Buck from Oregon. Need to clean them up and paint them and bolt them in.

Still need to work on some fender trimming to keep the tires from rubbing at full turn. This really needs to be finished before I get too excited about mounting the rest of the front body parts, as I may need to unbolt a few body parts for the final trimming and adjusting.

Picked up a couple front hood m715 tiedown latch receivers (thanks again Buck) that need to have the J10 hood drilled and mount them on.

I know this is all boring stuff, but I need to work my way through it all, besides juggling working and doing other home projects.

More to come soon, I promise