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I've been spending again! My '43 GPW


Jessie The Jeep

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A D-Day drive today. 17 miles round trip to the local model shop and B&Q, then a pause in the B&Q car park for a D-Day picture. Longest and fastest trip yet. 15 miles round trip to the model shop, up to 40mph followed by the short trip to B&Q. Reset all brake shoes and free play on master cylinder. Seems ok now.

 

dday.jpg

 

Good to hear the trip went ok.

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Yes, my dad enjoys the vehicles and shows. He was 6 when the war started, so remembers the German bombers over the North East attacking the local industry. Also the RAF bombers flying out of the fields in the Teesside/Middlesborough area, collecting shrapnel after a raid, hiding in the shelter, steel railings being cut down for recycling etc. His dad was in the Army Service Corps in WW1, serving maintaining ammo trucks in and around Ypres.

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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I was given a link today, that shows some colour film from the 100th Bomb Group. At 12:05 minutes in, there is some footage of the Station Photo Jeep I copied, seen around 1943, before the Jeep was repainted.

It has no rear bumperette markings, and the hood star appears to be the small 12 inch version, close to the screen. ( a later photo from 1944/45, shows the large hood star and bumperette markings ). The rear reflectors are also fitted much higher and further in than normal, the left side one being in the position of the trailer socket. The rear right body handle also appears to have snapped off, just leaving the mounting flange and bolts. There are no roof bows fitted, although a late war picture shows it with the roof on, so they must have been refitted. Seems odd to have taken them off.

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/226537#.TuNzoXQDy7o

 

 

 

 

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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Well it did get a repaint sometime after 1943 and got the white tips to the front bumper and half white rear bumperettes. Also the larger hood star added, but the rear handle was never repaired! Interesting to see it still has the axe, but no shovel.

 

 

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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I found some very cheap baking trays on Ebay recently ( £4.50 for three ), which will make ideal developing trays for the photos. The bottoms were resprayed white from the original red, which makes them look much better. So with a nice sunny day, I got all the bits and pieces out for a picture.

I printed out some additional target photos which will be laminated in clear plastic. They will then be able to be left in the trays full of water to look like they are still developing. One has been printed quite faded, showing the picture as it would part way through the developing process.

display1.jpg

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I will need to carry some water to fill the trays, and rather than a plastic bottle, I made a "Developing Fluid" tin from an old engine oil container. The tin was cleaned and sprayed, and then some vintage looking Kodak labels made on the computer, based on some photos I found on the net. It can now be another display item as well as being the water carrier.

display5.jpg

Along with my photo album of wartime 100th Bomb Group pictures, they will make a nice display with the Jeep. I also bought two six feet long wood strips to clamp to the display table. With some string between them, they will make a drying line to hang some of the developed target pictures on.

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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I've got a school visit to do tomorrow, and I'm taking the Ford and the new display. I was wondering if there was anything else I could add to the display, and then suddenly thought photographic film! While aircraft strike cameras would use a fairly large format, 35mm film was around in World War 2, and I had many hundreds of strips of old 35mm negatives. I guessed that many school children have no idea what film is, being brought up in a digital age, so a few strips of developed film and some off-cuts would make a nice small addition and talking point in the display.

 

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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First public event for the Ford today! St Gregory's RC Primary School, in South Shields, were having a big 1940's day, and I was invited to bring a vehicle along, together with a friend's M38 Jeep. Being reasonably close to home, I decided to take the Ford and the new photographic display. Many of the school children had made the effort to dress the part in 1940's style clothing. The weather was warm and sunny, and there was a great turn out of parents and family. There was a great deal of interest in the stereoscope from the children, fascinated by the 3D image it produced.

school1.jpg

school5.jpg

school6.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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Yes, it was a great afternoon. It turns out it was the 75th anniversary of the school opening, hence the 40's theme.

 

Today, I wanted the trailer out of the garage, so needed to get the Ford out first. It started ok, and I backed out of the garage, and left it to idle while I pulled the trailer out. By the time it was out, the Jeep died and wouldn't restart. After a bit of checking for sparks, pump etc, it turned out the tank was pretty much empty :red: Enough fuel to leave the pump bowl full, but not enough suck to push it through and up the pipe to the carb!

 

I put half a jerry can in, and it was fine after that! So it looks like I just had enough to get home yesterday, and for about two or three minutes running after that!

