Restoration of GP 8546

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:20 pm

Tom...That is just what I was thinking tonight. Even went out in the barn to look that option over. I have one more theory to try before I go that route. I'm 99% sure the transfer case is stuck in low gear too. If I could get that to neutral I think it would roll too. I am going to try and loosen the bolt that pushes in the detent on the rod that controls the fork in the Tcase. If that doesn't work the shaft is coming out. I dunno what is going on with it. It has rolled in the past in and out fine. I Pushed out by myself, but when I tried pulling it back in the rear wheels were locked. The shifter has been stuck ever since I got it home. Which is weird cause first time I saw it it shifted ok. Something must have been knocked around when they drug it out of their barn for the auction.

And Tom you bring up another good point... I never thought to look at the brakes. I doubt that though. 2 of the 4 brake lines are cut! Maybe I banged or pressure washed them locked though. Worth a shot. I will work it out somehow...It is soooo greasy and tired of the caked on 50yr old mud falling on my face. Nothing on this project has beaten me yet!

Marty you're awesome!!! I figured out last night that the tail lights were wrong. I have read through the service manuals a lot, but those drawing don't help me much until I can compare with a real part or even a real photo. Oh well they will be replaced. I did not know that the inserts and glass was reproduced for the marker lights or the tail lights. My lights in the front are all in really great shape. The louvers and blue lenses have been removed from my marker lights. I will order those inserts and the tail light parts too. Really appreciate that info.. Parts are hard to find! Thanks!!!
Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570


Marty, SoCal
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by Marty, SoCal » Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:29 pm

It took me a few years to find the louver tail lamps for my WC-1 Dodge at various swap meets. I actually found most of the parts at the hot-rod swap meets in Pomona and Long Beach. Hopefully you can find some decent used lamp housings and doors for the rear.

Are you finding any "F" marked bolts on the GP?
43 Ford GPW 92098
53 Dunbar Kapple M100
Sold: 61 CJ-5, 41 T207 WC-1 Dodge closed cab pickup
MVPA #8266
USMC Tanker (1811, 1812), 85-93
ASE Automotive Master tech, former Chrysler-Jeep Level 4 Mastertech, CA state EA smog license

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:52 pm

Around here at swap meets I mostly find smelly dudes and ninja swords. There is a huge one in Ohio I am sure I missed this summer. Maybe next year. I haven't found any F marked bolts. I was told they weren't correct for a GP. I have been looking though. If I find one I will be sure to post it. I did find a couple 14mm nuts and bolts today... Nothing exciting. I had to grind off one 14mm bolt with the flap wheel today.
Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:29 pm

Today was mostly spent on the lawn mower. I did spend about two hours on the GP. I took the top cover off of the transmission. It didn't look horrible in there. The actual shifter is locked up. The rods the shift forks ride on are stuck. I could move them back and forth by tapping the ends of the rods (maybe not the correct term) they are not easy to move. Tranny had oil in it along with sludge that is expected I'm sure. At least it wasn't full of water! After that I decided just to drop the driveshaft. Problem solved. I took her out for a wash to get some of the grease and mud off. Frame looked way better than I expected. Lots of original paint. Seems that it was coated in some kind of underbody rubber type spray at some time. A lot of what I thought was rust bubbles was really just nasty black paint covered in mud. Which is awesome. That boxed area near the master Cylinder was full of all kinds of crap. That was it for today. It's much cleaner now. Hopefully I will have a little time to work on it tomorrow. Here it is after the bath... Next stop wheels off and up on jackstands! Wheels are going to dipper with the body soon.

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Oh I forgot! I took off the inspection plate for the clutch. I found a giant mouse nest in there!

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Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

Marty, SoCal
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by Marty, SoCal » Tue Sep 02, 2014 7:32 pm

Invaded by the Varmint Cong! Them critters will get into the tiniest spaces!
43 Ford GPW 92098
53 Dunbar Kapple M100
Sold: 61 CJ-5, 41 T207 WC-1 Dodge closed cab pickup
MVPA #8266
USMC Tanker (1811, 1812), 85-93
ASE Automotive Master tech, former Chrysler-Jeep Level 4 Mastertech, CA state EA smog license

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Wed Sep 03, 2014 4:44 am

Haha Marty...Varmint Cong. If I find any live ones I am going to have to call in an air strike from the barn cat!
Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:21 pm

Had to play airport shuttle all day didn't get anything done with the Jeep today. I did however have two really awesome things delivered. First I got what I'm 99% sure is the correct SOS Fire Guard Model 85 fire extinguisher! It's in good shape dents and dings wise. Needs polished or restored. I found it for sale online and didn't pay much for it luckily. Now I need to find the proper bracket! Check it out...Pic isn't great seems to fit right in line with the research I did here. No patent number right handle etc..

