Purchased a 1943 Ford GPW

[Torisco]

I just purchased this 1943 Ford GPW. Only surface rust on body and tub. No dents or accidents,
bucket has light surface rust only and is solid thru out. Windshield is intact, has original data plates, and a unique PTO shifter for rear of the jeep output. Also civilian tires and rims with the passenger seat made wider by previous owner. Also has a upgraded transmission and a Buick small block V8 engine.

Previous owner made a aluminum roof for the jeep, a roll bar install, and made two custom mini doors for the jeep. My brother and I are going to have some fun getting this little jeep back in top order.
I could not pass this up because everything was so solid on this vehicle with only surface rust and no rust out spots like so many other jeeps. Also, the V6 instead of the original engine almost made me pass this up. The gas tank is spotless inside. It starts right up, it is registered and licensed, the steering wheel is new, all gauges and lights work, windshield has no cracks, all knobs and gauges are there. Plus a box of spare parts like bearings, filters, gas pedal, lights, etc. I think I did pretty well on this purchase. Will up date my progress when I get the little devil home.

 

[Jeff Lakaszcyck]

Torisco, you have a pretty interesting jeep there. You have not gotten any responses here and I think that is because this site is for enthusiasts who restore their military jeeps back to original. Depending on what kind of frame modifications were made to yours to install the Buick engine, yours may not be a good candidate for that. However, if you just want a jeep to fix up and have fun with I think you have a great piece to start with. You probably already know that your engine is actually a V6 and not a V8. That's not a bad thing, because what you have is the Buick 225 ci 160 hp V6. These were factory options in CJ5's, CJ6's, and Jeepsters from 1966 to 1971, and were one of the best engines ever offered in Jeeps. Your upgraded transmission probably came from the same vehicle, which is good because the original GPW T84 would not have lasted very long behind the V6. With the extra power, if your jeep still has the original 9" drum brakes they are marginal at best, you may want to upgrade to 11" drums or better yet, disc brakes. Your transfer case and axles appear to be original. If they are in good condition and you are careful they will probably hold up to the V6 power. They have so far. A Warn or Saturn overdrive will give your jeep longer legs and better gearing, and improve your fuel mileage, and only takes an hour or two to install with no driveline mods. I have a 1964 DJ-3A (2wd version of the CJ-3A) which has a 1964 4wd drivetrain, Chevy V8 and all the above mods and it is a joy to drive. Again, this sort of stuff isn't really what this site is about, but there are several other sites for early Jeeps that cater to these kind of mods.

 

[ducer]

The Buick odd fire v6 that is in there is total garbage. They were junk when new and junk now, I know I worked on them. That is why Buick sold the design and only bought the rights back to produce it until the development was done on the even fire v6. After seeing the restoration you did on that little Cushman I have no doubt you will do that Jeep justice! Good Luck and know I will be following along even if I don't comment much.

Denny

 

[Torisco]

The two responses I have gotten so far are exactly what I was looking for when posting my purchase of the 1943 GPW jeep.

I have been torn between leaving the V6 in with the upgraded transmission and restoring everything else as a GPW, or getting a WWII L4 and rebuilding it with the correct transmission. Also, the reason I bought the jeep (even with the V8 in it) was that the bucket, frame, and all other components were virtually rust free since the vehicle had only two owners, both who lived in the high desert area of California where there is little rain or moisture.

Another item that is on this vehicle is a PTO which outputs to the rear end of the jeep via a open splined receptacle? I have never seen this type of set up...so if anyone has some info I sure will be grateful to hear it.

Obviously, I am not overly knowledgeable about the GPW and have been pouring over TM,s and other educational material to bone up before I start the restoration back to a military version.

I know that this site is all about preserving the proud heritage of the old steel soldiers that we all acquire and try to bring back to thier original glory. But we must also keep in mind that a lot of these vehicles were modified in one way or another when sold as surplus long ago and that even today we have folks bobbing deuces, making giant deuce mudders, making camper conversions, and a host of other uses.

