M38 Jeep Restoration

Hawkshadow said:
Hmm I may have to take another look at the original one that came with mine. At some point it had been re-lined and coated on the outside with some sort of rubberized product. If taking it apart doesn't prove too difficult it may make a good project down the road (hopefully literally once I get this thing going).

The tub on the other hand.... is probably too far gone... covered in bondo and pretty well rotted out. I don't know if it could ever be brought back.
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anything can be brought back how many miles have welding wire dose one want to use is the issue and is there not reproduction fuel tanks. im looking into getting a MB or m38 for a collectable and a cj2a for a every day driver I see that willys acres has reproduction cj2a frames and I know where I can get all aluminum body's bit pricey but through in a ford 2.3 pinto engine and a 4x4 t5 trans it shoulc get even better fuel mileage then a 2.3 mustang
 
Marcus (Willys Acres) carries complete body kits as well. They are produced by MD Juan in the Philippines and from my experience thus far are generally a good product. They also produce the repro gas tanks and many other components.
 
Por 15 can be had in hamilton, closest to the gta.
its well over priced compared to the US, I purchased quart of por 15 rust paint and POR chasis black recently in the states for the same price as one quart of por 15 rust paint in hamilton.

I am restoring a 1947 cj2a.

looks good, would be harder for you mil guys with the olive drab.

 
It's been one long, cold, and bitter winter... but as the temperature increases, so does the tempo once again.

The transmission and transfer case are torn down and blasted. Awaiting a couple extra parts that didn't come with the rebuild kit, then it's time to go back together.
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The replacement tie rods arrived and have been swapped out.
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I wasn't planning on rebuilding the steering box.. but when I inspected it, the seals were gone. And well.... inside there were several table spoons of water, cracked bushings, and a sector shaft with worn lobes. So, a rebuild it is.
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On the upper housing cover there is an oil seal which does not appear on the exploded diagram (Figure 95 in the body train and frame pam TM 9-1804B). Additionally, it doesn't seem to be listed as a replacement part from many of the suppliers and it's a different size from the sector shaft oil seal Any suggestions?
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Hi Hawkshadow
Good to see your latest progress albeit a pain in the butt regarding the steering..Much easier to repair now though before its installed...I think I found the item you are looking for. In ORD 9 SNL G-740 i can see a seal which locates into the cover...Its listed as seal part number 8332553 group 1401. It definately looks like the one you need..I'll scan the page and send it over if you want it..? (WO number is 804387)
The cover you have in the picture (which the seal locates into) is also listed as RG 126023 so its different than what's stamped on it....
 
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Hey Hawkshadow glad to see you still at it after our hidious winter, looks like your doing things right the first time and not cutting corners.
 
tommyinbc said:
In ORD 9 SNL G-740 i can see a seal which locates into the cover...Its listed as seal part number 8332553 group 1401. It definately looks like the one you need..I'll scan the page and send it over if you want it..? (WO number is 804387)
The cover you have in the picture (which the seal locates into) is also listed as RG 126023 so its different than what's stamped on it....
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If you're able to scan page 259 in Ord 9 it would be appreciated. The copy that I have is a little dark for that page.. but it looks promising! Hopefully I can figure out a part and find someone listing a new one. If not, I may be able to track one down with the specifics listed in the pam: "SEAL, ru, 1.185 ID, 1.5000 OD, 0.250 thk (upper housing
cover) (used on vehicles after serial No. 31337)" My serial is F1006xx, not sure where that fits in..
 
Just for your info, Military Machines International (a UK magazine ) recently did a 4 part article on restoring a M 38 Jeep, literally from the ground up. Really good article, and would be a great help for anyone attempting to restore one.
 
I dug out my Cdn parts manual for the M38/M38A1Cdn and found this wrt the steering box seal:

The seal for the M38 (Willys pn 804387) was replaced (when stock exhausted) by the seal form the M38A1 steering box. NSN is 2530 (later changed to proper stock class of 5330)-00-693-0775. Willys part number is 808414. A quick check shows Debella's sells them NOS for $10, and I am sure others will too.

