I've been spending again! My '43 GPW

[Jessie The Jeep]

The reason that the bearings felt lumpy was that both of the outer seats had worn severely, leaving small hollows for each roller bearing! Obviously the previous owner never owned a tin of grease in his life. No wonder I could set the steering when pushing the Jeep and it would stay there without re-centering.

While one of the bearings felt OK on removal, the condition of both seats shows that both the top and bottom bearings need replacing on this side. Tomorrow I'll start stripping the other side and see what that looks like.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

After the bearing seats were knocked out, the axle outer oil seal was also removed. While the rubber was still quite flexible, it was showing signs of wear, so might as well be replaced while everything is in pieces. Last thing of the day was a flat bed truck arrived; it was the blasting company to pick up the chassis parts, fenders, hood, grill and seat. They should be back in a few days.

[Nick Johns]

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!

 

 

LH thread wheel studs are on N/S drivers side, looks like you have later type post war drive shafts with UJ's and later flanges

Edited May 3, 2012 by Nick Johns

[Jessie The Jeep]

LH thread wheel studs are on N/S drivers side..

 

That's what I thought.

 

.....looks like you have later type post war drive shafts and flanges

 

I thought they didn't look like the manual illustration!

[Jessie The Jeep]

A couple of days ago, I got the front hubs and brake mounting plates in primer, along with a few other wheel parts.

The front axle was also primed on Tuesday.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The following day the brake mounting plates and knuckle seal covers were sprayed olive drab. The hubs and brake shoes were also painted. This afternoon, after taking my other Jeep for its MOT, the other sides of the hub parts were sprayed olive.

The transfer case levers were cleaned up and primed today. Before painting, I snapped this shot of the 'f' marks, and while one is quite worn, it is still visible.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Diff cover and steering knuckle brake flexi-pipe guards in olive.

The axle with the top ( actually the bottom ) all in olive.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's one of the brake pipe unions, straight from the axle. Removing the fittings was a tough job that required a bit of heat. Several other brake pipe fittings were removed from the old pipes and all were cleaned up with the wire brush.

Here's a few of the cleaned parts. I've got a brake pipe flaring tool on its way here so I can replace the old pipes, several of which didn't look original and had additional coils in them to get the lengths correct!

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

A box load of NOS parts arrived today, costing; well I was going to say a small fortune, but actually a large fortune!

Here's the replacement spring 'U' bolts with some nice 'f' marks. Only one original 'U' bolt survived being stripped from the springs, its 'f' mark quite worn. I'll be keeping that as a spare.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The replacement seals for the master brake cylinder came in a box which looks original and almost too nice to open!

Further parts cleaning and painting was done today. Here's the steering knuckle king pins and the bracket from the brake union. The transfer case levers were painted olive and the other side of the brake flexi-pipe guards.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The new 'U' bolts and spring plates were also given a coat of olive to match the other parts.

Finally for today, the axle was given its olive drab on the other side.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

I got a bit more priming and painting done today.

The battery tray was quite pitted and so was treated with electrolysis first, and then wire brushed. It needs some minor repairs but I wanted to get some primer on to protect the rest of the tray.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The front springs were also stripped today, and cleaning began on the first.

The second spring wasn't stripped until the end of the day, and so hasn't progressed any further.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

This morning, I got a call to say the chassis and other parts were ready for delivery, and all looking very red! Here's the chassis, 'A' Frame, bumper and rear cross member.

Hood and one of the fenders.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Fenders, grill, seat and other chassis parts.

The new seats for the steering knuckle bearings were placed in the freezer to cool and shrink them prior to fitting.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Two plywood discs were cut to protect the various metal parts as they were knocked into place.

Finally for today, the new bearing seats fitted.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's a few more updates. After the knuckle bearings were installed, the knuckle itself was fitted followed by the stub axle and brake back plate. I've got four new brake cylinders, the first of which is seen here.

Here's the other side of the knuckle showing the brake pipe guard and steering arm, plus the two horseshoe shaped plates that seal the rear of the knuckle.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

In order to treat the springs, I needed to make a four feet long bath from some conti board with a plastic liner. Some sheets of scrap steel ( parts of the Jeep floor ) were welded into long strips that run down each side of the bath for the anodes. The 'G' clamps hold them to the sides and stop them from falling onto the springs. The sections of spring are placed in the centre of the bath and connected up to the charger, forming the cathode.

With the rust removed from the pitting in the leaves, they were removed, dried and brushed with a dilute petrol/oil mix. Here's the first front spring complete.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Moving back to stripping and painting, the bellcrank and tie rods were dismantled, cleaned, primed and painted. Getting the pushrod off the bellcrank and sector shaft arm was a struggle as the plugs in the end of the rod haven't moved in decades. There was no split pin locking them, no need as years of hard grease effectively locked them solid. It too lots of WD40 and then heat to start freeing it, and that was after a soak in a petrol oil mix over night. Since I didn't have a screwdriver large enough, a piece of metal that fitted the slot was clamped in a vice, and the whole pushrod and arms turned to unscrew it.

Here's the bellcrank and sector shaft arm painted. Some of the needle roller bearings in the bellcrank were missing, so the two bearings were pressed out using a vice.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

While the paint was drying, it was back to the hubs. The new linings were bonded and riveted to the shoes and were then assembled onto the brake backing plate.

The seat for the inner wheel bearing was a bit pitted, so that was replaced, but the outer one looked fine. After lots of greasing, the first hub was assembled on the axle.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The other job done yesterday was to collect the fuel tank and rad from the overhaul company. The fuel tank needed a small hole fixing and two rusted and sheared screws removed from the sender opening. I was pretty sure the rad was U/S, having some large dings in the core. The top and bottom tanks were ok, and so were refitted to a new core. The overflow pipe was also replaced as this had been crushed flat at some point. Both were tested after repairs.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The front axle had the other hub fitted, and that was as far as I can go until I pick up some brake pipe. It was lifted down from the stools onto the trolley and wheeled to the garage.

The rear axle was then wheeled into the workshop to be stripped and cleaned.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

A number of spring washers have been very brittle when removed, and have broken with just a slight bend. To try and removed some of the stresses in them, I've started heating them for a little while with my small gas torch.

By the end of yesterday, both hubs had been stripped, and the small parts cleaned of muck and grease, then wire brushed or sand blasted.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

With the hubs off, I found another brake lining which had parted company with the shoe.

Here's the end of the axle once everything was removed.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Since the last update, the axle and hub parts were stripped, primed and painted. I picked up the brake pipe on Wednesday too, so both axles can have their brake cylinders plumbed.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep