1963 M38a1 Navy "sort of" restoration
- Thread starter Royal-a1
- Start date
I wish it were a sea bees jeep. I too think they are cool.
its my understanding it was grey from kaiser. Here is a pic of the only markings I found. "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY" letters on top of grey on top of green on top white primer . But a lot of the green and grey were missing under the blue. I figure most were removed for its first civilian repaint in light blue.
its my understanding it was grey from kaiser. Here is a pic of the only markings I found. "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY" letters on top of grey on top of green on top white primer . But a lot of the green and grey were missing under the blue. I figure most were removed for its first civilian repaint in light blue.
The axles were pretty straight forward. Complete disassembly. Sand blast and clean the housings. All new bearings and seals. Decided to keep the 9" brakes for now. I want to see how good or bad they really are. But I did do all new brake components. MC, lines , hoses and wheel cylinders. Will probably do a dual master cylinder eventually. Just for safety sake.
The front axle had the original bendix joints. I was going to reuse but discovered twisted splines on the long side shaft. So I sourced some spicer axles as replacements. I also machined some socket head cap screws and converted the knuckles to studs. This did not require any modifications to the knuckles so completely reversible for someone in the future.
The front axle had the original bendix joints. I was going to reuse but discovered twisted splines on the long side shaft. So I sourced some spicer axles as replacements. I also machined some socket head cap screws and converted the knuckles to studs. This did not require any modifications to the knuckles so completely reversible for someone in the future.
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Axles done. Leaf springs cleaned up and painted. New shackles and bushings. A couple of the old shackles had small cracks forming at the bends. New Steering box. The original one had water in it long enough to cause deep pitting on the worm. I added a small drain hole in the steering tube just above the steering box so any water will drain instead of collect in the tube
5 New wheels. the 4 it came with were too rusty inside to trust. And New rubber.
5 New wheels. the 4 it came with were too rusty inside to trust. And New rubber.
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Rolling chassis complete we pushed it out to the side of the house and double tarped it to make room for working on the motor, transmission and transfer case.
Motor was worn out. Cylinders were oversize and oval. Main bearings were worn and scored. Cam was rusty. But was a correct M block so that was good. We took it all apart and cleaned it up before dropping it off at the machine Shop. Someone had been in it before. One of the conrods was not correct, and the crank was already .010 under. It's only money right? Then I cleaned and sandblasted all the tin. Rebuilt the distributor and the oil pump. The oil pan took a bad hit. Even cracked the spot welds. I drill out the rest of the welds straighted up the parts and welded it back together. Final pic. Reassembled for the first time(more on that later)
Motor was worn out. Cylinders were oversize and oval. Main bearings were worn and scored. Cam was rusty. But was a correct M block so that was good. We took it all apart and cleaned it up before dropping it off at the machine Shop. Someone had been in it before. One of the conrods was not correct, and the crank was already .010 under. It's only money right? Then I cleaned and sandblasted all the tin. Rebuilt the distributor and the oil pump. The oil pan took a bad hit. Even cracked the spot welds. I drill out the rest of the welds straighted up the parts and welded it back together. Final pic. Reassembled for the first time(more on that later)
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Transmission and transfer case got the full teardown. New seals, bearings and syncros. Removed the interlock "pill". Resurfaced the flywheel. New clutch. New u-joints. The rear drive shaft had worn female splines but the male side was fine. So I replaced the yoke too. Here's the complete package. Sure was easy to install with the tub off.
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Looks like brand new. You do good work.
Dave
Dave
All the time we were working on the the frame etc... my son had the tub at the high-school body shop. He was able to replace the driver and passenger floors, hat channels, gas tank well, and rear floor riser. He also repaired the fenders and hood. We sourced a replacement grill as the original was more work than we thought it was worth to straighten the verticals. He was not able to finish the sides of the tub. He spent a couple months helping his best friend repair a very rusty YJ.
Here's what we were left with to finish up over the summer. Lots of rot in front of the "doors" a P.O. just filled filled with bonds. We had to dig and cut out a lot of small areas and weld in patches. Also lots of small random holes. Holes from an aftermarket soft top. Some dents to pull and lots of snapped bolts to remove and stripped threads to fix.
Here's what we were left with to finish up over the summer. Lots of rot in front of the "doors" a P.O. just filled filled with bonds. We had to dig and cut out a lot of small areas and weld in patches. Also lots of small random holes. Holes from an aftermarket soft top. Some dents to pull and lots of snapped bolts to remove and stripped threads to fix.
