My 1942 Willys MB Hanger Queen

[1943ht]

Good day in the shop...pulled the fuel tank after siphoning out the tank as I could not get at the drain plug and cleaned out the well. Tank is in really good shape, pulled and reinstalled the drain plug just to get it loosened up and then trimmed the rubber liner that someone had put under the tank and blocked my access to the drain plug.

Installed the missing fuel filter on the firewall, all new and correct fuel lines from tank to carb, installed the missing generator adjuster that was missing and last but not least the missing splash guard. Still have 1 more fuel line bracket to install on the firewall, the one that sits under the air cleaner. Missing foot starter is installed.

 

[Tinwoodsman]

M38, VWoM just went thru another change in ownership, its second since 07 ..am curious about your harness as I just helped a buddy install his three months ago (Ford GPW) and it was a soup sandwich. Wrong harness components and poor or incorrect instructions. New owners made good on the fix's but quality and service left a lot to be desired.

I build all my own harnesses as Rhode Island Wire has all the correct color, trace, loom etc, and I trust my own work. Besides that its much cheaper. Would you keep me in the loop on your install ....just curious to see how it works out for you.

Mark, I purchase a complete harness for my '42 GPW and it had several wires crossed and the instructions had several mistakes. I suggest you used the wiring diagrams in the TM's.

 

[1943ht]

TWM, amen to that ... I build my own harnesses and use the manuals always. Just put on a class for our MVCC club down in Phoenix Satuday on the subject of building wire harnesses, suppliers, layout, etc. My comment on VWoM was in regards to a buddy who had a similar experience to yours.

 

[1943ht]

Finished my work on the generator and put it back together and installed into the jeep.
Aircleaner cleaned up interior/exterior, element and installed to include the 2 missing butterfly/wingnuts. Wiring run to voltage regulator after new connectors soldered on as the jeep originally had a civilian regulator on it and much smaller wire ends..

Steering wheel pulled as I get ready to swap in the correct Ross box, just waiting for my drag link to arrive. Pulled my broken/frozen speedometer. Original AC but locked up and needle is sitting between 40 and 45 MPH. Someone has painted the needle gold in the GPWs past. Numbers on the wheels look good as does the face. I'm a trained Horologist, watch/clock maker, something I picked up after retiring from the Army. Two and a half year school in York, PA where students are taught to make their own parts. Looking forward to tearing into the speedometer. The two watches on my bench (one torn down) are WWI German Trench Watches with gunmetal finish cases. They are very uniqe pieces because they are both alarm clock watches/chronometers.

 

[1943ht]

Tore into the speedometer. Quite a mess, hairspring trashed, 1st gear frozen, needle shaft missing either a bushing or a jewel but just hanging loose in the housing.

Gears are squared away and all spin freely in their housings. Mileage wheels and hardware cleaned and lubricated, needle shaft polished and a new bushing fit into the housing. Going to see if I can salvage the hairspring. Pics of progress.

 

[68t]

Mark,how will you fix the face plate on the speedometer, I was going to resto my speedometer and tac.on the ww2 5 ton, but the face plate numbers are about gone. I did some of my halftrack tackometer, let them set in evaporust it took off all the rust off them, the hairspring had rust on it, but it took the rust off. They looks great now. Sure glad to talk with you on the phone thanks wendell

 

[1943ht]

Wendell, it was great to catch up on the phone the other day. My dial is in very good shape, so Im leaving it alone with the exception of remarking the old radium points with some of the newer glow in the dark paints that I have available to me. If the dial was trashed, I would have made up or downloaded a dial and printed it out and then applied it to the dial face. I recenltly picked up a Cricut Maker which is a marvelous machine/tool that makes outstanding stencils out of almost any material and I'd like to play around with paint masks for different clock faces that I restore ..figure it might work well for speedometer faces to

 

[1943ht]

Worked on the GPW windshield today, one of many projects ..welded in a piece of metal stock on the backside and then filled the holes with JB Weld, some lightweight body filler. Solid and looks better than when I started. Also rebuilt rear lights. Had some pretty rusted light in my stock that I recovered from Ammo Trailers. Holes patched, rust removed, primed and painted. They'll do until restoration. Soldered on plugs/connectors for taillights and will install shortly. Replacement water pump arrived going to knock that out now. Pics to follow.

 

[marchplumber]

Thanks for sharing your diligent efforts!! Really admired the "make the part" statement...................... Truly will be a Jeep to be proud of...................great work Sir!

