Willys M38 Build

Well as usual I've been sloppy with the blog updates. The Jeep now has a self contained fuel system, the brake and fuel lines are all secured inside the chassis rails, and still more parts have arrived from the states (hopefully the last parcel I'll need). C.A.V fuel filter assembly looks the part and easy to service. Fuel solenoid will allow me to switch between left and right hand tanks  in the future. Probably the biggest news is that it's now home. Don and I loaded the M38 up behind the trusty pickup and trailered it to my place so I can do bits and pieces at my leisure. Sad to see it leave Willy's Works though very cool to see it sitting in my garage at home. The Willy's family before loading up. Tail lights and tail gate hinges on. Tail gate temporarily fitted - looks a lot different! The beginnings of the "to do" list. There's lots of small jobs still to do and obviously the bonnet still to sorted be it sure is ...

So we painted the cage and dropped it in and bolted some seats in. Slapped an old set of guards on it and Don did a temporary wire job and we were off! Or so I thought... We had no functioning clutch and after some single gear drives up the road we parked it up. Pulled the gearbox Wednesday night to figure what was wrong and I'd managed to put the clutch plate in the wrong way around. Embarrassing enough but even more so when you sell the things for a living! Luckily there was no damage, so gearbox back in and away we went. No head lights, pitch black country roads and a strap on headlamp and a spotlight to guide the way. It seems to drive pretty good though it'll take me a bit of getting used to the old girl. Dons MB in front with it's younger sister out back. I had the guards sandblasted this week and have now painted them in primer along with some other small parts. The loom arrived from the states on Friday (an EZ Wiring job that looks really tidy) as wel...

So at last the cage is finished. It took a while but really pleased with the result. Spent Wednesday night on the lathe turning down seat belt anchorages that run right through the cage and are flanged so they'll never move. Welded them in and primed yesterday so just needs to be greened out and can be dropped back in for good! A closer look at the signage of Willys Works. The spider webs make it look more authentic!

So we hired a glamor model for the pics today. Actually it's just me as Don had his camera out popping away. Probably good to see some action shots for a change? Finished fully welding the cage today and buffed off the spatter before sitting it back on the body. I still need to fab up seat belt anchors and seat mounts and also install a piece of plate between the 2 small bars in the roof. This will become my radio/intercom/light mount. Below are the beginnings of a rebuild on the engine out of Dons race jeep. He's starting his driveline rebuild/prep for the upcoming Taupo 1000 offroad racing event in September. www.taupo1000.co.nz More to follow on that bad boy when some parts start to arrive.

I finished the cage build Sunday morning so now just need to get it all welded properly (instead of tacked). It's a bit of a trade off between head and leg room in seat height and I've tried to get a bit of both with the seats both up and back. I'm really pleased with the look though I think the front cross bar for the seats may be a little too high. This wont be a problem as I can just unbolt it and remake it a bit lower. The pair of small pipes running down the middle of the cage will be my centre console - radio, intercom and roof light will all mount up there.

So the screen frame is in a good enough state to mount up and start on the cage. I bought 18 metres of inch and a quarter tube and have used pretty much all of it. In saying that I did manage to make a bit of scrap along the way. The current pictures don't show the side pipes or seat mounts that'll be incorporated into the cage as well. More to follow after fitting seat mounting bars. These will be bolt in so the fuel tank(s) can still be removed without having to lift the cage.

So the screen was completely stripped and the more paint and bar work removed the worse it looked. I first removed the centre cross brace and replaced it to keep things square. I removed and made new sections of lower frame as the old ones were rotten just above the forward bend for about 150-200mm. The section below the vent was removed right across at this stage too. We flattened out the old bottom section to get a basic shape for the new one and cut it out. Then dummied it on to see how well it fit. Don stepped in as master manipulator of metal and got some nice curves going on along the cowl edge. Two monkeys in a Jeep Nest was to hammer weld the bottom section and another couple of patches in. Don to the rescue again with  his pretty welds - kind of important as I'll be able to see the backs of them every time we go out! Next a bit of a clean up where I'd tacked panels, drill the cross braces for the wiper motors and then ...