rear side reflectors?

[GPW7588]

Hi all,

I purchased two replacement red side reflectors for my GPW in England in the summer. I was about to whip the old yellow ones off when my brother stopped me saying that in his opinion they looked as if they were on the jeep from the beginning and to check it out first.

At a Military vehicle show in Port Stewart in Northern Ireland two weeks later, I met with a few GPW owners and I discussed this with them. They all agreed that GPW side reflectors should be yellow.

The late war ones were more oval shaped, I think I have read that it changed from round to oval in'45 (I'm talking about the metal reflector retainer which is screwed to the tub, not the glass itself).

Anyway,
what do you all reckon?

[Chuck Lutz]

The April 42 TM 10-1349 calls for FOUR of the reflector assemblies and gives ONE part number so it would seem all FOUR are the same....and that would mean all four have red inserts.

[GPW7588]

The two red ones on the back are

1X Stimsonite No.12
1X Tiger Ey No. 100 (I think its 100, bit hard to tell)

[mr rusty]

Hi Eugene,

All standard MB's and GPW's should have all four red reflectors. I think the yellow reflectors are for the sides of larger MV's (and possibly trailers) 2 1/2 ton upwards. If you do a search on one of those forums you may find some more info. Hope this helps.

Pete

[Jon]

Go to:-
http://jeepdraw.com/PART_COLOURS.htm
Read....
-REFLECTORS - SIDE & REAR

You might find it interesting to see what the first contract GPW reflectors are with regards make, model, colour etc..

JR

[GPW7588]

Thanks all,

It looks like they should be red then. I noticed that there is no text on the yellow ones at all. I have two red replacements anyway.

I think my steering wheel may need to be changed, it is the metal type one. And I think possibly the air filter. Mine is the oaks type with the instructions stamped into the casing.

I have acquired a set of rubber grommets for the tail lights, I think they should be on it also.

Any ideas?

DOD is 23rd March '42.

[lt.luke]

they were red when new. they could have faded to pink, orangish or even white. Bubba could have changed them, as some places required orange to be placed on the sides, after the war.

You are right on target. You should have a "decal" oakes, four red reflectors (brands as annotated in the JeepDraw), and a Sheller type steering wheel (I'll go on a limb here and say probably should be black).

Yes, it probably should have the gromets for the tail lights.

[GPW7588]

Hi Luke,

do you mean my side reflectors could possibly have turned from red to yellow, or that they were changed for the road or something?

I reckoned my air filter should be the AC pancake looking thing?

[lt.luke]

Hi Luke,

do you mean my side reflectors could possibly have turned from red to yellow, or that they were changed for the road or something?

Yes, that's exactly the two options I'm suggesting. "Yellow" is a wierd color for them to fade to, generally they go from red to pink to white, BUT anything is possible, as they weather really funny.

I reckoned my air filter should be the AC pancake looking thing?

I think they only had those in the first couple of thousand GPWs. OTHER OPINIONS? My guess is you need the standard size/shape with the instructions sticker. It'll be cheaper and easier to find.

Cheers and good luck!

[GPW7588]

Hi Luke,

I took one of the side reflectors off. There is no writing on it at all. And there does not seem to be a metal backing on the bezel i.e. if you hold the entire enclosure up to the light, you can see through it. I didn't take the stimsonite or the Tiger-ey off the back to see what they are like.

The two replacements I purchased in UK have metal backs on them. The bezels are marked:

GUIDE A-2 NO. 408 C MADE IN USA and F marked.

The red glass is marked 'STRATOLITE NO.38.

I joined a forum in the town my jeep was in in England. Its nothing to do with jeeps, just a community form. I posted a request for info on the jeep and attached a photo.

I think my jeep belonged to a guy who was a scrap metal dealer, who passed away while ago. It seems he had a few jeeps over the years.

I found out there is a local vehicle group, who I have contacted too.

So, soon I should know a lot more about my jeep!

C ya

[lt.luke]

Great stuff. It sounds like they are aftermarket reflectors added to comply with local regulations.

Good luck with the information gathering!

[Ian Fawbert]

Hi Eugene and Luke,

I think your jeep (Eugene) should actually have the AC pancake filter. I dont know exactly when it changed over, however i know that GPW 10886 had a pancake filter on it- this jeep was on ebay back in 2004. A f script pancake will be harder to find than a normal pancake, so that could be a route to go until a f script one comes along.


In regards to the reflectors, i`d agree with what Luke has said. However getting a set of the tiger ey reflectors to replace your 2 yellow and the stisonite wont be easy. To my knoweldge neither the tiger ey reflector is yet reproduced (its being worked on as i understand) and the Do ray bezel which your tiger ey is housed in i am 99.9% sure is not being reproduced.

You should be able to find the bezels, however finding the reflectors will proove trickier i think.

I`d also agree 7588 should have the grommets on the tail lights.

Good luck with the hunt for info on your jeep from the previous owner- it sounds like you've found the right places!

Cheers,
Ian.

[Mike Wright]

Hi Eugene and Luke,

I think your jeep (Eugene) should actually have the AC pancake filter. I dont know exactly when it changed over, however i know that GPW 10886 had a pancake filter on it- this jeep was on ebay back in 2004. A f script pancake will be harder to find than a normal pancake, so that could be a route to go until a f script one comes along.


In regards to the reflectors, i`d agree with what Luke has said. However getting a set of the tiger ey reflectors to replace your 2 yellow and the stisonite wont be easy. To my knoweldge neither the tiger ey reflector is yet reproduced (its being worked on as i understand) and the Do ray bezel which your tiger ey is housed in i am 99.9% sure is not being reproduced.

You should be able to find the bezels, however finding the reflectors will proove trickier i think.

I`d also agree 7588 should have the grommets on the tail lights.

Good luck with the hunt for info on your jeep from the previous owner- it sounds like you've found the right places!

Cheers,
Ian.

HI,
I agree with Ian and Luke as to the pancake "F" air cleaner and the Tiger-Eye reflectors. They should be Tiger-Eye No: 100's and red.

Ian,
I am still working on the reflectors. I have 1 side of the mode done. I got kinda delayed. Hope to start again this weekend.
WHEN I get a prototype done i'll send it to you for your opinion!
Mike.

[lt.luke]

Mike, carefull partner...

You can't agree with BOTH me and Ian. I said "sticker" and he said pancake. He's probably right.

I'm looking forward to the reflector. Pack it well so it doesn't look original (ie broken) when it gets here!

[Tom Wolboldt]

Hello Group,

Ian - Do you have any other data for GPW 10886 from the eBay auction ?

Eugene - At this time I would say you could use either the pancake air cleaner or the sticker type Oakes one. There were 8000 AC pancake air cleaners to be used on the first contract production and at the end of the day on March 23, 1942 7937 GPWs had been built. Both figures are from Ford Archives of GPW production / contract records.

Each plant should/could have run out of the pancake air cleaner at different times. The records of when the change happened at each plant may or may not ever be found.

The air cleaners appear to have been shipped to the assembly plants seperate as loose parts instead of having been assembled on the body prior to shipping.