Oakes wrote:Fred, Keith look at that 2A diagram again. It's a 45 diagram. Note the light switch which I heard was only on the first 150 or so CJ2A's. Maybe the MB/GPW horns used on the earliest 2A's were simple buybacks, maybe primarily Ford, and the intended horn for the 2A was the later short trumpet horn and the intended light switch was the one shown in the picture but a cheaper one was found early in production.
Hi Bill:
The wiring diagram I posted lists WO part number 641266 for item #22, the light switch assembly, so it is the slightly later CJ-2A light switch and not the Douglas A-457 light switch (WO # 640113) used on the first 215 CJ-2A jeeps [per the 1965 Service Manual for "Jeep" Universal, Section I, page 144] or the first 242 CJ-2A jeeps [per the unidentified Service Manual cited by Sean.] Heck, the A-457 Douglas light switch, WO # 640113, was never listed in the 1945 CJ-2A Parts List because it had already been superceeded by 641622 when the 1945 CJ-2A Parts List was first published in Fall 1945 (see below).
Although the diagram uses the outline of an A-457 Douglas switch, that outline represents whatever headlight switches were used in the CJ-2A during the time period covered by the Parts List, not solely the Douglas A-457 switch. So to me, the wiring diagram is accurate for early 1946 CJ-2A jeeps because of the part numbers listed in the key. And the 641622 headlight switch was used on CJ-2A jeeps at the same time as was the A-17715 horn, so no problem there.
To me, in a publication named a parts list, the part numbers listed within a diagram prevail over the outlines in the diagram itself. In the heirarchy of accuracy, the part numbers trump the diagram. I've seen too many instances where old, not longer accurate photos or innacurate diagrams were still used by WO after a change because their purposes was to represent, rather than accurately depict, the parts referred to by their specific part number. Parts counter guys order parts by their number, not their outlines.
So, you ask, why do I use the wiring diagram I posted as personal "proof positive" evidence of the short trumpet on the A-17715 horn while admitting it simutaneously inaccccurately depicts the shape of the 641622 light switch? Because the 1945 CJ-2A Parts List was published in Fall 1945, after a few thousand CJ-2A jeep had been built, as indicated by many early production changes such as semi-floating rear axle, to name but one. I think the wiring diagram on page 45 in the 1945 Parts List was revised before publication to show the short trumpet on the A-17715 horn because that change was easy to make due to the horn being by itself on the diagram; just erase the long trumpet and sketch in a short one. The light switch, by contrast, has connecting wires in particular locations and would be more difficult to redraw, to no great purpose that could not be better served by simply changing the light switch part number. It simply as not worth the effort to redraw the Douglas light switch.
To genernalize a bit, a parts list diagram is merely representative of the actual part, while the part number describes a particular part. The wiring diagram I posted is not an engineering drawing of the wiring harness, so it cannot be taken literally for all purposes. If enlarged to acutal size, the wiring shown in the diagram might not fit in an actual CJ-2A jeep because in the diagram components might be moved around to show their relative, as opposed to actual, positions. Nevertheless, I think diagrams can be selectively cited as evidence for some purposes, and those choices are a matter of judgment that comes from studying and working with parts lists and related materials over a long period of time.
Oakes wrote:We all know about F script hinges on the 2A's. Maybe Willys ran out of MB horns for MB's and used the short trumpet horn and after the war Ford had some WWll long trumpets so they were used on the 2A's! Whatcha think? I have seen at least three very early 18H pto's w/ GPA shift handles too. Didn't Ford cease production before Willys? This would answer why the F script bits on CJ2A's. Anyone have F script bits on late MB's?
I think, but cannot prove, WO simply "used up" on the first 3,909 CJ-2A jeeps the "on hand stock" of A-1312 long trumpet horns left over when the MB changed to the A-17715 short trumpet horn in Summer 1945. WO may have acquired some of those long trumpet horns from their own horn suppliers after Ford cancelled contracts or may have acquired them directly from Ford, but I have no evidence of either actually happening; its mere speculation.