My M715 Build,

[millerm715]

Hello!
I am proud to say that i am finally an m715 owner. Ive been looking at this truck for a number of years and finally got my hands on it, all i had to do was trade the guy my 89 beat up toyota pickup and $1000.00 cash. I'll try to do a build thread on my progress if i can remember to take lots of pictures. Heres the truck.

[millerm715]

Back at home

[millerm715]

Okay, i will lay down the specs on what i bought. 1968 kaiser m715. Mostly original drive train. Stock axles, tranny and transfer case. Some time back in the 70's, someone stuffed an oldsmobile v8 into it using a home made adapter plate, converted the electrics to 12v and painted the whole thing in a funky brown/tan combo that i actually kind of like, but definitely not going to keep. Around 1989 it was driven up from Arizona to here in oregon and remained a farm truck. At one time it had a flatbed and a snowplow with a hydraulic pump installed for the plow which is why the fuel filler is all goofed up because they lowered the tank on custom brackets when the flat bed was installed and never corrected it. It also has a custom built hard top. Ive been working on it all weekend and will post some progress pics.

[millerm715]

Okay, for the past 2 weeks, ive been ordering and gathering some parts. Ive ordered the fuel filler hose and sending unit from memphis equipment, floor pans for a j-truck from BJ's offroad, and have acquired a dana 60 front axle from a 1997 Ford F350 dually pickup. I plan on putting in the D60 and 14 bolt dually axles, i have an np435 and np205 i pulled from an old ford pickup a year or so ago, and an AMC 360 from my previous wagoneer project that needs a rebuild but will be the powerplant in my new truck. Not my dream combo of engine and tranny, but its what i have and i plan on making it work.

[millerm715]

It took me all weekend to get the floor pans installed i bought from BJ's offroad. The rust wasn't terrible but it needed attention. The only downfall was that the floorpans didn't cover all the area i needed to repair, plus i had never installed new floorpans before and it took forever. I didn't have the extra sheet metal on hand, so i rummaged around the scrap heap here at the farm and found some steel we had taken off a combine header that was the same thickness and cut it up to fill the gaps. It doesn't look that professional, but it should work okay.



i am definitely not a sheet metal guy


drivers side finished


passenger side before


During


Also cut out the pieces that the weatherstripping hang on to and replaced all the rot. Only want to do this once

[md1970]

looking good so far. I,am considering rebuilding my parts truck cab

[Flingarrows]

Congrats on the new truck!. The floor pans look pretty good!

[millerm715]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about the way everything is coming together with this truck, just got done with the doors tonight, swapped them from my old parts wagoneer. i'll get pics up soon of the whole process. Also got my rear axle today, 14 bolt from a 96 chevy k3500 dually. Axle swapping later this year hopefully.

[gonz]

I think you did just fine on the floor pans. And I really like that two shades paint job. Classic with the details on the door and M715. Welcome to the insanity- gonz

[millerm715]

So last night i installed the passenger side wagoneer door onto the truck. Ive learned a few things since i did the swap on the drivers side and changed a few things. Its fairly straight forward except when it comes down to the latches, which i will explain. The wagoneer latches are different than the m715 latches, so either you can install the m715 latches in the wagoneer door but they are not a perfect fit, or fabricate a mount for the wagoneer strike plate and install on the m715... I did both. I used the wagoneer striker plate and cut it down and welded it to a 3/16" plate then bolted it where the factory m715 plate sits. The problems is that i don't have a lot of adjustment with this setup, but it does work. Also i found out that the m715 window trips the wagoneer door lock when rolled all the way down, i think the metal door lock rod is bent in such a way that the window hits it. Heres a few pics of the swap.

The waggy door bolts right in where the old door was, hinges and all


The waggy window frame and glass needs to come out. Its welded in place on either side and held with a few bolts on the hinge side. I just ground the welds off and out it came. Don't forget the screw under the wing mirror weather stripping


window mount removed


Heres what the m715 latch in the waggy door looks like, 2 bolt holes line up but the third does not. When i get to it, i will probably drill a hole and weld the empty hole up.


Also the lock hole on the waggy is lower that on the m715. You could weld up the hole and move the lock up so it will work with the latch, but i just welded the hole up since the drivers side has a lock anyway. A punch out disc from an electrical box makes an almost perfect filler piece.


Also, a hole needs to be drilled for the screw holding the removable side window and a bracket needs to be removed from the m715 door and plug welded into place


And there she is, all installed. need to find some new weatherstripping though.