New Aus Member GPW 167355

If you have an unrestored WWII jeep, we would like to see pictures, and hear your comments. NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.
Jimbob
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New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Jimbob » Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:37 pm

Hi all,

I thought I'd join up and post some pictures of our "new" GPW. My name is Jim, and my father and I recently purchased this jeep locally in North East Victoria (Australia) as our second project. We are also restoring a 1942 CMP F60 (seen over on the MLU forum website). Jeeps are something completely new to us, and we appreciate the big learning curve ahead of us. We've already established (with the help of Ian Fawbert) the data plate serial and chassis serial are both 167355, although the engine has been replaced. I will post some photos of the engine when I sort through what I have taken. The head is willys, not too sure about the block, it doesn't have the smoothed off serial stamp on the side so I presume its not a wartime ford engine. We've discovered the valve rods are stamped ford...so its definitely a bit of a mix and match. Rebuild plate on the block places it in Adelaide in 1953... the said rebuild tag is also leaking oil out one of its rivets. Replacement engine number (on the waterpump) is 25036.

ARN is 155359, so far we have been unable to find any unit specific markings, on the driver side the TARE markings are still visible, but the panel is rusted out, as are both steps (and everywhere there is timber), part of the rear panel, fuel tank, windscreen etc, the list goes on. On the passenger side above the step are a few numbers, I was clueless as to what these are, but its just dawned on me that they may be related to the Length Width Height hand written further along, shipping info perhaps? The other obvious marking is the large white triangle located on both sides and in the middle of the windscreen. As a civilian, my knowledge of military markings is not great, but I would have thought that such markings would be more commonly seen on Australian armour, as a company or squadron symbol... not on softskins? Any help on this matter mould be much appreciated. I've posted the rusted surfaces of the rear bumpers and the windscreen on the off chance someone can use their eagle eye to see a remnant of unit markings. I've also found tyre pressure markings above all wheels, seems to be originally in yellow and was replaced in white when the jeep was repainted, and it has been repainted at least 4 times.

Lets see if I can get photos to work.

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regards,

Jim


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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Bill M » Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:46 am

Hello Jim,
that looks like a good candidate for restoration. You should be able to establish the era of the engine by the casting code on the lower edge of the block on the distributor side. There is a good deal of info on Australian Army markings on Jon Roger's Jeepdraw website which is on the main page here on G503.com. Linked here... http://jeepdraw.com/Australian_Tac_Signs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Do you know of any history of your jeep?
cheers
Bill.
Member of G503 since 1999


GPW-178721 Under restoration.

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by hell-fire » Mon Jun 07, 2010 1:37 am

Hi Jim,

Welcome to G503, I remember seeing that Jeep & thought then it had all the hard to find parts. In my army time a triangle facing up was always "A company" or Squadron depending on the unit but WW2 may have meant something different, follow Bills advice & check Jeep draw.

Good luck with it.
John
Australia
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1942 Willys MB-BRT 135673 D.O.D. 4-16-42 Now 97% finished
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Re: previous history.

Post by Jimbob » Mon Jun 07, 2010 2:04 am

Hi Bill and hell-fire,

I think the bloke we got it from was a bit taken back by how much interest the jeep got, putting it up for auction when Corowa was full of jeeps was a good move for him. When we went to pick it up, he pulled a dirty piece of cloth out of the shed and said "Oh and this is for it too" It was its original canvas roof. Very weak and rotten in patches but still, its original, and you can't beat that.

I have not found anything detailed on its military history, other than the rebuild date and location, and the overlapping info Ian chased up in the ARN databases, but as far as i am aware it has only ever had one civilian owner. We think it was auctioned or sold out of the army in the late fifties or early sixties and it became a runabout on an orchard in Ringwood (we actually found a piece of paper with part of their business logo in the glovebox), so it moved to Melbourne at some point. Eventually it broke down and they put it in "storage". It became the property of another relative after a few years who decied to sell it rather than let it rot away. I forgot to say in my first post, since these photos were taken we have got it running, after great confusion, trial and error, and helpfull info from this forum we discovered that the flywheel was out, when we timed it by the valves it roared into life.

Thanks for the info about Jeepdraw, I'll have a good look through it.

James.

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Cobra Doc » Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:15 am

Nice find.

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Jimbob » Mon Jun 07, 2010 2:17 pm

Another portrait shot, with new tyres, old canvas and restored wheels.

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by bazza46 » Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:45 pm

Wow! That is so good. And it IS original. It's like a time capsule. It's almost a shame to restore it.
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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by jeepjop » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:12 pm

Not almost a shame, it is a shame. Only original once. Collect parts, preserve, and enjoy!

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Checkpoint53 » Fri Jun 11, 2010 11:15 am

WOW :!: Nice Jeep :!: A small photo of Engine :?:
Bye :wink:

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Steven Malikoff » Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:51 pm

As others have said, this IS a nice unrestored jeep. It has so much of its original paint and markings that if it were mine I'd be inclined to do up the mechanicals, partially disassemble to rust-convert the bits that need it, wash thoroughly and spray the whole jeep with a clear flat preservative epoxy lacquer. That way it ought to stay looking like it does - wonderful :)
Steve Malikoff
My YouTube WWII jeep videos http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=1944GPW

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Mitch Olson
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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Mitch Olson » Thu Jun 17, 2010 6:47 am

Steve:

That is exactly what I would do with it... clear sealing finish and leave it as it is... wonderful find and not to far off in numbers from mine 165021... well a couple of thousand.. but it is close.

Mitch
'Jeepless' In Kalifornia

I am not a Complete Idiot, I am just like a jeep...some parts are missing!

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Jimbob » Thu Jun 17, 2010 6:19 pm

As requested:

I'll take some more detailed photos, and find the cast numbers/details on the block and head.

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We're considering the options of preserve vs restore, while a certain amount of paint is still great for its age, the amount of paint that has reacted with the elements over time and the amount of rust will probably lead us to restore. The thing will be getting as much data as possible about/off the vehicle before that happens. I'm not sure what type of paint they used in the last coat, but it certainly hasn't liked the weather, let alone the white markings it went over, giving it a varying patchwork look of colour and rust. I have managed to recover the numbers above the passenger step, they appear to be 45782. Seems to be of similar sequence to other embarkation numbers seen in photos on the Australian War Memorial website. I am continuing to slowly clean up the windscreen to try and find markings that would indicate unit/division but so far nothing has surfaced.

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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Ian Mastin » Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:20 pm

Hi Jim,

First up mate welcome to the "G" you'll will find is a great site for ww2 Jeep info and more.
It is good to see more Aussie Jeep turn up out of the wood work, your's look like come out of a time capsule great find Jim keep us posted .



cheers
Ian
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Gpw 161919
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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Halsey » Wed Jun 30, 2010 9:53 pm

What an amazing find! Congrats!!!!!
Great to see that another jeep has found a good home!

Keep em rolling!

Chris
43 GPW 122779 7/15/43
43 GPW 105097 3/25/43 Matching numbers.
51 CJ3A
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Jimbob
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Re: New Aus Member GPW 167355

Post by Jimbob » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:57 pm

I've cleaned up the numbers on the head and block ...and I've since lost the piece of paper I wrote the block number on, but I now know both the block and head are Willys. The head number is 639660C and it has no WILLYS or JEEP cast on it, just the number and the engine specs firing/clearance/exhaust etc. This would make it an early-ish head?


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