robert ren

and yes the hotchkiss m201 starter will fit the ford gpw and the willys ww2 jeep engines , also the cj2a and the Hotchkiss m201, you can wire it to key start, floor start or press button start , a Massey Ferguson 135      12 volt alternator also makes a very affordable and easily available  charging unit, you just need to rotate the head flange and modify the bottom rear bracket , put what ever pulley you like on  the end to suit the belt or belts you have its easy   

further to my last post the 10 tooth cog ended up having to be changed for a longer one with a narrow neck because the welds on the teeth of the first one i did made the starter noisy as they contacted the flywheeel , to make this hotchkiss  longer cog work i also had to shorten the length of the bendix by 1/8th inch and fit the collar to stop the cog going to far forward when cranking , Its far to involved but is possible If your a good  engineer and have a lathe, you can see more on my website willysjeepuk 

If I can find a readily available 12 volt 10 tooth per engaged starter with the solenoid in the right position, this will be very easy to modify and fit ,  I will keep you all informed If I get any luck finding a more suitable base unit, the original 6volt slam bang starters will destroy your jeeps flywheel teeth eventually and  they sound horrible and destructive in use, especially the ones that have been running with a 12 volt battery.

However did we get away with such slow cranking in the war,   I wonder how many soldiers couldn't start their jeeps quick enough and had to abandon them and run for cover 

the second picture shows the 1950s upgrade pre engaged  Hotchkiss m 201 starter , this is a superb upgrade and so refined, It will protect your ring gear , just the sound of its quiet smooth  in action will confirm this , the only one modification you have to do on this Hotchkiss starter is the change of voltage from 24 down to 12 volts , its original 24volt  solenoid will work  fine on 12 but the internal field windings will have to be changed , Robson and Francis motor rewinds were the people i used to get this done 

I have some articles on 12 volts start conversions on my website willysjeepuk under mechanical help on jeeps 

more pictures of jaguar 12volt heavily modified starter fitted on willys jeep, seriousely though If you can find a hotchkiss m201 24 volt  starter and have it re wound to 12 volts Its a beautiful upgrade sounds so refined in use and protects the ring gear teeth as its a pre engaged  Bendix not a crash bang wallop type like the originals are, see 3rd picture   

I have also  a jaguar e type 12 volt starter and modified it  as they are cheap and plentiful to buy but this is very involved and you need to be a very good engineer to do it, The gear needs to be cut off the bendix and an old 10 tooth willys jeep gear welded in its place, the support for the end of the shaft has to be cut off so the bell housing can support it and the holes have to be drilled closer together , the very end of the shaft ground down slightly so it will fit the bushing etc etc, I nearly gave up but It is possible to do If you are a good welder and have a very good workshop, probably best to spend the money and have a Hotchkiss m201 starter rewound field windings down to 12 volts, job done, the 24 volt solenoid can be retained and works fine , when I did the jag starter I nearly gave up as its huge and only just fits , the casing needs to be ground down in 2 places for clearance for the mounting bolts and I was fortunate to have a spare bell housing and sandwich plate for constant fitting and checking of free movement, the key thing that caught me out was that I didnt measure the distance from the face of the bell housing bush to the clearance of the flywheel teeth, 1.1/4 inch  this is crucial, If the bendix goes to far forward it will wear the back of the bendix against the flywheel and be noisy on cranking but this can be adjusted by fitting a steel collar to restrict how far forward the gear travels

Robert U'Ren from willysjeepuk has done a couple of proper 12 volt pre engaged starter mods to a willys and a Hotchkiss ,he didnt like the reduction gear retro fit starters available as they sound harsh and noisy, he decided to get a 24volt pre engaged Hotchkiss m201 starter and sent it of to be re wound internally down to 12 volts It was a terific succsess and starts the jeep quietly and sounds very slick in operation, no more grating on the ring gear once you go for pre enguaged and if you can go for direct drive the quietness of the starter is lovely

misfiring when hot can also be inadequate tappet clearance , the tappets expand slightly when the engine warms up and one or more may be not have enough gap to close fully when engine heats up hence the misfire when going up long hills or under load 

 check you have at least 10 thou clearance on your tappets

you will need a little nut for securing the ht lead and crimp on a little connector , the little nut can be pinched from an old set of points, see picture

you can  do a short test run without the 12 volt dropper connected as long as you connect the supply to the coil from the + on the front battery of the two,

this will do for a short distance but the batterys will soon get unbalanced as you will be pulling from the one battery that gives 12 volts

best fit a cheap dropper in the system to take the 24 volts down to 12 on way to coil, ( a nice 10 amp unit on ebay is about £25  It works superbly well, i have done many of these mods on troublesome Hotchkiss jeeps, you then also have the option of running a phone charger, satnav , 12 volt cd player  etc from the same dropper once the ignition is on, if the dropper ever failed all you have to do to get home would be connect a short lead from the front battery(12v) directly to the coil+

picture showing the Ht lead connected in

2 more pictures to help you

I have sorted the problems out with the internal 24 volt coils, I remove the troublesome 24 volt internal coil and throw away then fit an external 12 volt coil with the ht lead going into the distributer , I connect the supply to the 12 volt coil via a cheap 24 to 12 volt dropper from ebay, all the rest of the sparking system including the condenser can be left but good idea to fit a land rover condenser if any misfires still remain, the external coil running at 12 volt is cool and reliable 

I have lots of pictures of variouse different methods to bypass the troublesome 24 volt system on my website under projects/modifications   www.willysjeepuk.co.uk 

I buy jeeps Nationwide in all conditions, If you would like  a quick easy sale and a good price , i am a jeep trader /enthusiast , I renovate  and repair the older classic jeeps so anything over 40 years is of interest to me , no pressure or obligation to sell contact Robert U'Ren  Totnes Devon  01548521278 for a chat with a real enthusiast

Hi everyone, I buy and renovate willys, Hotchkiss , ford and some post war jeeps, I am always on the look out for jeeps in all conditions, good runners or non runners, projects etc so if you have one you are thinking of selling, i would love to know more , I pay very good prices, I make a very quick decision and buy as seen, no comebacks. payment before removal, discretion assured, situated in Devon but buy  jeeps nationwide and in France,  contact Robert U'Ren anytime on 01548521278  willysjeepuk.co.uk