These old steel soldiers have made a home for themselves with farmers, civil defense units, police departments, the forestry service, fire departments, camper converters, preppers, mudders, rock crawlers, search and rescue units, tow truck / vehicle recovery businesses, and on and on and on...

It is extremely important to preserve these vehicles as they were intended for future generations but, It is also important to include ALL persons who have a real interest in the use of military vehicles for various other purposes since this also helps everyone in the hobby by keeping the demand for parts up and thus available.

The old steel soldiers are there for everyone as they were there for everyone in harms way during war.

 

[Torisco]

The Buick odd fire v6 that is in there is total garbage. They were junk when new and junk now, I know I worked on them. That is why Buick sold the design and only bought the rights back to produce it until the development was done on the even fire v6. After seeing the restoration you did on that little Cushman I have no doubt you will do that Jeep justice! Good Luck and know I will be following along even if I don't comment much.

Denny

Thank you very much for your post. I really appreciated your comments. I have attached a URL address about the first vehicle I got after joining Steel Soldiers. I do not know if you have seen this thread before or not. But, if not, I hope you enjoy it.

I was glad that the moderators did not hammer me when I posted this first restoration thread of mine because I had placed it in the wrong forum.

Oh well, have a great day!




http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...tion-of-M43-by-first-time-MV-buyer&highlight=

 

[poppop]

Torisco, I have missed this post and I check everyday. Please be assured you are not being shunned by Members here. I did not see a picture of the PTO but some old jeeps were equipped with three point hitches to pull plows by farmers and that PTO sounds like a tractor PTO. Is it 1 and 3/8 diameter and have about 5 course splines?? If so someone set it up as a power unit for a grain auger or small mill or something like that.

 

[CARNAC]

Concur wit Poppop. I think there were some critical events going on at that time that resulted in this being overlooked. I know I'd like to have that jeep. I personally would spend the dime and time to put it back to original but that's me.

 

[Flyingvan911]

The pics are nice. (I didn't see the post either.) It looks like it will be a fun project. I'm working on a M151 Mutt (sort of a Jeep) myself.

 

[Torisco]

I am going out right now and take pictures. I had sort of the same idea as you did that it looked like someone would slip a axle into the female spline to drive another device. Will post the pics so we can definitely determine what kind of PTO set up this is.

Thanka loads for the reply.

 

[Torisco]

Torisco, I have missed this post and I check everyday. Please be assured you are not being shunned by Members here. I did not see a picture of the PTO but some old jeeps were equipped with three point hitches to pull plows by farmers and that PTO sounds like a tractor PTO. Is it 1 and 3/8 diameter and have about 5 course splines?? If so someone set it up as a power unit for a grain auger or small mill or something like that.

I took the pictures and hope they will help. The spline has more than 5 splines. I also took pictures of the front hub lock outs. These also appear strange to me as they require two levers to be lifted and turned 180 degrees to engage or disengage. Red for engaged and no color for disengaged. They lay flat but I took the pics with them lifted out so you could see them better.

I realize that the GPW did not have lock outs and was always active with the original hubs. Whether to keep the lock outs or not is another decision I have to make when restoring this jeep.

 

[Torisco]

The pics are nice. (I didn't see the post either.) It looks like it will be a fun project. I'm working on a M151 Mutt (sort of a Jeep) myself.

I had a lot of swings deciding whether to get a Mutt or the MB GPW type jeep. I really love them both! Good luck on yours and keep us posted.

 

[clinto]

I'd definitely put it back "right". I understand your sentiment about plenty of vehicles having been modified but WWII Jeeps are iconic and pretty valuable as correctly restored units. A WWII Jeep can be a good investment to hold on to and if times ever get rough, their sale can certainly boost your budget.

Iconic!


