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 Jul 30, 2020 4:52 am

I was going to start a new thread over on the General Discussion board, as this Jeep is no longer an Unrestored Original. However, without posting all the 'so far' pictures the project continuity will be lost, and there seem to be a good number of restoration threads on here, so I'm going to stay. The mods are very welcome to move the whole thread over if they wish.

To recap, I bought the Jeep in France back in 2012 when the original photographs were taken, but until a couple of years back I didn't have time to get to grips with it, and it languished, at times out in the elements. It became very clear that this was not going to be a 'maintain originality' project as I had wished, but a full restoration.
Toby

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


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twinflyer17
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Re: Willys MB 404620 1-9-45 'Calsat'

Post by twinflyer17 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:07 am

Toby, great looking jeep and I'm looking forward to following your progress!
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 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:09 am

Removal of the tub and motor revealed another setback, one which I had long suspected;

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And this is why;

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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 Jul 31, 2020 4:50 am

I sandblasted the chassis and axles, put them into primer, and set them aside. This was last autumn. The chassis will be going to http://www.chassisalignment.co.uk/ to be straightened. They seem to be able work miracles, even on enormous truck chassis. Their website is well worth a look.
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 Jul 31, 2020 7:57 am

At about the same time I started to strip the bonnet. It is from a GPW, and had a large star with the gas vesicant paint insert. No trace of any numbers.

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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 » Sat Aug 01, 2020 2:24 am

Again, put away for the winter. There's a bit of metal shrinking to do in the areas that have been filled, and I've replaced the damaged cowl end of the hinge from one salvaged from another hood. I should probably swap it for an MB hood, but it will do for now.
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 01, 2020 3:14 am

A couple of months ago I turned my attention to the tub. There's a lot of work to do, and I realised early on that the rear floor is too beaten up to rescue, as is the driver's side rear wheelhouse. It will need a rear panel as well.

I took some photos to record the course of the radio cable and one or two other things.

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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 » Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:36 am

My first move was to investigate and cut out a couple of nasty patches on the floor and the side in the area of the radio box, itself long gone. I suspect this is a common problem, where water and dirt get caught behind and under the box.

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It seems strange that the patches seem to have been made of beaten up old sections of sheet, which then had to be painstakingly filled and rubbed back. Surely quicker and better to use a decent section of sheet, and save yourself all that trouble.
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 02, 2020 5:57 am

I next turned my attention to the passenger-side rear wheel housing. This was the least damaged of the two, and I wanted to try to shrink the metal on the top surface back. I wasn't that optimistic, as I've had no luck trying this in the past. I used a combination of heat/wet cloth and hammer and dolly, and a shrinking disc.

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I had some success with the shrinking disc on more localised creases, bringing them out quite successfully, but no progress at all with the heat/hammer/dolly, in fact I ended up stretching the metal even more. I was taking a lot of time going nowhere. Given that the seam between the wheelhouse riser and the top had also been roughly welded up, and I just wasn't going to have the available time to learn how to shrink the metal properly, I decided to cut the top of the housing out and replace it. I had actually bought new sections from Jeep Sud Est when I collected the Jeep back in 2012.

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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 Aug 05, 2020 4:33 am

The strip above the main underfloor hat channel was somewhat bulged, so a guessed that the wood insert had become wet and expanded. I want to try to save the original hat channels, or as much of them as possible, so I took a deep breath...

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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 Aug 05, 2020 4:43 am

Amazingly, the hat is mainly sound. It will need the damaged area below the radio box replaced, the outer 6 inches or so. I rustproofed it and put it into primer pending some grit for the sandblaster.

I also patched the area below the passenger side fixing, where the bolt goes through;

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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 » Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:26 am

There's a lot more going backwards to come, but sometimes you need to take a step or two forwards to stop the disillusionment setting in. I anyway need to stabilise the front section before I set about removal of three-quarters of the rear.

The outer sections of the front hat channels were rotted through, and as usual they had taken the area of the floor inboard of the front steps. Together with parts of the bottom sections of the hats that had become too thin, I set about cutting the bad metal out.

This is the driver's side. Not pretty.

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The Eiffel tower section was fatally compromised at the bottom, the metal very thin, with lots of sandwich rust between the back of the tower and the outer skin. To reach it with the angle cutter it was necessary to remove the rear half of the step.

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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 » Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:33 am

While the step was off, I ground the bad metal off of the back of the little tab, and noted the angle at which the side skin of the jeep rises to the top of the step behind it, so that I could reproduce it when I lay in the new skin later. This photo shows it before the cleanup;

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Last edited by horrocks on Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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 » Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:39 am

Next task is to deal with the eiffel tower;

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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 Aug 05, 2020 6:11 am

I must have forgotten to take any pictures of the new eiffel tower foot before I tagged it back in, but here it is, together with the cleaned up step clamped back on;

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The newly-cut piece in the background is the section for where the floor had rotted over the hat channel. Here it is. A bit of a jigsaw puzzle really, the price for trying to save as much good original metal as possible!

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Toby

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


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