Peace's restoration project

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 6:42 am

Hi all,

for some time now, I have been working on my restoration project. It's about time I start a thread on my own. So, here it is!

This jeep has been in the family since 2000. My father bought it. He always wanted a wartime jeep, and safe to say, I did too. In retrospect, it would have been better to have waited a little longer. Whe should have done some more homework, because we ended up with something that is not quite what we wanted.
The good: a great motor on a solid frame, a quite complete project which was sold to us as being 'turn key'.
The bad: a Hotchkiss motor on a Hotchkiss frame, a body with botched patchwork, and whole lot of WOF parts all over.

Still, an amazing piece of machinery for my dad and I to enjoy. We had quite a few very nice years of driving this jeep, which always was a lot of fun. But even from the start, I had a nagging feeling I wanted a jeep that is more correct then the one we had.

Here it is, in all its glory :)
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After a few years, I moved out of the house, and the jeep followed me. It didn't get driven as much as it should, but it was always kept in an acclimatized environment. It did sit for about a year, and when I tried to get it started, to take it for a spin, it didn't feel like it. The jeep started with pouring fuel straight into the carb, but it did not get a good fuel supply.
Enter problem number one..
The jeep was put back in storage, and wasnt actually driven for more then 5 years.

My dad and I attended the commemorations in Normandy, in 2014. Us begin there together, with the same interest, rekindled the interest in our jeep, and we decided then and there to get it on the road again.

It took some time to get other things sorted (rebuilding my sisters house, and installing a bathroom in mine), but in august 2016 things finally started moving. We diagnosed the fuel problem to contaminated gastank. It had rust, and the lines were clogged with old fuel. We decided to to a full refurb of the fuel system.

Me and my dad are by no means experts in mechanical things. The most important thing we learned, is that the more you know, the more you know you dont know anything :) My father is a schooled electrician and I have a background in motorcycle restoration, but thats about it.
We did however manange to change the fuel system. Happy, glorious day...
I then finally managed to get the jeep running, but after a few minutes, something blew under the dashboard, created a lot of smoke, and the jeep died.... Not so glorious day...
Me, I felt defeated.
After consulting a few people familiar in the jeep scene, and consulting with my dad, we bit the bullet, and decided to get some outside help. In retrospect, this looks to be one of the best choices we made in this project.
We decided to let Luc/Gindi, take on the mechanical side of the project.
The budget already got blown here, but we got back a beautifully tuned jeep which performs A+ in every way.

All known mechanical problems got solved, even some unknown problems got solved.

The electrical problem got 'patched', because this needs more, a LOT more work. More on this later.
Dif housings got checked and ajusted.
Brakes were renewed on all 4 corners. stops on a dime now
Steering box got rebuilt, steers supertight now.
Jeep got set to 12 volts, instead of the previous 24volts system.

While this work was being done, my dad and I had a good talk of what we wanted to do with the jeep. We decided that it is what it is, a mixmaster jeep, from the french Maltournee project. In its current form, it will never be a full original ww2 jeep. That being said, its a project of my dad and me, and these things are ment to be driven, so we decided on a compromise.

The jeep is in top mechanical condition, so why take it apart 100% We decided to do the electrical work, get every little thing working, and do a cosmetic upgrade. My dad being the electrician, he will take the electricals on. I will tackle the cosmetics. I, however, dont really want to work on postwar parts, so I will replace the incorrect metalwork and bolt on parts with the correct wartime parts. Since I have access to quite some good parts, why shouldnt I? It will take some more time, and money of course, but the jeep will be more to my liking.
The body itself is a 1944 MB, composite body, so this the time reference I will work with.
Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)


Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:14 am

Here is the motor after we got it back from Luc/Gindi:

Distributer checked, starter motor rebuilt, coil renewed. Alternator fitted.
engine bay before.jpg
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Last edited by Peace on Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:47 am, edited 3 times in total.
Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:21 am

