GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

If you have an unrestored WWII jeep, we would like to see pictures, and hear your comments. NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.
User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Viking27 » Mon May 11, 2020 3:35 pm

Thanks Mark,

Do you mean jeeps in Iceland now, or during WWII?

In 1943, the US army in Iceland made a list of what vehicles they had. It was
around 4000 various types including motorbikes. I have that list. In 1944 a
sales deal was made with Icelandic government for sale of ca 974 vehicles,
but was not to be acted on until VE day. This included 350 jeeps and 30
tons of various NOS spares. No, there are no warehouses full of NOS parts
here, it all got used. Have a few parts / boxes found locally which I keep
in a glass cabinet.

Today there are ca. 30 surviving jeeps here, including 4 or 5 slatgrill jeeps.
The 5th is a mystery jeep, have an old photo of it. Guy who gave me the
photo said owner got furious over him sharing the photo. Some strange old
timers here seam to want to keep their possesion of old cars a secret. Very
strange.

Regards
Hinrik
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group


User avatar
Old Pal
G-Major
G-Major
Posts: 863
Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 4:39 pm
Location: Kelseyville, CA, USA

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Old Pal » Mon May 11, 2020 3:38 pm

I’m glad you’re back working on this. I was disappointed when progress had to stop.

User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Viking27 » Mon May 11, 2020 4:12 pm

Hi Old Pal,

Yes I been neglecting it too long. Too many projects. So I sold some.
Working on this full swing now. Radiator should be ready this week =
first engine start of this jeep in 30-40 years :) Will make a video.

Regards
Hinrik
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group

User avatar
Boyso
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1386
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:32 pm
Location: Quebec, Canada

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Boyso » Mon May 11, 2020 5:37 pm

Can't wait to see more of it Hinrik!

Working on the tub is hard work but very rewarding!

I didn't have that reinforcement on the joint between the side panel and the side panel near the cowl. But mine is a 1944.
44 GPW 231738 10/23/1944
MVPA #36162

parker007
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1204
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:35 pm
Location: california

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by parker007 » Mon May 11, 2020 5:43 pm

do you know the history on the jeep? my vep in CA has same color aqua on last spay and i have seen many with same.

Mark Jesic
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2473
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 4:56 am
Location: Birmingham, England

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Mark Jesic » Tue May 12, 2020 12:17 am

Im gobsmacked Hinrik, i learnt something, i didnt know the U.S. army had a base in your country. I bet one day they will find a jeep on the moon. :lol: Glad you have some slat grills up there. Good luck with the great work you are doing. :D

User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Viking27 » Tue May 12, 2020 6:40 am

Mark, as an Englishman, you might find it interesting that Churchill (UK)
actually invaded Iceland, 10th May 1940. Called operation Fork.

Can read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Iceland

Parker007: The story I know of my jeep is that it was used in east of Iceland in WWII. In 1945 after
VE day, US troops were leaving the area, driving in a convoy heading 700km to Capital. The clutch
broke in my jeep. Local farmer there went to talk with the troops and negotiated to buy it off them
with the attached trailer. He then fixed the clutch and jeep was used on the farm for years. I bought
it in 2006....and got the original trailer with it, the one which was attached to it in WWII :)
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group

Mark Jesic
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2473
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 4:56 am
Location: Birmingham, England

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Mark Jesic » Tue May 12, 2020 9:33 am

Many thanks for that info Hinrik, i found the invasion of iceland by Churchill interesting. I enjoyed the story of your jeep even more, not too many people know the history of their jeep, so you are one of the lucky ones. So am i, i know most of mines history , although there are a couple of gaps missing. :D

User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Viking27 » Sun May 17, 2020 6:05 am

Had to take the body pretty much all apart. Sandwich rust / "Bubba" welds everywhere.

Image


Image


Image
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group

User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Viking27 » Sun May 17, 2020 6:11 am

Glovebox floor had a long crack in it. So I found a new panel for it, and cut old one out.

Image

Love my new air belt sander, perfect for hard to reach spotweld points.

Image

So much rust everywhere

Image

Not a surprise the screw heads broke, when trying to remove the glovebox door, tapping plate solid rust and
broken into 2 parts

Image
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group

User avatar
Viking27
G-Brigadier General
G-Brigadier General
Posts: 2079
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Holland

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Viking27 » Sun May 17, 2020 6:16 am

"Bubba" strikes again....my jeep had a T90 gearbox in it which is longer so Bubba
just moved the U shaped flange, hence now and original cover now does not line up.

Image

Sandblasted inner rear side panel, attempting to do a metal heat shrink straightening on it now. Got an
old timer friend visiting me with his grandson to see my collection, and he put on gloves and started to
work on it and show me some tips in doing this :)

Image
Hinrik Steinsson
Ford GP 9519
Proud member of 50 Shades of Green group

User avatar
Old Pal
G-Major
G-Major
Posts: 863
Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 4:39 pm
Location: Kelseyville, CA, USA

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Old Pal » Mon May 25, 2020 4:43 pm

That tub is quite the project, but I’m glad your salvaging it.

steviem
G-Sergeant Major
G-Sergeant Major
Posts: 172
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2020 7:37 am
Location: Nottingham UK

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by steviem » Fri May 29, 2020 4:18 am

I have been blown away with this thread, fantastic work all the way through, if you fancy two years in Nottingham bud give me a shout.

irakli
Sergeant Major of the Gee
Sergeant Major of the Gee
Posts: 372
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:10 am
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by irakli » Fri May 29, 2020 6:20 am

Viking27 wrote:This morning I could clearly see the whole number. Did not see the first "20"
last night.

So my 51368, left factory with hood number: S-20140679

Was there a photo database on some site with wartime hood numbers?
Remember seen it years ago.

Image
You can check the serial number registry here:
https://g503.com/oldsite/serial-numbers/


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

1944 Willys MB
1978 VOLVO TGB 1111

User avatar
Klaas
G-Captain
G-Captain
Posts: 753
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2018 3:38 am
Location: Netherlands

Re: GPW 51368 1942 Restoration in Iceland

Post by Klaas » Fri May 29, 2020 6:47 am

Hi Hinrik,

There are a lot of wartime photographs listed by hood number on this site: http://www.ww2jeep.gportal.hu/gindex.ph ... id=2718336

Good thing you uncovered the number on your jeep.
I remember when I was in Iceland, I saw a Chevy G506 parked up (=left to the elements) next to an Icelandic road in the early 90s that had its hood numbers still visible.
Perhaps it is still there....
Klaas
GPW17331 - April 21 1942 - Dallas, "J-dot"
BSA Airborne Bicycle R49171 - 1944


Post Reply

Return to “Original Unrestored WWII Jeeps”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: 44kubel and 49 guests