Hodakaguy M38 - Pics and Misc Thread

[Hodakaguy]

A tiny bit of progress today.

Freshly painted clutch control tube displayed with the new rebuild kit. I ended up painting and re-using the original ball studs as they were in great cond still. When I removed this assembly from the jeep both metal disc's were missing.




Assembly order of the clutch control tube. Note new cotter pins have already been installed in the tube.




Starting to pack the tube with grease.






Starting on the short side first. The metal disc is installed up against the cotter pin.






More grease added then the felt is installed up against the disc.






Next up is the long end. On this end the spring is installed first and goes up against the cotter pin. Again the tube is packed with grease.










Disc is installed on top of spring.






More grease then the felt is installed up against the disc.






With the control tube assembled and placed in a zip lock bag for future use I turned my attention to the bell housing.




A light coat of grease on the mating surface of the bell housing.






Bolted up.






Installing the clutch release fork.




A bot of grease on the ears and where the ball stud rides.














Installing the vent fitting on top of the transfer case. I used Aviation Permatex to seal the threads.


















Installing the clutch control shaft ball stud onto the transfer case.












More to come.....

Hodakaguy

[lpcoating]

Nice work! We've made some of those metal discs in the past for 1/4 Ton Military out of GA. Now I know where they go!

Guy

[Hodakaguy]

Nice work! We've made some of those metal discs in the past for 1/4 Ton Military out of GA. Now I know where they go!

Guy

Way cool. Always nice to see the end product when your manufacturing.

Hodakaguy

[Hodakaguy]

More Progress.....Back in the Jeep!

Here the cross member and numerous small bits have received a fresh coat of primer & paint.










Original rubber isolator compared to the new one.






Yep...A new one will be good




Isolator in the cross member














Installing the new rubber boot on the clutch cable. A bit of Sil-Glide made installation easy.










New dowel bolts installed in the bell housing. These are your alignment bolts.




A thin coat of Moly Paste on the clutch splines






Assembly on the transmission jack and ready to go back into the Jeep. I padded the jack with moving blankets and used a ratchet strap to hold the assembly onto the jack. The transmission jack (This on is a Harbor Freight unit) makes this job soooo easy. All 4 wheels are full caster allowing freedom of movement, the jack handle pivots 360 deg allowing easy adjustment of height and the head is adjustable for angle on both front to back and side to side directions.






With my wife pushing forward on the jack from underneath I wiggled the transmission back and forth and it slid right into place. I popped a hole in the tape on top of the transmission so I could rotate the input shaft and make sure it was engaged in the clutch splines to get the assembly sliding forward.






And its in.








It looks like the vent line is suppose to tie into the bell housing where the plug is installed just forward of the clutch boot. I'll have to modify this.




Installing the shift levers on the transfer case. Lubricating the pivot points and pin before assembly.




Anti rattle spring installed.






And hitting the zerk with some grease






I'm using Aviation Permatex on the shift tower gasket instead of grease. This will fill the little imperfections in the mating surface and hopefully prevent leaks.








Some fresh GL4 to coat everything with oil. I'll finish topping it off through the fill plug.






Aviation Permatex on the threads to seal the through holes.




I used some high moly grease to lubricate the ball on the T90 shifter upon assembly.




Installing the gasket on the shift tower. A bit of grease on the gasket prior to assembly. Tip: The Cuno oil filter gaskets are also the perfect size to fit the shift tower on the M38.













I didn't stop to snap pics during the process but when installing the shift tower onto the transmission place the shifter in 3rd gear and with the bolts installed and still a bit loose pull the tower rearward as far as it will go then tighten down the bolts.




Clutch control tube back in place.




More to come....

Hodakaguy

[Hodakaguy]

Well I'm held up a bit waiting for parts to arrive so lets tackle some smaller projects to keep the ball rolling.

When we purchased the Jeep the front shackles were bent outwards and they don't lay flat against the bumper like they are suppose to.

This shows how the shackles are bent outwards.




Let's get these Shackles straightened out again. Clamped in the Vice.






Some heat and a few taps.....That's looking better.






Test fitting.....Yep!




Primed & painted.....hanging up to dry.




And back on the Jeep. Another small project out of the way.








Hodakaguy

[Hodakaguy]

Vent line modification. When we purchased our M38 the vent line going from the trans/transfer case to the vacuum pump wasn't tied into the bell housing like it was suppose to be. With the floor panels removed now is the time to modify the vent line and get it tied back into the bell housing.




Brass inverted flare branch tee. This is installed into the bell housing.










Marking out the bend location on the tubing.




Making up the flared ends on the tubing.






















I made the tubing fit up tight to the case so it wouldn't stick up and interfere with the floor panels once installed.








Now to bolt up the floor panels.




