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I've been spending again! My '43 GPW


Jessie The Jeep

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The track rods needed one new castle nut, but I couldn't get hold of one. Instead, I got a standard nut, and slotted it with three hacksaw blades to give the slot width. The slots were then cleaned up with a small cutting stone in a mini drill.

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The bellcrank and track rods were then fitted completing the front axle.

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The front bumper is now complete and ready for primer.

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The battery tray had one corner rotted away. Most of the tray is pitted from water/acid spills, but is still sound enough to use, once the corner is repaired.

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Today I made a start on rebuilding the front springs. These needed 'U' clamps making to hold the springs in alignment. These started out as a flat strip of steel, drilled for the rivet that holds them to the spring.

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They were heated with a gas torch and formed around a jig in the vice.

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Once formed, the 'U' was fitted around the spring and marked up for the bolt. Once these holes were drilled, the bolt was trial fitted. The clamp was then trimmed to size and the cormers chamfered ( inset ).

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New pins were welded into the ends of the spring, using a large vice as a heat sink to protect the rest of the spring. The 'U' clamp was then fitted, the pin heated and hammered over to trap the clamp.

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The original gearbox and transfer case have also been stripped down and will be rebuilt and sold.

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The transfer case is 'f' marked. I can't remember if the other one is, but either way, an 'f' marked case will go back onto this Jeep.

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This T-84 case isn't 'f' marked, while the other once I have is. That box has gone away to jeffery Engineering to be rebuilt.

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The main shaft looks good, but the countershaft has a number of worn teeth and pitting as this box has been under water or in water at some time in its life.

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This is one of the gears that has been under water.

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This gear from the transfer case is sound as far as teeth are concerned, but the hollow shaft is pitted where the rollers run. I should be able to get this bored out, sleeved and rebored for new roller bearings. I'd rather re-use original gears as I've heard that many of the modern repros are not as hard.

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Today was spent stripping, cleaning, repairing and re-assembling the rear springs. Below is one of the rear springs with the leaves loosely assembled and a file inserted through the centre hole in each leaf to align them all.

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A 'G' clamp holds the leaves together while the centre bolt is inserted and tightened.

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All four springs complete.

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I've been away for a week for the Bolero event, so only now catching up with my posts from before and since. Before I went away, I got the brake pipes made for both axles. The 'S' bends on the steering knuckles weren't as difficult as I was expecting.

 

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Wow ! I'm amazed at the twists required on that pipe ! You've done a good job there.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's been a while since an update. I have been working on the Jeep, but have been too busy to write the updates. In the last days of July, the chassis started seeing paint, using a mini HVLP gun with a 0.8mm nozzle to spray the frame and in through the lightening holes.

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The repaired 'A' frame was then clamped in place and holes drilled in the new metal. Since I don't have the equipment to do the large rivets, I used shear bolts to fasten the 'A' frame back into the chassis.

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Once the 'A' frame had been touched up in olive, the front axle was trollied through to the front of the garage and the chassis was righted with the front on axle stands. The front springs were then hung from the rear hangers, and the axle rolled in over the top.

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The 'U' bolts were then fitted over the axles and through the shock absorber mounting plates and bolted up. With that done, the chassis was lifted and the axle lifted onto the axle stands. The chassis was then lowered again to bring the 'U' shackle mounts on the chassis and spring to the correct distance for fitting.

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Moving to the back of the chassis, it was lifted and rested on two stools while the rear springs were fitted at their front mounts.

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The rear axle was then rolled into place and the 'U' bolts connected. At this point I didn't have any rear shocks, as during my last order, the supplier was out of stock. Within a few days, a new set arrived in the post.

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All bolted up and looking good. This is the first time the axles have been connected to the chassis since mid April. I don't have any wheels as yet, but there's a set making their way to me via a friend. Once he has them, I'll collect and get the wheels painted and assembled.

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The front shocks done.

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At the same time, I was tinkering with the steering gearbox, fitting new bushes and oil seal, then masking and painting. The steering box will be left unfitted until the tub is back on. I took it off before the tub was removed, and it made it so much more simple to lift the tub off without the steering column in the way. Likewise, refitting the tub will be better without it in the way.

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The repaired battery tray is now fitted, the the engine mounts loosely bolted on to clear some cupboard space.

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The master brake cylinder was also temporarily bolted on in order to make up the brake pipes to the front and rear axles. The pressure switch is the old unservicable one, fitted just to make sure the pipework clears everything it needs to.

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I ran into a small problem with the rear flexi brake hose. The original replacement I bought was too short, and didn't reach the rear cross member. I spoke to Cliff at Universal who said it was meant to be 15 inches, shoulder to shoulder. He checked a few that he had, and sent out a long one.

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A new rubber transmission mount was painted, and the associated original mounting plate was cleaned up and painted.

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A couple of days ago, I noticed that part of the transmission cross member bracket was broken and the piece missing. I was dreading having to repair this as I could no longer pick up the chassis and turn it over to weld! The paint was cleaned off with a wire brush, and a new piece made to fit. The cross member was bolted in place, along with the new piece, and it was tack welded on. The cross member was then removed and a weld made along the top of the join. The weld went really well, but next came the underside. With only about 12 inches clearance from the garage floor to the underside of the chassis, space to work was limited. There was just enough room to get my head under with the welding mask on, and to my surprise, the weld went easily in one go; despite working in shadow to strike the weld.

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The pedal shaft bracing bracket was missing on this Jeep, and as I'm reluctant to spend money un-necessarily, I made a replacement rather than just buying one. From the start of the project, I've tried to repair rather than just replace parts, and I have my other Jeep as reference to refer to as to what's missing and what goes where!

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