Wusty Welic ... wonderful!

[Mike Cecil]

The original chassis was badly rusted, so I've decided to use the second chassis supplied as part of the deal. This one, of a similar manufacturing time period, was repairable, but needed lots of work, particularly to the front and rear sections. I had to rebuild the front dumb irons, removing the previous repairs and fabricating replacement sections. Same with the drivers side rear spring support, which had to have a short section of the chassis rail replaced. Likewise the rear spring supports needed the old repairs removed, and new sections fabricated and welded in, along with a new cross member and pintle attaching plate. The brake & clutch pedal shaft support bracket and bearing were also replaced. In contrast to working on the Ford GP, all the items needed for the GPW are readily available. So the chassis is now ready to be sand blasted once the weather improves.



Mike

[Mike Cecil]

I've been busy with little things - stripping, sandblasting, painting, wrapping and storing ready to assemble later as I need them for the build phase.

The engine strip down was tedious as the internals were rusted and fought me all the way. The valves in contact with the valve seats were well rusted together, and the valve guides have taken quite a bit of pressure before that ominous 'crack' that indicates the first little bit of movement. Two of the exhaust guides refuse to budge, so I'm having a drift made so I can use the 20 ton press.

The surprise was the state of the bores - no lip at all, not a hint, so the engine had not done much work since being built. Bearings were all standard, too, but the builder had not done too good a clean before assembly, and some are scored.

It appears the engine had ceased to turn over, and was abandoned in that state. The cause turned out to be a jammed tappet - half had broken away, and upon rotation, had dropped the tappet against the cam lobe. The image below shows the broken tappet on the right and the score across the cam lobe. Fortunately, it seems the engine was not running at the time, as there is no other damage evident. Hopefully, it won't need a new camshaft. So with some care, the engine should rebuild nicely.

Mike

[Mike K]

Good job with the chassis, my welding skills would not be up to that standard

NOS valve tappets are available , the cam looks almost new .

The general consensus is the Ford blocks are somewhat weaker with thinner walls in some areas. Quite common to see a crack below the dissy mount . I've not seen this problem myself, maybe its due to the colder climates of the Northern hemisphere where coolant freezing is an issue. Not much chance of that here with temps of around 30C the past week or so .

[Mike Cecil]

Thanks Mike, my welding skills are not that great either, but then, neither were the assemblers at Ford in 1942. My work is certainly not concourse standard, but it is what my limited skills can achieve, so I'm happy with that.

A NOS tappet arrived from Peter DeBella Jeep Parts yesterday, along with a rebuild kit for the manifold heat control valve. Another batch of parts is due from Ron Fitzpatrick early next week, consisting mostly of replacement brake parts, and the very obliging local spring works, Pohl Springs, are making a replica torque reaction spring for me, which will be ready next week.

Currently rumbling, cleaning and sorting nuts and bolts from the dismantling of the axles, cleaning the housings, brake backing plates, and so on.

Mike

[Mike Cecil]

Slowly, slowly ...

Spent last Sunday week ago sorting all the paperwork that inevitably builds up during restoration. I keep notes, receipts, supplier's contacts and so on in folders in the workshop for quick reference. I have an original parts list, but I keep a copy in the workshop along with repros of most manuals.

After the frustrations of the brake problem with the Willys MB , I spent the rest of today painting all the small parts I had been cleaning and blasting over the last several weeks. They can dry overnight, and I'll wrap, label, and pack into storage boxes tomorrow.

The last images are the tool I had made to press the new valve guides into place, with a red and white scribe mark at the correct depth below the top of the block, and the engine lifting bracket I made which bolts into the head stud holes. It has various lift points to allow lifting the engine alone, or when fitted with the clutch, bell housing and transmission. The lift holes are the size of a D-shackle pin.

Have not a clue why the images keep appearing on their sides - they were the right way up when I loaded them!

Mike

[Mike K]

I can recommend "Military Maintenance for MB/GPW 1941-45" edited by Robert V Notman. 375 pages.

The book is a compilation of articles from the wartime ARMY MOTORS publications. The articles describe how to tweak the Jeep and in some cases they describe the science behind what goes on.

Did you have any trouble removing the head studs in the block ? I made a stud remover , my own design and it works very well. I used an old file , cut it to make a wedge. Apply heat to the stud lower section . Most people go for installing all studs as the later Jeeps did have. I found that the new studs I bought are not a good fit in the block, too loose. Think the threads in my block are distressed somewhat , as you undo the old studs , they have crud/rust on them which can damage the external threads in the block.

[Mike Cecil]

Thanks Mike, I'll look for a copy. No, no problem removing the head studs - all came out with a little pressure using as pipe wrench.

It's been dismantle the gearbox and transfer case time this week. Gearbox looks fine - very little edge wear on the gears, all nice and clean and looking good. The stripped case has been soaked in caustic solution, externally sand blasted, cleaned and externally primed, ready for re-assembly. New bearings, shims and gaskets should arrive by Mr Fedex tomorrow (no wonder my wife keeps referring to it as the 'mail order jeep'!)

The transfer case was another matter. You know something is amiss when you drop the bottom cover, and it's full of nice sparkly sludge and has a big chunk of chewed-up metal lying in it! On disassembly, the reason for the sparkles became clear: main shaft case hardening is stripping off. Where the chunk of steel came from I have no idea, as all the gears are intact and look almost new. Fortunately, I have the basics of a spare transfer case, a later model with a larger diameter intermediate shaft, with a good main shaft. Front casting, rear casting and main casing are currently in the caustic bath and will be cleaned and painted soon. New bearings, intermediate shaft, thrust washers, gaskets and seals arrive tomorrow.

The first image is the sparkly faces of the thrust washers with bits of case hardening embedded, and that mystery chunk of steel that washed out of the sludge in the bottom pan, along with a bolt! The second image is the main shaft, showing where the case hardening is stripping off.

Mike