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I finally got my SnapOn tool box. I have wanted my own SnapOn box for as long as I can remember. It probably is small to some of you, but I think it's huge. 40" wide and 20" deep I bet I don't even have enough tools to fill half of it. Too bad it was so hot outside this afternoon in the barn I didn't even want to mess with it. Needs a big Snap On sticker for the lid and some shiny chrome wheels!

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Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:54 pm

Today I had a new friend come visit the GP all the way from Washington. Also an old friend came over tonight and we messed about the engine for a while. Haven't got much done the last couple days. Too hot out there. I did drain the oil Thursday. First time opening up a drain plug that big....Completely overflowed my drain pan and ran all over my nice clean floor. Next time I'm using a bucket or one of the drain pans with the open top instead of the funnel top. Friday mostly cleaned the floor. Then by noon it was 96 and like 1000000% humidity. Today I started unbolting things from the block. I have been spraying all the bolts with PB Blaster for the last couple days. Everything came off fine. One stud unscrewed from the block, but nothing broke. I want to pull the engine before I put the frame up on jackstands. Mainly just because it's easier to move on the wheel dollys. That's it the weather is going to be nice all week I should pick up the pace now! Here are some pics

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Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

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zepher11
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by zepher11 » Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:55 am

Very nice tool box. Congrats. Hopefully, you will fill it up fast. It has been hot here as well. still over a 100 degrees every day last week, but starting to drop into the 60's in the morning now the past few days. Thankfully, I sit on my arse all day in an air conditioned office, and just endure it on the weekends and evenings. :lol: Went to work on Thursday at about 6am and it was almost 80 degrees already...mostly due to the wind blowing in a ton of smoke from all the wild fires around here at the moment. This morning, however, it's 59 degrees! Feels extremely cool. Nice to feel some coolness.

Keep up the good work!
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:35 pm

Thanks Zeph! I really like the box. I need to skip a day of jeep work and organize all my stuff into it. I'm just having so much fun with the jeep now I don't want to stop. It is nice to feel the cool. Soon enough it will be snowing here. I've seen one of those giant fires before... Rode in a helicopter around the edge of one pretty scary.

Today I went ahead and pulled the motor. Came out without any drama. It is happily on the stand now. I spent the afternoon trying to get the oilpan off. Wow is that bastard glued on. Hours using an exacto and putty knife trying to cut through the old gasket. Won't budge. Slowly but surely it will come off. I don't want to crack anything. I really want the pan off so I can see if I can find a GP stamp on the inside. I am finding GP numbers stamped on a lot of the parts coming off. Which is exciting! I'm pretty well convinced now that my oil pan is from a truck. When the GP one gets here and I have this one off I will post pics of them together and let the experts decide. It does look like the ones I see in the manuals, but from what I read here it's wrong. Here are some pics the Clutch and flywheel was FULL of mice nests. Crap everywhere. Engine spins freely. Whoever put it back together didn't do a great job. Bolts missing everywhere. Anyway everything is going well. Here are the pics for today.

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Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:42 pm

Oh... I forgot you can see the hole in the oil pan! Ouch!! Glad another is on the way. Also the duct tape on the chain and rope.... I didn't know what would work best to lift it out. I used two short pieces of chain bolted to the studs. Then bought a 4' long piece of chain too to attach to the hoist. Ended up being about 3' too long so I just duct taped it up above to keep it out of my way. The rope was just to hold the motor square to the stand so I could line the bolts up properly. I was all by myself. Did the best I could and didn't break anything! Racing slick was my safety net just in case.... Glad it wasn't needed!
Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:47 pm

I've been doing a bad job of keeping this thread updated daily, but I have found a couple hours every day to work on her. The frame is pretty much bare now. Couple more bolts holding on brake line or wiring harness clips to undo. Been taking pics and baggin and taggin every bolt and bit that comes off. Tomorrow if I have time I am going to remove the rear bumperettes and cut off the front bumper carefully. I've been taking things off from the top down sort of. Maybe it's the wrong way, but it's working for me.

