GI Joe Mobile Support Vehicle (MSV): Antenna Drive Belt Replacement and Electrical System Repair

Your GI Joe MSV Repair Guide

This is a description of how I repaired my GI Joe Mobile Support Vehicle (MSV). This is a classic and collectible toy from the 12-inch GI Joe Adventure Team series of the early 1970s. It is approximately 21 inches long. It is equipped with a moving searchlight and antenna, and it is also able to launch flying discs. It is made in the USA and has a stamped date of 1972.

After decades of storage, the drive belt for the antenna on my vehicle had completely deteriorated and broken into several pieces leaving a sticky black tar-like residue. The light and motor were also not working. This was one of my favorite toys when I was young, so I greatly enjoyed repairing this vehicle and making it fully functional once again.

Important Note: This procedure is what worked for me. There may be other or better ways to do this repair. I am posting this because I learned a great deal from repairing my vehicle, and I am hoping this information may be helpful to others. These vehicles are now over forty years old, and they have all been stored under widely varying conditions. This procedure may not work for everyone. Also, this repair requires drilling out the original rivets and prying loose glued plastic, so there is a risk of damage to the vehicle. Much of the work needs to be done working inside the tight spaces of the interior of the vehicle, so a great deal of patience is required. Please read through the whole procedure and understand the risks before attempting this repair. I am not at all recommending that everyone should attempt to repair their own vehicle, but if you have decided to do so, I am hoping this information will be very helpful.

Quick Overview

I have written a detailed description for every step, but here is a quick overview of the procedure:

1. Remove the doors and accessories.
2. Remove the old antenna drive belt residue.
3. Drill out the rivets on the roof.
4. Break free the entire motor box, or pry the motor box from its lid.

If all of the electrical systems are in good working order, the new belt can be installed, and the vehicle can be reassembled at this point.

Optional Steps (As Needed):

5. Test electrical connections for the searchlight
6. Test electrical connections for the motor
7. Switch repair
6. Motor repair
8. Motor box reassembly
9. Launcher lubrication
10. Searchlight pivot repair

Here is a video clip of my fully functional Mobile Support Vehicle with the new antenna drive belt installed, a rotary switch installed, and the electrical system restored.

Replacement Parts List

Here is a list of the replacement parts that I used.

To replace the rivets, I used 3/8" long #4 brass machine screws with washers and nuts with attached star-type lock-washers.

To screw the motor box back together, I used a 1.5" long #6 sheet metal screw.

For the searchlight pivot, I used a 3/4" long #6 machine screw with a nylon insert-type locknut.

For the searchlight bulb, I used a Krypton 2.5V .3amp bulb. Now, I would use an LED bulb.

I was able to get all of these at an Ace Hardware store.

The drive belt I used was approximately 3/32" thick with an unstretched diameter of about 4.5”. I was able to get this at a truck parts store, auto parts stores don't seem to have them this big. The one I used is a rubber o-ring for a truck and the part number is PKO 2-157. I believe that it’s an oil filter seal.

Detailed Descriptions of Every Step

Step 1: Remove the Doors and Accessories

Before starting, I detached the cab from the vehicle and removed the green trays and all of the loose accessories from the rear section of the vehicle. Working inside the vehicle is a difficult part of this repair. To make this easier, I removed the rear doors, sliding side door, and camera launcher assembly from the vehicle.

When removing the rear doors and launcher assembly, I slowly worked each hinge loose from the vehicle’s round mounting bars one tab at a time. I supported the vehicle’s round mounting bars with a finger to keep them from breaking. The hinges may let loose more easily with the doors in different positions, so experimenting is helpful. Lubricating the hinges with a little spray wax or maybe a silicone-type spray may also help. Additionally, I removed the battery cover and batteries from the vehicle.

A tab on the bottom track of the sliding side door prevents it from being removed from the vehicle. I straightened a larger heavy-duty paper clip and made a very small hook at the end with needle-nose pliers. Working from the underside of the vehicle, I used this paperclip to gently hook and pull the tab down so that the door could be completely removed from the vehicle.

Step 2: Remove the Old Antenna Drive Belt Residue

On my vehicle, the old drive belt had broken into several pieces that were like small lumps of sticky tar. Moving these pieces caused them to smear and streak the inside of the vehicle with a sticky black residue. Using tweezers worked well to remove the larger pieces. I discovered that a Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol worked well in cleaning off the old belt residue. This residue is also difficult to get off skin, so avoid touching it. Again, alcohol seems to work well in cleaning it off. Both pulleys eventually need to be removed from the vehicle, so it is much easier to clean these off completely once they are out of the vehicle.

