Willys M38 Build

Been quietly plodding away on the Jeep still though haven't had the camera out there for a while so no posts.  I've made up some roll cage mounts off of the chassis behind where the seats will mount and rebuilt the water pump with an omix kit.  I've also fitted Toyota MR2 rear brake calipers and Suzuki Vitara rotors to the rear of the Jeep to make it 4 wheel disc braked and also the MR2 calipers provide a decent mechanical handbrake.  Overall a pretty straight forward conversion with help from Don in designing the caliper brackets that bolt on to the stub axle flange.  I've also had a crack at making the headers which has been a learning experience.  I had to modify the front plate of the motor to fit my fuel pump in first so I had everything in that was going to be in the way.  You can see in the picture below, the lower diaphragm (vacuum wipers) slots into the plate.   Don had me draw up the flanges and get them laser cut at the same ti...

A few bits and pieces have been done since my last post.  Rebuilt and fitted a Holley 1904 carb (off a 60s falcon) with a few mods to the head and rocker cover required to squeeze it in.  Also replaced the oil filler/dipstick with a flat head one (shorter) so it didn't foul the carb. Stripped, cleaned, reassembled and fitted a vacuum advance distributor from a Mini.  Fitted another flywheel which is drilled to take the larger clutch option.  Fitted up the new clutch and bolted the engine to the gearbox and transfer.  The best part was dropping the power plant back into the frame yesterday.  It'll only be temporary so I can plumb pipes,  get the rear drive shaft shortened (Mahindra one is about 12 inches longer I think).  I also need to build a set of headers and an exhaust and sort all the body mounts properly.  The steering bell crank is something I'm still working on and will probably end up welding the bracket on to the current cross membe...

Pretty slack in posting lately though haven't done much either so not much to post about!  Cut off the rear cross member (not an original) yesterday and replaced with a heavy duty Wainui Willys Works model that Don had one the shelf.  It's a little longer, deeper and taller than a standard cross member so will protect the corners of the body a lot more than the standard one and also allow me to mount a swing out tyre and jerry can rack so I still have use of the tail gate.  Put in extra gussets too just for a bit more strength.  My welds on the bits you can see look pretty good.  The same can't be said for the ones on the inside but not too many people are going to see them anyway!

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...

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!

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.

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 ot...