I am constantly amazed this GP made it in as good of shape as it is. I can tell whomever was working on it did a really crap job. Missing bolts everywhere. Things like only 3 of 6 bolts put back into the pressure plate to the flywheel. Zero, absolutely nothing holding the transmission or transfer case to the frame. Except the weight of the engine and the driveshafts. I just bent down and lifted it right out. No cotter pins where they were needed. If so maybe a bent nail. Etc...etc... Just glad I have what I have to work with. It will all come back together properly eventually.

The transmission looks worse than I thought. There was some water in there at some point and the low and high sliding gears are pretty badly pitted in a line where I would guess they were sitting in the water that floated to the top. Hopefully the GP specific parts will still be serviceable. When the frame and body are off at the dippers I plan on taking it all apart for inspection. Thanks to 1947cj2 I now feel that I can rebuild it myself.

That's pretty much it for now. I need to find somebody to do some work on the frame for me. The front horns are all messed up and need rebuilt. As does the back crossmember.

Found a company to build me a new set of springs to exactly replicate them for what I feel is a reasonable price. Hopefully they will do a great job.

Having trouble finding people to rebuild the old Model A Houdille shocks. Keep hearing 10-12 months wait times.

Will have two correct gauge clusters soon. Here is the pic from tonight... I'll check in later

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Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:49 pm

Must be a trick of the lens making the back axle look bent. When I looked at this pic I had to run back out there and check. It's straight... Thank God!!!
Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

DannyP
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by DannyP » Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:50 pm

I've really been doing a terrible job of keeping this updated. Still been busy working on her every day. As of now every nut and bolt has been removed from both the frame and the body. It is ready to be stripped and rebuilt. I found a person to fix the frame where it is bent and cut. Now I just need to find a body guy to weld in the new floor I ordered and fix the other problems.

I have started rebuilding the transmission. It isn't in great shape unfortunately! has certainly had some water inside it. I am concerned about the main drive gear shaft at this point. Shown it to two people received two opinions....of course!!! Not sure if I should reuse it or replace. The gear teeth are pitted. I was told it had to be replaced and also that it's not driving much and to just run it til it breaks. Going to look for a third opinion. It is a very simple transmission. I am glad I took 1947CJ2's advice and tackled it myself. I think the transfer case will be fine after the bearings and seals are replaced. It looks a lot better in there. Here is a pic of it all apart and out of my parts cleaner...

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I have been reading about the transmission a lot over the last week or two. Lots of differing opinions about the original color. I see no evidence of O.D. green on mine. There are some spots where there is still Ford gray clinging on. I think I'll paint mine gray and the tower O.D.

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Only two pics for today. I'll get busy taking more. Other new exciting things happening in the shop... New air compressor, sandblast cabinet, and some other new tools to keep me busy. Took me three days to put together the crappy HF cabinet!!! I'm sure it will work fine, but what a POS! At least it was cheap.
Danny
1941 Ford GP
My restoration thread viewtopic.php?f=144&t=241570

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zepher11
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Re: Restoration of GP 8546

Post by zepher11 » Wed Oct 01, 2014 7:13 pm

Very good work Danny. The transmission is satisfying to work on. I had never worked on one previously, but I went ahead and rebuilt mine on my GPW project. I did have a bit of an issue upon first use. Of all the things I read in rebuilding the transmission, I don't ever recall reading about the need to measure the transmission case to gauge the end play of the cluster gear. It was a disaster as the case was severely worn and there was a great deal of end play and, sadly, grinding... The thrust washer(s) were eaten in the subsequent melee upon engine startup.

However, with the expert assistance of the forum members here, I ended up having to remove the trans and t-case and do the job over. The case was shot and I ended up making my own thrust washer to correct the case for the time being...so far so good. I really wished I had learned about cluster shaft end play the easy way vs. the hard way :) You may already know this, but just in case, I thought I would pass it along. Here is the link to the whole debacle.:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=234803&hilit=measur ... e&start=30
Zeph

'42 Script GPW Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!

'41 Dodge WC16 Restoration Thread: CLICK HERE!


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