How old military jeeps were started

Hello flat fender jeepers
Just visiting this forum since I know you guys could answer my question.
I was talking to a gentleman about how the old army jeeps were started up, he said that you started them by pushing or stepping on a starter on the floorboad, and they didn't use any keys. Is this correct?
Thank you

 

Yes, some had a floor knob that you pushed with your foot----------took the place of a solenoid on the starter.

Not sure if there was a key for the ignition though...........

 

Wow, that is cool. I guess there was no time to be asking who's got the key when on the battle field!

 

Which made them easy to steal. Our auto shop teacher was an Army mechanic, he said it was common to switch two plug wires or remove the rotor so your JEEP would be where you left it. Of course unauthorized personnel started carrying a rotor with them when they wanted to go out on leave. Teacher claimed he was working on one with the carburetor off and somebody drove off with just raw fuel squirting out of the hose into the open manifold. Believe it or not, I was not there.

 

Good stories!

 

I learned to drive in a 50 Chevy truck that had the foot starter.

 

Yeap, my M37 is the same way. It just has a rod sticking up through the floor with a large button on top. You press down on it and the other end goes directly into the starter and pushes on the starter contacts directly. No relays, no switches and no extra wiring! Also just a flip lever on the dash to turn the ignition off and on with.

The M35 Deuce and a Half is even stranger since it's diesel there's no ignition switch to shut it off with. You pull out on a knob on the dash that looks like an old-time mechanical choke. It vents the fuel pressure going to the injectors and that causes the engine to stop. The Deuce and a Half will also actually start and run without a battery! Once the fuel lines are purged of air, it will siphon feed fuel and and doesn't even need the in tank electric fuel pump to run! (the injector pump is mechanical). So you can take the battery out and push start it and it will start up and run until you vent the fuel pressure!

 

We converted the MB to a push button start, but the hole for the foot engaged starter is still there.

You see pictures of several different styles of "anti-theft" devices, the chain mentioned above being one. A more common one was a eyebolt through the dash. You put the shifter in reverse then a padlock around the shift lever and through the ring. This left the jeep stuck in reverse, so the would be thief wasn't going anywhere too fast!

 

My uncles tell a story about the motorpool Master Sergeants carried a .45 caliber pistol to "curb" unauthorized use of the units MB's.

 

I thought the early ones had some type of key switch in the dash that was part of the ignition coil. Am I dreaming???

 

I think that was just on the early CJ-2s. The ignition switch was part of the ignition coil. The coil mounted under the dash and the switch stuck out through a hole in the dash. Those are now expensive collector's items, of course!

 

I believe the M38 Jeeps also had the keyed coil, at least that's what's in one of my brothers Jeeps. It is now changed out to a more standard system but the old coil is still mounted in the dash. Yes the starter is still activated by the little button above the transmission.

 

The foot button idea starter was pretty common in many vehicles before WWII. In the teens or twenties the first "electric" starters were optional, which may partly explain it.