AA1PR's 1966 Stevens M416 Build

[expeditionnorth]

Picked this up from a guy in Burlington who claimed he got it from Plattsburgh AFB when they closed down in the late 80's

its a 1966 Stevens M416, its as old as I am & in better shape

came with a 3 ring binder of all work history performed, inspection logs etc

on the way home I had to stop & replace the tires, sadly tirewarehouse (only place open that sunday) would only sell me trailer tires, though I wanted MT's

my kids did all the work on this & one day it'll be theirs long after I'm gone

pics in no particular order, date wise:

was told it was painted, but looked more like whitewash
so we took a brush on a 4" grinder * proceeded


wasnt sure what was rust at first untill all the layers of camo paint were removed



The my son started on the POR15 sealant


once all of that was completed we finished it off with herculiner, we rolled on the whole gallon in several layers over 2 days

 

[expeditionnorth]

Herculiner came out good


& then we added some aluminum diamond plate for a rear door, first I had it dropping down like a tailgate & then later changed it to a side opening which is best for our needs


used it like this for a couple of summers as our family camping gear hauler


it left more room instead, which is real nice on any long trip



OK you get the idea

& then we deiced a locking lid/cover would be neat, with thule bike racks on top for their bikes, with a shelf along the front




this was well for about 2 winters & then the plywood started to fail


so much for dept store brand outdoor paint


by this time, my sons had moved out onto their own...

so me & my 2 daughters decided maybe turn it into a camper of sorts

this had my wheels turning, I found this truck cap which fit nicely

 

[expeditionnorth]

so with the gracious help of my father ( I'm disabled), we built a raised sleeping platform in there


its not pretty but its functional


we have a twin mattress that fits on there ever so perfectly

from the good sections of that plywood cover, my dad thought of a side storage area

it works great for fishing & tent poles for our DIY awning


added some cheap LED pucks to the ceiling

 

[expeditionnorth]

added some cheap & simple eye bolts so our awning has an attachment point



replaced the cracked rear window with some cabinet grade birch


OH I forgot also moved the rear lights up higher


sadly we only used it once last summer, hopefully more this year



decided I wanted a mess kit to keep in it at all times so at wallyworld I found these


in combination with the coleman 2 burner stove, cast iron pan...everything stores in this

 

[expeditionnorth]

a few more pics of it in use by us over the years








& now I'm working on adding a tire carrier, so I can carry another spare for my rig on its tongue





& thats about it as it sits today

 

[Overland-Indiana]

Any updates on this?

 

[expeditionnorth]

Any updates on this?

not really, only used it twice all summer
once for camping with my daughter & another for a weekend of ham radio on mt tabor

i just noticed this is in projects, maybe i need to get it moved to vehicles or we need a trailer area