Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

If you have an unrestored WWII jeep, we would like to see pictures, and hear your comments. NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.
dcrawford
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Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by dcrawford » Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:37 pm

Hello Everyone,
I’ve been a member here for quite a while, soaking up as much knowledge as I can from you all. Thank you to all of you for openly sharing your knowledge and passion.

It’s a pleasure to post photos of my first jeep. I found GPW 270351 on perhaps the last working ranch in San Jose, California. I bought the jeep from the original owner’s family and it came with its 1946 California pink slip. The family had used her on the ranch and for deer hunting. The fold-down rack on the front was for hauling game back home. There’s about 100 pounds of angle-iron on the rear, but they did keep the original Ford pintle hook.

As you can see in the photos, the frame serial number is stamped with a capital I instead if a 1. She has body number 245363. With light sanding I managed to uncover the USA number of 20735727 painted with very thin white paint in a simple font. The dataplate is missing, so I do not know the DOD. Looking here at the serial numbers page, the DOD would appear to be between May 15th and June 1st, 1945, depending upon the factory. Please, if anyone can fill me in on a factory and DOD that would be wonderful.

She was stored indoors and last ran about five years ago. The tub and frame only have surface rust but lots of holes drilled. She has a deep-mud exhaust and no fuel strainer on the firewall. The frame is pretty beat up and has some “additions” but will hopefully be restorable.

The GPW came as a package deal with the Willys MBT you see in the first photo. The trailer has a serial of 39950 and a DOD of 9/43. She has most of the original hardware and her original paint with USA number and other markings. I just couldn’t let her sit out or possibly get scrapped, so I took her along with the GPW. I’ll post photos of her in the trailers forum.

Thanks for taking a look. Any knowledge and wisdom you can impart about this jeep and its restoration will most gratefully be accepted.
Respectfully,
Dave

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Last edited by dcrawford on Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
GPW 270351 6/1/45 Dallas USA 20735727 Restoration https://fordgpw.wordpress.com/
GPW 107810 4/12/43 Louisville USA 20370495
MBT 39950 9/43 USA 0240139


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macaddict23
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by macaddict23 » Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:34 pm

Email sent.. Thanks, Dave.
Last edited by macaddict23 on Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Originality . . . It just needs to be what it is."

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lowbonnet
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by lowbonnet » Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:28 am

Wow! Great looking jeep and trailer! Lots of character. What a find! Did you search for it, found it in the local newspaper or was there a sign next to the road stating "Jeep for sale"?
June 1942 Ford GPW (script)
Transportation Equipment Co. T1, 1/4 ton trailer

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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by Halsey » Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:54 am

Very nice jeep! Love the flower power on the sides!

:D

Looks to be in great condition, and with a trailer to go as well, just fantastic!!


Congrats again!


Chris
43 GPW 122779 7/15/43
43 GPW 105097 3/25/43 Matching numbers.
51 CJ3A
51 M38
55 M38A1

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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by Jim M » Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:55 pm

Nice GPW. I like the Waltham speedometer. It looks like the amp and fuel gauges ae original. Is there a "F" on the amp gauge? Alos, are the reflectors Arrowlite 217? I have GPW 274701from around the same area in good shape, DOD 07/05/1945.
You did very good.
Jim Mulligan

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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by Ronnie Guin » Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:41 pm

Dave, the three reaming holes below and to the left of the radio are the original holes for the first aid kit bracket that went under the dash. Do not weld those up when filling in the dash and drill a fourth one on the right side. Very nice GPW :D
Ronnie Guin
44 MB-T-12/44, 1943 FWD K38
GPW 2956 3/10/42 MB 126655 3/11/42
GPW 113491 5/4/43 Slat Grill 112038 1/14/42
MVPA

dcrawford
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by dcrawford » Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:53 pm

Thanks, guys, for the kind words about the GPW.

Lowbonnet, she was on our local Craigslist, listed as a "1945 Ford MB" The initial price was too high, but we agreed at a reasonable value.

Chris, I'm kinda diggin' on the Flower Power sticker as well. :) What do you think, 1971 or 72? Kinda brings back that Brady Bunch feeling, eh?

Jim M, I'll try to post better pictures of the gauges in the morning. I can't see an F on the amp gauge but I'll look harder in better light. The reflectors are Arrow Lite Device Co. Please, can you tell me how can I find the model number? Where are you from in Indiana? I'm an old Boilermaker.

Ronnie, thanks for the heads up on the medical kit brackets. I'll be pulling the radio this week to see how things were cut.

