M37 Dodge Project

[J5 Bombardier]

I tore this Canadian M37 apart 25 yrs ago for a restoration , ended up using the 251 flathead in a J5 Bombardier . Kids came along and more Bombardiers were bought and rebuilt , so the dodge stayed in the barn. I decided to get this project going again, and repower with a 2711e Dorset Ford , not a power house but a tough old motor that with a turbo should be in the horsepower ballpark of the original flathead. Its purpose will be to tour around the back roads and the odd 12 mile trip to town.
Other than planning on re-arcing the springs and some leaves to be added , for now the drivetrain will remain stock , with future mods on the table. Have to make up a bell housing adapter to mate up the trans and then fit the motor. Weather and time permitting sandblast the frame and cab before winter.
J5 Bombardier

 

[m1west]

Cool project, most go with a 4bt, but that engine will work fine and I'm sure you already had it. seems I always have a couple projects going and its easy for one to sit for a while when other things get in the way. I have one to get back to myself. Other than the new engine are you going to do a total restoration or just fix it up for a driver?

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Cool project, most go with a 4bt, but that engine will work fine and I'm sure you already had it. seems I always have a couple projects going and its easy for one to sit for a while when other things get in the way. I have one to get back to myself. Other than the new engine are you going to do a total restoration or just fix it up for a driver?

Would love a 4BT , but I've never come across one over the years , still a few advertised around here , but very pricey. I'm sitting on 3 of these Ford's , spares for my Compair compressor , so thought I'd use one. The body is in great shape , I plan on a total sandblast and paint (can't stand the out in the field paint brush job that's on it ) , and go over everything mechanical as it has to have a safety check.

 

[m1west]

Would love a 4BT , but I've never come across one over the years , still a few advertised around here , but very pricey. I'm sitting on 3 of these Ford's , spares for my Compair compressor , so thought I'd use one. The body is in great shape , I plan on a total sandblast and paint (can't stand the out in the field paint brush job that's on it ) , and go over everything mechanical as it has to have a safety check.

Yes the 4bt's are more expensive than the 5.9 around here. 100,000 mile runners are 4k. I just put a new engine in my 73 power wagon right before the gas doubling. I used a 5.9 Magnum to get away from the flat tappet cam that ruined the original engine. Last time I drove it to the Mountain was around October last year. Gas was a little higher but cost me $500.00 to go around 700 miles. It gets around 15mpg on the Hwy. and we won't talk about city/mountian mileage. I found a 4bta thats in a wood chipper running for 2k, it only has 3000 hours but has blowby and needs a rebuild. Im currently waiting for the seller to pull it out. Im shooting for around 30 mpg hwy with a slightly turned up motor with a NV4500 transmission. That M37 you have is a great foundation for what you are doing.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Centered the M37 pressure plate on the Dorset flywheel today and started drilling /tapping holes . After that fab up a pilot bushing/ bearing , depends what's on the shelf that can be matched up.
J5 Bombardier

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

I have acquired a lot of Littauer on the Dorset engines, they are had to find parts for but well built. i have a 6 cylinder in my 2100 and it dwarfs my 6b.

 

[m1west]

Centered the M37 pressure plate on the Dorset flywheel today and started drilling /tapping holes . After that fab up a pilot bushing/ bearing , depends what's on the shelf that can be matched up.
J5 Bombardier

You are going to have to fabricate an adapter plate to bolt the bell housing from the M37 transmission to the new engine most likely. How will that effect the input shaft/ flywheel, crankshaft flange and pilot relationship?

 

[J5 Bombardier]

So all good on the flywheel / clutch and pilot bearing setup . Dug up the back half of a GM Deuce bell housing , which looked promising , except not enough room for the M37 cross shaft. So we are officially in the "Dickin Around Stage " may have to go back to plan "A" and build a bell housing from scratch. But first one more swing through the junk pile ......
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Haven't written the deuce bell housing off just yet, it fills the gap nicely , just have to think about it..........
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

I have acquired a lot of Littauer on the Dorset engines, they are had to find parts for but well built. i have a 6 cylinder in my 2100 and it dwarfs my 6b.

Glad to see you back Snowtrac Nome.
I was looking for a gasket set , they seem to be all across the pond.
J5 Bombardier

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

there is a guy in minnasota that works in the parts department when his boss said throw out the parts he took them all home he got the head gasket for me.

