Willys M38 Build

And further from the last post - Green at last! Still lots of little things to do but at least now it looks the part. Hoping to take my partner out for her first ride tomorrow.

The hood has been an on going battle with paints and things reacting to one another and it being a pretty manky example to start with. Hopefully I've finally got it under control and it'll be green by the end of the weekend. I used a spray filler and finishing putty then another coat of spray filler and sanded back. Another coat of primer and then it can go green.

Not much to report really. I'm tidying up a few things like oil leaks (I'll never get them all - it's a Jeep) and mounting the UHF radio, intercom, interior light among other things. I need to make a spacer that'll fit between the bellcrank mount and the frame just to bring it down about 2 mm. It doesn't touch but seems awfully close and who knows what'll happen once the chassis flexes a bit. I'll also be rewiring the tail lights. The sockets I bought just aren't up to the task and keep crossing circuits or just not working at all.

Well the radiator is now in for good. I had to cut the top spout off and have it welded back on further to the left so the hose wouldn't foul with the fan. My clearances between the cross member to radiator to hood are pretty tight but they're there! I went to the local wreckers and found an overflow bottle I liked and mounted it off the battery tray. I would have preferred it on the drivers side above the chassis rail next to the radiator but it was a little too tall and the spout off the radiator comes off the passengers side anyway so it still looks tidy. Running a 160 degree thermostat and she sits dead on that while running in the driveway. It'll be interesting to see what happens under load on a hot summers day! The removable section of the floor is ready to go back in now it's been repainted again and I've made a new clutch rod as the old one was slightly too short and didn't allow any free play. Overall it's coming along really well and th...

Jeez about 3 months since the last post - I'm getting worse! Since the Jeep has been home, I've wired it with a loom from  http://www.ezwiring.com/  They're really cheap compared to the big name brand looms but still very nice to work with and I'm really pleased with how tidy it has come out. I've repainted the guards, painted the grille, windscreen frame and tailgate and had a window fitted. Wiper motors are in thought not yet plumbed and a new alluminium radiator has been mounted though needs a little modification to make it perfect. The hood is going to be the last thing that gets done on the old girl. It seems every time I have a crack at finishing it something goes wrong so it can wait until all other boxes are ticked!

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.