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I've been spending again! My '43 GPW


Jessie The Jeep

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Collected my new project yesterday, a 1943 Ford GPW with lots of 'f' marks. It was on Evilbay three times I think, and failed to sell, so I contacted the owner about a week after the auction to see if it was still available, and it was.

43gpw.jpg

Much as I don't want to, I think it needs a new tub. There are some body panels that can be cut out and sold on for someone elses projects, but the floor has all been bodged with flat sheet up to the kink where the pedals are, the rear panel is pretty poor and the rear wheel arches are somewhat see through where they join the floor!

However, the mechanics are all there and turn which is a good start. Date Of Delivery is apparently May 6th 1943. It still has original gussets and f marked bumper, and a nice one on the front crossmember. The rad is stamped GPW f, engine is early willys, head cast GPW6050 f stamped, Carter W O carb. Right hand wing is very good, left has rust but both are f stamped. Original 'f' marked pintle hook, spare wheel carrier and fuel filter. Both marker lamps are 'f' stamped, along with most of the body handles and bolts. Still has the original windshield wing bolts and chains. There may be more 'f' marks, but it was dark when I got home so couldn't really look the Jeep over.

While there's a lot to do, and plenty of small bits missing, I've seen worse come back to life! The project will probably be sold once complete.

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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I'm wrecked. I had an 11 hours day yesterday to go and collect the Jeep and then 3 hours hard work this morning, trying to put everything away. It wasn't as simple as it sounds! The morning started with the Jeep on the trailer, on the drive, connected to the car. In the garage was 'Jessie the Jeep' and the Jeep trailer; PLUS, the 12 x 6 x 3ft steel/ali box that my B-17 lives in, which is normally mounted on top of the flatbed trailer. The chassis doubles for both a Jeep and aircraft transporter. The B-17's box has legs that extend from each corner with steel castors on which allows the flatbed chassis to be rolled out from under the box when the flatbed is needed.

First job was to get 'Jessie' and the trailer out. Jessie on the road and the trailer on the lawn. Next came the B-17 box, and that went on the bottom of the double drive next to my car. The car then pulled the flatbed to the bottom of the drive, and it was parked on the road. All simple so far?!?

The GPW was then rolled off the flatbed and into the middle of the garage. The flatbed was then wheeled up the drive, and turned 180 degrees, ready to have the B-17 box refitted. Still with me? The B-17 box was then pushed to the bottom middle of the drive, and the flatbed rolled back under the box, legs retracted and the box bolted in place. I'm getting tired again just describing it!

The GPW was then rolled out of the garage and down to the bottom of the drive, the assembled flatbed was rolled back to the top of the drive, and 'Jessie' parked next to the GPW for some pictures. 'Jessie' then came back off the drive and back on the road! The flatbed was once again rolled down the drive to give space for the the Jeep trailer which was then wheeled off the lawn and into the back of the garage.

The GPW was then shuffled across the drive in front of the flatbed trailer to leave a clear route through for 'Jessie' to go back in the garage! The GPW was shuffled back across to the drive and pushed backwards into the garage. Driving 'Jessie' in was easy. Pushing the GPW up the slight hill, on my own was a killer. I ended up pushing a few inches at a time and sticking a brick in front of the wheel to stop it rolling back, and of course the steering kept wanting to centre itself while I was pushing from the front!

So with the GPW finally tucked in beside 'Jessie', the flatbed trailer was once again pushed back up the drive to the garage door, locked up, the car put back on the drive and I came in to collapse! A few more pictures will follow shortly once they're resized and after a well deserved coffee!

http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/gpw/history/recovery5.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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Been having a look at the engine casting numbers. The head is a Ford casting, with the GPW 6050 and the script F. I was told the block is a Willys casting. Looking at the crankcase casting number ( 636953 ), it didn't match the usual WW2 MB number of 638632. I began wondering if it was a CJ block? The stamped engine number also doesn't start MB or GPW, it is 39-1722. So I started searching the net, and found http://ww2jeeps.com, and on one of their pages, it says the casting number 636953 is pre-war, which would probably tie in with the stamped in 39-1722.

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Steve, looking good. I'm slightly jealous of you... But you probably have a lot of work ahead of you.

 

Why not try to remove the "Bubba" floor and replace it with a replica one from MD Juan, or equal? Replacing the whole body with a replica one will hurt the final value of your GPW. The days are gone where you would get the same amount of money regardless of if the body was original (for the most part) or replaced with a Phillipino one.

 

Try looking into the restoration of a Jeep belonging to a friend of mine in Norway, Johnny Thjømøe. He has replaced the whole flooring with sheet metal, but done it correctly: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=668432451

 

Keep us all posted of your progress.

 

Goran N

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You can see that the floor extends up the sides of the rear wheel arches by about three inches. There's virtually nothing left of the arch behind this vertical edge. The sides of the tub at the front have been butchered too. The Hood and fenders should be useable again.

25th7.JPG

25th8.JPG

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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While the tub looks fairly intact here, much of what you see is very thin. There are a few parts I can salvage to sell on, but most is very fragile. You can also see the large silver aircraft trailer in the background.

http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/gpw/history/recovery3.jpg

http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/gpw/history/recovery4.jpg

 

 

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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The engine bay is mostly there, just rather scruffy!

All three data plates are quite poorly, but some numbers can be made out on them. Some careful cleaning might reveal more info.

http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/gpw/history/history4.jpg

http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/gpw/history/history5.jpg

 

 

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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All tucked away safely now. You can just see my Jeep trailer tipped up ahead of 'Jessie', so the hood will fit under the hitch. I've got some modelmaking work to get done first before I make a start on the GPW, so it will be a while before I get going on this.

 

 

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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"Collected my new project yesterday, a 1943 Ford GPW with lots of 'f' marks. It was on Evilbay three times I think, and failed to sell, so I contacted the owner about a week after the auction to see if it was still available, and it was."

 

Trying to learn all the time I assume from what you write that 'f' marks are a way of determining if a GPW is genuine. I note on your later posts that the 'f' is the like the F in Ford, are all the major items marked in this way? Sorry if a very basic question but it would be interesting to know. Cheers.

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I've had my Hotchkiss Jeep for almost seven years now, and I'm still learning rapidly! The GPW is a new ball game, and much to learn there is! I'm sure the others will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that for a limited time, Willys and Ford marked their products with their logo, a form of advertising. I believe the army didn't like this and ordered it stopped. So when you hear of 'Scripted' Jeeps, they are from this limited time period when they included the maufacturers name/logo. Willys MB's had the word Willys embossed across the rear body panel, and I think Ford's also had Ford in a form of cursive writing on the rear panel. I don't know if the small 'f' marks of Ford were stopped at the same time as the large logos, or whether they continued to add the 'f' stamp to all parts made.

 

Help someone????

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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