MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:37 pm

So here goes nothing. Encouraged by my brother Oz and other members, I have decided to include my 1942MB/1943GPW "Frankenweenie" to the resto project mix. Oz presented some of the information on this jeep in the Tech topics about my double "X" engine and had included some pictures. So far I have taken about 650 pictures of the rebuild. I bought this March 1945 Allison Steel Manufacturing Company reconditioned jeep last year. The owner said he purchased it some 20 years ago from a museum in T or C NM that was going out of business. He was advised it came from the Phoenix area and had been used at either Williams Army Air Field or the Phoenix airport. Six months after he bought it to restore, he had a stroke and ended up storing the jeep in his garage for the past 20 years.
My neighbor was a friend of his and saw me working on another jeep I had. He advised me about his friend's jeep and said it was probably for sale. He said it was an Air Force jeep painted blue. Since I knew my brother restored GPWs, and I wasn't interested in building another, I went with him to see this jeep, thinking the blue might be an ex US Mail jeep. My thoughts were that if it were a GPW I'd let my brother decide if he wanted to buy it. Well, when I looked at it sure enough it was marked US Air Force painted strato blue with yellow registration markings. On the back left panel was the script Willys so I assumed it was an MB. Oz wasn't interested in it, and I felt sorry for the owner, so I went ahead and bought it (don't you like those last minute decisions not to do something). We trailered the jeep home and when I began to dig deeper, the chassis, axles, and a number of other parts were Ford marked. It had a postwar CJ2 engine, but most of the remaining items were Ford. The jeep had 4 colors - khaki green, underneath OD green, underneath yellow, underneath the strato blue. Most of the other parts including the tub and frame were over sprayed with the OD/yellow/and strato blue. The tub came back to early 1942 and the frame to early 1943. Since then, I have located a GPW engine to put in (my brother's thread on the double "X" engine). So here starts with the original owners' pictures of how he found and recovered "Frankenweenie".
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a4.jpg
a3.jpg
a2.jpg
a1.jpg


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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by 17thAirborne » Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:43 pm

Mike, glad you have a thread started. keep posting more info and pics. We look forward to the progress. It is going to be interesting for us to see the other recovery pics and hopefully your trip to the museum might turn up some more history.
Oz

Feb 43 GPW 98532 USA 20206257
Oct 70 Land Rover Series 2a 25334079G NZ16GF36
http://gpw.castraponere.com/ (My Restoration Page)

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:45 pm

Thanks Oz will do. Next will be my recovery efforts and the beginning of the resto.
Mike

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by 70th Division » Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:09 pm

ww2DAD wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:37 pm
So here goes nothing. Encouraged by my brother Oz and other members, I have decided to include my 1942MB/1943GPW "Frankenweenie" to the resto project mix. Oz presented some of the information on this jeep in the Tech topics about my double "X" engine and had included some pictures. So far I have taken about 650 pictures of the rebuild. I bought this March 1945 Allison Steel Manufacturing Company reconditioned jeep last year. The owner said he purchased it some 20 years ago from a museum in T or C NM that was going out of business. He was advised it came from the Phoenix area and had been used at either Williams Army Air Field or the Phoenix airport. Six months after he bought it to restore, he had a stroke and ended up storing the jeep in his garage for the past 20 years.
My neighbor was a friend of his and saw me working on another jeep I had. He advised me about his friend's jeep and said it was probably for sale. He said it was an Air Force jeep painted blue. Since I knew my brother restored GPWs, and I wasn't interested in building another, I went with him to see this jeep, thinking the blue might be an ex US Mail jeep. My thoughts were that if it were a GPW I'd let my brother decide if he wanted to buy it. Well, when I looked at it sure enough it was marked US Air Force painted strato blue with yellow registration markings. On the back left panel was the script Willys so I assumed it was an MB. Oz wasn't interested in it, and I felt sorry for the owner, so I went ahead and bought it (don't you like those last minute decisions not to do something). We trailered the jeep home and when I began to dig deeper, the chassis, axles, and a number of other parts were Ford marked. It had a postwar CJ2 engine, but most of the remaining items were Ford. The jeep had 4 colors - khaki green, underneath OD green, underneath yellow, underneath the strato blue. Most of the other parts including the tub and frame were over sprayed with the OD/yellow/and strato blue. The tub came back to early 1942 and the frame to early 1943. Since then, I have located a GPW engine to put in (my brother's thread on the double "X" engine). So here starts with the original owners' pictures of how he found and recovered "Frankenweenie".
Hello Mike,

Great to see you make a post of this beautiful jeep !!

That sure had a lot of dust storm on it :D :D

I am looking forward to more pictures and progress reports !


Keep 'em Rolling !!



