Willys M38 Build

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...

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.

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)!

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.