Interesting Jeep in the woods

This weekend I took my dog on a nice hike it the woods. We went down an old somewhat overgrown road we had never been down before. After a few minutes I noticed another road going off to one side and a couple of old trucks covered with leaves and vines. We walked back there and saw some old (late 70's or so) Dodge and Chevy pickups with their widows busted out, but toward the back of the clearing there was a really cool Jeep.

It looked like a J-10 pickup, except it was very military looking, especially the bed, and it had a fabric roof (or at least the remains of one) over the cab. It had a diesel engine and aside from the steering column being missing looked remarkably intact and complete, and the metal appeared to all be straight and solid.

OK, I just did some Googling and found this:

Although I?m pretty sure this one had a diesel, as it had what looked like a diesel injector pump, triple belts, and that engine didn?t look like any Jeep 6 cylinder I ever saw. It DID have JEEP stamped into the valve cover (or what passes for one on a diesel).

Next time I get out there (probably next weekend), I'll take my camera along and get some pictures.

Jeff DeWitt

Your first description was a dead ringer for a M715. Keep in mind that the original engine had the full mil spec braided hose covers over the ignition wires and spark plugs so it tends to look like a diesel. 2- 12 volt batteries mounted in the cab between the driver and passenger.

Bed and sides look normal but is something like 1/8" sheet metal. The thing weighs much more than it looks.

There is a group of M715 collectors so there is a fair amount of info out there. Only made for a couple of years ('67 & '68 ????). They came with 5.38 gears and a 6 banger that lost it's bearings in under 50k miles. Engine parts are HORRIBLY expensive. Many of them are converted to full Chevy or Ford running gear and engines.

Fun toy if you have the time to update it, the space to store it (it is quite a bit bigger than it looks!), and the money to fix the !!@#@#$##@!@ engine.

Cheers.

Jeff DeWitt wrote:

Now that you mention it there were two batteries between the seats. I don't have the time, money, or space to restore this thing, I've got two Studebakers to take care of and my good old Cherokee. But the thing IS really cool and different, and could be a lot of fun.

This truck is pretty deep in the woods on a North Carolina State Park, and all of those vehicles were obviously governement trucks. I have no idea what it would take to buy this truck even if I was in the market for it.

Hmm, wonder how hard it would be to put a Stude V8 in it?

Jeff DeWitt

RoyJ wrote:

Can't be sure Bill, that MIGHT be it but I could only see it from the other side, the hood wouldn't open very far (and I wasn't about to try and force it), and a small tree had grown up on the passenger side. When I get back out there I'll find out what it really is now that I know what to look for.

It was just such a surprise seeing all those old junk pickups (although there was an International that didn't look too bad), and then sining this cool old Jeep sitting there, I'd never seen anything like it.

Jeff DeWitt

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

It could have been a re-powered M715: but that seems a remote possibility.

If you are guessing that these are really ex-government trucks then I suppose that it lets these diesel-powered asian M715 clones right out of the picture:

Jeff DeWitt wrote:

I'm not guessing, it had a message stenciled on the inside of the hood about a National Guard training battalion.

Like I said, next time I get out there I'll take some pictures, the trucks are located in the Clemons State Educational Forest near Clayton.

Jeff DeWitt

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