"Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW modifications, sugestions, and ideas, official MWO's and unofficial WWII field mods NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.
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seacon
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OD AT LAST!!! "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Sun May 27, 2018 1:29 am

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Michael O.
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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by Michael O. » Wed May 30, 2018 9:17 pm

Very nice work! What brand of OD paint did you use? I like it a lot!
Michael O’Connell

Too many jeeps…and a Dodge.

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Thu May 31, 2018 12:55 am

That is MAT1, widely available from most dealers in Europe.
This is just a base coat, this GPW will be almost entirely redone in Light Bronze Green and camouflaged with flat black waves...
Keep up the good things!
M

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Odd NOS parts: defect fuel filter

Post by seacon » Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:20 am

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First coat of OD on this neverending British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Sun Jun 03, 2018 4:00 am

OD also on the bottom of the tub.
Not a 100% perfect but not bad, uh?
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Some of the older repairs are evident. No reason to re-do them, this is going to be a very reliable "motorpool ready" GPW, meant to be used ... a lot!
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Most of the decisions made about the restoration follow a philological scheme: This GPW was new (there fore a "factory class") for some time in the summer of '42. Was used and abused in training in the US, had is share of troubles/small accidents/collisions, was repaired and went on to serve in the British Army. From there on there was more use and abuse, repairs and modifications...
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The idea is to get a most reliable, period correct, representative vehicle, using as many original parts are available and do not over-restore anything unless it is absolutely necessary to make it safe and technically sound
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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by Michael O. » Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:34 pm

Don’t forget to do the tinning on your tub!
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Michael O’Connell

Too many jeeps…and a Dodge.

MVPA 13861

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Sat Jun 09, 2018 10:59 pm

Tin is there...
Now it would have been late to tin the contact points without screwing up all the rest...
M

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FRAME DETAILS "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:30 am

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These here are my 100% fake BOM rivets. I turned a few 12 strength bolts I got on eBay to represent the originals. The look is not bad and the actual mechanical strength is much higher than the originals. Too bad that the ALCOA/Huck rep in Italy does not offer a decent rental service for the hydraulic rivet puller. I had to sacrifice originality for practical and security reasons...

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by Gdcast » Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:22 pm

Updates? This looks marvellous, I'm subscribed.
Guillermo "Billy" Castelli
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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Sat Aug 24, 2019 11:50 pm

Will start again posting updates. This has turned out to be a quite popular subject! In the next days I will review what I posted up to now and will soon pick it up from where I left. Thanks for following me and I am sorry this is taking so long to get done.
ciao
m

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:34 am

This is what happened in the meantime: a few years back I selected the spring leaves.
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The shocks are current production Monroe, equivalent to the factory installed ones. They do not look exactly the same but are reliable.
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Then I figured out that the repro skid plate I sourced would not do the job.
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Went to look for an original...
Once I replaced the master leaf on each spring and had the newly formed spring packs rebounded by a competent spring shop (these guys are disappearing!), I test fit them on the chassis
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In the end, framewise, once the repair where completed, everything was painted, all the fittings and accessories were ready, ...

I was almost ready to start putting everything back together... with a little geographical problem to solve: the reassembly will take place in Livorno where I am stationed, where I can work every day on this jeep (one hour a day, as Scott Schiller recommends!!!). That is a 186Km move (110mls) of the disassembled jeep... Kind of crazy, but I have no choice.

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:18 am

Spring and a few more bits are painted OD.
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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:30 am

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:36 am

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Re: "Do it yourself" a WWII British Airborne Jeep...

Post by seacon » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:54 am

Starting to bring all the bits to the garage in Livorno. I found an original skid plate, collected all the attaching parts for the springs, had the transmission and transfer gear rebuild along with the axles by Alberto Simonelli's shop (WDM).

Feels like the VC on the HoChiMin trail... two mortar rounds at the time..!!!
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