Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

If you have an unrestored WWII jeep, we would like to see pictures, and hear your comments. NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.
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horrocks
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Thu Sep 17, 2020 2:53 am

A paint test on the surviving original paint on the bulkhead/firewall proved inconclusive. I then stripped all of the remaining paint prior to priming;

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A thorough clean with hand sanding paper then panel-wipe before a moderately high-build anti-corrosion red oxide type primer from specialists Leonard Brooks in Harlow;

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A haze of some light primer on the captive nuts before replacing the original E.C.& A marked bolts and priming the bulkhead;

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This is a good place to get to, especially with the days shortening and the winter weather around the corner.
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620


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horrocks
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:01 am

I used the pause to take a trip to the bottle bank. Jeep restoration obviously drives you to the drink!

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Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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horrocks
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:29 am

Stripped, cleaned and checked the dynamo;

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There is a paper dust seal with a plasticised backing.

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The mount has been broken and repaired by brazing at some point.

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Is this a gun-blueing?

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Chromate type paint on the inside.

I seem to have forgotten to have photographed the cleaned up and painted result. The bearing was good, so I blew out all the fauna, changed the brushes, and closed it back up, replacing the sealing paper in the same position.
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by twinflyer17 » Fri Sep 18, 2020 6:44 am

horrocks wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:29 am
I seem to have forgotten to have photographed the cleaned up and painted result.
Maybe it's all that wine clouding your memory :wink: Looking good, Toby! Keep up the good work.
Sean

GPW 108175 viewtopic.php?t=267732
DOD 4/14/43 Louisville, KY USA20371070

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horrocks
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:42 am

Thanks Sean, you could be right too!

On Monday I packed up the remaining engine ancillaries at took them over to Richard Payne at GPW Workshop and his smart new premises. Richard is rebuilding 2 MB engines for me, one for Calsat and one for my other MB, which developed a multiply cracked (GPW) block a while back, another story. I also took the gearbox and transfer box for rebuilding, and the axles for inner seals and checking that everything is in spec. I'll do the hubs, brakes and driveshafts myself.

Richard now has a gentleman on his engine rebuilds who has spent his career rebuilding high spec sports car engines. He ran the engine on a 43MB that he has just done, and it was amongst the sweetest Jeep engines that I've ever heard. With Richard himself and his painstaking attention to detail, and Graham Thrussell also of this parish on the metalwork, this is now a formidable team.

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https://gpwworkshop.com/
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:57 am

And onto the part which of which I have been perhaps most nervous. The foot of the axe indentation is very prone to rust through as there is a dark, damp and general all-round rubbish trap tucked well down behind the fuel tank, at the base of which the tank well section is bent over at 45 and 45 degrees and spot welded to the back of the side panel. Even when it looks fine, as it did on this Jeep back in 2013, it usually isn't. The repair sections are easily available, and indeed I have one from the peerless Joe's Motor Pool, but there's something about the original, with it's imperfections, welding marks (and splashes) and spot weld indentations that I wanted to try to preserve. I took the view that if it all goes wrong, I always have the new section as backup.

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The line drawn;
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The fold at the edge of the floor wasn't too bad, but the double-folding at the top edge of the tank well was completely gone, with nice thick layers of sandwich rust behind the side panel. The spot welds were drilled out from the inside so as to try to preserve their tell-tale marks on the outside;
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Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:37 am

And now the delicate bit. I fashioned the contour with vice, hammer and a piece of 2 inch iron pipe. I've had a bit of practice, as I made up a repair panel for my other MB. It's hard to get right, and takes a lot of time.

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Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by Boyso » Tue Sep 22, 2020 8:45 am

Surgical work Toby ! :o

You could start your own wine bottle recycling plant :lol:
44 GPW 231738 10/23/1944
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Tue Sep 22, 2020 2:57 pm

At the rate this thing is driving me to the bottle, I might need to!
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by Boyso » Tue Sep 22, 2020 3:52 pm

Me too, I'm bringing the cheese :D
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:42 am

The reinforcing section on the inside of the panel was also badly rusted. I could easily have just bought a new JMP piece, but why make life easy when you can make it really difficult?

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And a quick lesson in why you should never do these things when you're tired and in a hurry;
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So I had to cut it again, and refix the right way...

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Perhaps not as good as it would have been had I been concentrating properly, but close enough I think.
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Tue Sep 29, 2020 7:06 am

The top side of the fuel tank well repaired and ready to take the repaired lower side panel.

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Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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horrocks
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Fri Oct 02, 2020 8:23 am

Final job before reattaching the lower side panel is to close up some rust perforations in the corner of the riser. I first gently prised the side panel away from the riser and thoroughly cleared the sandwich rust, before treating the whole area with anti-rust. Rather than patch, I used some copper tanking as a heat sink, building up the thinned metal before grinding it back flat;

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Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:55 am

Keen to get red oxide onto components before winter sets in. Most of this was stripped last year, and even though it had been inside I still had to run over it with the wire brushes;

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Always feels good to get the red oxide on. You feel as though you're really starting to go forwards.
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by horrocks » Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:58 am

Something I always enjoys seeing, even if its a Willys;

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All part of the vehicle's story.
Toby

Willys MB 3/13/42 127415
Willys MB 1/9/45 404620


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