Jeep project underway

[Mike Kelly]

Some progress or maybe not. To save on postage charges, I have been making my own bits whenever it is practical to do so. The Jeep parts vendors here in Aust. seem to base their prices on the U.S. $ plus the postage costs from the U.S. I buy the smaller bits like seals direct from RFJP, he bundles the bits together for me into one parcel.

Seems silly to make something like the axle U bolt deep nuts but 16 of these nuts adds up to quite a weight. And I had a length of hex bar on hand .

[Mike Kelly]

I find its best to wrap cleaned and primed parts in Glad Wrap for storage. My T84 gearbox case has major issues, with scored C/shaft thrust faces both ends. The transfer case has suffered the same issue with scored intermediate gear thrust faces and somebody has bushed the shaft holes with bronze bushes. Every bearing needs replacing in the front/rear axles and gearbox and more.

The engine is away being machined , been a long wait but most of these machine shops have closed in this region, not much choice available.

[Philliphastings]

Hi Mike, great to see you stepping back into the Jeep restoration world.

I am facing the same parts supply V cost issues.

Do you harden the nuts you made ?

Cheers

Phill

[Mike Cecil]

Good to see, Mike. What vintage jeep is it - MB, MA, GPW ... and year?

The cost aspect is an interesting one. I've done a database with a column listing parts, and several columns, one for each parts supplier, where I put their listed prices for each item I am going to need. Amazing the differences between them for the same part, and of course, the added tax and shipping.

Like you, I'm also wrapping completed parts and boxing them up as I complete them, but I'm using cheap shop towel (crappy blue paper, comes in rolls) and masking tape.

Mike

[Mike Kelly]

Hi Phil

The Hex bar I used to make the nuts , I am not sure what grade of steel it is - I think it's probably 1045 or similar which is medium carbon steel. It should be fine for this application. With buying parts , I have found RFJP to be hard to beat .Great communication and prices plus he goes out of his way to help you with the cheapest postage rates.

Mike

The Jeep is a basic generic MB but I will have to use some parts from the GPW I bought last year. The repro parts and the online information available now - if only we had this data earlier when we were not so fussy about bolt head markings .

[Mike Cecil]

Have to agree on both counts.

Many of the parts I've been buying have been from RFJP due to price, availability, level of service, and a proper, itemised and readable invoice. I also have the advantage in the USA of buying in lots of $200+ to receive free shipping. I still prefer Rockauto for bearings and seals, though, as I can get name brands. I still place some jobs locally, though, whenever I can, such as the generator and starter rebuilds I received back yesterday from Toby's Auto Elec, and the repro torque reaction springs done by Pohl Springs.

The internet/forums/FB have made answering queries easy and quick - a far cry from our earlier days of talking at club meetings and swap meets, eh Mike? In any event, I'm pretty sure an Army 'motor pool' rebuild or contractor were not too fussy about bolt head markings.

Looking forward to following your MB build.

Mike