New to me and Dad M38A1

[wilfreeman]

Just kidding about the hood - so far I haven't even managed to get off the couch, so I doubt the Jeep will be out playing in it today! Wes has a form for you to fill out - he should have sent it when you applied for an account on willysmjeeps. If not, you can download it in the Downloads section and email it to him.

I think a 1st Cav patch would look good there. Even though you are restoring the Jeep, just remember that this is YOUR rendition of a military vehicle. You said you aren't going for a factory class restoration. In the military, there were a million different ways that these Jeeps were marked up. Even though there was a manual for marking them, it was really left up to the individual command as to how they were marked.

As you can see on my Jeep, I used 2" hood markings. The manual says to use the largest size possible to fit the available space. I got this idea from a picture of a Jeep on willysmjeeps. His had original paint and markings. I also took the position of the hood star from his (centered on the hood) - even though the manual says that the star should be positioned to be visible through the lowered windshield. Then I threw in my own twist for the rallies I go to. I added my screen name to the driver side windshield so people would know who I am. I know the modern military puts the driver and passenger name and rank on assigned vehicles. I also put MVPA and Steel Soldier decals on the passenger side windshield just to show membership.

 

[Another Ahab]

Oh come on - you didn't ride on a car hood in the snow back in the day? I thought every kid in the world had done that! You live in VA - I know you did. Or maybe an old coca cola dish type sign (which are worth a fortune now). We would tie an old '40s truck hood to the back of the Jeep and pull it (with 2 or 3 friends in it) to the power line right of way where there were big hills. We would spend all day riding that hood down the hill and pulling it back up with the Jeep. No harm, no foul.Oh come on - you didn't ride on a car hood in the snow back in the day? I thought every kid in the world had done that! You live in VA - I know you did. Or maybe an old coca cola dish type sign (which are worth a fortune now). We would tie an old '40s truck hood to the back of the Jeep and pull it (with 2 or 3 friends in it) to the power line right of way where there were big hills. We would spend all day riding that hood down the hill and pulling it back up with the Jeep. No harm, no foul.

I've rode on a truck hood in the snow...pulled by a horse! Rope tied to the saddlehorn...lol.

-WRM

I've used a hood and a jeep to sled before too.

This could be good stuff, "Sledding in the Snow":

- Bound to be some stories.

- And it'll get the focus here back on the Jeep where it should be, too.

- Anybody want to start a thread? Somebody want to go for it?

 

[wilfreeman]

Yeah, go for it! I wish I had video, but I don't think I am going to make it out in the stuff today to make one.

 

[Al Harvey]

I think a 1st Cav patch would look good there. Even though you are restoring the Jeep, just remember that this is YOUR rendition of a military vehicle. You said you aren't going for a factory class restoration. In the military, there were a million different ways that these Jeeps were marked up. Even though there was a manual for marking them, it was really left up to the individual command as to how they were marked.

Now this is a very GOOD point. Restoring a military vehicle does not require factory specifications on everything. Units have always modified vehicles to fit their needs. One perfect example was I added a 12v plug in my M998 for a phone charger, most all our trucks had CBs added to them for convoys here in the states, and I even painted tan flames on my M998. (surprisingly it wasn't noticeable at a distance on the woodland camo). The key is build what makes you happy and if your going for a restoration try and stay military but with what mods make you happy. After all it's your jeep and your the one who will be driving it!

 

[Another Ahab]

I think a 1st Cav patch would look good there. Even though you are restoring the Jeep, just remember that this is YOUR rendition of a military vehicle. You said you aren't going for a factory class restoration. In the military, there were a million different ways that these Jeeps were marked up. Even though there was a manual for marking them, it was really left up to the individual command as to how they were marked.

Yeah, go for it! I wish I had video, but I don't think I am going to make it out in the stuff today to make one.

Anybody want to take the lead on the "Sledding" idea? Somebody?



And in the meantime, the whole "do it your way" thing is VERY much an American signature, particularly in regard to WWII:

- The big sudden build-up after Pearl Harbor meant that most of the military then were citizen soldiers, and so they weren't so hard-and-fast about all the military "rules". It was the whole Kilroy was Here thing.

 

[WRMorrison]

Anybody want to take the lead on the "Sledding" idea? Somebody?

No video from me; sledding across the desert and running into cacti is not my idea of a good time...lol. Those shenanigans took place in my youth...in IL.

-WRM

 

[helomedic1171]

I think a 1st Cav patch would look good there. Even though you are restoring the Jeep, just remember that this is YOUR rendition of a military vehicle. You said you aren't going for a factory class restoration. In the military, there were a million different ways that these Jeeps were marked up. Even though there was a manual for marking them, it was really left up to the individual command as to how they were marked.

that's the idea. although, at the rate we're going, we'll be about 95% factory correct for military stuff. if I can recover the hood numbers, that would be some serious icing on the cake. in the meantime, I have a decal set I made when we were marking our personal boxes and bags to put gear in prior to deployment. even this last time when I went to Afghanistan with 3rd ID, I still painted a big ol' Cav patch on top, and I did it using the Institute of Heraldry specifications from 1965. So it's dimensionally correct, and a 3-stage stencil, so I get the correct yellow shield, black frame effect. it'll look good there, I think. it also puts a personal twist on the jeep, and I think when we go to meets it'll stand out a little.