As you can see, the wiring is still a mess, thats why I said the electrics were 'patched'. Time for my dad and I to sort this out. I suggested choosing a master wiring kit from MV spares, but since this is a 12 volts system with alternator, some alternative wiring is needed. My dad and I sorted this out, so we would only be needing part of a wiring kit. We decided to make the wiring ourselves. In the end, we won't be doing ourselves a favour, since sourcing all the different electrical components on the loose, will prove to be evenly expensive. Luckily enough, we allready have all the equipment for making a wiring harness. Our understanding of car wiring, and jeep wiring specifically has increased vastly already.

To do most of our wiring, we got hold of 13 meters of numbered cable, used in elevators. That we we dont need a color code, we can go by the numbers. These are barely visible, and the cable itself is in black.

Here we are with the motor, 2 weeks in. Looks quite a bit better with that nasty red gone...
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

htc
G-Major
G-Major
Posts: 888
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 11:15 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by htc » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:22 am

Hello Peace,

Nice and informative.
I live in Belgium (Leuven area) too and work equally satisfied with Luc for what I can not do myself
You will agree with me that it is a pitty that Gindi and all his contributions disappeared from this forum. Luckily we have a direct line :-)
Maybe we should get in contact with each other.
If interested PM me.

Greetings
Hans
Living in Belgium
MB 379881
GPW 253827

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:25 am

As you can see, quite a lot of parts have been stripped, to be replaced.

I have since sourced:

correct original fender left & right, late style willys, to replace the hotchkiss fenders
correct original style aircleaner, Oakes type with crossover tube and an assortment of correct clamps. Still looking for a suitable willys airhorn
correct original willys grille, correct original welting, earthing straps
correct original FORD blackout marker lights.

Now, this wil never be a factory class restoration, so these ford marked lights will do, certainly untill I can trade of find some correct CB's. The gentleman I got these from, even threw in some Klixon fuzes, free of charge!!
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:02 am

All tools, once supplied with the jeep were missing unfortunately, but I did have some luck sourcing a few of them.

I stumbled upon an original oil can bracket, which mounts on the firewall. Got it for 30€. An oiler was included, but not the correct eagle type.
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One of the straps for stowing the cover under the passenger seat. Turns out I had this strap since I was 10 years old! It resided in the chest with all my unidentified strapping! (I am a collector of WW2 US equipment too).
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And on a sad note, my mothers uncle died last year. He was about 16 years old during the war, and had a mechanical background. At his home, he had quite the workshop. I was given the chance to browse through everything, before everything got cleaned out. I mananged to rescue this alemite grease gun. 100% correct for my jeep! It even has some original paint on the inside of the handle. It brings me some comfort to know that some item from my mothers uncle will ride along in the jeep. He was always very fond of vehicles like this.
Attachments
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16935946_10212167734810197_1389372066_o.jpg (225.93 KiB) Viewed 2674 times
Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:07 am

I did some work on a friends jan 43 GPW. To thank me for the help, he donated this beautifully restored fire extinguisher, for my project! Thank you, Sébastien!
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And after cleaning up a voltage regulator for another friend, I received this fire extinguisher bracket. Granted, it needs some work, but hey, it's original. If anybody can help with the clamps for this one, I would be very grateful.
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:15 am

One of my friends, Céderic, also a collector, is very interested in the jeep project. He happened to have 3 of the clasps for the safety belts. They were sourced in the Belgian ardennes. My jeep did have safety straps, they did not have the correct ones. These clasps make it one step closer to being correct. I guess I will be buying the straps now offered by Joes Motorpool. They look spot on.
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:22 am

My friend Céderic and I stumbled upon this heavily modified trailer, while out on a trip to the Belgian/german border. After some wheeling and dealing, I managed to trade a civvy trailer for this one. I bought the civvy trailer from a collegue at work. After all was said and done, I have 250€ in it.
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You can see why it was an interesting trade..
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:27 am

