I've been spending again! My '43 GPW

[simondema]

The cross member also has a nice 'f' mark which was uncovered during cleaning.

 

 

The rear of the chassis had the remains of the pintle hook reinforcing plate ground off showing the area needing repairing. The repairs will take place after the chassis has been sand blasted, and I'm hoping that can go to be done next week.

 

 

Steve

I noticed you said sandblasting. Not that I know much about all this, as I am still learning. I made enquiries regarding my Champ and the general consensus seemed to be that Soda Blasting was a gentler way of cleaning the chassis, panels and engine. I had to search a bit here in Sydney for people who would do it, but after the process the metal parts are left with a very thin layer of Bicarbonate of soda which in itself is a bit of a rust inhibitor. The Soda blasting is also a better method for the engine, as the particles will not be as hard on it as sand blasting, and any copper or brass fittings will not be potentially damaged. I am sure though there are people on this Forum who know more than I do, but I just wanted to pass on what I have been told.

Great thread.

 

Simon

[Jessie The Jeep]

I said sandblasting as a generic term for the cleaning. It will be going to a professional company that does blasting, painting and powder coating, so I'll take their advice on how best to treat the large components.

[Willyslancs]

shame we filled off the f's when we did our Willys seems you need some .....

[Jessie The Jeep]

Had a shopping trip today and came back with a replacement gearbox and transfer case to replace the originals that appear to have been used to carry additional water in the Jeep. I also came away with an oil filter housing and brackets, some of the bow brackets, locker catches, transfer case knobs, gearbox/floor cover plate, axe brackets, foot rests, gear lever, B/O Lamp bracket and a fuel tank strap.

 

The engine was inspected by the engineering company, and rather than risk boring the cylinders out leaving the walls very thin, I've opted for sleeving the cylinders and replacing the pistons with standard size again. The valves and guides also needed replacing as they were heavily pitted and worn. The work should be done sometime within the next couple of weeks, and then the engine can go back together again.

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's a couple of pictures of yesterday's goodies. First, all the small parts. I've been told that the oil filter housings are quite difficult to find now. The footrests are the Willys type, so are probably correct for an ACM Type II body.

The replacement gearbox and transfer case.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

While the sun was out this morning, I got the two fenders out which had been pasted with about 3/16 inch of filler by the previous owner. A rotary wire brush turned the filler into dust ready for them to be blasted clean. They need a few minor welding repairs. The grill also had the small lights removed, plus a few small bolts and split pins. Now the fenders, chassis, grill, seat and hood are all ready to be blasted and primed. I called the company who will be ringing back soon to arrange collection.

Once that was all sorted, I finall managed to get the last U-shackle removed with the aid of a two foot long stilson wrench. The rear prop shaft was removed next, and all of the wheel nuts loosened ready for removal. Then some of the small parts were wire brushed clean. The B/O lamp bracket is missing the flat strip that protects the lamp, but that should be a fairly easy fix.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Both the brake pedal shaft and clutch linkage torque tube could only be cleaned externally with the wire brush, so I decided both should have an electrolysis bath to help clean out the inside of the tubes.

The brass brake pipe union was removed from the old cylinder and cleaned up ok. The master cylinder plunger however doesn't look too happy!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The other part of the brake linkage was ok, and was wire brushed and primed later in the day.

The original master cylinder looks like it has been underwater for some time. I'm not sure this will live again.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

It really doesn't look happy, however, I've dunked it in the electrolysis bath just out of interest to see how it looks when it comes out.

The replacement is on the left. The original has 'Wagner' moulded into the casting. The one from my Jeep has 'Wagner-Lockheed'. Was there a merger/takeover between the companies during or just after the war?

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Looking down the bore of the replacement. It doesn't look to bad, but a friend has a honing tool, so if it will fit in the bore, I'll try and give it a light polish.

The gearbox cover plate was cleaned up yesterday, but as you can see, it has an additional hole! The metal is really too thin for my arc welder, so things like this will be done once I've re-supplied with oxy/Acetylene.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

These two pieces are throttle and clutch linkages. The smaller one is the throttle, and the threaded section was bent into quite an unusual 'S' bend where it is arrowed. It was heated with a gas torch to relieve stresses, and straightened in a vice. I still need to run a die down the threads to clean them up.

The clutch linkage was severely worn where the two ends are bent over and slot into the other parts of the pedal and torque tube. Lack of lubrication had worn a groove in them, reducing the diameter of the bar to almost half. The worn areas were cleaned up with a wire brush, and weld built up to replace the missing metal. This was then dressed with a file.

Towards the end of the day, a number of parts were primed. These included a new throttle pedal as the original was missing. The replacement part had a gloss black finish, in either paint or plastic coated! This was all wire brushed off before priming. Also in this picture is the clutch torque tube, axe brackets, bow swivels, gear stick shroud, gear and transfer case gater rings and the rest of the throttle pedal accessories.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

This is also part of the throttle linkage, the part on the engine side of the firewall that directs the pedal movement to the carburettor. This also needed a little welding around the hole for the linkage that connects to the pedal.

