Posted: 9/8/2023 1:22:41 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Aguas][Edited]
Behold! I am not the handiest mechanic and I barely know how to weld or do body work. But I have taken my little army jeep (M38A1) apart and blasted and painted every. single. part....to this point anyways. I'm down to body work, of which there is not alot of serious stuff, and assembly to include some customization of wiring, fitment of custom parts. To summarize the history of this jeep, I bought it in 2016 as my first project vehicle ever. I didn't even have kids back then. It was spruced up twenty years prior and looked great on top from 10 feet but was a bit slapped together. Very original though, very complete. I barely used it and it ended up sitting as I moved on to bigger and better things in the military vehicle hobby. Now those things are being sold off and the Jeep has become priority/obsession.  Humvee helps its geriatric forebearer get from the little garage to the big shop  I managed to get the entire military collection in one shot for once. The LMTV has just sold and the humvee is next. But that one is going to really break my heart. The 1943 BSA motorbike in the foreground may sell before I restore it. I haven't decided. I don't have any ww2 stuff other than it and it doesn't take up much room.  Enter: 2012 Kubota V-2403M with low miles and hours from a genset. Goodbye anemic F134 boatanchor  Spring 2022 I moved it into my big shop and started taking it apart. I developed the abilities and tools to sandblast, prime/paint, rebuild gearboxes etc. Intensely slow processes to get moving but a year later I had a big stack of fresh looking parts and a rolling chassis on a clean frame, with drivetrain installed. Got the tub on a simple wooden rotisserie I made with stuff I had. Have removed three to four paint layers to reveal previous body work by the last private owner in the 1990s. Very little rust, a decent amount of pounded out dents. Slowly learning how to cut out and weld patches in. Stalled out three months ago due to work on the house, property, watching the kids and starting a new business. I hope to get the body done before it gets really cold around here.  I managed to clean and paint the kubota, freshen seals etc and change what small things needed changing for use in a jeep. Note: Overland Diesel in Canada is the only reason I was able to do this, I cannot fab adaptors and there was a wealth of knowledge there for putting japanese industrial engines in a willys. The Kubota is now OD green/black in the same ways the F134 was when it was put in in the Kaiser factory back in 53. With some more shiny spinny parts over on the exhaust manifold.  You'll notice a Saturn style overdrive in bare aluminum attached to the factory D18 transfercase. In fact the T90 and D18 are the same ones the jeep came with. I rebuilt them and replaced anything the least bit worn out. The jeeps need one anyways, and the new engine will make it even more necessary with these 5.38 gears. I got this OD new from Herm the OD guy, complete with the shifter. I used an extra knob I had that matches the tranny shift knob and cut herms threads off (his generic shift knob looks like a little black billiards ball) and welded on the correct threads I needed. Now the OD shift lever looks factory and like its supposed to be there. 4 levers! Now I'm sitting with a mostly bare tub while I learn how to correctly patch a few bad spots. This jeep was babied since 53, and garaged since the 90s or it would'nt have looked this good. The several spots of banged out dents will take some learning with filler.   A big pile of freshly blasted and primed/painted parts awaits the tub and jeep once its ready. Every little footman loop, bolt, gauge, what have you. I've already mounted the new tires myself, reinserted the original windshield glass myself, etc. I reluctantly made the change to 24v american bosch wiper motors and ditched the trico vacuum wipers due to....no longer having a vacuum pump. But for the most part this jeep will be original on the outside. Down to the stencils and the paint code and terrible NDCC tires. Jeep will stay 24v like original, I'll be able to reuse every gauge I believe. I've probably got a good year left to go at the slow pace i'm moving. |
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Very nice. The end result will be fantastic....can't wait to see it when it's done. Attached File |
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Originally Posted By TheDirtyLarry: Oooohhhhh the overdrive really sets it apart for me I love a restoration but actually being able to drive it around is so much cooler. Good job! From what others are saying, it'll still be a 55mph vehicle, but its pretty tiny so I'm happy. I didn't want to regear it, but I suppose its a possibility. Its 5.38 stock. I just got a mig welder, never welded a thing in my life. I cut the threads off the overdrive shifter to put on a spare knob I have (from the old fuel primer lever on the jeep) that had very different threads. Managed to weld on a cut down bolt and make it look seamless. I'm happy with how it turned out. I forgot to mention I'm using disk brake conversions from Brennan's Garage. 90s geo tracker disks front and back. I had to redo the drums and replace all the lines anyways so I just upgraded. I like that parts come from any carparts place and not one of several grouchy old guy parts sites. |
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Originally Posted By chumpmiester: Nice job on the mod to diesel. I normally don't care for mods to classic military vehicles, a small diesel engine makes sense in this situation. I'm usually more of a purist, but I worked up to this after several years. Little things with the OG engine irked me; things like there being no real manufacturer for appropriately sized rear main seals, and no source of good reproduction bits and pieces for them helped me decide to swap to modern equipment. I'm bending over backwards to keep the 24v gauges though. I may still be able to use a foot starter switch and use the power switch to kill the engine like original. Paint is dead on and markings will be totally legitimate. |
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Originally Posted By Aguas: I'm usually more of a purist, but I worked up to this after several years. Little things with the OG engine irked me; things like there being no real manufacturer for appropriately sized rear main seals, and no source of good reproduction bits and pieces for them helped me decide to swap to modern equipment. I'm bending over backwards to keep the 24v gauges though. I may still be able to use a foot starter switch and use the power switch to kill the engine like original. Paint is dead on and markings will be totally legitimate. I could never bring myself to modifying the M170 since it still had the original factory serial number tag and original data plate. Numbers on both matched each other and the frame. The guy that bought it decided to fix as much as possible and keep it as a surviver without any mods. He hauls his grandkids around the farm in it. |
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Originally Posted By chumpmiester: I had a 1962 M170 that sat in the garage for 12+ years without touching it simply because I couldn't find parts I needed for it. And of course, it was all the M170 specific parts that I needed like seats, fuel tank, etc. I finally sold it last year. I could never bring myself to modifying the M170 since it still had the original factory serial number tag and original data plate. Numbers on both matched each other and the frame. The guy that bought it decided to fix as much as possible and keep it as a surviver without any mods. He hauls his grandkids around the farm in it. I've flipped past the m170 pages in the ORD-9 manual a thousand times, there certainly are alot of specific parts. |
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Originally Posted By Aguas: I've flipped past the m170 pages in the ORD-9 manual a thousand times, there certainly are alot of specific parts. |
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