52 M38a1 Motor Pool Resto

Yes, I can see that application working Dave. Thank you. I too have a few 11" backing plates on the shelf but I've yet to find a jeep that I wanted or needed to use them on. I find the 9" brakes sufficient (of course if they're in spec!). I appreciate your replies.

 

So the plan was to use this hone but it's too big to use on the rear 3/4" cylinders. I wound up improvising with emery cloth and a dowel.

No pitting as I was hoping. Nice and shiny and smooth inside. Left one is pre-op, right is post-op but I wound up polishing a bit more afterwards. They are in great shape.

 

Onto rear brake shoes. All four are original Bendix and I don't have the heart to scrap them and will reline. Drilling out the brass rivets.

No doubt original linings.

 

Over the years, I've accumulated an embarrassment of fender and body bolts. These are some that I've cleaned up. I don't need this many but just as much work to do more than needed....

Used styrofoam has it limited uses...

Gradually getting things ready for reassembly this coming spring.

Big push tomorrow, stay tuned!

 

Blasting the original Bendix shoes...

And a light primer. Not original but I'm certain no one will be back inside the drums for a very long time. I estimate 15K miles on my 54' A1 since the last brake refresh. I've never opened those suckers up (but about due honestly). The KEY to longevity it to USE your jeep relatively often!

 

That's how I did the brakes on the 55 M38A1. I don't like to leave bare metal anywhere. Didn't re-line the shoes, but I did give everything a good coat of paint.

Backing Plates




Dave

 

Very nice work Dave. I like your attention to detail!

 

Early start in the shop today. I first loaded the rear wheel cylinders while things warmed up.

Some good news behind the front drums. The linings are well within spec and the only meaningful thing needed is to rebuild the slave cylinders and get things cleaned up. Yes, original Bendix shoes with red oxide paint on them. I noticed that the eccentrics aren't touching the shoes at all. Comparing the wear between front and rears, these brakes have been replaced and being that the jeep has 24K, this makes sense. I'm now sure that the rears were never opened. The 1" slave cylinders here are also Wagner Lockheed.

There's plenty of lube in the knuckles so I'm not even going to bother removing the spindles.

After a little wire wheeling, I see that the knuckles still have original paint. Everything's still coming apart without trouble, even the 'S' lines which I will be reusing. Overall, this motor pool restoration is progressing faster than I anticipated. There are a few hurdles ahead, such as pulling the engine from the 58'. It has not been running since 2020. I think today I'll see if the crank will turn...

 

Great photos. Wish I'd had them available when I first got my M38A1.

 

Yup, hard to take a pic with a beeper..! Ha!

 

What is the bracket for sitting on top of the knuckle? It looks like it holds the brake line but does it have another purpose? Dana 25?

 

Called a 'rock guard' or 'stone guard' I believe.

 

They are guards to protect the brake hose that would otherwise be exposed. See 'G' below in photo. A nice upgrade to CJ's if you drive around a lot in heavy brush IMHO.

 

Well I got all the hard lines and hoses off. Intact! There was only one which gave me some trouble. In my mind, the teardown is over since the diffs check out, the spring packs are great and the front end is good and tight. I really see no reason to remove the front and rear ends. It could be down the road that spring shackles and bushings will need to be replaced but I'm going to roll with it for now. Spring bushings...My favorite....NOT!

I'm liking these brake hose clips. They're usually rusted or mangled but they did come off with a modest effort.

There are a couple more hours of scraping and wire wheeling before wiping down with degreaser and applying chassis black to the frame. Once that's cured, I'll shoot the whole thing with Gillespie post war OD Green and begin reassembly. I will do the chassis paint work next Thursday/Friday since my wife will be away for a few days...she complains about the odors in the barn. As February goes, those days will be a heat wave by NH standards. Saturday will be nearly 50. The planets align.

 

Wow! never seen that before. Always had to replace the brake clips. That is in great shape. My rearend on the old 55, the bearings fell out of it. The cage had desegrated and the bearings were all apart.
That thing will be most nice to put back together. My spring packs were full of rust also, so I disassembled the spring leaves and cleaned and painted them also. Never finished with that one, it fought me all the way. Sold it and upgraded to running M38A1's. I'm liking your progress.

Dave

 

You thinking the shade 24087? That's what I use on my M37 and M416.

 

24087 is the Army OD and 24052 was the USMC semi-gloss for the M38A1.
Gillespie paint is good stuff and easy to thin and spray. All very uniform.
It's an enamel paint. Lots of times I used the Red Oxide from Tractor Supply also.
Southern Polyurethanes has some highly rated Red Oxide Epoxy primers. I haven't tried them.
I found the Aerveo military paint had some shade differences in the spray cans. Got a few of them in trades with parts and didn't like the color as well as the gallons of Gillespie. Always picked it up at military shows to avoid the high shipping haz mat fees.
https://www.armyjeepparts.com/t-GCI_paint.aspx


Dave

 

I much prefer 24087.

 

Yes, 24087 is what I have; https://www.debellajeepparts.com/PAINT 24087 B.jpg

 

Thanks Dave, I was a bit excited about those original brake hose clips. The "W" embossed on them is undoubtedly Wagner. In the past I've just tossed and replaced them like you but something told me to wire wheel one and see. Go figure.

Yes, I look foreword to assembly. I've very confident that all of this cleaning, blasting and doing the best I can to get NOS parts will pay off. I'm getting there.

It's always best to buy a runner. I'm slow on learning that and here I am restoring another non-runner. The reason that I'm doing this one is the condition of the body and how complete it was, also because of the low milage and also having the RMD engine and all that extra trim. It was missing wiper motors, rear seat hooks, and a few canvas top related parts....That's it.

BUT, what I've learned about this particular jeep is that ANYTHING organic, despite the fact that it's rubber or cotton, it absolutely crumbles in your hands. If it's metal, just clean it up and move on. I feel lucky how smoothly it's going.