Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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F Bill
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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by F Bill » Sun Jun 26, 2011 7:16 pm

Two strong guys can usually handle a tub, four is better once it is all painted.. And some sort of cart/wagon would help with you moving it.

As far as the springs, I see jackstands near the shock plates, which is fine for holding the axle up, but I didn't see anything holding your frame from dropping. You need another pair of higher stands behind the front springs on the frame rails. You may also need something to support the engine weight as well as you have nothing much holding the back end of the jeep down and it will tend to teeter totter on the frame stands.

Nick's suggestion is good too.
F Bill-no longer chasing oversize loads out west, I'm in NY now.
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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:00 pm

Nick,

Are you referring to this when you say front crossmember?

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nick peters
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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by nick peters » Sun Jun 26, 2011 9:57 pm

Hey Rodney
Yes thats it exactly, sorry mate but i,ve allways known it as the" front crossmember"
regards Nick
ps should have said before its best to support it at each end with a stand to be on the safe side :roll:

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:37 pm

SHould I just let the tires/wheels down on the floor and relocate the jackstands from the axle to the front crossmember? Would that work?

Also, to support the engine weight (transmission and transfer case are removed and being serviced by StirStik), I was going to use a ratchet tie down strap secured to the frame on either side? Is that a good idea? If so, what weight rating of strap should I get?

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by nick peters » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:47 pm

Hey Rodney that would work out well.Like i said before youll then be able to jack the frame up,so that the spring hanger brackets are in the correct position.Cargo straps from a truck will be ideal to support the engine.
Nick

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:57 pm

What weight rating should I look for regarding the straps?

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by OD-licious » Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:18 pm

Hey Rodney,
Having just been through a front end rebuild and in-frame engine painting myself I thought I'd add my two cents.
When you get your jackstands under the frame and lower the axle you might want to pull the wheels off. Then you can drop the axle more to get the springs out of your way when you install the front hangers/ gussets.
A roll of aluminum foil works great for masking off odd shaped things like carbs, distributors, hoses, etc. Just wrap it around and some tape around the base and you should be good. Comes off easier than alot off tape too.
The wire loom you refered to on the previous page is a hose. It goes from the crossover tube to the dipstick tube. Something to do with positive crank-case ventilation I think.
Other than that, have fun and be safe, especially with draining gas lines and torches in the same garage.
Good luck,
Darrell
GPW140438 in the works
DOD 8-31-43
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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:43 pm

Hi Darrell,

I was just going to post and ask about how to do this more efficiently. For one thing, my 2 ton floor jack does not hardly reach high enough to the middle frame section to be able to lift it even an inch with the wheels and tires let down. It really cannot even reach the front crossmember. How on earth do you reach the crossmember? WHat kind of jack? Also what kind of jackstands reach that high? I have three types and none of them reach the front crossmember. Is it something as simple as removing the tires?

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by Stir-Stick » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:25 pm

Hello Rodney,
I,m scabbed over almost . You need to come pick up the extra engine lift I have so that you can let it do your serious lifting (high ). My floor jack may reach higher than yours also . I have used a 4x4 wood block on top of the jack before . Be careful with that gasoline in that garage . Have a good fire extinguisher on hand . When the shop or garage is attached to the house , everything is in harms way . I talked to that friend about something you wished to purchase and he has a real cherry Inland Division 1943 . Give me a call .Be carefull .
Stick
If you drink,drive. Don't park, Accidents cause people.

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Mon Jul 04, 2011 7:49 pm

My brother-in-law happens to be a welder and when we saw him at a Father's day get together he told the wife that he would work on the jeep if I brought the body over to him. That was an unexpected blessing. I had to go to Bryan/College Station with a trailer to help the mother-in-law out anyway so two neighbors, my brother and I moved the body onto the 18 foot trailer the wife kindly bought for Christmas to tow the jeep around on when it is completed. I dropped it off along with the pioneer repair panels, taillight brackets, shock towers and a taillight for fitting with him. He began work a lot faster than I expected and sent me these pictures. He has already relocated the taillight holes and corrected the angles that bubba cut into the lower rear panel above the pintle hook.....:

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:47 pm

Made some progress on the gussets this morning, at least the passenger's side anyway:

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:05 pm

Here are some more welding progress pictures from my brother in law. He has welded the new windshield skin and the shock towers on. Note the inner windshield frame is to be replaced with a correct one I sourced from Ron.

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:31 am

My brother-in-law discovered that bubba had actually used some putty aside from just welding. Here is a before and after shot of one seam he fixed:

Before:
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After:
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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:58 pm

I was able to work on the jeep some today. I used the purple cleaner stuff I bought from Home Depot. I mixed it with water in a spray bottle and then had a spray bottle with water to rinse. The stuff worked really good on the engine. Then something occurred to me. I need to finish the gussett work before I go to cleaning and painting because I am going to have all kinds of metal shavings blown onto the engine and surrounding areas. I also thought about your advice about maybe rolling the whole chassis out of the garage now that I have the body out of the way at my brother-in-laws.

I used a Dremel tool and cut off the heads of those crummy gussett rivets on the drivers side bottom. I cannot get to the top ones. I now need to drop the springs out of the way completely so that I can get a drill straight up and down on those crummy things to drill them out.

I posted some questions about removing those springs. I would really appreciate some feedback on it.

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Re: Motorpool Restoration 1943 GPW 124269

Post by thidisbogus » Sun Jul 24, 2011 7:27 pm

Well, I received the new replacement springs from Ron. I have been trying to remove the old springs. I unbolted the rear bolts from the reaction control spring and front leaves. I discovered much to my consternation that I need to replace the bolt, as it was gouged probably from many years of unlubricated service.

One unexpected blessing was that when I removed bubba's "helper spring" supports it simply fell away, so I don't have to do any cutting on the original spring to get rid of it. His weld was bad.

I also discovered I am going to have to remove the lower shock mounts in order to remove the springs. I researched and found I am supposed to compress the rubber inserts so am waiting on the inserts, the new bolt and a way to fabricate a compression tool.

I figured since that was halted (and along with it the gussett replacement because I need to get the springs out of the way) I would work on the rear crossmember. As I may have mentioned, I have an MB crossmember thanks to the kind generosity of Robert Cotten and need to drill the holes for the GPW. I lined it up and installed the pintle reinforcement plate temporarily with bolts to get everything lined up. I discovered that I believe bubba has cut off the ends of the frame? Please take a look at the photos and let me know what you think.

Gouged bolt for rear part of drivers leaf spring:

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Ron's leaf springs:

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Bubba's "helper spring" attachment:

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Rear Frame photos:

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Looking down passenger side:

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Looking back driver side:

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Looking back passenger side:

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Looking down drivers side:

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