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Showing posts from 2011

It's been a while

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So I haven't posted anything on the web for a wee while though I've still been plodding away on the Willy's.  The block was stripped out and steam cleaned again while on the engine stand so we could have a decent look at everything.  It was transported in true Willy's style being dragged behind Dons pickup to the wash bay. I'm on a bit of a budget so in the end it was decided to re-ring and bearing it all in standard sizing and reassemble so I can keep moving forward on it.  Thanks again to Don for the spare pistons and things!  The bearings and rings are due to arrive tomorrow (23 December) from the States so hopefully it won't be to far after Christmas before we can start reassembly.  While I'm waiting on them, I've continued on with stripping the body some more and my seats also arrived from the US.  They're Empi Race Trim seats designed for Jeeps (lower side bolstering than a true race seat and more upright).  I wasn't so sure on the co

Gearbox and transfer primed and motor stripped

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Got a coat of etch primer on the gearbox and transfer tonight, then went on to finish stripping the motor.  Pistons 1 and 4 both had the top ring broken so may both need replacing but everything else still looks pretty good.  I'll clean everything on Saturday and have a better look.  I know the big ends look a little scruffy too so there's bound to be signs of wear elsewhere too.  A few new bits and bobs have arrived from the States lately too.  Vacuum wipers were cheap and suit an M38,  temp sender to suit the gauges I bought and also an aircraft intercom and headsets I bought that I'm going to plumb into the Uniden PRS I'll be running.  Means we can comfortably chat and listen to music at open road speeds!

Drivetrain coming together

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I forgot to bring the camera home on Saturday so no photos until tomorrow.  The gearbox and transfer are all together and I'll prime with an etch primer tomorrow so it can maybe go green on the weekend.  Don and I pulled the sump on the motor and popped a piston and found broken rings.  Luckily the old girl doesn't seem to have done any bore damage though the piston is toast (Don of course has some in stock!)  I hope to finish stripping it tomorrow night and give it a clean so it can be assessed and I can order correct size bearings etc. The pic is the Jeep Action Australia magazine cover for December.  Featuring Wainui Willys Works (Dons) Race Jeep at the Taupo1000!  Word is he features on the end of episode 290 of 4wdtv doing a spiel on the racer too.

Gearbox assembly

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We reassembled the gearbox today and stripped and cleaned the transfer so I could order bearings as required.  First 2 photos are of all the rollers o-ringed onto a dummy shaft that fits inside the gear shaft but is still short enough to drop down through the top of the gearbox.  Once the shaft is in place you just push the dummy shaft out with the real shaft and you're done - nice and easy.  2nd pic is up the rear of the box with all the bigger rollers greased into place.  I took the drive gear out of the box that came with my overdrive and it doesn't look too good.  The previous owner has left it with water in the transfer so the gear has pitted.  Will try and strip the overdrive Wednesday once the transfer is all assembled.  If I'm lucky it will have fared better than the internals of the transfer.  If not I may have to sideline that part until later on and just run without it to get it running.  No problem either way - still plenty of other things to do!

Gearbox, transfer and the overdrive.

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Pulled down the gearbox and transfer tonight for inspection and a clean more than anything.  Will be replacing bearings, gaskets and seals.  First gear is showing signs of wear though I'm told that's pretty standard (no synchro) and if it becomes a problem later we'll deal with it then.  Thanks to Don and Dave for your help :) We'll reassemble on Saturday and check out the insides of the Fairey overdrive before that gets slapped on the back of the transfer.  Seems an uncommon unit to see in a Jeep.  Common on Land Rovers and I think Herm the overdrive guy has one on his Nissan but he hasn't seen a Jeep one before either.  I'll try and remember to take more photos.

She's alive

For a bit of a change and a break from patching, we decided to fire the motor today.  Don and another friend Warren had heard this motor running when they first picked it up a few years ago but it's just sat ever since.  Kind of exciting (for me anyway)!

The last of the big patches

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I think the size of the holes will start to really diminish from here on out.  This was the last of the really bad sections though I'm sure there'll be some surprises once it goes to the sand blaster.  Don has found someone who hopefully won't make the panels any wavier than I've already made them!  I made the front of the guard as it's supposed to be with the vertical sheet folded in a right angle then the front of the guard laps down over the top of it.  I struggled with the section closest to the side of the body but overall pretty pleased.

Mucking around with the little stuff

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I've been stripping all the paint and crap off of the small panels and lights.  I use paint stripper first on the bigger stuff and use a wire wheel on an electric motor for the smaller bits.  I think the shiny tail light could look pretty cool on a rat rod...

A day of welding

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Don was away from the workshop today so all down to me.  I spent about 4 1/2 hours welding and hammering all the parts we've so far replaced.  Overall pretty happy with how it looks especially as I haven't been welding very long! No, that isn't the drivers seat.

Trans tunnel hump

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When the floor was made we decided to leave the front centre section seperate and make that later.  We knocked that out today and tacked it in place. All tacked together.  Hat channels are migged in place too.

Floor and hat channels

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Tacked in the floor today and laid over some hat channels that Don had prepared earlier.  What doesn't this guy have!

Taking over welding duties

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From now on in the welding is down to me.  Unless of course I really cock it up then Don will hopefully come to the rescue and give me a hand.  I've never done gas welding before and am pretty an amateur with mig (gmaw) so should be good fun. Mocked up with a guard that was laying around

Tacking it together

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Don started tacking bits back together tonight.  Nice to be adding rather than removing steel for a change!

New floor, side and step

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We folded up the basis of a new floor and new side panels.  I cut out and Don showed me how to beat and fold up, then weld the replacement step.  He made it look easy!

Let the cutting begin!

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So, finally in to it properly.  I removed the tool box and then the whole floor (including top hats) from the passengers side of the jeep.  I then removed the bottom 2 inches of the passengers side from rear wheel arch to the front, including the rotten step.

August 2011

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So, after the Taupo 1000 where the Wanui Willys Works race team placed first in class, it was back in to the  M38.  We dragged it out to Dons for the body surgery to start.  I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of work involved and talked of buying replacement panels and a step, but Don assured me we could just make whatever we needed.

Back in April...

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The chassis was sand blasted, shortened and boxed when I bought it as a friend of mine had started another build that had lost momentum.  Don and I stripped the diffs and checked and replaced bearings, then reshimmed as required.  We also fitted a disc brake kit to the front that he happened to have in stock.  We fitted front spindles to the rear to make it full floating and will have custom axles splined up closer to launch date. Everything went on hold until August after this as we were gearing up for the Taupo 1000 offroad race which kind of absorbed alot of time!

A little background

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The plan of the blog is to cover the overall build of my Willys M38.  For the purists, it's not a genuine M38.  The body is I think an early repop as it has the M38 style removable dash, military light switch hole and left hand mounted handbrake.  It doesn't have a cowl mounted battery box for the second battery and for ease of use it'll be wired 12 volt. The body I bought from photos on the web and luckily it was pretty much what it claimed to be - green and with lots of rust in the passenger side floor, under the tool box. The frame is a shortened and boxed Mahindra chassis running Dana 44's front and rear.  It'll run the Mahindra F-134 with a holley carb (to squeeze under the early height hood) and we'll hang a Fairey overdrive off the back of the transfer case. I'm learning as I go on this build under the watchful eye of  Don the Willys fanatic who seems to have every part in stock that you though you had or were about to order and wait for.