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 » Fri Aug 21, 2020 3:28 am

The front floor 'progress to date' prior to attacking the rear floor and the damaged wheel-well;

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This also shows the disadvantage of having an outside 'workshop'! We've had a few days of heavy rain here. It will all be blasted before finishing and painting.

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I forgot to straighten it before I cut it, so it went back exactly as it was - bent! I'll straighten it later. I've got a finger belt sander coming to deal with the welds, which are inaccessible to a rotary grinder.

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The French fore section of the hat channel has a different profile to the original, so I saved the good bit of original and grafted it back. The wood insert was like new away from the floor hole area, which had rotted completely. It seems like a south-American hardwood of some kind.
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 » Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:57 am

And so to the badly knocked about tub rear;

The jeep had taken a hard hit in the rear corner, enough to bend in the rear cross-member outrigger, cave in the rear corner, and badly crumble the wheelwell both on top and in the riser section from the floor. A tailgate had been cut into the rear panel. The floor had been caved in by some heavy weights being dropped into it, probably truck components. I had already taken the decision to replace all these tub sections.

So first to excise the damaged sections. A last look at the original;

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Gone...

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I had placed the tub onto the chassis in order to ensure that everything aligned.

Although the rear quarter panel looks ok in the photos, it had been crushed in, roughly beaten out, and was full of body filler. I ummed and aaghed for ages about whether to repair it, and also put out a request for a donor part. It wouldn't have been beyond my abilities to repair it now, but I'm very short of time on this project and need to move onto other things. So, lacking any positive response to the donor request, I chose to cut a very expensive JMP panel, taking the view that the unused bit could go to another project, or indeed that I could carry out the repair to the damaged section in the future, and graft it onto the JMP section to remake a full side panel. This decision was hastened by the fact that I couldn't get the replacement JMP wheelwell to align with the unrepaired damaged section in place.

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The dilemma now was where to cut. I chose the highest point on the wheel arch, but even that is oddly difficult to locate, especially on a damaged and repaired panel, so I triangulated measurements from the grab-handle hole centres and took the plunge, repeating the same measurements for the cut on the new panel. The problem turned out to be the fact that the original panel had been somewhat compressed and stretched in the damage and the repair, so the measurements weren't exactly true. The result was that I cut the new panel very slightly too short, giving me a fairly wide gap to bridge. Thank goodness for the modern MIG welder!

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All done, ground back, and the new wheelarch plug-welded onto the repaired side panel.
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 » Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:27 am

Test fit of floor and back panel. Everything seems to line up ok. The JMP panels are beautifully made.

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Such a relief to get all that scrap metal off the back of the tub. It was depressing. Finally the light at the end of the tunnel starts to come into view.
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 » Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:01 am

The heavy rain last week stopped play for a day or two (I can only work on the Jeep in the early mornings and evenings before and after work), so I took the opportunity to clean up some parts, starting with the distributor.

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Working on the tub all you ever really see is what needs to be done next. It's quite heartening to do something, however small, that represents a completion.
Toby

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

Post by horrocks » Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:00 am

Now to the rear passenger side toolbox floor and rear quarter panel;

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The toolbox floor isn't particularly accessible, and its removal involved having to cut into the metal of the side panel wheelarch, but that's a straightforward enough repair.

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The curve of the rear quarter had been damaged and repaired with bodyfiller, so first task was to get it cleaned up and straightened.

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My initial efforts served to improve the curve on the bottom fold, but also to pull the panel further out of alignment.
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All told this took about 2 hours work with hammer and dolly, and a bit of brute force.
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 Aug 25, 2020 8:16 am

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Toby

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

Post by horrocks » Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:42 am

Some further repairs to the toolbox section. A heavy weight had bent the rear top section downwards, and it was necessary to cut and restitch it. I neglected to photograph the finished article, but it is pretty straight and solid now. The metal is fairly thin here, and it took a delicate hand with the welder, settings all turned down.