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Yes, it was a great afternoon. It turns out it was the 75th anniversary of the school opening, hence the 40's theme.

 

Today, I wanted the trailer out of the garage, so needed to get the Ford out first. It started ok, and I backed out of the garage, and left it to idle while I pulled the trailer out. By the time it was out, the Jeep died and wouldn't restart. After a bit of checking for sparks, pump etc, it turned out the tank was pretty much empty :red: Enough fuel to leave the pump bowl full, but not enough suck to push it through and up the pipe to the carb!

 

I put half a jerry can in, and it was fine after that! So it looks like I just had enough to get home yesterday, and for about two or three minutes running after that!

 

Fuel gauge not working.........:laugh: :laugh:

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Ford's alternator hasn't been charging the battery, so having failed to detect any voltage or current from it with my multi-meter, I pulled it to bits to looks for anything obvious. The only thing that wasn't looking too healthy was the rectifier diode, which was very black and charred, and dissolved into several pieces as it was removed. I found a replacement on Ebay which while not for this model, can be adjusted to fit.

2014_alternator4.jpg

While the alternator was in bits, I took the opportunity to clean all the contacts. I put it back on, but still no charge! Off it came again, all to bits once more, but this time I took out the condenser and replaced it with one of my ignition spares. It was refitted once more, and this time gave me a healthy charge.

2014_alternator3.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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The original Ford springs are somewhat tired, and not supporting the Jeep any where near its correct height. This wasn't apparent during the rebuild until the body and front end were added. By that point, I wanted the Jeep complete in order to get the paperwork and registration process under way. Now that it is up and running, I am able to tinker with it's little niggles at my leisure. I have found a local company who will hopefully be able to reform and re-temper the original springs, but to do that, I needed them off the Jeep!

With two Jeeps parked in the garage, I don't have the space to remove them there, leaving the Jeep on axle stands; so all the work must be done on the driveway. This means I needed to be able to put the Jeep away afterwards. Fortunately a friend had replaced the springs on his Hotchkiss Jeep, and still had the old springs. I have borrowed these to fit to the Ford, allowing it to stay mobile while the original springs are refurbished. I picked them up this afternoon, and by the end of the day, had the two front springs swapped, 'though with a pause between each while I packed up and collected my daughter from nursery.

The picture below shows the Ford spring top, and the Hotchkiss spring bottom. The tired Ford spring is noticeably longer than the Hotchkiss spring from flattening, causing the Jeep to sit much closer to the ground than it should.

2014_springs2.jpg

The front left spring fitted showing the increase in height.

2014_springs3.jpg

By mid evening, the second front spring was in place.

2014_springs4.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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The two replacement front springs were fitted on Thursday, and now it was time for the rear two. They went on more easily than the front ones, but there were still bits that put up a fight to come off or go back on! Next, one of the studs on the spare wheel carrier sheared, so that had to be welded back on.

 

After that was the fuel tank gauge sender, as the gauge wasn't registering any fuel, despite a trip out to half fill the tank. With the sender out of the tank, but wired up, the gauge was moving, so I knew both the gauge and sender were working. Adding an additional earth wire didn't help, and then I discovered the real problem.

 

The cork float on the end of the sender arm, wasn't actually floating in the petrol, it just sank! It was a new, old stock part, but I'm not sure if the cork had a coating to make it petrol proof, and that has got chipped, allowing the cork to become petrol soaked, causing it to sink. More thoughts needed to sort that one, so it all went back together again, still not working and both Jeeps were parked back in the garage.

 

Any thoughts on the float issue? Can I dry it out, then coat it in epoxy to seal it?

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Well, you could use a plastic float if you can find one to fit, and keep the cork float safely stored away. There are lots of discussions on the net about recoating cork floats, though.

 

However, I have often seen people commented on the unreliability of Jeep fuel gauges - maybe they have partially soggy floats?

 

Trevor

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After discovering the float problem the other day, or lack of floating, I decided to do an experiment. I had some old cork floor tile spare, so cut some up and glued it together into a small cube.

This was then painted in epoxy resin to seal the cork and hopefully keep it petrol proof. The cube was then dropped into a jar of petrol and left to bob about for several days.

If this works, I plan to remove the sender again, completely dry out the cork float and then epoxy seal it. It can then be refitted and hopefully the float will then float, giving correct fuel level readings.

2014_tank_sender1.jpg

Edited by Jessie The Jeep
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