Now this is a very GOOD point. Restoring a military vehicle does not require factory specifications on everything. Units have always modified vehicles to fit their needs. One perfect example was I added a 12v plug in my M998 for a phone charger, most all our trucks had CBs added to them for convoys here in the states, and I even painted tan flames on my M998. (surprisingly it wasn't noticeable at a distance on the woodland camo). The key is build what makes you happy and if your going for a restoration try and stay military but with what mods make you happy. After all it's your jeep and your the one who will be driving it!

I'm all for it, but Wil is right - that Arvin heater takes up a lot of real estate, and while we're not being anal about the "correctness", I do want to keep it 24VDC for a long time, maybe forever - so I don't want to mess with trying to combine a 12VDC power source with a 24VDC system, at this juncture so it's coming out. if we wind up putting a heater in it, we can always get the fender-mounted model, or just carry a lot of hand warmers. in all honesty, I doubt this thing will get driven too much on really cold days even with a heater. Dad like his comfy newer Dodge and its smooth ride. I do see him driving this thing a lot though, just because it's sunny and warm or even hot more than 9 months a year. the real hard part is going to be getting my Mom to share it, because she loves driving jeeps, especially older ones.

And in the meantime, the whole "do it your way" thing is VERY much an American signature, particularly in regard to WWII:

- The big sudden build-up after Pearl Harbor meant that most of the military then were citizen soldiers, and so they weren't so hard-and-fast about all the military "rules". It was the whole Kilroy was Here thing.

true. even now you can still see helicopters with names like "Jessica Rabbit" (UH-60) or "El Gordo" (CH-47) on the side or on the ramp, and during my last Iraq tour, some EOD guys had named their trucks "Queen Anne's Revenge", "The Black Pearl", and "The Flying Dutchman".

 

[wilfreeman]

Yeah, I think if you paint your Cav insignia on there, it would be like your signature - it will be yours and only yours (and your Dad's, of course). It will look good - and will have a story behind it.

I'm like Al and his M998s - I have a dual 12v accessory plug run straight from my 2nd battery mounted in my glove box. I also have a cb mounted in the glove box and run off of the 2nd battery. I use the 12v outlet to charge my phone and my military antenna is tuned (cut to length) to the cb. I know, I know - running stuff off of one battery is not a good thing, but charging a phone and running a cb is a very small draw so it is negligible, I toyed with the idea of mounting a 12 to 24v converter and a fuse box (and might still do that), buy ultimately decided to do it the way I did.

 

[wilfreeman]

Anybody want to take the lead on the "Sledding" idea? Somebody?

OK, I started it: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...-snow-what-s-your-story&p=1502904#post1502904

 

[Al Harvey]

Another thing to add on about restorations of military vehicles. It's okay to have a small dent here or a run in the paint there. As you probably know, most minor repairs are done in motor pools by soldiers with little or no body work experience. When I repainted the motor on my M151A2, I intentionally put a run in the paint on the valve cover. I want my M151A2 to look like a jeep that could've just pulled out of a motor pool. I am still going to fix some of the larger dents and dings but I don't want it too perfect. We still run through the woods around the property with it.

My unit had a M915A2 that was backed into and it busted the fiberglass fender, that was my first time playing with fiberglass. We decided to just fix it instead of trying to file the paperwork and getting someone in trouble just to replace the hood. When we finished it looked, well, good enough for government work. lol

Just some things to keep in mind as you go through your restoration.

 

[wilfreeman]

I totally agree Al. Not to mention that if you get a run or dry spray in semigloss OD you will have to repaint the entire panel - semigloss can't be buffed out. As you will notice on my 'a1 when ya'll come up here in a couple of weeks helomedic - mine isn't perfect at all. It has small scratches from tree branches, a couple of small runs and welds that aren't perfect. My Brother did the body work on mine (he owns a body shop and is a perfectionist) and I had to actually tell him to not make it perfect. I wanted a motorpool resto, not factory class - because I was building it to use and play with, without worrying about a scratch or something not being perfect. She still takes a great picture though.

 

[jeepsguy]

A lot of Marine M38A1's started out as used army vehicles. They sent truck loads of them to Barstow where they were disassembled down to components in piles. All parts were cleaned, rebuilt, painted and reassembled randomly into complete Jeeps. Some Marine Jeeps built in the late 60's had front and rear lockers. This was around 1968.

