1963 M38a1 Navy "sort of" restoration

[Royal-a1]

My son and I started this build Sept 1 2023. We were given the rig for free as a father/son project. I've been an industrial mechanic for 30 years with access to a machine shop and some fabrication tools. My son (18 when we began) has a passion for vintage cars especially 4x4. He is also a national champion in welding fabrication!

Here is what we had to start with.
1963 M38a1. Originally purchased for the Navy. The surplused to Brigham Young University sometime in the 70's. Purchased by a rancher in southern Utah. Probably spent most of it's time as a hunting rig. Last registered in 1993.
Here it is loading onto the trailer for a ride to its new home.

 

[Bubblehead617]

Welcome to the family to you & your son!

 

[givemethewillys]

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to following along on your project

 

[Royal-a1]

Thanks for the welcome. I recognize some of your screen names. I just finished reading Fireballs thread on his navy jeep. Very well done. Impressive fabrication skills. Now I just need to figure out how to post pics. The instructions mention a camera icon but I can't seem to find it. I was able to post a pic in the what the heck is this thread but not here. Ideas?

 

[cj2atruck]

Great father/son project. I’ve done a ton of jeeps with my two son’s, mostly things like motor/transmission swaps, lifts, linked suspension, etc, always a ton of fun. My father was never interested in my projects, so I put a lot of effort into working with my sons. They are now both fantastic fabricators…

 

[warrpath4x4]

I believe you can use the insert image button but I personally use imgur.com photo hosting

 

[Dave Deyton]

I just run the photos through Paint and resize them, then upload them.

Dave

 

[cj2atruck]

To resize pictures, I text them to myself and then save them back to my photos and they are a ton smaller. Takes a minute or two, but simple.

 

[Dave Deyton]

Have never been able to send pics from my phone because I can never get them resized.
I still have to play with that. Aggravating to have to wait until I can get to my computer to upload pictures.

Dave

 

[Dave Deyton]

Just saw the pic on your media. Looks like a good project.

Dave

 

[timsresort]

Welcome, and look forward to seeing the jeep.

 

[Royal-a1]

It's not a size problem. I do not have the "attach file" button in my post reply box. Maybe I don't have permission yet because I'm so new.

 

[Royal-a1]

Hooray! I can now post pics. On top of that I Finally got the motor running how it should. After along comedy of errors, other hobbies and health issues. More or less as it sits today. Drives around the block under its own power.
Now I can start posting up pics and info about how we got from there to here and beyond.

 

[Royal-a1]

Waiting patiently for another project to finish.

 

[compostwerks]

Hooray! I can now post pics. On top of that I Finally got the motor running how it should. After along comedy of errors, other hobbies and health issues. More or less as it sits today. Drives around the block under its own power.
Now I can start posting up pics and info about how we got from there to here and beyond.


View attachment 103982

Wow, looks great. Go Navy...!! Pete

 

[Royal-a1]

Thanks for the welcome Pete. The thread of your m38a1 build is one of the main reasons I landed here. So thank you for that.

Here are a few pics from all the angles. As with most projects. After a close inspection we discovered that it was much worse than we first thought. The body only had 1 solid bolt and gravity holding it to the frame.

 

[Royal-a1]

The 4 layers of paint(2 applied with a brush) hid a lot of rust and rot. This was just the beginning

 

[compostwerks]

Looks like the grill took quite the shot. Unusual damage....I wonder how that happened??

 

[Royal-a1]

Yea. Needed to use the grinder to remove that booger mess. Walter took autobody class his senior year and worked on the tub etc...He spent a lot of time repairing the fenders. They are by no means perfect. But I wonder how perfect they came out of the factory. We didn't want to "restore" it to better than new. Full strength and fully functional, yes. But trying to keep a bit of the age visible.

 

[Dave Deyton]

That is in your favor, never perfect. Looking good.
Fit and finish weren't a priority. Keep at it.

Dave