M38Cdn Refurbishment

[Peter Phillips]

I've started welding up holes, dealing with dents and applying color to some of the bigger pieces that were previously sand blasted. I'm fairly happy with the results although the hood kicked my butt a bit causing me to sand and paint 3 times. You can see in one picture I ended up with some dry spots which were unacceptable. I had to go to Cloverdale in Lloydminster (~2 hours away) to get a new gallon of paint and was shocked to find even though the codes are the same and the dot on top looks good, the paint obviously isn't correct even after drying. Guess I'm going back next weekend I also had a great conversation with John Bizal and now have two types (Best Seal & OEM) of rear main seals to try which he recommends to have on hand in case one is too tight. Once the fenders and tailgate are painted it's on to the tub which will take time.

[Peter Phillips]

The tailgate is definitely going to be a challenge with the amount of repairs needed. I cut off an unexplained extra tab that was welded on the tailgate which has a match on the tub also. I intend to weld up as much as I can with bondo used sparingly. I'm looking for suggestions on how to deal with the formerly brazed holes which will hamper welding where they need filling. Metal filler maybe?

[Peter Phillips]

Picking away at this still. Got the tailgate fixed up some and painted as well as the battery box and steering box/column. As you can see there's some work to the tub to do which is where I'll spend the next month on.

[Peter Phillips]

Got the welding done which required around 2# of wire and a bottle of gas. There were numerous unwanted holes, a few patches needed and a complete rebuild of the lip around the pto lever hole. A big shout out to oldlithgow for providing me with some scrap jeep body panels which included hat channel pieces that I needed. A friend of mine helped with the tin bashing and filler work which was a blessing knowing my lack of skill in that sort of thing.

2 of my pictures failed to load...any ideas?

[Peter Phillips]

Painting went well I think with no runs reported after a coat of epoxy primer and a couple of coats of speed enamel. Again, my friend mentored me and made me do all the spraying. I'm glad he challenged me on this!

[Peter Phillips]

While the paint was curing on the tub, I plucked out the engine to tackle the oil leak. After splitting it from the transmission I put it on my engine stand and flipped it over to tear down and see what was going on. Turns out the leak was coming from one of the rubber tubes that are in the bearing cap/block seam and wasn't the main seal after all. Probably a lack of sealant or they were cut too short? I also confirmed the cam bearing cap was intact and the brass plug was holding. Regardless, I replaced the seal and plugs and buttoned up the oil pan. I re-installed the powerplant complete with rad (works great!) and have ran it over 2 hours with nary a drop of oil from the rear.

Now I can confidently put the tub on the frame

Again, 2 pictures wouldn't load?

[Peter Phillips]

Been working on blasting and painting a bunch of 'smalls' which will get installed in due time. I've also ordered all new straps and seat covers which will compliment the new car smell nicely. I also wanted to install the park brake assembly before installing the tub...seems like it will be easier to do this way.

Again I can't load pictures....sorry