1952 M38 & Introduction

TagNewk · Post by **TagNewk** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 2:05 pm

Hi everyone, my name is Tami and my husband is Gene. He recently found an old jeep on a farm coming home from work. He originally wanted to turn it in to an off-road toy and talked to the farmer. The farmer's son hadn't done anything with the jeep in over twenty years and he was happy to see someone interested in it. We bought the jeep for $300, and once we looked at it closer discovered it wasn't your standard jeep.

I started researching and believe the jeep is a 1952 M38, serial number 63189. Once we discovered this, we decided that we would like to restore the jeep to original condition. My brother and niece are also excited to work on it with us. It will be a bit of work and time, but we're all excited about the project.

The engine was pulled in the past to put in a 302 but they never put it in, a roll bar was added and a few other changes made. Most/all? of the parts except the engine are in boxes. I'm hoping the data plates and instruments are in there.

Here are some pictures of the jeep on the farm.

The patent plate on the wheel well. Any suggestions for cleaning it without ruining it are appreciated.

The front grill and firewall. The hood, fenders and tailgate are detached but laying inside the jeep.

Arctic window (no doors or top were there). Looks like someone covered the battery box???

The dash

And finally bringing it home!! We set the hood on it and the seats inside. There are many boxes of parts, along with fenders and tailgate in the truck. It looks like the snorkel cutout was covered.

The full album is here, https://plus.google.com/photos/11463291 ... 3059845073. If you have any advice or observations or comments I'd love to hear. I'll be sure to keep you updated as we progress.

Tami

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:07 pm

Hi Tamora,
First things first. Do not use anything on any of the plates except for brake fluid. Put them in a container, lay them flat, cover with the brake fluid and let set. Maybe 24 hours. Then check to see if all that gunk peeled off. If not, do it again. It should all soften and come off. Any abrasives will scratch the plates beyond repair and they are worth much more than they weigh.

Congratulations on your find and thanks for saving another old warhorse.
Wes and others will give you much more information but please fill out the survey form as it will answer many questions right off.

It looks like it had a heater or certainly the hole was cut in the dash for the heater installation. So the dash plates were screwed or riveted to one plate which was then attached to the dash and covered that round hole just right of center. Look up Iceman 1952. He has several posts here as well as a separate webpage, http://52m38.blogspot.com/ where he documents pulling a V6 from his M38 and putting a four back in, and had to do many of the modifications that you will have to do to bring it back to stock, the steering box being an obvious item.

Looks like Bubba welded or bolted that roll bar to the tops of the wheelhouses like he did mine. Of course in a rollover all it would do would give you more stuff to be pinned by, as the wheelhouses would just crush.
Our buddy Bubba.

Good news/bad news about that gas tank. Bad news is someone cut a square hole out of one corner. Good news is that it is a CJ tank and not an M38 tank. Good because Bubba didn't scrap out an M38 tank with that mod. Well, bad news because to replace it with an M38 even a repop won't be inexpensive.

I do hope you are right in that there are a lot of boxes of parts as it looks like a lot of stuff is missing. But don't be discouraged. Many have been in your position and it is better to have one in hand no matter what condition than none at all!

Well, ask Wes for a photo page and get us up to speed with details with that survey form.

Welcome to the party!

aforests · Post by **aforests** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:13 pm

4x4M38 wrote:Hi Tamora,
First things first. Do not use anything on any of the plates except for brake fluid. Put them in a container, lay them flat, cover with the brake fluid and let set. Maybe 24 hours. Then check to see if all that gunk peeled off. If not, do it again. It should all soften and come off. Any abrasives will scratch the plates beyond repair and they are worth much more than they weigh.

Stick with DOT 3 brake fluid. Will clean that plate up nicely.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:17 pm

Hey Wes,
Is that Strata Blue peeking out from under there?

Bill_F · Post by **Bill_F** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:53 pm

Looks like strata blue to me.

TagNewk · Post by **TagNewk** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 6:03 pm

I wasn't expecting so many replies so quickly. Thanks everyone. I'll be sure to fill out the survey.

We have some Dot brake fluid. I'll be sure to use it and keep all abrasives away. The plate is in such bad shape I was afraid to touch it without advice.

I'm glad to know about the gas tank. Hopefully there aren't too many other parts that have been swapped like that. I've read a few posts about the gas tank and the difficulties finding them. We're still organizing a work space so we haven't started looking through all the boxes yet. I'm hoping we get all set up and organized soon so we can start doing some work.

The roll bars are part welded and part bolted to the wheel housing. Luckily we have a good welder to help us. One of my niece's good friends grew up restoring 30's and 40's models cars with his grandfather for show. Right out of high school he got his welding certs. so he could get a good job and some extra knowledge to continue his grandfathers work in his spare time.

There is a lot of blue on the body parts. I read the some of the debates about the strata blue paint. It looks like it might be the bottom layer in some places, but we haven't started sanding anything yet and I really can't say. I wouldn't be surprised to find USAF hood numbers. We live about 15 minutes from an air force base and they occasionally have vehicle auctions. If it is an air force jeep, I want to restore it as one. If I discover other numbers, we'll restore it to match.

Thanks for the post to Iceman 1952's blog. He did a great job documenting his progress. Until we get the garage all set up to start work, I'm actively reading and trying to learn everything I can. I'm the historian, advisor and detail person and happy to learn and get advice.

Thanks again everyone and look forward to more,
Tami

TagNewk · Post by **TagNewk** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:43 pm

Oh yeah, how do I get images in the post? I used the img tag but not correctly apparently.

Thanks,
Tami

aforests · Post by **aforests** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 8:03 pm

Request a photo album and then you can tag from there!

Post by **wesk** » Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:05 pm

Tami,
Since you already have a Google photo account and have 27 loaded there just link them between the

as you already have done but make sure the link you use is one that is open to the public from your google photo account.

TagNewk · Post by **TagNewk** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 12:13 am

Thank you for the help with the pictures, Wes. Also thank you for putting together such an informative and great site!

Tami

Texbillhs · Post by **Texbillhs** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:21 pm

Looks like the same tub I have - ACME repro. Notice the 2nd battery case with cover isn't there, the dash is MB, but the tool indents are there. That's how mine started. I had to re-do the dash, put in the battery box change the hand brake and a lot of other things to make it M38. See photos page 11, I think, the one with the diagram about center page. Mine was about 2years work. Without an engine you have a few years ahead of you, but wait until you get it done. The M38 is really fun

Texbillhs · Post by **Texbillhs** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:23 pm

Page 8. Member photos

Texbillhs · Post by **Texbillhs** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:04 pm

My mistake, the dash isn't mb. Its m38. It could be the battery cover was filled in.

Kendall · Post by **Kendall** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:56 pm

The front spring shackles do not appear to be original for an M38.
Kendall

Post by **wesk** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:46 pm

That's called a Bubba Lift!