My second M715 build. What was I thinking?

[jeeper]

I was planning on installing some lights tonight but ended up with questions instead of results.

What I see doesn't make sense to me. I pulled the headlights out of the truck shortly after getting it home. When I went to install some new lights today I find the bulb retainer ring that holds the light to the bucket doesn't line up.

I have two rings that are not exactly identical. Neither one seems to work on either bucket. I can get two holes to line up great but the third one is quite a ways off in each scenario. And when the two holes do line up the ring covers the adjustment screws so I wouldn't be able to adjust the lights.



I'm not really sure of anything at this point but I was fairly certain that I'm using the parts that came with this truck. Anyone have any ideas? Anyone have a picture of a stock ring?

[wolf.dose]

Jeeper,
the 6.2 is probably the best replacement for the origiginal engine (6.5 has the same outer dimensions). I run it now for 12 years and over 28000 miles/ 790 engine hours. It runs like a steam engine, torque sufficient from 10 to 60 mph without shifting. A M715 will never become a racing truck.
Much more engine torque is probably to much for the transmission and the axles. Remember, that stuff was made in the 60ties with much less quality material than the same axles today.
Regards
Wolf

[jeeper]

It took a while for it to sink in but I finally had the realization that the headlight retainer rings would not have been chrome therefore could not have been original. With that in mind I decided to modify them to make them work rather than try to obtain stock replacements.



I trimmed the ring so it didn't interfere with the adjustment screws. I then drilled some new holes in the ring and also ended up drilling and tapping a new hole in the stock bucket.



Next I plan to route some transmission cooler lines and get those tied in.

[RAMairGTO72]

Jeeper,
the 6.2 is probably the best replacement for the origiginal engine (6.5 has the same outer dimensions). I run it now for 12 years and over 28000 miles/ 790 engine hours. It runs like a steam engine, torque sufficient from 10 to 60 mph without shifting. A M715 will never become a racing truck.
Much more engine torque is probably to much for the transmission and the axles. Remember, that stuff was made in the 60ties with much less quality material than the same axles today.
Regards
Wolf

Given enough money, you can make anything fast

I will admit the Detroit Diesel engine is a dependable engine, having seen these engines abused by my fellow brothers and sisters in the military and continue to run is extremely impressive.

[jeeper]

Yesterday I got the transmission lines connected.






Today I got some oil cooler lines installed and the oil cooler mounted.







I believe the cooler may be a stock cooler from a '98 Chevy 6.5. It came with the 6.5 I got a few years ago. It is connected by about a foot of oil line rubber clamped on with a hose clamp.





I'm curious how the copper plumbing lines will work. I'm sure they won't have a problem with the heat or oil, I'm wondering about vibration causing the fittings to loosen/leak? Time will tell.

I used 3/8' street 90 degree fittings and then connected the 3/8" MIP to 1/2" compression connector. It is not the prettiest but I'm hoping it is durable.

[jeeper]

Today after work I stopped by and picked up a universal fuel gauge. Napa part number 501-1742. I used the same part number for my last trucks fuel gauge as well. I do have some work to do on the tank before I'm ready to mount the sender into the tank. All the bolts from the original sending unit broke off in the tank. I'm planning on drilling and tapping new holes for this sender to bolt in at this point.


What I don't remember is the sending unit not fitting through the gas tank hole on my last truck. No matter how I try to fit it in it is too big to fit through the hole. If I make the hole much bigger I risk not being able to seal the sender to the top of the tank. Anyone run into this before? What did you do to solve it?

I may (haven't tried yet) be able to bend the arm that is connected to the sweep to allow it to fit through the hole but would then need to be able to somehow precisely bend it back so the float is in the correct position to read accurately.

[jeeper]

I got the fuel sender installed into the tank yesterday.



Next I need to make a new fuel pickup and get it mounted to the tank somehow. I don't think I want to solder it to the tank. I like the idea of having it removable for inspection and service.

[RAMairGTO72]

I'm enjoying your build up.

If that's plumbing "dead soft copper " line ...I have seen it before on a 1972 Monte Carlo with a BBC 402. It was used for his duel oil filter relocation kit.

Long story short he got a great deal on it, ( theived it from his temp job) and as we both imigined it was easy to run, cheap and gave us some cooling ,we were all about it.

It fatigued, probably from slight bending from the engine to the frame. It was micro small and was hard to track down, and that was after fighting the leaks at the fittings that loved to back out, we would tighten them ALL the time when out cruising, once cold before we left, then after it got hot, every time. We were working with Aluminum engine and oil adapters and brass fittings.

The repair made the line heavy in that area ..made line shake worse.
I don't know the wall thickness and I dont discount the idea his line might have been beat up, if you were to use it with rubber ends, I could see that working.

No intention on stepping on your toes friend.

[jeeper]

No toes harmed by your input. I appreciate the input.

I thought there may be a good reason I haven't read about people using plumbing line before. I'm still going to try it though because it's already installed. If it doesn't work out I'll be sure to update this thread.

The rubber line was about $5.00/ft at Napa. I only need two pieces about 3 feet each. I will probably just do that if the copper doesn't hold up.

[jeeper]

Not a lot of visible progress this weekend. I ended up spending a part of Saturday getting another parts truck home. It's got a few good parts that I will be needing for my next truck. It was a good day for that anyway because it rained most of the day.

Today I did more wiring and have gotten close to being able to start the truck from inside the cab at least electrically. I still need to finish the fuel lines and gas tank though.

I also started looking at the shifter. I scored a couple free parts from my neighbor and will try to incorporate them into the truck. I got the shift levers for the transmission and transfer case from a mid 90's Grand Cherokee.