The info for it is as follows:

NAME ITEM NAME...........................SEAL,PLAIN ENCASED
ABJH TEMP RATING........................-65.0 DEG FAHRENHEIT AND 275.0 DEG FAHRENHEIT
ABVM ACCOMMODATED SHAFT DIAMETER.......0.883 INCHES MINIMUM AND 0.888 INCHES MAXIMUM
ADUC SEAL WIDTH.........................0.438 INCHES NOMINAL
BHHL CASE STYLE.........................RECESSED
CPCW HOUSING BORE DIAMETER.......1.179 INCHES MINIMUM AND 1.181 INCHES MAXIMUM
CTQC SEALING ELEMENT STYLE........ANGULAR
MATT MATERIAL.............................RUBBER SYNTHETIC SEALING ELEMENT
 
Thanks for the heads up Stencollector! Oddly enough, I've tried many sources between here and the US and Debella's is the only place listing them. If they're out, I'll definitely use the technical specs to source one.

M1grand: I'm glad that I was able to re-spark that initiative. Hopefully there's some information here that you may find helpful!
 
No problem, I always like a challenge when it comes to military part numbers.

I'll toss in some free advice. You likely won't get away with just changing the sector shaft in the steering box. You will want a worm shaft as well. Problem is the worm had done 98% of it's work in the center. When you out in the new sector shaft, you will adjust it to the center to find it binds on the outer portions. So you will have to adjust it to those outer portions, which will make the center sloppy. There is a little spring loaded adjuster bolt you can buy, but they run about $80, which is around half the price of the sector shaft.

Sloppy anything on the military jeep steering results in the death wobble. You will hit some minor pothole or cross the railroad tracks, and the wheels will start to wobble so bad you will think it is about to fall apart. The wobble will continue uncontrollably until you get it down to around 8 mph, or the trick I used to use was to swing over and whack the curb. Either one though looks foolish, and makes an otherwise good restoration look cosmetic.
 
That's great advice and the logic makes sense. I looked into it and the swap looks simple enough - simply un-screw the existing method and screw in the spring-loaded replacement. If there's any problem when we get rolling that will be the first thing I swap out.

I have been receiving several shipments of the next parts to be used. Brake hoses, steering box rebuild parts, spark plugs etc. Stencollector, I have a question on the upper housing seal. It doesn't look anything like the one that I pulled out, and the NSN is off by a couple of numbers. Can you confirm the parts number or see if this one is in the book?
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NSN: 2530 - 693 - 0777
Made: 10 April 1962?


Additionally for your viewing pleasure: a picture of the new replacement stainless steel in-tank fuel filter.
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Remember the original looked like:
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The NSN on that package is not right for the steering box seal. As I posted in my first post, the NSN should be 5330006930775. Your package seems to be out by 2 digits. The NSN shown on your package does not lead anywhere on the WebFLIS search.....simply as obsolete back in 1990
 
m1grand said:
It's pretty cool a lot of the parts I picked up at napa and other local parts store , fuel pump next day , spark plugs on the shelf at a good price.
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Recently? Most parts stores have a very difficult time if your exact vehicle isn't in their system. You have to know what parts were common across the years and between military and civilian vehicles. If you start asking about 24V waterproof sparkplugs they look at you like you just asked for the space shuttle launch sequence.
 
The spark plugs are listed in NAPA under two numbers. The Original autolite numbers were aar5S and AR7s (cold and hot). The AR5S now becomes either autolite 2243 (which lists at $22.59 each or $12.01 trade price) or Champian 588 which is slightly more expensive at $27.89 retail and $15.21 trade.


Personally, I order mine from Rock Auto in the US. I'll bring them up a couple dozen at a time (I'm going to use them eventually, and I have several vehicles that take this plug) where I usually pay about $6 each for them.

Points, rotor and condenser are the same as any Willys Jeep of that time period. It is only the cap, coil and the shielded wires that you will have to look elsewhere. John at Midwest Military is a friend, and his prices are as competitive as anywhere....just make sure he mails you the parts. The courier dinged me almost 40% in extra charges.

My local NAPA guy came asking me one day about parts for the old Dodge M37. He had a customer looking. I told him that they had a lot of them listed, but without having somewhere to start, he had no way of finding them.
 
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