Step 3: Drill Out the Rivets on the Roof

To replace the antenna drive belt with a seamless belt like the original, the four rivets holding the motor box and the two rivets holding the antenna pulley must be removed. To remove these rivets, I used a small hand drill. The rivet holes in the roof of the vehicle are 1/8” in diameter, so this is the largest drill bit size that should be used. These rivets are very light, and the roof of the vehicle is 40-year-old plastic, so great care and a light touch should be used in drilling out the rivets. If the whole rivet begins to spin while being drilled, be careful not to let it enlarge the hole. If the whole rivet does begin to spin, the weakened head of the rivet can sometimes be carefully crushed together with small needle-nose pliers, and then, the rivet can simply be pushed through the hole. Some people suggest drilling at an angle to prevent rivets from spinning. I also suspect that a small Dremel-type rotary tool may work well for drilling out these rivets.

Once the rivets are out, the pulley and bracket under the antenna mounting hole can be removed and cleaned.

I purchased small machine screws with washers and nuts to replace the original rivets.

Step 4: Break Free the Entire Motor Box, or Pry the Motor Box From Its Lid

The motor box is on the rear inside roof of the vehicle below the searchlight hole and will still be glued in place at this point. To replace the belt, either the whole motor box needs to be cut or pried loose from the inside roof of the vehicle, or the motor box needs to be pried loose from its lid, leaving only the lid attached to the inside roof of the vehicle. On my vehicle, I needed to open the motor box to service my light and motor, so I choose to pry the motor box loose from its lid and leave the lid attached to the inside roof of the vehicle. However, if all of the electrical systems are in good working order and only the belt needs replacing, it would be easier to cut and pry the whole motor box loose from the inside roof of the vehicle.

Option 4a: Breaking Free the Entire Motor Box and Reassembling

The lid of the motor box is glued to the inside roof of the vehicle along the length of approximately a 3-inch tab that runs alongside the battery compartment. If nothing in the motor box needs to be repaired, it may be easier to cut or pry this tab loose and detach the motor box from the vehicle’s roof as a sealed unit. Be careful not to damage the roof of the vehicle when doing this. A hacksaw blade may work well for this. I found it easier to work on the motor box with the vehicle standing on its front end with the rear facing up.

Once the tab that is glued to the inside roof of the vehicle is broken loose, the entire motor box will be detached from the roof of the vehicle. The motor box will still be attached to the vehicle by three thin electrical wires coming from the switch, so be careful not to damage these wires.

The whole motor box can be lowered or tilted until the searchlight socket is out of its hole in the roof of the vehicle. The searchlight pulley can be removed from the socket and thoroughly cleaned. The new belt can then be slipped over the searchlight socket and pulley.

Also, at this point, the nuts for the small machine screws that will replace the rivets can be glued to the four motor box mounting tabs with a drop of silicone sealant or a similar type of product. Temporarily screwing the machine screws through the holes in the motor box mounting tabs and into the nuts will align the nuts correctly and help hold them in place until the silicone sealant dries overnight. Having the nuts glued to the motor box mounting tabs can be especially helpful for the two inner tabs, which are difficult to reach during reassembly.

The motor box can be reinstalled with the machine screws and washers. The four new screws will attach the motor box securely to the inside roof of the vehicle, and the tab that was broken loose can be left unglued. This will also make future servicing of the vehicle much easier. If you wish to reglue the tab, I can recommend Super Glue Future Glue, as I had good results using it to reglue parts to this vehicle.

The new antenna drive belt can be guided through its opening in the vehicle’s partition. It can be wrapped around the antenna pulley and then tensioned by moving this pulley to its proper location. The pulley must be held in place while its bracket is installed with the machine screws, washers, and nuts.

If no other repairs are needed, simply reinstall the vehicle’s doors and accessories, and the new drive belt installation is complete!

Option 4b: Opening the Motor Box and Gaining Access to the Electrical Components

This is the option that I chose in repairing my vehicle. Opening the motor box on my vehicle enabled me to install the new drive belt, as well as, gain access to the motor.

To open the motor box, I first plugged the searchlight back into its socket to hold the socket and pulley in place while I opened the motor box. Working inside the vehicle, I used a pocketknife to slowly cut along the seam of the lid of the motor box. I used a sawing motion with my pocketknife and then pried the motor box open. On my vehicle, most of the glue was on the left side of the box. Once this seam was open, the rest of the box popped open fairly easily.