1945 Willys MB Restoration Project

[70th Division]

Ray, with a little effort you can save original brackets if they use the band and buckle style of retainer. Over the years, as my household extinguishers lose pressure, or if I don't need the brackets, I remove the bands and re-attach them to orginal era brackets. I've done it twice so far, with two more to go. There's minor differences in the buckle styles, but a repaired original is still better than a reproduction IMO. When I get to that point I'll post pictures as how I do it.

That is good to know, as all the later models I have are broken off and long gone.

I did find one complete one in the Nevada desert when I was working a project out there remediating an old gold ore processing facility that the government wanted gone, and the land restored to orginal natural state.

I will use it on a jeep in the future, but the new repro ones available now are perfect like the originals.


Best Regards,
Ray

[Raflad]

Thanks for the info on the spot welder Ray.

[70th Division]

Thanks for the info on the spot welder Ray.

Hello Adam,

Yes sir !!
I highly recommend these great tools, as they do the job perfectly and save tons of time as well.

There are a couple of Dayton units in ebay now.

A little pricey but maybe the seller is open to offers if you decide to get one.

New tips just screw in, and are also available there and are made in the USA.

I will be ordering some new tips again soon.


Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello,

I have welded up the cracks in the hinge, and made a patch on one end and welded it in replacing the piece missing.

I also repaired the capture nuts for the ground straps.

One nut was wallowed out and needed replacing.

I made some cuts around the existing capture nut, then bent it up, using a small screw driver, tapped the folded down edges
into the nut, and removed it.

The original and reproduction capture nut are the same design.
The size needed for the capture nut is 5/16-24 if you need to order some replacements.

Once in position, I used a washer, and tightened the bolt down onto the new capture nut, squishing the tabs down around the hole.

The original EC marked bolt tightens right in, that attaches the ground strap.

I will now weld up the cuts that were made to replace the nut, and grind them smooth.

The other one was rusty, but I was able to chase the threads out with the correct 5/16-24 tap.

All went well !!

Another small step done toward the hood restoration .

Best Regards,
Ray

[tuareg]

Good job, Ron have those captive nuts. They are not cheap but are well done!!

[70th Division]

Good job, Ron have those captive nuts. They are not cheap but are well done!!

Hello,

Thanks, yes Ron has them and the size needed is 5/16-24.

The cuts welded up, and then
the welds smoothed down, a little rotary sanding and metal filler to blend away any scratches, and it will be good.

I will also do this same process to replace the missing 4 bolts on the upper rear panel that hold the rear seat hooks on the 1943 GPW project.

It will work out perfect.

This MB has those 4 upper rear panel bolts/studs still in place which is nice.


Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello,

A little more careful work, and it looks like I maybe just have the original USA number under the paint still !

I have uncovered the S at the end of the USA number.

I am using a heat gun to warm up the thick layers of remaining paint, and carefully scraping them away with a push button razor scraper.

With the layers of thick paint removed, there is a final layer of green gray paint over the blue numbers, which can be seen to the left of the S.

This is a nice potential discovery, I hope the rest can be found, so this jeep can wear the original USA number matching the serial number.
If just the bottom half of the numbers are there, I can figure it out.
We know that the numbers will start as 206xxxxx.
Is it the case that Willys numbers are sequential ?
So I could add or subtract from a known nearby serial number with a known USA number to get the accurate original number ?


I am working on the passenger's side of the hood trying to uncover the number.

By this time in production the S had been moved from the cowl directly to the hood.


I also did some work on the body tub, where the hood attaches.

This area was bent up by something.

I hammered it all straight again.

I also uncovered some more numbers and feel real good about uncovering 1 more to have the secret code !!

It looks like it will be 206X3618 S. The last 4 numbers uncovered appear to be 0618 S , and there will be another number to the left still, under the paint.

Once I get it uncovered, I will add some oil, and clean it up a little to verify the exact numbers.

I will get back to it tomorrow.

Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello,

After carefully heating the many layers of house paint off the small remaining area with paint still on the hood , I have recovered the original USA number !!!

