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FORGET IT! Too much money for too little vehicle, and a squirrelly owner at
that. Bide your time. The M8 is not rare - the M20 is.
And if the owner is not conscientious enough to go to Broadway Title and get
a title in his name for $145.00, I'd really be suspicious.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dean L. Kellogg, Jr <kelloggd@uthscsa.edu>
To: Military Vehicles List <mil-veh@uller.skylee.com>
Date: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 10:32 AM
Subject: [MV] HELP! Reality check on M8 Greyhound Purchase
>*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
>Hi Listees,
>
>I have need of your sage advice once more. I have been looking into M8's
>for several months and have gotten some GREAT suggestions from
>ya'll...(Doug Greville, Claude Vaughn, John Steids, Mel Miller, and more).
>I have read loads on the vehicles and studied all the manuals I can get. I
>went to College Station, Texas and inspected Brent Mullins M8 (NICE!). I
>thought I had one last week, but I am not so sure now. SO....I need a
>reality check on this......ya'll are learned....so....let me have it!
>(fitting for the day after the Alamo fell!)
>
> Over the past 2 months I have been investigating an M8. It can be
>viewed at http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Lane/9475/ (or I have more
>photos if interested that I can email to listees). This is the story.....
>
> It is a 1943 model...(hull #6700). It was brought back to the US in
>the early 1990's from Italy by a Mr. Allen Cors of Virginia and "restored".
>It was traded to the current owner for a beautifully restored M5A1 Stuart
>in 1991. The only modification was the conversion from the hydraulic
>throttle to a "boat cable" system (not an uncommon modification that was
>picked up by Doug Greville in a photo I emailed to him). It was repainted,
>but was not sandblasted prior to this.
>
> I corresponded with the current owner and had him take 56 photos of
>the vehicle (interior and exterior....though he did not take too many of
>the interior despite my requests). The current owner characterized it as
>restored with no mechanical problems and lots of extras. The owner had
>"mechanically maintained" the vehicle and had done no further restoration
>work. He said that he is getting older and wants to concentrate on his
>Model T's. Everything was reported to be fine...not perfect, but fine with
>the M8. No mechanical problems. The photos looked great...even Brent
>Mullins thought it looked good from what he could tell in the photos.....SO
>I told the owner that I'd take it if all checked out on a visit to
>Kansas...which happened 3/4/99......
>
>THE FIRST REALITY CHECK:
> SO, what did I find.....Well, it does need to be repainted. There
>is some body filler in parts of the sand skirts. There are lots of modern
>nuts and bolts on the vehicle. The brakes pull hard to the right when
>applied. Shifting into second gear is hard. The gears do not clash at
>all, but a lot of force needs to be applied to shifter in order for it to
>go into gear. The other gears take only a "moderate amount" of force.
>Break fluid was spilled from the brake master cylinder and it has blistered
>most of the glossy white paint under the driver's feet and on the area in
>front of the driver. The boat cable throttle works fine, but the
>reservoir, elbow, and lower half of the throttle master cylinder are gone.
>The hydraulic lines for the throttle seem to be there; however, there are
>some cut hydraulic lines barely visible near the gas tank. The
>transmission leaks loads of oil when it sits....a seal probablly. The
>water pump leaks probably because of the teflon packing used in a rebuild.
>There is some surfaace rust at scattered places around the vehicle that
>should not be too bad to fix. It does not have the correct front bollards
>and lacks the correct tow cable. There are some other minor issues, but
>those are the main ones with the vehicle. It is an older "restoration". I
>would really consider it more of a "motor pool" level vehicle.
>
>On the good side it has lots of extra parts. It has a working radio
>(SCR-508) and interphone system (the wires for the interphone are modern).
>It has a nice 50 and 30 cal machine gun set. It has all the extras for the
>turret (37mm shells, etc.). In short it has good potential, but does need
>the work as outlined above. I managed to argue the owner to....$40K. He
>would not go lower.
>
>REALITY CHECK #1-does the above make you think that I am an Alzheimers
>Patient or does this sound ok?
>
>NOW FOR THE SECOND REALITY CHECK.....
> The owner never had a title for the vehicle.....so he has had a
>friend write out a bill of sale and is using that to get an antique vehicle
>title. It has always been insured, but never officially titled.
>REALITY CHECK #2-does this sound ok?
>
>NOW FOR THE THIRD REALITY CHECK.....(saved the best for last)
> After we agreed on the price, I went to pull out a check to put
>down a 10% deposit with the rest to follow by cashier's check. The owner
>stated that he will only accept CASH.....greenbacks....the real thing. NO
>CHECKS OF ANY KIND. He stated that chasiers checks could be canceled by
>the bank so he did not want that. He says that cash is how it is done in
>the "old car" clubs, and that is how he wants to do it. He figures that I
>show up with cash and just take the 7.5 ton vehicle.
>REALITY CHECK #3-does this sound ok? Sounds dangerous to me.....
>
>SO...pour on the reality......I need your experience and advice... I am
>really interested in getting an M8, but maybe this one is not it.....POUR
>ON THE REALITY.
>
>thanks,
>dean
>
>
>
>I
>
> ****************************************************************
> * Dean L. Kellogg, Jr., MD, PhD *
> * Department of Medicine *
> * The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio *
> * 7703 Floyd Curl Drive *
> * San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900 *
> * (210) 617-5311 FAX (210) 617-5312 e-mail:kelloggd@uthscsa.edu *
> ****************************************************************
>
>
>
>
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