M416 B1 s/n 555 - Here I go!

[95RRC]

Hello everyone, after months of looking at all the wonderful builds on here, and as long or longer waiting to find the right M416 it has all come together. Below is my build thread, I will update it as I go, but my first post is the culmination of both the new (to me) purchase, as well as a few weeks of hard work!!!

So first up I found it, as some may remember on the www.G503.com forum, for sale in Fayetteville, NC - it was the right price, even though it was 4hrs away from me. So off I went. When I first saw it in person I realizd just how much work was ahead of me!!!!

Oh well - I dove in... put it on the back of a mates utility trailer and brought it home.

[95RRC]

SO - the first thing I did when I got it home was to get as much of the paint off as possible. After looking at many options I went and rented a high pressure (4000psi) pressue washer, and sprayed it down out front...actually was awaesome, and it took off a lot of the layers of paint as they were nearly all flaking off anyway. THe cost and location of a sand blasting was silly pricing up here in Northern VA - upwards of $800 to do it. SO I figured I would see what I could do alone....

[95RRC]

Next up was taking her apart and seeing what I could do - and what I couldn't. It quickly became apparent that the best solution for a majority of the work would be to sandblast it. So after taking the tub off, and putting that aside, and removing all parts from the tub - including the cool jerry can holders, I then set to work on what I could do - the frame itself. Without any appreciably big issues with rust, I felt I could tackle it all myself. SO I took the tub and the front draw bar/tongue with the lunette to Frederick County Customs in Winchester - Wayne was awesome!! He sandblasted it for me and then put on a REALLY hard enamel primer.

So, while I waited for Wayne to do his work - I worked on everything else...

The frame required a complete sanding down to bare metal. So after removing all I could, axle, springs, all nuts and bolts...I started the job of wire wheel brushing and then sanding. Part way through I blew my Dewalt grinder up - so went to good ol HD and bought a Makita 4.5" for only $29 figuring it would blow too - but she is still good!!!

[95RRC]

So - while I waiting on Wayne to do his sandblasting - I worked on everything else.

Toughest was the Springs! I wanted to see if they were salvageable - lo and behold I ground down all the flaky rust they had in between, then I put a rust inhibitor on them, repainted them with Rustoleum, put them back together and viola! Look brand new. Key to this is to put them back together with a thin film of grease between each spring which apparently helps them retain springiness and come back to shape under load!

The spring clamps had to be replaced of course - so I bought them from https://www.armyjeepparts.net/c-17-m416parts.aspx George (owner) is quite knowledgeable of course and was a great help with these - and many other parts I needed. Good thing is these were designed to be interchangeable with the Jeep - so best to ask George what he has, as most often the website doesn't show it.

[95RRC]

I worked on all the other parts as well. THanks go to DOn Beasley and his thread for help along the way with ideas etc, etc...and parts!! I needed to repack the hubs of course, and replace the bearings...easily obtainable from Amazon - shipped quickly . So I was lucky that I managed to get the hub seals out without messing them up! Best idea to do this is turn the hub upside down, once you take off the front bearing and then use a 2inch plastic pipe - hammer the back bearing lightly until it forces the bearing seal out - viola! You get a re-usable unobtainium (at least really tuff to find) hub seal.

So, hubs all back together and looking good.

I also worked on all the bolts, and hangers required.

Unfortunately, the square "U" bolts that hold the drawbar/tongue on ARE UNOBTANIUM!!!! DONT THROW THEM OUT!!!!! Just hope they can be cleaned up and reused. Fortunately the axle U bolts and nuts are available from https://www.armyjeepparts.net/c-17-m416parts.aspx - and are well worth the $$$$ - just sand down and repaint the hanger plates, and reuse them. If they are beyond repair George can get these too...the only other part that I had trouble with was the greaseable bolts for the springs, I decided to use the existing ones, so I wire brushed them done too - repainted and done - they are fine, and work well. I did by replacements and will keep them on hand for the future...

[Falkon]

You are braver than I! Looks like a great project though.

[95RRC]

Got the tub and tongue, mud guards, and jerry can holders back...looks great!!

I decide on all the frame, parts, and attachments being a gloss black, and have not figured out he tub yet - but wanted a contrasting look. SO I bought 6 cans of Rustoleum gloss black automotive enamel, and set to rattle can painting all of it. Came out better than expected actually!!

[95RRC]

painted all the frame bits...

And ordered the LED lights from Sierra - and as I am doing the trailer to be pulled behind my Range ROver Classic LWB I ordered a hub adaptor for each wheel so I can run the same size wheels on all...

[95RRC]

Additionally, I painted the bottom of the tub with a bed liner product from the local Autozone store...came out pretty well!

[95RRC]

And for now - I painted the tub "CUB CADET ALMOND" - a hard epoxy I found at the Tractor Supply COmpany, which is local to me....it is actually a VERY close color to the old Land Rover wheels on my Land ROver Series IIa so it will look cool behind that as well!