GPW 70219, USN 39252 (picture heavy)

[nirvana]

I bought this from Tom Wolboldt last year and have been working on stripping it down and finding parts. It was a Navy purchase directly from Ford, and apparently never had an army hood number applied. (Part of a batch of 653 GPWs made in 1942) It was painted grey over the green, quite well might I add, and then had stenciled with the black Navy hood number, but not USN. The USN is on the green layer, in white paint... I have had no luck finding any other markings of note, as the humidity took a good toll on the paint before I got it. It is going to be frame off, and as of late it looks very little like these pictures. It needs a new rear floor, a good bit of frame work, and a complete drivetrain rebuild. I have a correct GPW engine and radiator waiting for it. Aside from a few brackets, it was pretty complete.

Overall shot, from the ebay auction....


Front corner, needs some work on the horns...


Hood numbers


Very complete underhood, except for the horn and master cylinder shield.


Had the engine replaced with an MB while in service in 1956. The engine is all standard, according to the tag. Haven't opened it yet, but it turns freely. Anyone know what "ASH MIDDX" means? The filter bracket also had a plate welded to the underside of it to keep it from cracking, apparently done in the motor pool.


Gauges will need to be gone over, but I have some repro's to hold me over until I decide to fool with them. Are these correct for a Oct 1942 GPW?


Overall shot of the dash, showing some rust. The floor is toast in the back, but the front will turn out okay with some metal work. Ive got a donor tub for the sections where the T-90 was put in. Aside from cutting open the floor, no other mods were done that I can tell. The engine was moved forward without altering the mounts, Ive got a spare crossmember, etc. Note the correct small mouth F marked gas tank. Ive got a correct seat to go with it, needing some work as well....


Just to show the overspray of the blue over green. They painted the inside of the fenders, the firewall insulation, but didn't remove the transmission cover. Anyhow, you can see how the grey held better to the cardboard than it did to the metal.


Bonus points for correct welded air filter, GPW fuel filter...


Thanks all
C

[Mark Tombleson]

That is a very cool jeep with interesting history and a good restoration project.

I don't know what the plate means but it may be wise to post that photo on the tech board... someone is sure to know.

[Chuck Lutz]

Middlesex......not a sexual thing....once a County in England that surrounded the City of London....now just look up bases or towns in that region of Old Blighty and you will know where that depot is located

[nirvana]

Response from another thread:

"The plate on your engine tells you that it was rebuilt/checked at the royal electrical and mechanical engineers depot,feltham road, Ashford(TOWN) Middlesex(COUNTY) England in January ,1956."

thanks all

[Dixiejarhead]

Do you know which numbers were part of the contract? Where did you acquire this one from?

My jeep I have long suspected it was a navy jeep, but cannot know for sure. I got it in new orleans, the previous 3 owners all were from the NOLA area, I think mine came from southern mississippi. My serial is GPW70355

Thanks and great find!

[nirvana]

This is a document Mark Tombleson posted on another thread.




In the 7th block down, you can see 653 jeeps ordered under contract 11424. Under "USA Registration No." it says "Navy Department, meaning they didn't have army hood numbers.

Most of the info comes from this thread:
http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=147701&hilit=11424#p852444

There seems to be a serial number block forming of known jeeps that has led to speculation that these were part of this batch.

I haven't seen anything that sets it in concrete, but if there are known navy jeeps with the numbers 70219, 70239, 70355, it looks pretty reasonable. Also, from the USN hood number thread are jeeps within the same hood number range as mine, that are 42 GPW's...
-39224---------------------42 GPW w / motor # 48488
-39252---------------------10/?/42 GPW # 70219 ( Painted Gray over OD )
-39277---------------------42 GPW w / motor # 50975

[Dixiejarhead]

Thank you for the information. I will look some more at mine for any more clues.

[Dixiejarhead]

Been taking mine apart for some much needed work. Found Navy Grey on it in several places. I will get pics up ASAP so you can see and tell me what you think. Took the grill, fenders and hood off, and where the fenders meet the tub it's a light colored grey. I don't think it's primer either. On the tail gate under a "hinge" on a homemade tailgate there is a letter "I" and more grey. The tailgate looks like it may have been done right after the war and possibly by the military...

[griffo220]

Hi Nirvana
Interesting vehicle there! US Navy all over but with an English re conditioned engine unless the rest of the vehicle was from England? I know that the depot down in ashford was still operating a few years ago as they used to re condition train engines for a company I used to work for, I aslo know that some English army vehicle records where kept so check this website.

For £25 they might be able to set you free from suffering??

http://www.army.mod.uk/rlc/history/17719.aspx

The RLC Museum holds the Army B Vehicle History cards previously held by the Museum of Army Transport. These cards can help trace the history of individual Army soft-skin vehicles that were in service with the British Army from the early 1940s.

The RLC Museum offers owners of B Vehicles the opportunity to obtain a scanned copy of the vehicle history card for their vehicle.



Dave