52 M38a1 Motor Pool Resto

I’ve been watching your progress closely!
You do great work!

 

Thank you, and Happy New Year!

 

NICE...

 

Pete has had too much egg nog (or paint stripper). Good night and good will to all men.

 

Nope. The goal is to just get the frame cleaned up and painted. Same thing with the underside of the body. This is a 'motor pool' type of project.

 

Great to see your dedication. That jeep is in such good condition I would have just dipped it in OD, and called it good.

 

Pretty exciting to have TWO people working on this project. Things are really moving along quickly and faster than anticipated. Shaun, did you say you already have your new top on your jeep???

Might be easier to work on if installed on your jeep? Don't get any funny ideas buddy! If so, post a pic.

 

Thanks Pete. Some won't agree with what what I'm doing, BUT nothing is happening on the jeep that cannot be undone easily in the future.

 

You have been making a lot of progress over the past few weeks! I’m happy to help when I can.

The first thing I did when I got home, was put the top on the hood of the Jeep. Does that count as “on”? Actually; I clamped the brackets with vise grips and draped the top right before dinner last night. Maybe some time when you need a change of scenery, you can give me a hand fitting it. Thanks again!

I’m off to work on a w/s frame some more…

 

Motor Pool restoration is the way to go. Then you can actually drive and enjoy the Jeep.
These Military Jeeps were never perfect. I cleaned my frame with a grinder and wire brush. Then I painted it with POR15 and top coated it with the Gillepise Military paint.

Dave

 

You could seam seal some areas and the openings or void at the tops of the rear angle mounts to keep dirt and water out.

 

That hadn't occurred to me but I like your idea if used minimally. Do you suggest a particular product, hopefully applied through a caulking gun for precision?

On another note, I was planning to use Moretite cord for the transmission access panels. I'd be grateful for thought on that as well.

 

Here is a recent post on sealers to get some ideas.
www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/157915

 

I never managed to get a comparable pic, but the hitch/crossmember support was a bit roached by something.

It would appear that by the lack of rear body damage, the hitch itself took the shot. Some well placed shots with a dead blow made quick work of it.

I put a straight edge on the crossmember and there's a very slight bow in, less than a 1/4 inch. In my exuberance with the dead blow, I did peel away a weld from the next crossmember. Easy fix (I just have to remember to do it).

 

There's one hat channel beneath the passenger's toe board that needs attention.

It has welds at either end and maybe 7 spot welds in total holding it to the floor. I'm leaning towards taking it out and replacing. DeBella has the piece. I think I'll wait to see the quality of the part he has before deciding 100%. Yes, I could just cut out the rot and patch, but....

Small dent near driver's tail light. One of the few areas needing hammer and dolly work.

Took me all of 2 hours wire wheeling this part of the underside. Still have most of the front half to work on. Most of the original paint is still there. My thoughts were to prime any surface rusted areas (mostly where the pillars and outriggers had contact), wipe down with acetone and paint with post war semi gloss OD.

And there's this other small matter to attend to, where the upper passenger's side fender attaches to the tub. All in all, we're off to a great start with the body. Just a few minor setbacks.

 

I redact my statement about the rear crossmember being out of whack. It must have been the acetone or eggnog talking again.....

 

A few more details of Monday's activities. The whole brake and clutch assy is out. 3 bolts and a couple clevis pins. Before I took it out, I used some MAP and the bracket and the arms now move independently. No slop. So I'll take these apart and get them cleaned up. I don't have remorse over buying parts to rebuild this since my 54 A1 pedals are super sloppy.

Tail lights out. Looks like the driver's unit is a replacement but I'm certain that I have original AutoLite's kicking around around on the shelf. The harnesses are shot so they need to be rebuilt. I might have used serviceable innards. How many layers of paint on these?

Master is out. Interesting that there's no banjo and bolt. This is the way it came out. Go figure.

So another big push coming the weekend. Perfect since there's snow coming in.

 

No slop! That's unheard of. I think you got an M38A1 that was never driven.
Wow!

Dave

 

We'll see how it goes back together. That a little while off though. I think I'll just put the whole mess in the parts washer for a couple of weeks and forget about it. Anyone know what size reamer needed for the bushings? (I have none). The bronze might get buggered when I pull that shaft out of there. Or maybe not even take it apart at all and get the zerk working again?