Most of the trailer is a write off. Just too much rust, but the pintle eye, castings, wheels and frame are salvageble. The frame is up for same or trade, if anyone is interested.
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I did start an electrolysis on one of the wheels. These will be all good once more. The wheel got derusted very good, but the bolts were too far gone to be rescued. They needed to be cut off.
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:37 am

After taking inventory of my seats, it turned out they too were a mix. My drivers seat was Ford. My passenger seat was Hotchkiss. The rear seat is Willys, fortunately, and in very very good condition. It is only missing the stud for the tire pump clamp.
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I traded this seat for the correct MB driver seat (thanks Tom), and the correct rotary switch I needed.
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I already did some welding on it, to close the unwanted holes in the frame and sheet metal. It will need some more work to straighten out the gas tank protecting sheet metal.

The passenenger seat was sold, and this financed a correct MB passenger seat in super condition.
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:44 am

One of the items I always wanted... A windshield weapons rack...

I found this one while on the hunt for a replacement engine for a quad for a friend of mine. He bought a quad with a blown up motor. We found a replacement engine somewhere in french speaking Belgium. While we were there, we got to talking with the owner of the place, since I thought the place reeked of history. The engine was being stored in a very old farm, loaded with old stuff and equipment. I walked out ouf there with the gun rack, a leather holster for a Garand, (which will also go on the jeep), two german K98 pouches, a german canteen, some ammo boxes, and 70€ lighter. Turned out the owner used to be a collector himself!

The gun rack is in nice original color, ready to be bolt on. Very happy with it!
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:53 am

Bought myself a new welder, since the one had wasnt suited for sheet metal welding. A small investment, but now we are set for welding body panels on the jeep. It welds sheetmetal as thin as 1mm, without blowthrough, so I am very happy with it. I am still trying to better my skills with a welder, but so far the welds are coming along nicely. Sometimes after cleaning up the welds, they need another pass, but come up nicely. So far, I have been able to avoid warping, after following the advice in one of the tutorials here and on Youtube.
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Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)

conrod6
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Location: teignmouth Devon UK

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by conrod6 » Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:07 am

Hello Peace - I have a Willys air horn if you want one . 30 UK pounds. plus postage.
Let me know if you want a photo.

Barrie
GPW 101005 DOD 3-2-43 20207773 (actual) Louisville

Peace
G-Command Sergeant Major
G-Command Sergeant Major
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:43 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Peace's restoration project

Post by Peace » Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:06 am

Hi Barrie,

PM sent!

Of course, we also have the question of the gauges in the jeep. I started off with a mix of a whole lot of stuff in the jeep. All is working, so thats one thing.
The speedo is obviously European. It is working.
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The fuel gauge was 24 volts. This got changed to a 12volt reproduction, since the jeep is now on 12 volts. It looks to be a very nice reproduction, but changing this to a 12volt original, from a Dodge or something, is a consideration.
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The amp gauge was Hotchkiss, marked Jaeger. I had an AC gauge in very nice condition from a friend, who gave it to me after I did some work on his jeep. This will do nicely as a replacement, untill I can source a good Autolite one. (this one is up for trade)
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Temperature gauge is a of unknown origin, but obviously not correct.
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The oil gauge is a mystery to me. I'd like some assistance in ID'ing it. This one looks like it could be good?
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I did manage to find a King Seeley speedometer, which would be an 'ok' replacement, but not ideal. The face is nice, also the letters, but it is too far gone for me to do anything with it, so this one is looking for a new home somewhere. If I could, I'd like to trade it for a correct gauge for the jeep. Doesnt matter which.
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Attachments
16923728_10212175280358831_329908702_n.jpg
16923728_10212175280358831_329908702_n.jpg (61.81 KiB) Viewed 2614 times
Willys MB, tub #130819, sept 1944 (under restoration)
1944 Cushman Airborne 53 (restored for a friend)


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