 

[m1west]

So all good on the flywheel / clutch and pilot bearing setup . Dug up the back half of a GM Deuce bell housing , which looked promising , except not enough room for the M37 cross shaft. So we are officially in the "Dickin Around Stage " may have to go back to plan "A" and build a bell housing from scratch. But first one more swing through the junk pile ......
J5 Bombardier

Thats going to be the fun part. Its going to be worth it when done. You are inspiring me to get started with a 4bt swap into my 73 power wagon. The cross shaft for the throwout bearing? Can you remove it and fabricate something that pivots, maybe with a hydraulic cylinder like the new vehicles?? Just throwing ideas out there.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Ya , did a quick Google on a modern type slaves , inside dia would need to be 2 in to fit the input shaft support ,it's a possible option.
Going to have to do some more figuring , I would like to make the cross shaft work as in the original setup.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Bit more material to remove on the bell ,then finish the cross shaft mounts and open up the center of the housing to clear the release bearing .. If that works out , cut a 1/2" plate to sandwich between the bell and trans.
J5 Bombardier

 

[m1west]

L

Bit more material to remove on the bell ,then finish the cross shaft mounts and open up the center of the housing to clear the release bearing .. If that works out , cut a 1/2" plate to sandwich between the bell and trans.
J5 Bombardier

looks like the challenge is to get the shaft back far enough to work, but still have a flat surface on the outside to bolt the transmission up.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Made some progress on the cross shaft today. One piece at a time.......

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Bored out a 4 5/8" hole in a 1/2" plate for the trans input shaft support . Need to recess the temporary pilot bushing a 1/4" to bottom the trans against the plate , then drill and install dowel pins / studs , to the deuce bell .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Gm bell housing is now fitted to trans , still have to trim some excess off the 1/2" adapter plate and Install grease fittings on the crosshaft . At the point now I need a 20 in x 1/2" plate to mate the eng to the bellhousing .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished cleaning up the trans plate this am, grease fittings installed, so the worst part is done for this job. Time to buy some 1/2" plate , that should be a surprise ....cost wise.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Lots of grinding and holes to drill yet, 60.00 American for a 20x20 in x 1/2 in piece of plate . Gone are the days when you'd pick up half a sheet at a time to keep for the next project.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished cleaning up the adapter plate , bolted everything together , clutch releases , found the bottom half of the Deuce bell housing and cut it down to fit. Motor is back on it's feet , so I guess it is mount time. Not a bad job , less than 80 bucks invested in steel , lots of my time , but I'd just be working on my SW48 or something else , so it's all good .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Not a bad fit , motor mounts will be pretty straight forward , oil pan / diff clearance ...not sure if it's going to be an issue .
J5 bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Motor mounts are done ,I need to cut the firewall to clear the head /valve cover , I need an inch , so not to bad . The trans is in the exact location as when it was stock , so driveshaft and all linkages are right , just had to lengthen the linkage for the clutch .
I dropped the pan / oil pump to do the engine install. It's a cast aluminum pan with the option of a wet bell housing for industrial use , the sump is in the front so it will have to cut and welded to clear the front diff.
I turned down the chance to buy a Jimmy Muskeg Skidder today , can't allow myself to go down the Bombardier path again , or this Dodge will never get done..... nearly killed me to say no...
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Oil pan cut today ,hopefully finish an angle cut on the right side to clear the pumpkin and get it welded up tomorrow . These Dorset Fords have a crazy deep pan , probably why they last so long.
Going to pump up the springs for added clearance and add some axle stops (just in case ) after sandblasting.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Pan welded up on both sides and installed temporarily. The sump can be sorted out on the engine stand later , I want to finish the firewall mod and get ready to sand blast as July is here. Have to redo my blast pot and start screening our own sand , a skid of the stuff has tripled in price over the last 3 -4 years.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Found a better motor to swap into my M37 , may have to beef up the springs a bit ! ............ Actually had to swap out the Detroit in my buddy's dump truck ,that's used around the farm. Motor went in this morning , but have 3-4 days of hooking up and fixing to do , so no Dodge this week.
J5 Bombardier

 

[m1west]

Found a better motor to swap into my M37 , may have to beef up the springs a bit ! ............ Actually had to swap out the Detroit in my buddy's dump truck ,that's used around the farm. Motor went in this morning , but have 3-4 days of hooking up and fixing to do , so no Dodge this week.
J5 Bombardier

Its always interesting how projects evolve during the build.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished stuffing the 6L71 into this GMC 9500 , have to set the idle and check fluids /grease. This motor was turbocharged , so it was detuned, turbo removed and injectors changed, left the intercooler on , it has way to many ponies for the drivetrain and tight enough for space as is. Long story short , I can get back on the dodge later this week .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

So the chassis is ready for blasting , as is the cab. Most of the body work is done on the cab , will see what turns up after the paint is gone. I changed out the tank on my sand pot , now have to build a sand screener and get some material ready .I have a 1/3 of a skid of bags , but that won't go far.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Burned up a bunch of my scrap steel to make a sand screener , wanna get this sand blasting show on the road .
It's such a nice job to do.......... but the results are worth it.
J5 Bombardier