GPW113491 USN DD378

[Ronnie Guin]

I started on the restoration of this jeep back around 2002 after finishing my first restoration of GPW62353. While working on GPW113491 I bought GPW2956 and diverted my attention to restoring it first. Well after many years of on again off again work on GPW113491, it is about to breath new life tomorrow. A little note about this jeep. When I bought it it had a CJ motor and was running, but the deal was the owner got to keep the motor for another jeep he had. After I drove the jeep and made the deal he pulled the motor. As I was loading the jeep up he casual mentioned that he had another old motor I could have if I wanted it. Of course I took it and did not pay much attention to it until I got home. To my suprise it was the matching motor serial number GPW113491 to the frame. WOW the original motor came very close to getting separated from the frame and tub! This jeep came with a GPW T84 and GPW XFR case. The steering wheel has a block "F" stamped in the center of the wheel. I found a rare 1943 USN jerry can to put on the back. I painted the jeep OD first then gloss gray over that.

Anyway I never was able to determine if this was really a Navy jeep or not, I did find some gray paint inside the tub and odd gray paint on the underside of the hood, but it may have been just gray primer. The rest of the jeep had been sanded to the metal at some point and all of the bow top holes welded up. No numbers, stars or anything else were recovered.
I have painted the jeep and stenciled it in honor of my Grandfathers WWII ship he served on the USS Smith DD378 a destroyer in the South Pacific that was in many a battle and lost some of its crew in a suicide plane attack.
The Buffalo nickle was found inside the GPW steering tube and you can see how the ball rub on it. All of the steering lingage and pivots were original GPW "F" marked. You never know what you going to find?

[Gary C]

Real nice job Ronnie.


Cheers Gary

[051743GPW]

Hi Ronnie. Nice USN Jeep. As a matter of interest, I have GPW113262 in the middle of restoration as I type this. Close to your number, I unfortunately do not have the correct motor now but am looking. My GPW was first painted OD, then USMC Green, then USN Gray, so I am going USMC. My jeep did not have any gray primer on it anywhere. Because the numbers are so close and your jeep had some gray paint on it, I think there is a very good possibility that it was a Navy Jeep. All my numbers were removed except for some unrecognizable lettering on the bumperetts.

Mark

[Ronnie Guin]

Thanks for the info Mark. I figure mine was not in service long since it had it original motor. Are you located near Alabama? My other jeep GPW2956 was bought at a Army base in Georgia in 1946 and I ran across a guy in Georgia that once own GPW2955. So maybe our jeeps were once in the same area?

[Halsey]

Very nice work! You can definitely tell you have put a lot of effort into that restoration.


Well done!


Chris