Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

M274 Mechanical Mule Wanted, For Sale (NO AUCTION or EBAY), and Knowledge Base
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m37-man
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Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by m37-man » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:55 pm

I had been wanting to replace my laboriously restored M274A2 since I got talked into selling it a couple years ago, last weekend I located BMY SN #848. It is surprisingly complete and unmolested due to being stored in an agricultural building behind a locked gate since the PO acquired it from the Marines in 1972. All the deck covers are there, the engine cage, original data plates, foot basket, quick disconnects, bed rails and even the sheet metal governor cover which is usually the first thing thrown away. Even the original tires are still holding air. I did have to remove and dump the fuel tank since the old gas was stinking up my entire shop. One detail I was not aware of is that only the two center side rail supports have the magnesium (aluminum?) insulators to isolate the two different metals to reduce corrosion. The only part missing was the seat back, and the spark plugs and cables had been swapped out for civvy ones. Most interesting is that it still has the original yellow military markings over the USMC Green (34052) hand-brushed paint: USMC number and "TP 12" on each side of the deck, remains of the NSN (2320-074-1167) on the front right of the deck, chevron marking the 4 wheel steer opening, "Z" marking the upper basket bolt, and some unidentifiable stenciling under the seat cushion. The vehicle number is also stenciled on the bottom of the engine lid. Unit markings are in blue paint: "81S" on the front panel and "730" (maybe "738") within a large "V" on the fuel tank. I'm 99% sure this vehicle came out of Camp Pendleton since it is only twenty miles away, maybe a retired Marine can figure out the actual unit the Mule served in from 1966-72. I will post some pics if I can get them to an acceptable size/format.
M37-Man, discriminating collector of all terrain vehicles:
'43 Ford GPW
'45 Willys MB
'73 Jeep Commando
'78 & '85 Jeep CJ7s
'83 Jeep Scrambler
Herd of '66 BMY M274A2 Mules


old man
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by old man » Tue Oct 07, 2014 3:01 am

what a great find. It would be great to see photos of it, a lot of what you are saying I have never seen so that would be great.
what I have found is if your photo size are to large. open the photo in paint. on the top bar click on size, (for me it comes up as 100 %) all I do is back space of 0 so it reads 10 % and click save. of course you have to rename it, I just add an a and that seems to work well. if anyone has a better way of resizing them I am always open to learning more.
thanks for posting and sharing the information
Steve

Chuck W.
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by Chuck W. » Tue Oct 07, 2014 7:41 am

Sounds like a great find. Could you post the USMC registration number? Should be something in the 3152## range, according to the BMY848 serial number, probably a February 1966 manufacturer date. Thanks!

m37-man
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by m37-man » Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:49 pm

Here are a few photos of the A2, thanks for the advice on getting them uploaded.
Attachments
Mule 4.jpg
USMC number under the engine lid, obviously the lid was swapped with another vehicle at some point.
Mule 4.jpg (36.87 KiB) Viewed 1275 times
Mule 3.jpg
Left side shows the unit marking, USMC no. and TP marking.
Mule 3.jpg (41.33 KiB) Viewed 1277 times
Mule 2.jpg
Right front view of markings on the bed and front panel.
Mule 2.jpg (42 KiB) Viewed 1277 times
Mule 1.jpg
Right side view of M274A2 #848. The bed rails have never been removed and the tires appear to be original.
Mule 1.jpg (41.07 KiB) Viewed 1276 times
M37-Man, discriminating collector of all terrain vehicles:
'43 Ford GPW
'45 Willys MB
'73 Jeep Commando
'78 & '85 Jeep CJ7s
'83 Jeep Scrambler
Herd of '66 BMY M274A2 Mules

Auto Shop teacher
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by Auto Shop teacher » Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:47 am

Looks like you have one that is complete as you can get, what a find. Is that the one from Craigslist in Escondido?

