M37 “Gertrude”

[Rob Crombie]

Hi David, and Bob,

Thanks for the replies. I will definitely have to visit, as I haven't run into too many people up this way yet that have a similar interest in these old vehicles. Last summer I did make my way out to the Swords and Ploughshares museum in Kars where I met Mike Calnaan and he kindly showed me around his collection, even though it was a drizzly rainy day. The highlight for my wife and 3 year old daughter was getting to go for a ride in his Iltis, as they were both expecting to be only looking at things.
Happily my truck is mostly complete, and I don't have plans to change it much. My main goal at this point is to just get it back on the road, driving safely and looking halfway decent.
Here's a picture of the truck before I started working on it. Currently the wheels are out being sandblasted so that I can put some new Michelin 9.00x16s on it. Coincidentally, when I went to the shop that is doing the blasting for me I spied the bed off a 2.5 ton truck of some sort, apparently belongs to a gentleman from Brockville that has a bit of a collection.

Regards,

Rob

[Bob Carriere]

I have seen worst rusted truck resurrected........

Good luck.

Bob C

[David Dunlop]

Looks like it might have had a driver’s door mounted spare wheel carrier at some point in it’s service life, Rob.

David

[Rob Crombie]

I understand it was repainted in the late 80s, which certainly helped. I have run into some rust on the front fenders, doors, and rear wheel arches, all of which had been patched by the military. Not the prettiest repairs, but they have held up alright. I plan on eventually cutting the rot out and welding some new steel in as time permits. So far I have only done the passenger front fender as it was the worst, and was crooked from getting caught on something.
I noticed the bolts in front of the drivers door. If it did have a spare tire mounted there, would it be indicative of a role the truck might have played while in service? Currently it does have the bed mounted spare. I had thought that the radio equipped trucks had the spare moved to the door, but I am no expert.