Best Regards,
Ray

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:11 pm

Ray,
Thanks for the encouragement. Today I spent 4 hours sand blasting the intake and exhaust manifolds, water intake elbow, water pump, and cylinder head. Tomorrow will be spent painting the block. Took so long to blast all the gunk out of the manifolds. Tomorrow I will also post some more about how I found it and my recovery of the jeep, and then the teardown and rebuild process. Takes my dinosaur of a computer too much time to process things. Eventually it will all get there. Hopefully as I go along, if anyone has questions on how I did something, I can send them pictures and maybe it will help. Again, thanks for the encouragement. It's great to bring history back to life. Need more of that.
Mike

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:29 pm

Round two. Attached are pictures of the visit to the owner to see the jeep and pick it up. As you can see in the photos, the seats, headlights, and blackout light are missing. The owner allowed us to dig thru everything but no success. He said that if found them later he would notify us. We loaded the jeep on the trailer and made it home with no problems. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the unloading process because I had to get my neighbor's trailer back to him. He had borrowed it from his brother-in-law who lived in Chapparal NM. As we were driving back, we went by a 4 x 4 place there and I noticed a couple of ww2-ish jeeps out front. The owner only specialized in 66 thru 89 jeeps and said he had picked these up some time ago in another deal. Sitting on one of the jeep body's was the double "X" engine which I was able to purchase sometime later.
Mike
Attachments
b1.jpg
b2.jpg
b3.jpg
b4.jpg

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by 70th Division » Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:53 pm

ww2DAD wrote:
Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:29 pm
Round two. Attached are pictures of the visit to the owner to see the jeep and pick it up. As you can see in the photos, the seats, headlights, and blackout light are missing. The owner allowed us to dig thru everything but no success. He said that if found them later he would notify us. We loaded the jeep on the trailer and made it home with no problems. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the unloading process because I had to get my neighbor's trailer back to him. He had borrowed it from his brother-in-law who lived in Chapparal NM. As we were driving back, we went by a 4 x 4 place there and I noticed a couple of ww2-ish jeeps out front. The owner only specialized in 66 thru 89 jeeps and said he had picked these up some time ago in another deal. Sitting on one of the jeep body's was the double "X" engine which I was able to purchase sometime later.
Mike
Hello Mike,

Great pics !
Interesting history being rebuilt in Phoenix, as an Allison rebuild, during the War, and sent to the Army Air Force, then becoming a USAF jeep with the blue repaint.

The yellow paint would likely indicate at some point it was a runway jeep, known as a "Follow Me" jeep , with a sign attached, for pilots to follow after landing.

Plenty of history with your jeep for sure !

I still think your engine may have been in Europe or even made there.
That is an area of much needed research !!

Can you see any evidence of another raised boss, along the right lower side of the block, that may have a date cast onto the side of that boss, like the GPW engines found in Europe.

I am fascinated thinking GPW engine blocks were copied, and were cast there after the War, but it seems to be a good possibility based on the several found there.

Another piece of great historical study :D .


Best Regards,
Ray

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:25 pm

Ray,

Thanks for the post. I believe the jeep may have been used at the Phoenix airport or Williams/Luke Army Airfields as a follow-me jeep (mentioned to me by the previous owner). The Yellow was definitely painted over the OD and is found all over the outside under the blue, but not under the tub. When I post some more pictures of the tear down and separation of the tub and frame, you'll be able to see it.

No evidence of any other castings or raised bosses/dates other than the normal location on the circle near the right rear of the engine attachment point to the bell hosing. Oz did post a picture of what we did find - a 3, an 8, and a possible D for the April 8, 1943, casting date. No other date casting dates or the 1949 casting as I have seen in some of the posts for European engine copies. I have taken pictures of just about every marking on that engine I could find. It's possible it may have come from Europe or returned for rebuild or issued as a replacement. I just hope it runs when I'm done. It's been about 45 years since I rebuilt my last engine, a Chevy 327 for a 69 Camaro I had. We'll see.

Mike

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by 70th Division » Mon Jan 30, 2023 7:54 am

ww2DAD wrote:
Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:25 pm
Ray,

Thanks for the post. I believe the jeep may have been used at the Phoenix airport or Williams/Luke Army Airfields as a follow-me jeep (mentioned to me by the previous owner). The Yellow was definitely painted over the OD and is found all over the outside under the blue, but not under the tub. When I post some more pictures of the tear down and separation of the tub and frame, you'll be able to see it.

No evidence of any other castings or raised bosses/dates other than the normal location on the circle near the right rear of the engine attachment point to the bell hosing. Oz did post a picture of what we did find - a 3, an 8, and a possible D for the April 8, 1943, casting date. No other date casting dates or the 1949 casting as I have seen in some of the posts for European engine copies. I have taken pictures of just about every marking on that engine I could find. It's possible it may have come from Europe or returned for rebuild or issued as a replacement. I just hope it runs when I'm done. It's been about 45 years since I rebuilt my last engine, a Chevy 327 for a 69 Camaro I had. We'll see.