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txdodge43man
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by txdodge43man » Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:14 am

The blue V on the fuel take is 5th Marine Regiment or division. USMC unit markings are always fun to decode, can you post a good picture of the unit markings on the fuel take? inside the blue V should be a letter and two numbers. Now I am going of my experience tracking down 3rd marine division markings that were on a mighty might I had. Not sure how different the 5th Marine markings would be.

Heres a link to a mighty mite with the blue V
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=67397
1943 MB "Puddle Jumper II"
1943 MBT
1968 m274A5
1976 m151a2 "Kermit"
1968 M416
1943 WC-52 "Hope Renee"
1963 M762

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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by 338Edge » Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:55 am

Wow! Great find!

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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by Chuck W. » Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:18 am

Still can't make out the USMC registration number.

m37-man
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by m37-man » Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:42 pm

USMC number is 315214, so you were correct about the range.

Posted a larger photo of the unit marking (730 within a large "V").

This is probably the one on CL, but was not located in Escondido.
Attachments
Mule5.jpg
Unit marking on fuel tank in blue paint.
Mule5.jpg (170.91 KiB) Viewed 1171 times
M37-Man, discriminating collector of all terrain vehicles:
'43 Ford GPW
'45 Willys MB
'73 Jeep Commando
'78 & '85 Jeep CJ7s
'83 Jeep Scrambler
Herd of '66 BMY M274A2 Mules

Auto Shop teacher
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by Auto Shop teacher » Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:49 pm

Thanks, the reason I asked is because there was a mule that looks like yours in the Escondido Craigs list ad. Was the seller's name Ben? His photo was of a mule he took off the internet.

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txdodge43man
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by txdodge43man » Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:30 am

Well I have been doing some searching and The blue V from what I have read is 5th Marine Regiment which is part of the 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton but the three digits in the V are another matter. The three digits in the V are called a Unit Numerical Identification System I have found info on that system for WWII markings but not for Vietnam era. So long story short if you want to know what unit the mule belong too you might need to find someone with more knowledge than myself on the USMC unit markings. But I will keep looking in my spare time.

Again Great find wish my Mule was as complete as yours when I found mine.
1943 MB "Puddle Jumper II"
1943 MBT
1968 m274A5
1976 m151a2 "Kermit"
1968 M416
1943 WC-52 "Hope Renee"
1963 M762

m37-man
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by m37-man » Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:39 pm

Apparently the blue markings are tactical markings, and not individual vehicle markings according to this source:

http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com/sop/MarkingSOPMcBreen.pdf

Decoding the "730" in the large "V" translates to:

Headquarters, 3rd weapons platoon, weapons company of the 2nd battalion. The large V most closely resembles the geometric marking for the 7th Marine Regiment, but could be a Roman numeral 5 for 5th Regiment.
M37-Man, discriminating collector of all terrain vehicles:
'43 Ford GPW
'45 Willys MB
'73 Jeep Commando
'78 & '85 Jeep CJ7s
'83 Jeep Scrambler
Herd of '66 BMY M274A2 Mules

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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by mctnkr » Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:00 am

Not trying to hijack the post but Auto Shop Teacher was asking about the Escondido CL Mule. I purchased it in April. Pretty complete to start with. Still looking for rails.....
Auto Shop teacher wrote:Looks like you have one that is complete as you can get, what a find. Is that the one from Craigslist in Escondido?
IMG-20140414.jpg
IMG-20140414.jpg (132.87 KiB) Viewed 993 times
IMG-20140923.jpg
IMG-20140923.jpg (238.02 KiB) Viewed 993 times

gpw6335
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Re: Barn Find A2 with USMC Markings

Post by gpw6335 » Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:32 am

Got my rails from Home Depot 1 inch od which is 3/4 black pipe, worked great.
1943 GPW 103951
1951 M38 27714
1952 M38a1 28888
1969 M274A5
1972 M151A2
1943 MBT
1951 M100
1979 M416
1962 M37B1


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