I Picked this m38a1 willys on Saturday from a buddy of mine for a friends and family price. Its a 1952, Has a pinto 2.3L with the stock t90 and dana 18 tcase with the stock dana 25 and 44 front and rear axles.
I believe this Jeep was a fire department brush jeep or something. has that wierd green yellow they would paint stuff and red in a-lot of places. and the silly reflector tape.
This thing needs alot of work. quite a few patches I need to burn in. typical rust in the rockers, the passenger pan is some sign or something self tapped in, and the rear floor pans have rust in them. the battery box bottom is shot as well but its All fixable. The biggest thing I need to source body wise is the upper windshield hinges. mine are pretty shot looks like I can find a right one but not the left. if anybody knows where to get a left let me know. I guess I could get 2 right ones and cut and weld something up. also does anybody know - the split window, does it have metal in between the two panes or is it just gasket? if its just gasket I might just replace the whole frame and hinges.
The biggest thing I gotta do is dig into the front axle. something is wrong in there as the Tcase spins the drive shaft but not the wheels. Hubs are locked. Kinda hopeing a hub or an axle is busted and not the ring and pinion. Those 5:38 gears are pricy. planning on taking the front cover off sometime this week and seeing if its the worst case scenario. I guess it could be spider gears too. (towed it everything in neutral and with the hubs unlocked)
Originally I was going to see about buying a new body for the m38a1 but the patina is sooooo good and really shines after some work. if patina is your kind of thing, this jeep is amazing!
Below a close up of the ART that was created from 74 years of use!
I also got the little pony engine going. It needed a new fuel pump. slapped that in and now it starts first crank.
I want to make this thing a fun daily summer driver for where I live (ocracoke island)
SO I am going to make a check list of things to go through on here.
1. Dana 25 repair
2. Battery box replacement/repair.
3. Rockers
4. floor pans
5. Muffler (something is loose inside making some crazy noises. like a baffle came loose)
6. Tail lights. I think I want to go original
7. front turn signals I want to do the black out turn signal conversion
8 passenger head light repair.
9. factory ish Gages - I have 2 after market gages oil pressure and amp. both work at least and has gobbs of oil pressure. (have some gages coming and a gage bezel thing)
10. seats (bought Big WIllys seat cover and foam from the jeepsterman.com) and I need a factory rear seat set up. )
11. Gas tank pan. pretty sure mine is roached. I might be able to weld it up without replacing the whole thing. I just need to pull the tank to look.
12. windshield gasket and hinge repair.
I am sure more things will come up as I go on this project but this is my initial list.
I will update as I go.
I believe this Jeep was a fire department brush jeep or something. has that wierd green yellow they would paint stuff and red in a-lot of places. and the silly reflector tape.
This thing needs alot of work. quite a few patches I need to burn in. typical rust in the rockers, the passenger pan is some sign or something self tapped in, and the rear floor pans have rust in them. the battery box bottom is shot as well but its All fixable. The biggest thing I need to source body wise is the upper windshield hinges. mine are pretty shot looks like I can find a right one but not the left. if anybody knows where to get a left let me know. I guess I could get 2 right ones and cut and weld something up. also does anybody know - the split window, does it have metal in between the two panes or is it just gasket? if its just gasket I might just replace the whole frame and hinges.
The biggest thing I gotta do is dig into the front axle. something is wrong in there as the Tcase spins the drive shaft but not the wheels. Hubs are locked. Kinda hopeing a hub or an axle is busted and not the ring and pinion. Those 5:38 gears are pricy. planning on taking the front cover off sometime this week and seeing if its the worst case scenario. I guess it could be spider gears too. (towed it everything in neutral and with the hubs unlocked)
Yesterday was spent cleaning and OSPHO ing and Commit washing. I used some temporary patina preserve at the end but I think I am going to clear it.Originally I was going to see about buying a new body for the m38a1 but the patina is sooooo good and really shines after some work. if patina is your kind of thing, this jeep is amazing!
Below a close up of the ART that was created from 74 years of use!
I also got the little pony engine going. It needed a new fuel pump. slapped that in and now it starts first crank.
I want to make this thing a fun daily summer driver for where I live (ocracoke island)
SO I am going to make a check list of things to go through on here.
1. Dana 25 repair
2. Battery box replacement/repair.
3. Rockers
4. floor pans
5. Muffler (something is loose inside making some crazy noises. like a baffle came loose)
6. Tail lights. I think I want to go original
7. front turn signals I want to do the black out turn signal conversion
8 passenger head light repair.
9. factory ish Gages - I have 2 after market gages oil pressure and amp. both work at least and has gobbs of oil pressure. (have some gages coming and a gage bezel thing)
10. seats (bought Big WIllys seat cover and foam from the jeepsterman.com) and I need a factory rear seat set up. )
11. Gas tank pan. pretty sure mine is roached. I might be able to weld it up without replacing the whole thing. I just need to pull the tank to look.
12. windshield gasket and hinge repair.
I am sure more things will come up as I go on this project but this is my initial list.
I will update as I go.