Restoration of a 1942 Willys jeep GPW Ford

[Philippe]

Hi Mark

I did most of the work alone and only needed a few times help of my wife or my friend when the parts were too heavy or too big to handle them alone.
It's important to have the correct tools and information to achieve a job.
And most important: I have lots of time...
More news coming soon!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hello gentlemen

It's alive !!!
The past weeks I've been doing a lot of detailwork on the jeep.

The paint of the jerrycan was stripped and a hole was discovered in the bottom...
I left it open for a few days and took the chance of welding it and it worked out, the hole is shut.
The inside of the jerrycan was degreased, the little bit of internal rust was cured and a resine coat was applied on the inside, the same as I often do with the fueltank of a bike.

the jerrycan with it's strap and foldable water bucket

All the metres were installed and the electric wiring was done. It seemed OK but when I installed the horn something went wrong...it became very hot and the solenoid burned...
The cause? I had no idea. So the search began.
After a lot of searching it turned out that an old bushing on the steering stem, that was supposed to be an isolator, had become a conductor for the current. It didn't let enough current through for the horn to sound but enough to burn it! It had to be replaced.
In order to do that the steering box needed to be removed from the vehicle...in order to do that I had two options. I could remove the engine or I could remove the left hand fender. I opted for the second solution.
The bushing was replaced and the steering box was mounted. After I bought a second horn it worked perfectly! Problem solved.

the second horn

I decided to install the windshield frame...oh my God, easier said than done.
On the bottom of the windshield frame sits a rubber strip. That is supposed to follow the contours of the front bodywork in order to stop the water from entering the tub when driving the jeep when it rains. There was at least half an inch of open space.
The contours of the two bows of the windshield frame needed to be adapted.

the left hand bow

It took me three days and at least 100 times the walk from the garage to the workshop and back to get those right.
But I succeeded! The frame needed repainting after all that bending and twisting so the paint was stripped and several coats of paint were applied.
The windshield was installed, another step in the right direction.

the installed windshield

Now it was time to install the indicators. These don't belong to the standard equipment of the WW2 jeep but I think they're an absolute must for safety!
They couldn't be too big but also not too small. After a lot of searching on the internet I found suitable indicators and ordered them.
I made four brackets to mount them and after they were painted, those were installed on the jeep. The wiring took me a few days but now they work!

the rear indicators

the front indicators

I also intalled the new seat cushions, they make a big difference once they're installed.

the front seats

the rear seat

Now that most of the details were finished it became time to fire up the engine for the first time. I was exited and afraid at the same time: would it run or not.
Oil: yes!
Water : yes!
Fuel...no fuel.
How many times I applied the lever of the fuel pump I don't know but I have a blister on my finger...
The brand new fuelpump didn't work. I was unable to pump fuel from the fuel tank through the lines up to the carburetor.
So I decided to mount the old fuelpump .
As soon as I started pumping manually I could smell the fuel coming up through the lines and into the carburetor! Succes!
Fuel: yes!

Ignition... no ignition...no spark... what was wrong?
It didn't started.
I had no idea so the search began.
I started reading the manual once again and I saw the light!
The distributor of the ignition turns COUNTERCLOCKWISE and I thought all the time that it turned clockwise. OK, so the ignition wires were switched to the correct places .
One more try...no succes, no spark.

After a lot of thinking and reading and looking it turned out that the oil pump, which drives the rotor of the ignition, was not mounted correctly. The oil pump is driven by a wormsprocket that grips on a wormsprocket on the camshaft. When mounting the oil pump it turns a little bit in order to get the sprocket on the camshaft. It turned a little bit too far so I had to remove the oil pump and adjust it to be at the correct setting.
When the engine is installed there's not enough room to extract the oil pump from the engine. It stops against the frame...not far enough to reach the wormgear and to turn the oilpump to the correct setting.
OK, I had to find another solution because I wasn't planning on removing the engine out of the jeep.
So I made a "special tool": a very long screwdriver which can get into the slot of the shaft of the oil pump. That slot is offset so it has to be in the correct position to receive the tang of the distributor, which is also offset.
After a few attempts I succeeded to get the oil pump at the correct setting.

the oilpump,hiding under and behing the exhaust

All the parts were installed once again, the ignition was set at the correct timing and another attempt to start the engine was made...

IT STARTED !!!! It was running at last!
Finally after more than seven months I could hear the engine roar.
A big sigh of relief.

All these bugs came on my way and had to be solved. When I restore my third jeep in the future I won't have those situations again !

More details have to be done but these are nothing compared to what's already done .
So more news within a few weeks.
GrtZ
Philippe

[zapo]

This has been a great post so far.
Soon all frustration will be over and as I have said before, great work.

[Philippe]

Hello men

I did some more work on the jeep the past week.
Most of it was "cosmetical"...
The dashboard received a new paintcoat after all the knobs and gauges were taped off and then I mounted the rifle holder.

I also took the oppotunity of the rainy weather to start adding the stars and markings on the vehicle.

The white star on the side of the jeep was done first and I applied a paint roller... bad idea, too much paint but that's the way it's going to stay.

Then I decided to use templates and my airbrush.
At the beginning of the restoration I mentioned it was going to become a jeep that was used by the US 101 airborne.
This is the result after a first try.

I had to touch up the olive drab paint with the airbrush afterwards because there was a bit of overspray but I'm pleased with the results.

The next step were the vehicle registration numbers on both sides of the bonnet.
All the jeep numbers start with 20 because that was the code that the US army gave to reconnaisance vehicles in WW2.
The rest of the numbers is again a reference to my birthday, or let's say 20 years before it
The big white star in the circle was next.
Before I could do this , all the rest of the front of the vehicle needed to be protected against
the white dustcloud .

So this is the result after a few hours of painting.

Yesterday I wrapped the towing rope around the front bumper, taking care that all the rest of the vehicle could work without problems (suspension and hand cranck handle).

All it needs now is a license plate and a canvas top. The canvas top is ordered and I can collect it next week.
More news within a few weeks!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Gentlemen

the jeep made it's "maidentrip" this morning!

I was able to borrow the special license plates from a garageholder to use them on the jeep.
This morning, I took her on the road for the first time!
The jeep rides, the gearbox is shifting, the brakes are working, it's a big relief for me.
It was the first time I did such a profound restoration on a project that I didn't know and I wasn't sure at all...
It turned out great!

You can see on the gauges that the coolant is at the correct temperature (160 ° F) and that the oil pressure (30 psi) is OK

My new pride and joy, out in the open!

This weekend I'm going to Ciney to collect the canvas top and a few other items I 've ordered in France.

Next friday , the third of May , I have an appointment at the MOT station in order to get her tested and hopefully I'll succeed.
More news next week!
GrtZ
Philippe

[zapo]

Amazing result.

[wheelysteve]

Congratulations Philippe, that's absolutely fantastic.

[r3sc]

Brilliant job Philippe, well done!

[Bill P]

Great job Philippe
Thorben will look spot on riding in the back

[660smc]

Have fun with it...

I am "envious"

My Jeep in 1:6

Greetings from Switzerland

[Z1streetfighter71]

An absolute credit to you Philippe, its another cracking job and a mammoth task to boot. I bet it brings a smile from ear to ear.

[Mathh]

Well done Philippe, as always!

[deka]

well done Philippe and excellent piece of work as usual

[moizeau]

Great work, my mate had one, he had a hand wind siren, we used to laugh going into work on a Friday nightshift

[johnA]

Top job well done mate