Restoration of a 1942 Willys jeep GPW Ford

[Philippe]

Hi men

I started a new project about 6 weeks ago. I was in a shop where they sell replica uniforms of WW2 and other wars of the 20th century.
I accompanied a friend a few times on remembrance trips and got interested in doing that.
Just a picture of my friend, his wife and me in his Willys jeep a few weeks ago.

image8.jpeg (105.77 KiB) Viewed 153159 times

I'm the passenger in the front...
So far so good.
There were several military vehicles stored and one of them was a GPW Ford /Willys jeep completely taken apart and hiding in several crates...
Since I'm very interested in the second world war (collection of military stuff, weapons, modelling,...) I asked the shop owner if he had a WW2 vehicle for sale and guess what, YES, the jeep was for sale. OK so far so good.
I went home and spoke to the wife, after all she has to agree with such a big, new project. She did agree but I had to clean up the old garage before the jeep could come home.
You have to know that the old garage is used for putting things inside that are still too good to throw away and for motorcycles which are waiting to get restored...there's no floor and no electricity .
So the next two weeks were spend by cleaning, painting walls, installing electricity and making a decent floor in it.
It was all ready at the beginning of september. On september 11, the jeep was delivered at my home.
This is what I received:

the chassis

The chassis, painted in red oxide primer

the axles

The front and rear axle, painted in red primer

the tub

The tub and a few body parts

the fenders, seats,...

Fenders, seats, fuel tank,...

the engine

The GO DEVIL engine

Some more parts are available but as usual, a lot are missing.
So the hunt can begin!
It's a brand new experience for me, there's already a bit progress but it's going slow, too slow according to me but OK that's it.
That's it for today folks.
GrtZ
Philippe

[zapo]

Good luck, I wouldn't know where to start.

[Z1streetfighter71]

Good for you mate! im excited to see this come to life, good work convincing the wife but also sterling work on tiling that floor!

[r3sc]

Hi Philippe,

You certainly like to keep yourself busy and that jeep will certainly do that.

When it’s finished will you keep it and use it?

Good luck with the project and keep the progress reports coming to us in the bottom shed!

[gray]

My father restored one 10 years ago. He bought it from a Highland estate. They had bought 4 at the end of WW2 that had been repurposed for civilian use. ( not uncommon at the time) 1 was for the shepherd, 1 for the gamekeeper and 2 spares. My father bought the shepherd's one, they were keeping the rest.
He restored if over a couple of years and it was lovely at the end . All parts were available as i remember ,but it was difficult to set up the brakes and the speed was slow by modern A road standards. He sold it as there wasn't really a "scene" in Perthshire for this type of vehicle- it's now in the south of England.
A passerby in Stirling one morning offered him a decommissioned Bren gun to fit to it but he declined!
If you're in the scene you'll love having it.

[Philippe]

Hi guys
thanks for the encouragements and the compliments!
When I get the jeep finished I intend to keep it and to use it to participate at commemoration events.
There are quite a few clubs in Belgium who restore these old war vehicles and who are participating at events.
Next year it'll be 80 years ago that the liberation of Europe took place. I hope to get it ready by then...wait and see.
I intend to get a rolling chassis first and then the engine, afterwards the bodywork can be done.
I'll keep you informed when there's progress.
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hi men

a bit of progress the past week:
The frame is painted in olive drab, my wife helped me to turn it over several times in between the different coats of paint.

The front and the rear axle are opened, the bearings were OK, they look like new!
Unfortunately one of the brake drums is cracked, it will be replaced. Safety first!
These are allso painted in olive drab.

A lot of small parts are allso painted. I think some of you will recognize the way of storing them in order for the paint to dry...

The leaf springs are ready to be mounted, once again painted in olive drab.

As a matter of fact all the parts (with a few exeptions) need a paintcoat of olive drab.
The engine must be painted in grey (Ford) .The radiator, the air filter and oil filter box need a coat of black paint.
That's all for today. More news next week.
GrtZ
Philippe

[Z1streetfighter71]

Love that olive green!

[ADRIAN H]

Great colour - thought it was a khaki green, never knew they called in Olive Green. I always thought 'Olive green' was a dark green, and there's over 30 different variants.

[Z1streetfighter71]

Great colour - thought it was a khaki green, never knew they called in Olive Green. I always thought 'Olive green' was a dark green, and there's over 30 different variants.

In my business Olive green is a green made from mixing Black and Yellow and adjusting the Hue with white. So many options....

[Philippe]

Hi guys

the official name is "Olive drab"...they say it's green with a yellow shade... I have no idea how they make it but I like it.
The British used a different shade in WW2, a bit darker.
It will become a US vehicle of the 101 AB so Olive drab will be the colour.
GrtZ
Philippe

[chrisNI]

Good work as always Philippe

[Mathh]

Wow... looks like you get bored very easily Philippe hahaha. Lots of energy available.. My workshop's neighbour has some Willy's in maintenance and is now working on one with a seized engine. He told me the owner said it ran downhill 120 kmh and then made a terrible noise Good luck with it, I know you will do a cracking good job restoring it.

[Philippe]

Hi Mathh

I never get bored at all, always doing something and I have to divide the available time.
Wow, 120 Km/h for a Willys jeep, the top speed of a WW2 jeep was about 90 Km/h...no wonder that the engine made a terrible noise when going that fast. It's a long stroke engine, lots of power at low revs but at high revs the pistons travel a long distance and aprox 19 meter/sec is the limit for seizing. Poor little Go Devil engine...
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hello men

It's been a month since my last post, sorry for that...
But I've been busy the last month:
- a lot of parts received a red oxide primer and a coat of olive drab.
- I was able to buy a lot of parts (starter engine, dynamo, good brake drums and wheel hubs, a lot of smaller parts,...)
- the jeep is getting shape

The axles, springs, pedal levers are mounted on the chassis.

The master brake cylinder and the steering box are mounted

New brake lines at the rear and...

at the front of the vehicle.

New shock absorbers at the rear and at the front.

The radiator grille and the windshield are sprayed, the windshield received new safety glass

The radiator itself was repaired, checked and painted

The combat rims are painted, the tyres (Firestone military) are ordered and hopefully they'll be here next week.
When those are mounted I'll have a rolling chassis.
The next step is to tackle the engine, taking it apart, checking the parts, replacing if neccessary and painting .
More news to come!
Grtz
Philippe