Starting restoration on Michael's ’43 GPW.

[ILikePlanesToo]

A little update:
The pintle cleaned up quite well. It has some large dents in it from a trailer lounet getting smacked into it sometime in the past, but I actually like the character of a few small blemishes.

I've been cleaning up a lot of small hardware lately and getting small kits of hardware set aside for each part. I'm replacing some hardware here and there, but overall I'm quite pleased with the condition of the original bolts.

Michael

[HH Birnie]

I was able to tease up some hood paint and figure out the hood number (20385939). I found some cool old photos from Los Alamos showing "jeeps" in use during the Manhattan Project. I'd love to find more photos, so I can get a better plan for numbering and painting details.

On a somewhat related topic, my GPW doesn't have combat rims.... At first I figured that someone along the way put solid civilian (CJ2a) rims on it, but someone told me that because it was intended for use only in the US during the war that it might have had solid rims form the beginning. Has anyone heard of that scenario, or do you think that it had it's combat rims removed at some point?

El-Rancho-Decomposo:
Yup. The chemical dipping place is in Santa Fe Springs, CA. I talked to the guy there for a while on the phone. He seemed to really know his stuff. I bet it would be great, but it seems so expensive compared to sand blasting....

Michael

Hello on the next link are a lot of pictures related to hoodnr's,perhaps you find the right picture.
http://www.ww2jeep.gportal.hu/gindex.php?pg=28806986

Gr Birnie
viewtopic.php?f=96&t=137039

[ILikePlanesToo]

Thanks for the link. There area lot of great photos there.

Thanks,
Michael

[ILikePlanesToo]

This one is really close to my hood number:
It is 20385944-S and my number is 20385939. That's kind of cool. I wonder if they were made at the same plant on the same day? Anyone know what the "S" means?

Michael

[zepher11]

Hi Michael,

The "S" on the cowl indicates that the Jeep passed the radio interference suppression test. I believe that means the Jeep's electronics didn't interfere with any radio reception or transmission. I could be wrong, but someone that knows for sure will/can chime in.

I also found a Jeep in that database of pictures two digits form my original hood number. That's pretty neat you found one close as well.

Your project's looking good!

Take care,

[ILikePlanesToo]

I've almost finished up the small parts around the engine and grill. Everything is cleaning up well, but I have found cracks in a number of parts (headlight hinges, oil filter bracket...). TIG welding with 4130 filler seems to work well and the parts look really nice after painting.

I think I'm going to get into the windshield next. The more I look at it, the more problems I find with the inner windshield frame. Almost the entire lower rail is rusted out.....

Michael

[Fat Albert]

Looking good Michael!

Can you post some before and in process pictures of that windshield? Mine is in very rough shape... Rusted really bad behind the outer frame. I'd like to see how you're going about it. I am really enjoying your work... It's top notch stuff!

Dutch

[thidisbogus]

Michael,

Your parts are looking good. You evidently have a bead blasting cabinet? There is nothing like a bead blaster to bring that metal back to factory fresh appearance. The inner windshield is one of the mostdifficult parts to find unmolested enough to reuse. They seem to rust out easily. I had to replace mine too.

I tried to go the cheap route and paid like two hundred bucks or something for a used one that looked good in the pictures but once I blasted it, had little rust pinholes all through it. I fortunately recovered most of my cost. I put it on ebay being totally honest about its condition with photos. You know who bought it? A person in California that planned to use it to compliment a WW2 shadow box! You never know.....

I bought a USA made one from Ron and am very happy with it. It looks very well made. It is expensive but I think it is one of those times where you get what you pay for.

[ILikePlanesToo]

Here is a little more on my inner windshield frame:

It's probably hard to see in the picture, but water must have frequently pooled in the lower rail of the inner frame. As it froze repeatedly, it puffed up the rail and spit it most of the way along the bottom. It really swelled it up. It's a bummer too because the frame would have otherwise been fine. I tried several ways to fix it (TIG welding, silver soldering...), but the material was just too thin and rusted on the inside.

I got a full frame from Ron. I think it was a MB Juan part. I wanted to use as much of the original metal as possible, so only I cut the lower rail out of it. I cleaned up all the other salvageable parts, and I think I can make a nice (mostly original metal) frame with only a new lower rail.

I need to wait and see how it all turns out, but I think I'm going to have a lot of spare inner frame parts if anyone needs them.

I had to do a few fixes to other parts of the frame. The wiper holes were all worn out, so I TIG welded in small steel sleeves to get them back to size. Some of the bolt holes were over-sized, so I welded them up and re-drilled them in the right spots. Also, the internal corner brackets had all the bolts broken off in the tapped holes, so I had to mill and drill them out to be re-tapped.

Next, I'll weld it all back together and put the old center handle back on it.

Michael

[Fat Albert]

Great work! Thanks for posting the pics. As I mentioned earlier, mine is also in terrible shape... I've been afraid almost to touch it. Your account is giving direction and courage! Please keep the pics and explanations coming!

Dutch

[ILikePlanesToo]

I got the inner windshield frame all TIG welded back together again. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I checked that it was staying square several times while I was tack-welding it, so it turned out quite true. I was a little worried that the heat from brazing the original center handle back on would warp it, but it seems to have stayed nice and straight. I think I'll wait to paint it until after I fit check the glass.

Michael

[zepher11]

Michael,

Great work on the inner frame. I know I will have a bit of work to do on my project's inner and outer frame. You mentioned puffy and I do recall that look on my inner frame. Now I know what it was from I'm not looking forward to that project, but as Dutch mentioned, you photos and descripton provides courage for those of us that will embark on that project later.

Keep up the good work!

[ILikePlanesToo]

I had a good weekend working on the GPW. I got the grill finished up and painted. After it was all blasted clean, I found a few cracks that needed welding up. There were also a few good sized dents, but overall, I thought the grill was in pretty goo shape. I actually had a local shop abrasive blast the grill as a test to see if i liked working with them. The grill was $20 to blast. I think it turned out well. I'm not sure I will use them for small stuff like this again, but I will likely use them for the tub and frame.

I guess it's the larges part I have finished. The next big thing will be the front fenders. There is a lot of rust damage that I'm dreading....

Michael

[ILikePlanesToo]

While I was waiting for paint to dry on the grill, I cleaned up the radiator a bit. I need to do a pressurized leak-check, but it looks pretty good. I need to do a little solder work on it, and I think I can re-paint it. I'm not totally sure if it's original. I've been looking at a lot of photos, and I'm starting to think it might be out of a M38. It has a slotted tab at the top and I recall that the GPW tab just had a hole. Either way, I think I'll use it because it's in really good shape and I can always replace it in the future if I want to.

The outer windshield frame is coming along. I had to do a ton of welding on it. It was in a lot worse shape than I thought. The sheet metal is really quite dented. I spent a few hours with a body hammer and dolly, and I just can't get it totally smooth. I've decided to leave it for nostalgia sake. I actually think a lot of the small dents around the outside of the sheet metal are from when it was made. I'd like it to look nice, but I really don't want to over-restore it.....

Michael

[Dale Jordan]

This is a great thread well done Michael .. What type of metal primer are you using ..Dale