 

[helomedic1171]

yup. just talked to a nice older guy in Bluffton - name's Gene, and he's sorta getting out of the jeep game. I say sorta because he's still dabbling, but he had a 53 CJ3B, an M38A1 rolling chassis/powertrain (you may have seen it on Ebay) and a couple pairs of axles, plus 2 F head engines in a carport. I picked up a radiator, a 5th wheel with a tire (looks like an NDCC, but I'll throw up some photos), a pair of seats with vinyl cushions (also from ebay) and some floor panels (yup, ebay). so now, our total parts count includes two radiators, two pairs of seat frames, one of which has cushions, a spare wheel, 2 engine/trans/tranfers, a civilian dizzy (we actually have two, but the condition of the other one is REALLY rough-looking, though it still spins), we also have 2 slave receptacles, a 24VDC starter, generator, and regulator, a tire carrier, and the blackout light assembly with bulb. we need the blackout assembly cage/bracket piece, and a military fuel pump, and possibly a military distributor. we'll take a full inventroy after next weekend... we have a road trip up to the middle of SC to pick up some parts and a jeep. I'll go and grab photos of the stuff I got yesterday.

OH - I almost forgot... Gene also threw in a pair of Warn hub selectors for me. my CJ5 is missing them, and it's bothering me having the axles open to the weather. the good part is now I can get the m38A1 axle cover of the passenger side, so we'll have an extra.

 

[wilfreeman]

Man, it sounds like ya'll are going to have enough parts to build the cj and a couple of 'a1s! I saw the stuff Gene had - advertised it on Craigslist too.

I picked up 4 - NOS early style M38a1 front leaf springs in Asheville last Sunday. I'm trying to find someone with a pair of NOS rears that wants to trade now. I was going to look at another almost complete 'a1 in the area, but he sold it before the snow cleared around here. Seems like every time I start getting rid of my "yard ornaments", I start finding great deals everywhere and get sucked back in! **** green disease!

 

[helomedic1171]

yeah, I figure between this next trip, and what we have, we'll be able to build Dad's A1, my CJ, and about 70% of another A1. and the second A1 we could finish using civilian parts and just drive it for the "cool" factor. I also started drooling over Herm's overdrives. anyone have one of those? are they worth it? I definitely want one for my CJ, I'm thinking the A1 could benefit from it as well, and then we could remove it for shows.

 

[helomedic1171]

and it's definitely a disease! but one I'm semi-familiar with, I've been into cars and hot rods since I was 16, so it's just another branch of that, right?

 

[helomedic1171]

radiator

Wheel and tire - even has the K H stamped into it.

panels - the biggest one needs some love, but there are only a couple of pin holes in it - VERY usable shape. the other pieces have been worked on and primered.

Driver seat

passenger seat frame - needs some love, but not rusted through at all.

passenger seat cushions


edited to add the pictures on the site - thanks Al Harvey for the heads up! I'll try and upload the photos straight to the site from now on.

 

[wilfreeman]

Yeah, you could build the last 'a1 for "playing", since it wouldn't completely stock - thats what I was thinking about doing with the red jeep you are getting from me next weekend. As far as an overdrive is concerned, these old things don't like long drives over 45 - mine will cruise at 40-45 all day long, but get to 50-55 for any length of time and the temp starts rising. An overdrive would be great if they were a little cheaper, but your steering better be top notch to drive at 55-60. I've heard that they don't do well on long hills in overdrive either.

 

[helomedic1171]

good to know. I'll keep the overdrive in mind for the CJ and we'll just trailer the A1 like we planned originially. the "playing" idea is what I was looking for. Dad's really into the idea of making the A1 jeep "correct" and taking it to shows and all that, but I think once we get into it he'll prefer the "motor pool" feel of it vs. the spot-on museum piece. I wouldn't want to drive one that was flawless and perfect... I'd be afraid something would happen to it and I just prefer to drive the stuff I build. with the red jeep we can do both - paint it O.D. green and put stencils on it, but use more-easily obtained sparkplugs, electronic ignition, and an alternator. basically, a CJ5 that served in the Army. I also found a machinist here locally with lots of experience with F-head and L-head engines. He's the same guy who did my 383 chevy stroker for the Trans Am I had, and he's even got engine parts hanging around, so if I wind up needing stuff to fix these engines or the red jeep's engine, I'll be ok.

and steering - Gene showed me the adjustment screws for the steering linkage and the box. I still need to tear open the box we have to see what we can do with it. I'm hoping I don't need to get a "new" one from Midwest Military. today once the twins go down for a nap (wife's at work) I'm going to put together the blasting pot and try it out.

 

[wilfreeman]

There you go - build the red jeep to take on the trail rides at the GA rally since there really isn't a "show" there, even though there are usually a few that are only brought for display purposes.

The steering gear is really easy to rebuild, although the larger parts can be kindof steep. Same thing with rebuilding the drag link, bellcrank and kingpins (and the kits for these are pretty cheap). Will make her drive like a new one!