1945 Willys MB Restoration Project

[70th Division]

Hello,


The next area of attack on the frame are the 2 upper front bumper gusetts .

They are way too damaged to repair, so they are being replaced with 2 new JMP ones.

The Willys brackets are welded in 2 spots along the top edge, on both sides.

If they were in a repairable condition I would try and restore them, but they are crinkled, cracked, bent , and torn.
I did restore and save the lower ones.

New ones are the way to go with the special twist off rivets, but be sure to use the MB version, as they need to be longer to get through the reinforcement bracket, that are not on the GPW's.



These will look great, and is an area that is seen first on a jeep !

Here it is temporarily sitting in position.
I will blast and prime and paint under it, before attaching with correct MB rivets, and I will first press the rivets into the gusett before attaching it to the frame.

It must look good, and it will !

Especially with a USA made front bumper and USA made oak wood reinforcing block from Ron !!

More progress being made !

Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello,

I also got the bumperetts
primed and painted, as well as, a nice grease gun bracket that bolts to the underside of the hood on these late model WW2 jeeps.

The grease gun bracket will be a nice addition, as I managed to get a correct grease gun for it.
I still need to locate the correct nozzle as it was missing.
The bracket came with correct mounting bolts, although I will try to use the original ones that are currently attached to the hood.

The bumperettes are beautiful and perfect JMP made !!
I also have a set of JMP correctly marked bumperette bolts for the MB.

A little more forward progress !

Best Regards,
Ray

[JAB]

It might be too late, but before tightening the rivets and welding I found that temporarily installing the bumper, with eight 3/8 bolts really made a big difference getting it all to line up properly before it became permenant. Even though the bumper bolts are 5/16 I was able the "screw" the fully threaded 3/8" bolts through the bumper, which held tolorances pretty close.

[70th Division]

It might be too late, but before tightening the rivets and welding I found that temporarily installing the bumper, with eight 3/8 bolts really made a big difference getting it all to line up properly before it became permanent. Even though the bumper bolts are 5/16 I was able the "screw" the fully threaded 3/8" bolts through the bumper, which held tolerances pretty close.

Hello Jeff,

I haven't attached them yet, but another good idea from your Jeep HQ .

The ones on my GPW frame came out perfect, and everything aligns well, so I will bolt everything up to test fit as recommended before attaching permanently.


I removed the driver's side gusett today, so getting closer to blasting time !

I also just was able to get this perfect NOS Rotary Switch here on the G for this jeep !!

It looks great, and still has a G503 tag on it !

This will go nice with the new wiring harness for the jeep !

I also got these NOS Rzeppa axles to replace, if needed, the likely damaged ones on this jeep, since lock out hubs were installed.

Nothing like having NOS parts available if needed !!

Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello,

Adam and Jeff ,

Good news I was able to get an nos set of a ring and pinion, and a carrier !!

This was a nice find, and will allow a good rebuild of the rear end, especially since it has an nos carrier assembly included !!

All will be new, even though this kit is Ford, I think that will be ok .

Update :

I ordered all the new USA made Timkin bearings for the rebuild from Ron, along with all the shim kits !!
Also have a setting plate on the way for setting the depth of the pinion.



Barrie,
I got this kit from the same seller you got your manifold from .

Best Regards,
Ray

[Tuareg]

Wonderful parts, congratulations !

[conrod6]

Hello Ray - nice parts - and I know who you mean of course. In other parts news I have a second Schwarze horn coming ( MB fitment) I may use it or trade it we will see.

regards Barrie

[JAB]

Nice find! After 80 years too! Wow!

[70th Division]

Wonderful parts, congratulations !

Thanks Tuareg !

I was happy to find it, especially with the carrier and spider gears as one set, as well as the nos axles and light switch from a G member.

Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello Ray - nice parts - and I know who you mean of course. In other parts news I have a second Schwarze horn coming ( MB fitment) I may use it or trade it we will see.

regards Barrie

Thanks Barrie,

We both like finding nice parts !!

Congratulations on finding the horn, I ordered a new JMP horn for both jeeps, as I haven't seen any horns floating around out there.
I am surprised because they are all missing on every jeep I have, except my 42 GPW, and that one still works !

Searching for parts is half the fun !


Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Nice find! After 80 years too! Wow!

Thanks Jeff,

I am very happy that I was able to get the nos ring pinion and carrier with spider gears.
When I start the rebuild, there will be no wear, and all new items so hopefully that will make things very accurate.

I am glad these things stayed together all these years !

The axles are going to be real nice as well, I just now have to wait for all the parts to arrive .


I also ordered a pinion depth setting plate,
41-G-176 from Gary's Bunker.
Thanks Ozzie for mentioning where you got yours from !!

This should help out a lot, along with Adam's loaner set up bearings !!

He has 1 left in stock now .

Gary emailed me, and it is on the way !!!

Best Regards,
Ray

[70th Division]

Hello,

Made some more frame repair progress today !

I got the JMP gusetts from Ron attached very securely with the twist off rivets.
First they were carefully pressed in on the press through the gusset before attaching to the frame, very important to do !

They really came out nice, compared to what they looked like when I started !

The new bumper aligns perfectly as well with the bolt holes .
I started working on that, as this bumper had a pile of little pointy nips along both edges. I ground and filed the nips, now it is all smooth and perfect.

I got a little primer on but it got too cold when the sun set, so will paint it tomorrow.

There were also 2 broken off bolts stuck in the frame rail, I think from the body brackets.
They were already broken off before I got the jeep from Smith River, California.
What a road trip that adventure was !!

The broken bolts were sticking out just enough to weld a nut onto them.
I had earlier media blasted them, and used PB Blaster on them for a couple days.

.
The heat from the welder was as hot as a torch, and really loosened them up !

They spun right out with a pair of vise grips.

Now a broken off bolt has been removed from both sides of the frame, and the threads still look great !

Also SpaceX sent up a Falcon Heavy Rocket tonight, and it looked awesome !
Well done Elon Musk and crew !!

The lower picture has the rocket boosters landing back in Florida at the Cape, at the Space Force base there !

Even though this looks like they are landing in my woods, they are 90 miles away from here !!
Amazing American technology, just like Flash Gordon films in the 1930's with rockets landing vertically .


Best Regards,
Ray

[JAB]

How cool is THAT! Great job on the jeep and what a great diversion watching "rocket science" in action!

[Raflad]

Very cool photos Ray, must be an amazing sight. Congrats on the ring and pinion.

[70th Division]

How cool is THAT! Great job on the jeep and what a great diversion watching "rocket science" in action!

Hello Jeff,

Thanks !

Yes it is great to see the new rockets taking off and landing back on the ground, they also land on a ship off the coast sometimes.
Totally new technology, and a real game changing concept that has been perfected.

I am impressed !

We find arrowheads around here that are 8,000 years old, and can imagine what the ancients would think of these rockets and modern inventions in general.

Musk really is shaping history and improving things that had become stagnated after Apollo, and several neighbors have his Tesla cars, and love them !!
They are real, and they do work, and are very nice and have been perfected.

In the Thomas Edison Museum down in Fort Meyers, Florida there is a battery powered car there ,that was one of the first ever made, and worked back then.
But it took Musk to perfect the concept, well over 100 years later !!


I would recommend that museum to anyone traveling in south west Florida.
Edison's original laboratory and workshops are all there still, and packed with great stuff on display !
Light bulbs that have never blown out, and have been on every day since the 1950's !

Ford was his next door neighbor, as well as Firestone.

A great time to see great history !

Best Regards,
Ray