willysmjeeps.com

I took leave today.

Ran by the machine shop to check on progress. They have bored the cylinders. But in line to be decked. He said he is going to try saving the serial number, but can restamp it.



No where near ready to be built.


Should be ready to pick up in April.

No cracks in the block is great news! And a block that's never been decked before is also a bonus!

The cylinder bores looked sleeved already? How much overbore on the cylinders did they do?

They haven’t been sleeved. The Jeep only had 30k miles (and title original miles)

I think he said 30 over.

Well after 30 minutes looking for it, I found the old main shaft gear, but took me a little longer to realize I did not buy a replacement! Ugh....
I really want an overdrive.but can’t justify spending 10x for a herms overdrive set up just yet.
Will get on and order a new gear.

I did mate the transmission and transfer case together today. I had hoped to spray paint them together today but the WX temp started dropping quick.
Not a fan of how the push on transmission knob fits. May thread it and make a knob for it.



Earlier today I went to the big orange box store to look for a 1 1/4” socket. The two I owned are too thick walled to fit to tighten the nut.

Between the two available there, I bought the chromed 12point Huskey instead of the 6 point impact socket.
The minimal difference in their size allowed me to get it in there.



My NOS horn rod came in today too. About 9” difference in what my chopped up one was compared to the correct one. Will deal with it tomorrow.

You can buy screw on knobs.

Thanks for that shot of the nut being tightened.

Been following with interest an jealousy. It all looks so good.

If you want to keep original you could epoxy the shift knob, or drill it out a bit and epoxy in a threaded insert. Just my 1/4 cent thoughts.

April I've got 2 spare 26T gears I will be happy to send you one for the price of postage. Nice and clean they are.

RICKG wrote:April I've got 2 spare 26T gears I will be happy to send you one for the price of postage. Nice and clean they are.

Well son of a.... at 0400, I went on RFJP and bought a nos one for 80. KW was wanting like 120 for an unknown. Thank you, I guess I’m 80 deep on that- bought the shift rail plugs ( super cheap compared to KW).


Today, I did some cleaning.
The bell housing is so gunned up. Was brand new purple power...



The garage was warm enough, but freezing rain outside.


Some of it in semigloss


That giant snow event is a bust here thankfully.

The worst thing for me is being off work for a few days, time to study the tech manuals for things I need. Inspecting the parts stash I have and the "to do list".

I have parted ways with a little money today on Debella's website and QTM's ebay store.


I need to go out behind the shed and find my radiator.
I would like to put a new one on the jeep- The old one is leaking, has a shroud and not much to say about it.
If I drag it out, I can take it down to the radiator shop and see about them recoreing it or I can just buy an aluminum one.... not sure what I want to do yet.

Jeep = Just empty every pocket.

Went out behind the shed to check the radiator. A 2 foot long dead king snake hanging out of it... nope nope nope..

So I looked at the radiator, and to be honest it’s not worth trying to save oh well.

Hi April,
If the fan shroud and support rod pockets are good, don’t pitch that radiator into the dumpster just yet!

Mine needed some love so I took it to a local old-school shop for a hot tank and pressure check, and surprisingly it passed. I don’t know how much life it has left, but I’m going to use it until then. I often wonder why nobody makes a true M38 radiator, not enough demand I suppose.

I could be wrong, but as I understand it, the M38 radiator is only unique for two things, (1) it’s fan shroud, and (2) the pair of support rod pockets that are attached low on either side. Other than those items, it’s the same radiator as the MB/GPW/CJ2A/CJ3A radiator and mounts identical, with the same hose connections and pressure cap.

I mention this because Brent Mullins Jeep Parts advertises what appears to be an original style brass tank, 4-row replacement (made in India) for the MB/GPW/CJ2A that he claims is top quality. It’s not cheap and his price has gone up $100 in the last few months. When mine craps out, I’ve wondered if I could remove my M38 fan shroud and support rod pockets and put them on his radiator to make a very close to original looking M38 radiator. (I never liked the look of the aluminum radiator. Even if painted).

Anyway, here’s the BMJP ad: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184793164005?e ... SwUh5cVOH6

The old school radiator shop I used had NOS radiators racked and stacked to the ceilings and they told me they had radiators for “old jeeps”. I should pay a visit and see if it’s true. And by old-school shop, I mean not a computer in sight, paper hand-written receipts, and it looked like if you took one radiator down from the stacks on the 15-foot-tall shelves the whole thing would come crashing down. The place is probably a gold mine.

Still waiting on my gear from RFJP which I ordered on Monday. Was supposed to be delivered here today in VA, but I am sure the weather across the country isn't helping.

Here is the major snow storm we got yesterday...


Actually weird the back yard has none- and the front has about an inch.

I spent today working from home (not really, but I did log in and forward an email..)

I finished cleaning the bell housing,
Threw some spray paint on it and the drive shafts and pedal arms.



I ordered a bunch of odds and ends from QTM and KW. I see I didn't get a proper M38 air cleaner. It will work for me though.

The air cleaner needs the connections for the ventilating system if you are using the original configuration.

Make sure the distributor is properly vented as well as the vent line hooked up to the YS-637. The carb line goes in the crossover tube. No prob.

IIRC the distributor vent line is in the circuit going to the air cleaner. That one is critical. Prevents the build up of gasses in the distributor and helps cool the coil.