NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW Technical questions and discussions, regarding anything related to the WWII jeep.
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Chuck Lutz
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Chuck Lutz » Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:55 am

It might be an Autolite, its just enough of an angle to make it hard to make out the lettering...

But....here are two GPW pics and the batteries have a very different type of top/cap on them. maybe we can tell which is which simply by identifying which top/cap is Autolite style and which is Willard?
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April or May 1943 GPW.jpg
April or May 1943 GPW.jpg (173.86 KiB) Viewed 2929 times
Pretty sure I can make out "illa" on the Rockhampton GPW pic I posted.....as in Willard.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Farrell Fox » Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:03 pm

Chuck,

One battery has vents separate of the caps, the other has the vents integrated into the caps. However I believe both of them to be Auto-Lite batteries. Willard also has a battery with separate vents, and one with vented caps. The one with vented caps appears in both early and late factory photos.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Farrell Fox » Thu Oct 05, 2017 1:29 pm

Chuck,

I was able to edit your photo, and you are correct. It is indeed a Willard battery, however the medallion on the one installed in the GPW at Rockhampton indicates that it is rubber insulated. I can't make out the model number clearly but it appears to say SR-2-119.

Image


The case that I acquired is the same as can be seen on the racks next to these MBs being un-crated in England in 1943. The medallion on this one indicates it is wood insulated as opposed to rubber. It is possible that this is an early vs late detail, given that rubber was rationed by 1943.

Image
Image
Image

However, as seen in this photo of a slat grill MB, the battery lacks the safety fill vents seen in the Rockhampton photo. I'm guessing the design of the battery case for the MB remained the same. Since I'm not a GPW guy, I can't really speculate.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Chuck Lutz » Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:43 pm

Farrell...I'm thinking at Ford anyway, there was a change as you have speculated....the March 30, 1942 GPW TM 10-1349 indicates the batteries could be as follows:
Autolite TS 2-15

Or...

Willard SW-2-119

Yet the photo from Rockhampton shows us a marking that indicates RUBBER and you saw the "SR-2-119" which would indicate the style of case you have I believe.

So...to recap, GPWs used the early RUBBER marked case in 1942 but sometime prior to the Rockhampton GPWs (March 1943 USA Numbers I believe) the change was made to the use of WOOD.

As noted, the batteries on the rack in your picture from Tidworth came from MBs are dated to September 1943 but I do not know if that is when they were TAKEN, PUBLISHED or RELEASED so those MBs may have been produced much earlier in 1943. Allowing time for them to move to a port of embarkation, a sea cruise to the UK, transport to Tidworth, storage there and eventual uncrating and assembly.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Farrell Fox » Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:07 pm

Chuck Lutz wrote:
Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:43 pm
"SR-2-119" which would indicate the style of case you have I believe.
Chuck,

For the sake of confusion, my case is marked SW-2-119. The Rockhampton battery appears to say SR-2-119. My guess the 2nd letter indicating the type of insulation used. W = wood, R = rubber.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Farrell Fox » Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:23 am

I found a decent photo of original Willard battery caps. The text reads, "PLACE OVER VENT TO FILL". I'm looking for at least one to send in to copy.

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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by FUBAR » Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:24 pm

This is great stuff Farrell. Here's a period ad that shows the details of the "SAFETY-FILL" feature. Looking forward to buying one of your cases when available.

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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Farrell Fox » Wed Dec 27, 2017 5:41 pm

Some progress on reproducing the battery case. Ravenna Armory cast the first test case using the mold made from the original case. Even though it's a test case, I'm very pleased at how it turned out. Some R&D will be done in deciding what materials will be used for production cases.

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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by m3bobby » Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:11 am

That’s looking pretty cool, put my name down Farrell, I’m more than happy to pay up front.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by waterdawg2004 » Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:16 am

Nice, thanks for the effort, we all need one.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by dinof » Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:03 am

So clear me up on this....We buy a regular modern day battery lets say an interstate battery, and slip it into this case. Correct? And the top hold down bracket will still work?

Awesome work by the way,
Dino
Last edited by dinof on Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Michael O. » Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:09 am

Looking great Farrell....I highly commend you on your efforts. You can count me in for two, and like a previous poster, I can pay up front.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Farrell Fox » Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:18 am

dinof wrote:
Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:03 am
So clear me up on this....We buy a regular modern day battery lets say an interstate battery, and slip it into this case. Correct? And the top hold down bracket will still work?
That is the intention of this design, yes. However an optima battery is what we plan to design the cavity around, since they are maintenance free and will not leak acid. Additionally, the Optima batteries are smaller, facilitating their fitting inside the larger reproduction of the war time case.
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Bentwood » Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:34 am

Put me down for a couple too. Also glad to pay
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Re: NOS Willard Battery Case SW-2-119

Post by Christophe Chevalet » Thu Dec 28, 2017 7:23 am

Hello Farrel
Put me down for at the minimum of 3 batteries.
I'm an Antique auto battery user who made the Willard copy with acid.
Thanks
Christopher
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