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The fuel tank was rusted through because it was left with water on it. I brazed up all the pin holes. Also this tank does not match the earlier m38a1 style tanks. Only 1 opening for the fuel level sending unit. And a threaden port for a pickup tube. No in tank filter. The level guage ring was cracked so I had to cut it out and weld in a new piece. I added a support for the pickup tube. I've seen these snap of from vibration before.
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Had one of those tanks on a 55 M38A1. I guessed it was a repo. Right size, but no hole for sending unit. Just the pickup.
Dave
Dave
Finally got to the paint. We flipped the tub upside down. Did a few last "once over" checks to make sure we welded everything that needed it. Put some seam sealer on all the seams. Found and fixed a few nut plates that had broken off. Then proceeded to epoxy prime we also used a brush to get under lips, flanges and corners.
We followed the primer up with a nice thick coat of raptor liner. It originally had a tar like undercoating. But we wanted to avoid that. I figure if someone wants it more original looking, they can paint the underside black or put the undercoating over the final color but the raptor liner will really seal things up.
With the underside finished we put the rub on the frame for the rest of the painting. This was late October. I had to finish painting in my garage converted to paint booth because it was too darn cold to finish outside.
I also put a thick coat of raptor liner inside the tool box and the fuel tank pan.
We followed the primer up with a nice thick coat of raptor liner. It originally had a tar like undercoating. But we wanted to avoid that. I figure if someone wants it more original looking, they can paint the underside black or put the undercoating over the final color but the raptor liner will really seal things up.
With the underside finished we put the rub on the frame for the rest of the painting. This was late October. I had to finish painting in my garage converted to paint booth because it was too darn cold to finish outside.
I also put a thick coat of raptor liner inside the tool box and the fuel tank pan.
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Wow! That looks amazing! Great attention to detail. That looks great!
Very Good Work!
That's Gonna Be Fun to Drive
Dave
Very Good Work!
That's Gonna Be Fun to Drive
Dave
Unfortunately that is not the case. This is a retrospective build thread
We started Sept 1 2023
The last post was aprox March 2025. And I only got it Registered and insured 1 month ago(Feb 2026) the build went pretty smooth up the the point where I got it started. As you will see. I did manage to get it started. But it would not idle. ( An issue I did not resove for almost a year!) I was able to keep it running and varying the speed for about 20 minutes
Oil pressure was good at 60 psi cold start. (Mechanical guage) but at 20 minutes in and 2500 rpm the pully and fan came off the water pump and straight into newly recorded $800 radiator. Complet destruction. Needless to say that was a bummer and the beginning of a year long saga of time delays.
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Whew! I missed that. Even a couple years is very good.
I had rebuilt the water pump. Apparently pressing the hub off and back on was enough to reduce its tension and allow it to come loose. I was able press it back on and added a tack weld to the end if the shaft for safety. Itis now a spare pump. I sourced a new pump to put on the motor. It got a tack weld too. I also found a replacement m38a1 radiator that was used but cleaned and tested by the same shop that rebuilt my old one. Got that replaced and went to run the motor some more. It ran poorly (still no idle) and a lot of noise from the valve train. So I thought I would pull the valve covers and re-set the valve clearances. Upon pulling the top valve cover I noticed it has no oil flow. Just the assembly lube. Checked all my lines. They were clear. Plenty of oil pressure in the main gallery. Needless to the say I was pretty frustrated. Because the next step was to pull the motor and see why no oil was getting past the rear cam bushing and out to the line that oils the intake valves.
Also I forgot to mention. In January 2025 I fell off my roof while Chimney sweeping and broke my right wrist and had 7 rib fractures. I also tore my rotator cuff. So I had been doing all this with a slight handicap. And now I was scheduled for surgery. With a long rehab. So I put the jeep on hold until I was physically and mentally ready to tackle pulling the motor out. Here's a pic of it patiently waiting for me.
Also I forgot to mention. In January 2025 I fell off my roof while Chimney sweeping and broke my right wrist and had 7 rib fractures. I also tore my rotator cuff. So I had been doing all this with a slight handicap. And now I was scheduled for surgery. With a long rehab. So I put the jeep on hold until I was physically and mentally ready to tackle pulling the motor out. Here's a pic of it patiently waiting for me.