And they are just utterly beautiful when they're all correct:



The other piece to your rear PTO would look like this:



Even if you keep the incorrect engine, you're still going to have strip it down and paint it and go through it. I don't think it's a whole lot more work to find a correct powerpack and do it right.

Regardless of which way you go, I look forward to seeing the progress.

 

[Torisco]

i had a lot of swings deciding whether to get a mutt or the mb gpw type jeep. I really love them both! Good luck on yours and keep us posted.

oops!

 

[Torisco]

I'd definitely put it back "right". I understand your sentiment about plenty of vehicles having been modified but WWII Jeeps are iconic and pretty valuable as correctly restored units. A WWII Jeep can be a good investment to hold on to and if times ever get rough, their sale can certainly boost your budget.

Iconic!




View attachment 513668View attachment 513669View attachment 513670View attachment 513671View attachment 513672

And they are just utterly beautiful when they're all correct:

View attachment 513673View attachment 513674View attachment 513675

The other piece to your rear PTO would look like this:

View attachment 513667View attachment 513676

Even if you keep the incorrect engine, you're still going to have strip it down and paint it and go through it. I don't think it's a whole lot more work to find a correct powerpack and do it right.

Regardless of which way you go, I look forward to seeing the progress.

Really appreciate your thoughts on this jeep.

I keep nudging towards a original power plant myself. The jeep engine sound can only be made by the old GPW L4 or 134 Devil flatheads, so I am told. A lot will come down to the $$ and dismantling discoveries that will be made.

I have looked all around the internet and jeep suppliers for a jeep engine of that period for a GPW and am not having a lot of luck. Anyone know of some suppliers?

 

[clinto]

I have looked all around the internet and jeep suppliers for a jeep engine of that period for a GPW and am not having a lot of luck. Anyone know of some suppliers?

It depends-do you care about the block being "correct" down to the dates codes and/or the GPW or Willys markings?

If all you care about is having the correct style engine, then it'll be easy. I think just watching craigslist, eBay, SS, G503, etc. will net you one within a few months.

If you want a GPW block within the right dates, that will take a little longer.

I don't have any spare GPW stuff.

 

[Jeepsinker]

You need to check with CBRmetalworks. He had several when I was there.

 

[Torisco]

It depends-do you care about the block being "correct" down to the dates codes and/or the GPW or Willys markings?

If all you care about is having the correct style engine, then it'll be easy. I think just watching craigslist, eBay, SS, G503, etc. will net you one within a few months.

If you want a GPW block within the right dates, that will take a little longer.

I don't have any spare GPW stuff.

Thanks for the information...The pictures you sent showed me how the rear PTO out put would have looked with the agricultural device? hooked up to the female splined out put hole at the rear of the jeep. I need to burden you with one more question...Is any of the rear female splined output PTO assembly currently on the jeep correct for the military purposed usage of that period (1943-45). Did the military set the PTO up to the rear for any reason?

 

[Torisco]

You need to check with CBRmetalworks. He had several when I was there.

I certainly will check with CBRmetalworks a.s.a.p....thanks for the info

 

[Jeepsinker]

For what it's worth, which isn't much, I have never even seen any mention much less any pictures of the military using a rear output pto on the jeep. From my understanding it was a feature added to the production after the war to make them useful to the civilian market ( agriculture and such).

 

[clinto]

Thanks for the information...The pictures you sent showed me how the rear PTO out put would have looked with the agricultural device? hooked up to the female splined out put hole at the rear of the jeep. I need to burden you with one more question...Is any of the rear female splined output PTO assembly currently on the jeep correct for the military purposed usage of that period (1943-45). Did the military set the PTO up to the rear for any reason?

I've never seen a military application for the rear PTO, but I am new to WWII Jeeps (last 6 months or so) and am still learning.

I can't answer if yours is correct. You'll have to wait for some more WWII Jeep guys to answer that. I don't think it is, but I am not an expert.