Mike
Mike,

I wonder if you can find a picture or 2 of your jeep at the airport back in the old days ?
That would be great to discover being used at the airport, or at Luke/Williams Army Airfields ?
Being the airports back then weren't supersized, pictures may well exist of it in use .

I remember, not buying a Ford script GPW in Orlando, that I should have bought, but was young and didn't have the funds.
It had a dash tag on it for the Orlando Airport, so you can imagine how long ago that jeep was used there.
Likely handed over from the Army Air Force base that became the airport.


Best Regards,
Ray

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Mon Jan 30, 2023 1:16 pm

Ray,
Since I only live 5 hours away from Phoenix, I plan on visiting those sites to see if there are any pictures. I will do this in conjunction with going to T or C NM and speaking with the former museum owners. I hope to put this puzzle together.
By the way, you may be close on the double X engine. When I painted it today, I found 4 holes on the driver's side (L) that you couldn't see because the block was a dark blackish color. I thought they were casting flaws. Well, they are a data tag attachment point for rivets. The grey paint brought them out. I am going to post pictures of this on Oz's tech topic thread. He just happens to have a 4th echelon US Army rebuild tag, and the tags holes match the size on this one. We were talking and he mentioned that the Army put their rebuild tags on the driver's side so they could be seen. I have seen the Mercedes Benz rebuild tags on the right side somewhere else in this forum or on the web. This may be an Army rebuild completed here in the states.
Mike
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c11.jpg
Data tag holes

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:55 pm

Here's some more pictures of the jeep after we unloaded it and cleaned it up a bit. You can see the Willys script on the back of the tub. Also, external items added to the tub (such as the shovel and axe holders) were Ford marked, not Willys. I have also included a picture from underneath the dashboard. The original insulation is still there.
Attachments
c1.jpg
c2.jpg
c4.jpg
c5.jpg
c3.jpg
c9.jpg
c7.jpg

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by 70th Division » Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:06 pm

ww2DAD wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:55 pm
Here's some more pictures of the jeep after we unloaded it and cleaned it up a bit. You can see the Willys script on the back of the tub. Also, external items added to the tub (such as the shovel and axe holders) were Ford marked, not Willys. I have also included a picture from underneath the dashboard. The original insulation is still there.
Hello Mike,
Wow that body looks great !!
A nice Willys script body with glove box, from a late slat and early steering wheel.
I see the original circuit breakers under there too.
Do you have the body number on the drivers side triangle gusset ?

You may be able to straighten out the frame rail ends, and weld up any cracks, and add some metal if needed.


My slat was rebuilt in California and came out the same way, on a 1943 GPW frame.
I am building a full 1943 GPW now from parts I have collected that others sold off as being to rough to bother restoring.
Well I am restoring them all to build a GPW !


I also found a slat engine, and rolling slat frame to replace the GPW frame.
It had a late MB engine in it.


Great pics !

Best Regards,
Ray

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:20 pm

Ray,
Thanks again for your interest in this project. And thanks for asking so many great questions. I'm going to jump ahead a little and post a picture of what the frame looks like now. I guess I could probably speed this resto up and show where we are at.

I was able to keep the original frame rail ends and add just a little metal after straightening them. They are done, new gussets welded in, and front bumper added. I was happy with the final results. Here's a picture of what it looks like today. The rear rims are just place holders. I have two post war solid rims that came with the jeep - one Kelsey Hayes and one Motor Wheel dated in 1952. Both are marked 16 x 4.5. They will both be painted strato blue. I have to repaint the front combat rims strato blue also, something I didn't think about when I finished them. I will post some pictures of the frame rebuild process this week.

Best Regards,
Mike
Attachments
d2.jpg
frame rails
d1.jpg
chassis today

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by ww2DAD » Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:23 pm

Ray,
Forgot to add that tub number is 33631.
Mike

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Re: MB42/GPW43 Frankenweenie

Post by 70th Division » Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:57 pm

ww2DAD wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:20 pm
Ray,
Thanks again for your interest in this project. And thanks for asking so many great questions. I'm going to jump ahead a little and post a picture of what the frame looks like now. I guess I could probably speed this resto up and show where we are at.

I was able to keep the original frame rail ends and add just a little metal after straightening them. They are done, new gussets welded in, and front bumper added. I was happy with the final results. Here's a picture of what it looks like today. The rear rims are just place holders. I have two post war solid rims that came with the jeep - one Kelsey Hayes and one Motor Wheel dated in 1952. Both are marked 16 x 4.5. They will both be painted strato blue. I have to repaint the front combat rims strato blue also, something I didn't think about when I finished them. I will post some pictures of the frame rebuild process this week.

Best Regards,
Mike
Hello Mike,

Thanks for the tub number.

Your frame repair looks first class, very nice repairs indeed on those rails, and finished frame looks great :D !
Great progress is being made along the restoration journey.

Keep up your good works !

Best Regards,
Ray


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