I managed to take off the PO's front bumper system and deer carrier.
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Here's the interior after removing the jury-rigged bench seat.
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Here's the back end before pulling off the angle iron.
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And here's how it looks afterwards
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Cheers,
Dave
GPW 270351 6/1/45 Dallas USA 20735727 Restoration https://fordgpw.wordpress.com/
GPW 107810 4/12/43 Louisville USA 20370495
MBT 39950 9/43 USA 0240139

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Tom Wolboldt
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by Tom Wolboldt » Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:55 am

Hello Dave,

From my GPW studies and data bases, Your GPW 270351 was assembled at the Dallas, Tx. assembly plant. The hood number you found is the original number. The most likely DoD ( 99.9 % ) would be Friday June 1 , '45. Most likely this was a crated GPW shipped to Ca. in '45 to be ready to go to Japan in '46.

I hope this is of some help.

dcrawford
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by dcrawford » Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:38 am

Hi Tom,
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I've seen your posts over the years and your generosity is appreciated by so many.
It's great to know the factory, the DOD, and that the hood number is original.
Warm regards,
Dave
GPW 270351 6/1/45 Dallas USA 20735727 Restoration https://fordgpw.wordpress.com/
GPW 107810 4/12/43 Louisville USA 20370495
MBT 39950 9/43 USA 0240139

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Greg Hines
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by Greg Hines » Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:03 pm

Dave,

I have GPW270380 from the Dallas plant which was delivered on June 1st 1945. I do have my dataplate so if you need a detailed picture to get the replacement stamped just perfect let me know.

Great seeing the pictures, answer a lot of question for me as mine is not nearly as complete or in as good of shape (but still all matching).

Greg

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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by ILikePlanesToo » Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:58 pm

Awesome GPW. It's in such great shape. That's going to be a great project.

Michael

dcrawford
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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by dcrawford » Sun Sep 30, 2012 8:16 pm

Thanks, Michael. I agree, should be lots of fun.

Greg, I would love to have a detailed picture of your dataplate. That will help immensely when the time comes. Please let me know if there are any detail photos of 270351 that you'd like to see. Pretty cool to think that our jeeps likely came off the line on the same day.

I'm working on getting the electrical set up ready to try to fire up the motor. Here's the battery as installed when I brought her home. It's an old Orpin Automatic Battery. Two 6V batteries in a 12V case. When ignition is switched on, the Orpin puts the two 6V in series to hit the starter with 12V, otherwise,it remains as 6V. It came with the original handbook for the battery (kind of cool) but I can't find much about these systems online. Fortunately most of the wiring is original 6V. This set-up saved her from a full 12V conversion. I have a new 6V battery ready, and hopefully the starter will be fine in going back to 6V.

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Please, can anyone share their thoughts about wiring the one remaining capacitor/filter on the Voltage Regulator? I would assume it's better to leave them unconnected.

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Love the status of the sole remaining generator mounting rubber. No wonder the generator had so much free play.

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Last edited by dcrawford on Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
GPW 270351 6/1/45 Dallas USA 20735727 Restoration https://fordgpw.wordpress.com/
GPW 107810 4/12/43 Louisville USA 20370495
MBT 39950 9/43 USA 0240139

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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by thidisbogus » Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:27 pm

Fantastic find!! And a trailer to boot. Wow some of you guys are so fortunate. That jeep is in great shape. One thing to be especially thankful for is the PO careful preservation of the front bumper gussets under all that sheet metal. They look nearly perfect.

dcrawford
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GPW 270351

Post by dcrawford » Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:16 pm

She lives! I finally managed to get GPW 270351 started on Christmas eve day. Santa’s gift to me, I guess. It’s the first time she’s run in maybe 5 or 6 years. Converted back to 6V, new wiring on ignition side, new coil, tune-up parts, plugs and fuel pump.

I rebuilt the Carter carb with a kit from Ron. At first she only ran on full choke. After checking the old forums here, I did a couple of things. First was to crush down the brass-lined holes in the base gasket. I also swapped back in the original idle jet and that was the ticket. Looking at the two idle jets, the new jet in the rebuilt kit was clearly smaller and starving the engine. I managed to get a nice idle at 650 rpm after a bit of further tweaking and a responsive accelerator with no lag.

Ben Dover had asked if the wheels on the jeep are 15 inch. Yes, they are. From what I’ve read, these were used on early ag jeeps. Is there anything otherwise special about these rims?
GPW 270351 6/1/45 Dallas USA 20735727 Restoration https://fordgpw.wordpress.com/
GPW 107810 4/12/43 Louisville USA 20370495
MBT 39950 9/43 USA 0240139

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Re: Please meet 1945 GPW 270351

Post by Stir-Stick » Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:22 pm

Hi Rodney,
I had already run into that problem with Ron's Kits and dealt with it . That same problem happened on Terry Murphys carb . You are good to go.
Stick
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