I had ordered new (reproduction) shift boots for both the transmission and transfer case. The aftermarket transmission boot was very high quality and just like the original, the transfer case boot was thin and cheap feeling. I tracked down some NOS transfer case shift boots from Dan at Classic Military Vehicles. The NOS units are nice and pliable and look like brand new, they also fit and look correct. I picked up a couple extra to store away in the parts bin in case these eventually fail, but since the Jeep is stored indoors and out of the sun they should last for years.








Floor panels re-installed.










Getting closer to being back on the road again.....soon!

Hodakaguy

[Hodakaguy]

Quest to reduce oil leaks...

The jeep leaks a small amount from each pinion seal so it's time to get some new seals installed.

Pulling the front yoke






Found the original seal installed backwards and severely damaged. Looks like someone really smashed it during install.








The front yoke is pitted where the seal rides so this yoke will be replaced.




Received two NOS yokes. These are from 1961. Always satisfying opening NOS parts.








Cleaning and painting














The NOS units are a little more robust than the original units. I'll keep the original unit in my spare parts.






Making a seal driver out of a plastic oil filter wrench.




New double lip seals ordered from Joe's Motor Pool






Joe's seal is very high quality and has thicker metal than the standard single lip seals available.




The original style seal uses paper gaskets to make a seal between the axle housing and the metal seal housing. Joe's Motor Pool double lip seal uses a silicone seal instead of a paper gasket. Nice!








Preparing to install the seal into the axle housing. Here I packed the area around the retaining spring to ensure the spring won't come unseated while driving the seal into place.




Here I applied some Aviation Permatex to the outer edge of the seal. This is just an extra measure as the silicone seal should prevent oil leakage at this area.




Seal driven into place






And the Yoke....




Sealing the splines, washer and nut








Torquing the nut, 200 ft lbs






Same process for the rear






I re-used the yoke on the rear as the seal surface was in perfect cond.










Hodakaguy

[Hodakaguy]

To quote Hannibal from the A-Team...."I love it when a plan comes together!" The M38 is running and driving again!

Today it's time to re-install the fuel tank and take the Jeep for a test drive to test out all the new bits. When we purchased the Jeep it had been sitting for years with old fuel in the tank, the inside of the tank had a lot of while powder and gunk in the bottom of the tank so some cleaning was in order.

Here's a few shots of the tank when it was removed from the Jeep




Hmmm...fuel sender wasn't functioning lol. A new one will be installed.








We took to the tank to a radiator shop where they boiled out the tank and re-lined it, should be good for years to come now. Here the tank has a fresh coat of primer and paint applied.








New fuel sender and gaskets ready to be installed




Time for a new filler neck seal.








Back in the Jeep




Here I removed some paint on the rear fuel tank mounting tab so the tank will ground properly. The fuel sender needs a proper ground or it won't function.




And a coat of corrosion inhibitor




Let's get the gaskets in place.




I'll be using Permatex Permashield (Similar to Hylomar) to dress the gaskets and prevent fuel from weeping onto the top of the fuel tank.




The dressing is applied to both surfaces then let sit for a while for the solvents to flash off. After that it's ready for assembly.








Dressing applied to the screw threads as well








Tightening up the fuel time behind the tank, the fitting is recessed so I had to get creative to tighten it








Seat Back in....It's a M38 Again!




Dad and I out on a test drive. It shifts and drives great! No more popping out of 2nd gear on decel! After driving it around quite a while there isn't a single drip under the Jeep....hopefully it stays that way












Video of the test drive today...sooo much fun! Apologize for the weird audio feedback and the rattle from the rear seat

[MEDIA=youtube]b-jdIbxYAxQ[/MEDIA]


Hodakaguy

[Hodakaguy]

Fixing some rattles.

The rear seat has a rattle sound coming from the seats, after pulling back the cover you can see where the springs are wearing against the metal backing. If you slap the seat with your hand you can hear the springs rattle against the base.






I decided to cut some pieces of rubber drawer liner to install between the springs and the bases to keep the two apart and dampen any vibrations. The holes in this material will allow it to breath and not trap moisture under the rubber.


















Out for a parts run to snag some GL4 90W oil and some lunch at Jersey Mikes








After a week of driving the Jeep it's time to do a break in oil change on the Trans/Transfer Case to make sure all looks well. I drained both units through a clean cloth so I can see if there are any metal chunks etc in the oil that shouldn't be there.






Just a bit of metallic fuzz on the magnet, but no chunks. This looks good and was expected with all the new bits and pieces that was installed.




Nothing in the cloth....perfect.




And some fresh GL4 oil....




Back out for a drive and topped off with some ethanol free fuel.




Hodakaguy

[Gettin old]

You do fantastic work...what a beautiful jeep. I have a 52 M38 that has basically no original military hardware on it, but the body,frame and running gear are in really nice condition. I have to do a complete brake job on it, then I'll be ready to cruise the backroads around my place.

[HoveringHMMWV]

What a great thread! I hope you’re still enjoying it. I’m at the rolling chassis stage in my restoration. Your documentation with plenty of pics and notes has been very helpful and kept me motivated.
Best regards!