Also primed today were the brake and clutch pedals, foot rests, front bow brackets and the brake pedal lever. The gear stick was also painted.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

More updates from the last couple of days. The brake/clutch pedal shaft was quite badly worn through lack of greasing, but I figured it could be repaired and used again, as I'm still trying to use as many original parts as possible.

My plan was to build up the low areas by welding, then turn the tube back to the correct diameter on my lathe. The keyway for the brake pedal was intact, so no additional machining would be needed.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's an early picture with the first few low spots welded. I did a little welding, then machined the tube which in turn showed up the other low spots, and the process was repeated. The tube was held in the lathe chuck and a live centre in the end of the tube.

Unfortunately I hadn't noticed the tube had been bent at some point. It wasn't obvious when the tube was first inspected, presumably due to the uneven surface to start with. As the machining and welding continued, one wall of the tube got very thin until I blew a hole in it with the welder! Oh well, no worries, it was unusable before, and it still is! The following photo shows how far out the tube is after one end was turned true.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The oil filter housing and bracket was wire brushed clean, but I found a small hole in one of the indentations in the bottom. The easiest fix was soft solder melted into the area of the hole. It was then primed, along with the lid and brackets.

The next big job was to get the springs off the axles. Virtually all the nuts on the 'U' bolts were severely corroded and rusted solid onto the bolt, where there was even something left resembling a nut! The picture below shows one of the most intact nuts. Despite my best efforts with a number of methods, only one 'U' bolt came off in one piece. The others all had to be cut with an angle grinder, but they were unusable anyway. Most had the original threaded area stripped, and used a large number of washers to push the nuts back down the bolt to where better thread was.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Finally the springs off, two Ford springs and two Willys. There was no torque reaction spring on the front left spring. I don't know whether these were added later in production or whether this has been removed some time after the war. If it was removed, it was a long time ago, as there's no signs that I can see of it ever being there.

One of the shock absorber/spring mounts had broken in the past, and a bodge job repair was made, which welded it to the spring in the process.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The top of the bracket shows the reinforcing strip of metal that was welded on to effect the repair.

A number of the parts primed a few days ago were then painted OD.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Accelerator pedal and brackets, axe brackets, bow swivels, gear stick shroud and UJ 'U' bolts all have their first OD coat.

The clutch linkage torque tube had the holes partially welded up as they were severely elongated through wear. The welds shown here were then dressed with a small round file until the linkage fitted the hole again, and it was re-primed.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's the oil filter in its first coat of black paint.

A big unknown was the condition of the diffs. The gearbox, transfer case and master brake cylinder all showed that they had been under water for some time and were badly rusted. The diffs were lower than these, so wasn't sure what to expect when the covers came off. The drain plug was removed, and some brown oil drained out of each diff. Here's the inside of the first cover after having had a rinse with petrol.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The first view of the rear diff with the cover off. It was covered in the brown sludge/oil, but at least it wasn't rusted solid!

After a good rinse out with petrol, the gears all turned out to be nice and shiney. There was no significant play in the shafts/gears, other than the backlash play I'd expected. The diff was tipped with the prop shaft end downwards, and with a load of petrol in there, there was no sign of any leaking past the prop shaft seal.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I had the same luck with the front diff, which was in the same condition, again with no leaks. These nice tight seals is probably what has kept the weather out all these years. All of the bearings also look nice and clean, with no nasty grinding noises as everything is rotated. For now, the covers have been replaced, and some oil added to each.

That's all for now!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

This morning, all the wheels were removed from the axles, and the front axle lifted onto a trolley so I could pull it from the garage to the workshop. The wheel nuts are left and right hand thread depending on which side of the vehicle it is. On my Hotchkiss, the left hand thread nuts are on the left front wheel, but on this GPW, the left hand threaded nuts were on the right! Which is the correct side? I'm guessing my Hotchkiss is correct, as in 11,000 miles of driving, none of the wheels have fallen off!

Once the front axle was moved to the workshop, the steering linkages were removed. This reduced the weight enough that I was able to lift the axle on to two stools to give a better working height. After the hub cap was popped off, I found a circlip. I don't remember any circlips on my Hotchkiss, but will have to check again!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

When I bought my first Jeep, I had trouble finding a hub puller, so I ended up making one, and here it is in action. With the drive flange removed, I unfastened the hub nuts. These were so old, the locking tab had long since gone, so there was nothing to stop the nut from coming loose, followed soon after by the wheel!

Next came the disc with the brake shoes on. Both shoes still look like they have plenty of life left in them. This disc and the rest of the hub have around 1/4 inch of crud stuck to the surface. Like on many of the other parts, it is rock hard and requires chisling off with a large screwdriver.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

With the brake shoe assembly removed, I was down to the steering knuckle. The steering arm and bottom pivot were removed next, followed by the ring of bolts around the back of the hub.

With all of these free, it allowed the steering knuckle to pull free revealing the universal joint which looked in good condition, despite the lack of grease in there.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The steering knuckle pivot bearings came out next. The top bearing looked and felt ok, but the bottom bearing felt distinctly lumpy. I was to find out why soon after.

After cleaning the bottom pivot and steering arm pivot, I found another 'f' mark. These things get everywhere.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep