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What have you done to your JEEP today

VASteve

New member
6
0
1
Location
Virginia
M38A1-before.pngThis is the before. I just got her last month. Markings are all wrong. Invasion stars on a 1954? Today I pulled the seats, all the brackets, battery trays, instrument panel, dashboard, steering column & gearbox, fenders, hood, grill, all removable floor plates and fuel tank. Unfortunately a previous owner remover/replaced the data plates. There is no serial number on the chassis and the spot above the water pump has no engine number engraved. So, I can not trace her lineage. Therefor she is getting desert tan with black markings and my unit's makings, for my time at Ft. Bliss, TX.
 

VASteve

New member
6
0
1
Location
Virginia
Today I installed the dash board instrument panel, fuel tank and steering assembly, but I removed the drag link to clean paint and repack. It was missing the dust shields so I bought a rebuild for $18 from www.kaiserwillys.com as long as I was ordering parts the upper seal and bearing on the steering column was also missing. This all started because I wanted new paint and I began removing things to paint. In my shed are the fenders, hood, grill, windshield, seats, and all the little removable plates loops, mounts, etc.
 

VASteve

New member
6
0
1
Location
Virginia
I started today with a m38A1 that would start but idled bad and no power. All 4 spark plug leads sparked 1/4 inch from block only one spark plug would spark. oil and carbon fouled. Dry compression test was 90, 89, 90, 90 psi. Dipped the heads in mineral spirits used a copper cleaning brush from my gun cleaning tools. took 400 grit sand paper to the electrodes, used a propane torch to dry and clean of the film, regaped them at 0.030 inch. All four plugs now developed a spark. Ran the engine until hot then checked the head bolt torque using the pattern in TM 9-8014 pp 115. #4 inside the carburetor throat, 1,2 and 3 are under the rocker assembly. I took off the rocker assembly only to discover that they were the only three with the correct 63 ftlbs of torque (60-65). Got them all torqued. replaced the rocker assembly and set the correct 30 ftlbs of torque then set the valve clearance to 0.018 inch, not one was even close. The carb. gasket was in bad shape. Went to three parts stores. They never heard of a Carter YS. Got back home and was going to try to cut my own. My wive stopped me took the old gasket and my gasket paper and disappeared. Meanwhile I did a wet compression test. Probably should have redone the dry test after setting the value clearance and torquing the head. Squirted oil in each cylinder ran the starter for a while then tested the compression 110, 115, 110, 120 psi. She came back with two perfect gaskets. She scanned the old gasket, put the paper in her computer stencil cutter and made the gaskets. They fit perfect. Put everything back together and started the engine. Idled fast but smooth. Stopped the engine and installed the adapter on #1 plug. Started her up and checked the timing. Could not really see the mark. My wife gave me her florescent orange nail polish and I painted over the mark. This time it stood out like a charm. Mark was a good inch and a half past the #5 line. Loosened the distributor and turned it as far as it would go clockwise. Can not get it to line up with the #5 line but it is only a quarter of an inch south. Engine runs considerably better now. I have new plugs on order. Not perfect but at least the jeep is back on the road.
 

o1951

Active member
899
155
43
Location
Bergen County, NJ
Not familiar with your engine.
However, here is standard procedure when you cannot rotate housing enough to adjust timing.
Remove cap and position out of way.
Mark where rotor is positioned.
Mark where body is positioned on block.
Remove distributor clamp & bolt.
Lift distributor up until gears disengage.
Turning rotor 1 tooth against direction of rotation will retard timing.
Turning rotor 1 tooth in direction of rotation will advance timing.

Using your marks, you can see how much rotor has moved.
Turn distributor housing same amount so timing is close to what it was.

Reassemble and reset timing to specification.

The octane calculations are different than they were back then.
Today's 87 gasoline has higher octane than yesteryear's regular.
Once you have it on the road, and verify the cooling system is in good shape,
you can advance timing a few degrees past spec, for a bit better fuel economy
and slightly more power.
 

Bravo2Uniform

Member
253
21
18
Location
McMinnville, TN
I finally procured and welded into place the passenger seat latch bracket (right hand side of passenger seat). I had been running around with a piece of tube welded to the bottom of the seat for the last 18 months.

I enjoyed it.
 

wilfreeman

Active member
1,082
7
38
Location
Richburg, SC
The other day I removed the skid plate, front and rear driveshafts and parking brake assemblies and cleaned them. I did this because I had to replace the leaking front and rear transfer case seals along with the leaking front pinion seal. Disassembly while covered in gear oil and dirt was a PITA, but much easier re assembling when clean. I didn't have time to re fill the gear oil that night, so I left the skid plate off to check for leaks when it is full.

The Denton rally is coming up this weekend, so I am trying to get everything finished up. I finished the M100 last week and made a tarp support out of a 2x6 the other day also.
 

just me

Member
322
10
18
Location
phoenix,az
Working on rebuilding the steering box. May need a new housing. Power washed the frame. Started fabricating a differential spreader so I can install the Power-Lok.
Drained the fuel tank into my M37 so I can pound the dents out of it. Made some of the parts to repair the remote control.
 

DeetFreek

Well-known member
215
346
63
Location
New Sharon IA
Finally been able to get moving forward on the engine build. Been a long two years since the machine work was done. Now, it's clean threads, tap holes, dry fit parts, order new ones that I thought I wouldn't need (because none of us know that feeling lol) and just be happy that I'm seeing progress! 20200219_181038.jpg20200219_181031.jpg
 

Another Ahab

Well-known member
17,815
4,139
113
Location
Alexandria, VA
Finally been able to get moving forward on the engine build. Been a long two years since the machine work was done. Now, it's clean threads, tap holes, dry fit parts, order new ones that I thought I wouldn't need (because none of us know that feeling lol) and just be happy that I'm seeing progress! View attachment 791036
Maybe it's just the angle of the shot, but the chuck on that drill press looks like a monster!
 

Tracer

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
6,351
13,384
113
Location
Hawthorne, NV.
Finally been able to get moving forward on the engine build. Been a long two years since the machine work was done. Now, it's clean threads, tap holes, dry fit parts, order new ones that I thought I wouldn't need (because none of us know that feeling lol) and just be happy that I'm seeing progress! View attachment 791036View attachment 791037
Deet, things are looking good. I know the feeling when you have all the details taken care of, you can't wait to get it together. Coincidence, I also have an M38A1. Build date Dec. 1953. I'm getting the carburetor squared away at this time. Good Luck with yours.
 

DeetFreek

Well-known member
215
346
63
Location
New Sharon IA
Deet, things are looking good. I know the feeling when you have all the details taken care of, you can't wait to get it together. Coincidence, I also have an M38A1. Build date Dec. 1953. I'm getting the carburetor squared away at this time. Good Luck with yours.
It's been painful to say the least lol. This one is May '53 delivery date and it's in pretty decent shape. Granted, I don't know how bad the body actually is, but for all I can see it has good structure. I'm definitely antsy to hear it fire again, it's only been 5.5 years since it expired on me.
 
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