 

[1943ht]

Tony, Thank you! Pics of today's efforts. Pics of windshield leaning against my track show condition of left side of frame...lots of cancer.
New water pump in before I left today. Slow but steady!

 

[1943ht]

Got my taillight brackets welded in and am cleaning up the rear body panel. Had to patch in around the light openings, almost done with that. All the new and correct guages are in and my speedometer is almost done ..have one more part to make/fix. Windshield back together and on jeep to check fit. looks good and nice room for gasket. Had to chisel out the old gasket on inner frame. It was like rock. Siren that came with jeep has been gone thru and new wire installed. Original 6V. Will install that next. Drag link shipped just waiting so I can install Ross box. Also correct data plates installed...Its a Ford once again!

 

[1943ht]

Moving along.. I now have working lights, brakes, the correct steering box, wheel, new exhaust and skid plate.
Need to mount one more hanger on the muffler after cleaning up the caged nut on the bottom of the tub. Also have the bow brackets to install now that I've found and drilled out the mounting holes that were filled in by the PO. The clamp for the muffler to exhaust pipe that comes in the installation kit is a joke. It does not tighten down enough to clamp anything ..see in other posts that others have had to use shims to get enough tension to clamp things tight. Going to cut a couple of more slits in the muffler pipe to increase the clamping area and see if that will work before going to shims or a different style clamp. Primer and paint next after cleaning up the front bumper. Some pics.

 

[m38inmaine]

Looking much better, a lot of work to make it correct but will be worth the effort in the end. The rear cross member/frame has been modified, this may be a good time to address it before you start painting. I had to repair the front and rear on my MB as well. There is a special bolt available for frame/cross member repair that has a head that looks like a rivet, when torqued the remainder snaps off, you have to look really close to tell its not a factory rivet.

 

[1943ht]

Both rear and front frame members are not up to snuff, and I will address both ends when I do my body off restoration. At this point I'm just trying to get her looking like a GPW again with some functionality for a movie shoot .... my deadline is the end of May.

I landed up replacing the rear frame member on my 47 Willys project and both frame rails, gussets and bumper up front. Used real rivets for those repairs but will have to look into the breakaway ones as an alternative ....probably much easier to work with.

 

[1943ht]

On a frustrating issue with vendors: The hold-downs that mount on the hood for the windshield arrived in the mail Saturday along with a new brass banjo for the master cylinder brakelines. Banjo spot on, but the hold-downs sent are not correct, they are for the hood!!! Friday a new drivers side fender arrived for my 47 Willys project. Opened the box and found a new passenger side fender!! Called vendor who immediatly confirmed that he did ship the wrong fender.

The installation kit $$$ (brackets hangers etc) that was ordered and shipped with the new GPW muffler and head/exhaust pipe is just plain awful. The clamp for the muffler to exhaust pipe sucks and can't possibly be a correct design, it won't tighten around the pipe even when shimmed. I even added another slit cut in the muffler pipe to increase the clamping area. I wonder if any of these vendors actually try to assemble any of the crap that they sell to restorers? Landed up using two small welding tacs to hold the muffler to the pipe so that it at least looks like the so called correct clamp is doing its job. VERY FRUSTRATING!!

 

[1943ht]

Some paint today... touch-up and wheels tomorrow:

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Mark, What is your plan for the original data plates on the glove compartment. The should be solid brass and I learned a way to make the look brand new with black paint and sandpaper. Check out my thread and it may help you a little when you do your frame off.

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/forumdisplay.php?28-MB-and-GPW-Jeeps

 

[1943ht]

TW, they are brass and are in great shape ... appreciate that info ... did the same thing with several of my zink halftrack plates ...the help and knowledge base on these forums is priceless, like having a team of mechanics in the shop with you!

 

[1943ht]

Up early and did my second round of painting to include my wheels. Installed same and started bolting items back onto the body. Windshield will have to wait till next week as I’m traveling the next few days to TX. Going to leave my speedometer bezel in brass …its clear coated so it wont tarnish. The panel lights work when grounded and I’ll get to them in the morning and install the covers. Almost at the finish line. My self imposed deadline was the end of May. Won't quite make it as I lost 7 days to the crud.

 

[1943ht]

Before turning in, decided to check out my blackout lights just to make sure all were functional. ...when I walked out into my dark garage I could clearly see the glow of the speedo needle and the 10 and 20 MPH markers on the dial. The new non-iridium material works great!! The lights looked great!