M38 Jeep Restoration

It's been a while since the last update back on gunnutz. The full build thread can be found on willysmjeeps.com. But to sum it up:

Much tweaking and fussing got it out for the first drive. There was timing issues, heat-riser failures and all kinds of fun!
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Fast forward to a coat of paint to bring everything together.
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This fine looking machine is ready for a drive!
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Too fine to go it alone, better call the RCR cousin. 4 years of work coming together!
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Off on the first convoy drive. Here's the two of them stopped for lunch.
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Good to see you're up and running...Looks great...Just in time for summer....Mines got the holes in the rear / side for the antenna mount but still need to source one..If you don't mind me asking, did you buy one and from whom..?
Have you made any decisions on decals..?
Nice job.....
 
tommyinbc said:
Good to see you're up and running...Looks great...Just in time for summer....Mines got the holes in the rear / side for the antenna mount but still need to source one..If you don't mind me asking, did you buy one and from whom..?
Have you made any decisions on decals..?
Nice job.....
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Thanks for the positive comments! The antenna setup came from Brian Asbury here in Ontario. For decals I will definitely be putting on its CFR 52-30718 to start, and the standard tire pressures and such. Haven't come to any decision about unit markings, command decals or anything of that sort.
 
Hey, hey. Glad to see the car on the road. You certainly put the effort into the restoration and the finished product looks great. Now take it to some car shows so you can hear endless stories of "a friend of a friends, uncle bought jeeps just like that for $200 new in crate at that" . Actually driving about with a couple other MV is pretty cool and a good excuse to clock some (s)miles.
 
Well done. A labour of love can be quite rewarding. I picked an m37 out of a field a while back. It's been a lot of work. Every time I fixed one thing, I found another. Quite the hobby. And a good way to learn. I just put it on the road a month ago and can't get it over 35 mph. Needs a bit more work I didn't take many photos as I worked on it. Always meant to but here it is in the final stages



 
Nice rebuild on the M37.

Don't sweat the fact that it can't do over 35 MPH; even when they were new the couldn't do much better.

Also anything over 35 MPH will be too dangerous as you will be too busy chasing the gearshift all over the cab to keep a good eye on the road.
 
highlander said:
Nice rebuild on the M37.

Don't sweat the fact that it can't do over 35 MPH; even when they were new the couldn't do much better.

Also anything over 35 MPH will be too dangerous as you will be too busy chasing the gearshift all over the cab to keep a good eye on the road.
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I do recall back when I was in the army, the m37 would generally do 50 mph. We would pull out the throttle all the way and that was our cruise control. I hope to get at least 45 out of her once I fine tune it.
 
points said:
I do recall back when I was in the army, the m37 would generally do 50 mph. We would pull out the throttle all the way and that was our cruise control. I hope to get at least 45 out of her once I fine tune it.
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They were governed for 54 to 56 mph, and would do that speed all day long. I got into the military at the tail end of their service life, but have owned a half dozen over the years, and still maintain one at work where we use it as a run-around truck.

Pulling the throttle out as a poor man's cruise control was fine until you had a panic stop.
 
points said:
Well done. A labour of love can be quite rewarding. I picked an m37 out of a field a while back. It's been a lot of work. Every time I fixed one thing, I found another. Quite the hobby. And a good way to learn. I just put it on the road a month ago and can't get it over 35 mph. Needs a bit more work I didn't take many photos as I worked on it. Always meant to but here it is in the final stages



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Nice !!!!
 
So time for me to chime in, I have been in contact with the Poster as I have been working on a similar project and asked permission to tag on to his post here. in December I received from an insurance buddy that they had a Willys jeep in one of their yards. I am a member of the Niagara Military Vehicle association and figured if I could get it for parts it would be a good deal. What had happened is the jeep was in a Fire, the garage it was in burned down around it. So on the outside it was cooked. So I worked out a deal and got CAA to tow it,, thats another story. After a close inspection I figured I could rebuild it quite economically. It turned out to be a pretty complete 1952 M38 CDN made at Ford in Windsor and delivered to the CDN Army in Nov. 52, one of the last ones in the contract.

If you look at the first few photos you will see the condition that I got it in, on December 17, 2015. Today I took it for it's first test drive around the barn, It should be done by the weekend. And yes, that is a 6 month turnaround, I did 90 % of the work myself, and yes I am married. On Saturday Morning it will be at the St. Catharines Downtown car show along with some other club vehicles, so long as everything goes well the next couple of days.

Origional Tub; rims, drive train, and mostly everything that wasnt rubber or plastic.
















































 
ShooterMcGavin said:
So time for me to chime in, I have been in contact with the Poster as I have been working on a similar project and asked permission to tag on to his post here. in December I received from an insurance buddy that they had a Willys jeep in one of their yards. I am a member of the Niagara Military Vehicle association and figured if I could get it for parts it would be a good deal. What had happened is the jeep was in a Fire, the garage it was in burned down around it. So on the outside it was cooked. So I worked out a deal and got CAA to tow it,, thats another story. After a close inspection I figured I could rebuild it quite economically. It turned out to be a pretty complete 1952 M38 CDN made at Ford in Windsor and delivered to the CDN Army in Nov. 52, one of the last ones in the contract.

If you look at the first few photos you will see the condition that I got it in, on December 17, 2015. Today I took it for it's first test drive around the barn, It should be done by the weekend. And yes, that is a 6 month turnaround, I did 90 % of the work myself, and yes I am married. On Saturday Morning it will be at the St. Catharines Downtown car show along with some other club vehicles, so long as everything goes well the next couple of days.

Origional Tub; rims, drive train, and mostly everything that wasnt rubber or plastic.
















































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Oi!!!! Somebody in the Niagara region buy this gent a beer!
 
Great respect to Yank for investing the effort on that job. Looks great and will be around for generations to come instead of being picked over then scrapped. Hmmmm burning down a building around the vehicle..............now thats a new way to get the bondo off.
 
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I have a question for the "restorers" once done how much do these "resell" for? Great job BTW!
 
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