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The second photo shows the area where the attachment for the retaining chain for the tailgate had been roughly welded to the side of the toolbox section, replacing the strengthening gusset. Removal was tricky as the weld was very thick, and it left these sort of oxidised areas that I dropped weld into to clean up. It has actually finished really well, and a replacement gusset will be added when the rear panel is put back on.
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 Sep 09, 2020 6:11 am

The front floor between the hat channel and the riser was bent downwards as well. The photos don't show the extent of the damage. The metal was also rust pitted on the topside, and had got thin in places. Given that I would have to drill out the spot welds to deal with the sandwich rust anyway, I took the decision to cut much of it out and replace it with clean metal.

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Not an easy decision, but one I didn't regret once I saw the amout of corrosion that became evident when it was cut.

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And cleaned up. It was necessary to drop some weld onto the 'turn' at the bottom of the riser, and grind it back, as corrosion had thinned some of the steel here. This further vindicated my decision.

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Toby

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Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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

Post by 1942 Ford GPW 352nd » Wed Sep 09, 2020 6:21 am

Hi Toby,
Great progress on your tub. I enjoy following your posts. Keep up the good work!

Todd

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

Post by horrocks » Wed Sep 09, 2020 6:24 am

I had run out of sheet, so bought some of the same zintec coated steel that JMP use. First of all a card template.

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Then a test fit. This one surprisingly fitted well, and didn't need too much fettling!
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The finished section before welding;
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Front half done;
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I initially put the plug welds in through the hat channel upwards rather than thru the floor downwards, but I wasn't happy with the penetration marks, so also added some plug welds in through the floor onto the hat;
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Toby

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Willys MB 1/9/45 404620

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

Post by horrocks » Wed Sep 09, 2020 6:44 am

I then dealt with the bit of the top hat that I had kept open because there had been a hole drilled through here that I wasn't sure had been factory or not. After being assured on the tech section of the forum that it wasn't, I welded the hole shut, then sprayed plenty of waxoil into the hat channel before closing it off;

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I haven't ground the plug welds down yet for a bit of extra confidence whilst I'm pulling the tub about. I'll consider whether to finish them neatly later, but there are plenty of them - some in through the top, some where I had run sheet metal screws through whilst welding, all of which had been ground off, so probably twice as many as remain visible.
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 Sep 09, 2020 7:06 am

Thanks for the encouragment, Todd. This is all undoubtedly pretty old hat to most people on the forum, but then it might be of use later to those of us who are new to this kind of thing. I suspect that the pattern of corrosion on Jeeps doesn't vary that much, but it has been a bit of a discovery as to how extensive that corrosion is, even when things look quite sound. Sandwich rust is certainly a bit of a sneaky beast.

A friend has just bought this gorgeous 1956 XK140. Although it is RHD, it came over from California. In due course he will have it fully restored. The Bentley R Type belongs to my family, my late father bought it over 50 years ago. Working on the sheet metal on either of these would be in a different league of skill.

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Toby

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

Post by horrocks » Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:24 am

The lid goes back on the floor main hat channel. The wood reinforcement through the bolt-hole went in first, throughly soaked in linseed oil, before the entire hat was treated with waxoil. I didn't run the wood all the way through as per the original, as there seems little point, just at the two floor bolt locations.

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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 » Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:05 am

I spent yesterday morning clearing the under-cowl wiring and the gauges, a real dastardly job, especially when you're in your 60s and not so flexible as you were. The wiring loom is pretty much complete, but the colours have faded. I took care to undo everything and remove it without cutting any cables, but I won't attempt to reuse it. I'll post photos later.

I was surprised to find the the firewall insulation comprises a thin black fibreboard backed merely by corrugated cardboard. I think that with care I could possibly restore and reuse this, though the portion on the passenger side has been damaged by heavy boots.

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Unfortunately one of the studs on the oil pressure gauge snapped off, despite a good soak in WD40 and careful wire-brushing as I removed it. I guess the only way I can save this is by cutting it off closer to the gauge body and attempting to weld on a donor. Not sure of my chances of that.

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Another casualty is the temp gauge, which I tested, and doesn't work.

I also cleared the engine side of the firewall, and was surprised to find this on the air-cleaner bracket. I can think of very few circumstances in which one of these brackets would need to be replaced. Is there any likelihood of such components ever being supplied to Toledo with a Ford stamp?

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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 Sep 16, 2020 8:07 am

Back on for good.

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Toby

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


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