52 M38a1 Motor Pool Resto

You mean had as in the past tense? I probably would not have cut that one loose!

 

Yes,
I sold it with the old 55 M38A1 I had. It was aluminum and had an Army MP license plate.
The plywood doors would take too much work to restore. Sold the Jeep to a friend as a father/son Cub Scout project. Knew I would never get around to restoring the Jeep or the top.


Dave

 

Empire 2 is embossed on this Israeli part.

 

Empire 2?

???

 

Yup, no idea where this was made but obviously off shore. I'll use it none the less.

 

On to more busy work. Driver's fender in worse shape than I thought.

Impact took place at the front corner. I'd appreciate some thought on where to start to begin shrinking. Worse that I thought.....

Took a good shot. It least it's rust free.

I'm no moving metal expert, but it's worth saving an unobtanium fender. Appreciate some wisdom here guys.

 

Pass side turned out better

Couple of areas that the metal cracked on the lip where the damage happened and metal shrunk.

Will weld these up what I have other projects to do. Not a priority now. The welder is upstairs in the barn, working on a railing project up there on and off.

Happy w/the pass side. Straight enough for me. That little bow with be fixed with a tiny bit of welding. No sense in pushing that around now without anything to hold it. Note that they both cracked on the same place (above).

All of this would have been easier with fenders bolted on. I'm a slow learner

 

Progress with driver's side.

 

On those cracks or splits in the metal, drill a small hole at the end of them before you weld to keep them from running. I really can’t help on the metal shrinking, not a lot of experience on that.

 

The thing about these military Jeeps is that they were never perfect. I would start with the outer edge to take off some tension and move inward. Go slow. I use the hammer and dolly like that.
Don't really know exactly what I'm doing, but with the beating and then the stud welder, it slowly starts to take shape.
Used to go to Metal Meets and those guys who did it all the time could make it perfect before I even got started. On the old 55 M38A1, the fenders were like that with really thick Bondo. Had those cracks also. They went with the Jeep when I sold it. The two I bought together were already restored. I was making progress, but I would have never finished those Jeeps. Still got a 64 CJ to restore. Frame and running gear are good. 11 in brake stuff on hand, but body needs floorboards. Been on the rotisserie for many years now.
Your progress on the M38A1 is inspiring. You are doing some good work.

Dave

 

Yes, I've heard of this and that's for refreshing my memory Rob! I'm causing a bit more cracking as I work the metal so I'll pause and consider my actions.

 

Thanks Dave. That was my sense to work outside in. Speaking of bondo, it appears that there was some intervention after the jeep was decommissioned. I tend to doubt that the army used bondo. It's not major, I guess I'm just being picky. I just never owned military fenders and just want to do it right. I'm just stumbling along!!

I might invest in a stud welder. Good thoughts and I appreciate it!

 

I had extra fenders and extra hoods, so I practiced working with the hammer and dolly. Never felt like I had it mastered, but it slowly works.
I never liked using the Metal to Metal filler, but it might have just sat around too long. Used a little of it (small skim coat where I joined the new floor pans with the old using the MIG.
I used the TIG with Silicone Bronze where there were pin holes in the hood and cracks in the fenders. Not too much heat on the corners and it shaped really nicely. Had to go slow on those.

Dave

 

A bit more work. You're right Dave, I need to take the pressure off of the front of the fender before continuing. Not really a good way to approach without the stud welder. Pause for sure.

But I did take off the blackout light which was helping support my hammer and dolly work. Nice old part and I hate to take apart but needs intervention...

As I've been going, tapping all bolt and screw holes. I guess the next moron will reap the benefits. I've been working on that jar of anti-seize for a better part of 20 years. A little goes a long way. I wish they used it back in the day. Sigh...

I'll needle scale both inner fenders soon. I think there were some bored GI's at the motor pool back in the day.

 

Bored GI's, I still have an M38A1 steering wheel that scratched into it is: FTA!
I guess it's original graffiti, but they weren't happy. I was trying to decipher this, until a veteran told me what it meant. **#* The Army. That Jeep came from Fort Benning GA. The engine was rebuilt there in the 1960's according to the engine rebuild tag.

Dave

 

Your battery trays look pretty good. I had to weld a couple of them together and painted them with POR 15 along with the batter box bottom, which I also re-built, I ordered some battery mats that they had an article about on WillysMJeeps Forum and put them under the batteries.
http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12
I also re-constructed the battery drain system that's supposed to drain the acid off. Probably didn't need them with AGR batteries, but I wanted to make it look original. I had some of the original rubber hose and connectors, but they were very brittle.
I used AGM Honda batteries, (51R I think) because I didn't want to do this again because of acid rot. Had to make new battery hold downs also for the smaller batteries.
Link for battery box drains thread:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=12409
That's what I did.

Dave

 

you need to reverse the impact to fix this kind of dent a stud gun would help as would holding the rear secure to keep it from moving when pulling on the front

 

So I did find a very small spot needing attention on the body. Pass side below the cowl where the fender is mounted. Looks like an old stress crack that began to rot a little. Easy enough to carefully cut out and replace in the future. There's still the fender welts on the body and in reasonable shape.

 

Take care of it now... or never.

 

That's some very useful info, thanks!!