It is USA 20693618 S
as far as I can tell.


I am happy to have been able to discover this !!

Best Regards,
Ray

[JAB]

Congratulations! I've done it twice now, another two times the hood was obviously sanded to bare metal before I got it, and two remaining to be seen.

[70th Division]

Congratulations! I've done it twice now, another two times the hood was obviously sanded to bare metal before I got it, and two remaining to be seen.

Thanks Jeff,

I am glad I was able to recover this hood number that goes with the serial number !!
These were under the only still painted spot on the hood, and no red primer found under the od, like on other 1945 MB hoods.
I will get stencils from Holland and want to do the double stenciling, with large tall white numbers over blue.

Good luck on your next 2 hoods .

Best Regards,
Ray

[tuareg]

Hello,

After carefully heating the many layers of house paint off the small remaining area with paint still on the hood , I have recovered the original USA number !!!

Resized_20230317_165504.jpeg
Resized_20230317_165515.jpeg

It is USA 20693618 S
as far as I can tell.


I am happy to have been able to discover this !!

Best Regards,
Ray

Congratulations!

It is a dream came true!!

[tuareg]

Congratulations! I've done it twice now, another two times the hood was obviously sanded to bare metal before I got it, and two remaining to be seen.

Thanks Jeff,

I am glad I was able to recover this hood number that goes with the serial number !!
These were under the only still painted spot on the hood, and no red primer found under the od, like on other 1945 MB hoods.
I will get stencils from Holland and want to do the double stenciling, with large tall white numbers over blue.

Good luck on your next 2 hoods .

Best Regards,
Ray

Stencils from Holland? Could you give me more information!

I am very interested on seeing your result with the white paint over the blue, I think it is the best thing to do !!

[70th Division]

Congratulations! I've done it twice now, another two times the hood was obviously sanded to bare metal before I got it, and two remaining to be seen.

Thanks Jeff,

I am glad I was able to recover this hood number that goes with the serial number !!
These were under the only still painted spot on the hood, and no red primer found under the od, like on other 1945 MB hoods.
I will get stencils from Holland and want to do the double stenciling, with large tall white numbers over blue.

Good luck on your next 2 hoods .

Best Regards,
Ray

Stencils from Holland? Could you give me more information!

I am very interested on seeing your result with the white paint over the blue, I think it is the best thing to do !!

Hello,

Thanks !!
It is always nice to make a discovery like this, especially since 95 percent of the paint on the hood was gone !

The stencils I got before for my 1942 GPW were from Robert in Holland.

https://dataplates4u.com/stencils/

They are perfect factory matches, and he also has several styles of the larger white stencils to go over the original ones.
Looking at original 70th Division jeeps, I can see many were double stenciled right over the factory blue ones.
I will replicate that for this jeep, and the 1943 GPW project .


Best Regards,
Ray

[HH Birnie]

Hello,

After carefully heating the many layers of house paint off the small remaining area with paint still on the hood , I have recovered the original USA number !!!

Resized_20230317_165504.jpeg
Resized_20230317_165515.jpeg

It is USA 20693618 S
as far as I can tell.


I am happy to have been able to discover this !!

Best Regards,
Ray

Great,
Perhaps you can find more information.

http://www.hostjeep.gportal.hu/gindex.php?pg=26219188
http://www.ww2jeep.gportal.hu/gindex.php?pg=28806986
Mvg Hans

[70th Division]

Hello,

After carefully heating the many layers of house paint off the small remaining area with paint still on the hood , I have recovered the original USA number !!!

Resized_20230317_165504.jpeg
Resized_20230317_165515.jpeg

It is USA 20693618 S
as far as I can tell.


I am happy to have been able to discover this !!

Best Regards,
Ray

Great,
Perhaps you can find more information.

http://www.hostjeep.gportal.hu/gindex.php?pg=26219188
http://www.ww2jeep.gportal.hu/gindex.php?pg=28806986
Mvg Hans

Hello Hans,

Thanks for the link !

That is a great website with the USA numbers and jeeps collated that have been found.


Best Regards,
Ray