The CJ3A Page CJ3B.info

Post reply

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

Note: this post will not display until it's been approved by a moderator.

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Message icon:
Verification:
Type the letters shown in the picture
Listen to the letters / Request another image

Type the letters shown in the picture:
Write the word between words Jeep from this JeepWILLYSJeep?:
How many slot has a GPW grill?  7 - 9 - 11:

shortcuts: hit alt+s to submit/post or alt+p to preview


Topic Summary

Posted by: mstokes
« on: February 20, 2022, 01:55:56 AM »

Well it’s been almost two years instead of two weeks ???. I’ve been really busy with life thats all I can say. On a high note I’ve had time to work on the 3a off and on. In the last almost two years since my last post I’ve completed all the metal work on the body and associated parts. I’m not a body filler guy so they will go to blasting and paint as repaired. Just my style. I like them crusty. In the last few weeks I’ve also replaced the bell housing with the correct 3a type as well as the starter. When I got the jeep it had a MB engine, MB bell housing and late WWII starter just for reference. That has all been corrected now. Well not the engine. The best I could do is a late model engine with a supper sonic head on it. The WWII engine deserves to go back in a WWII jeep. I’m looking for a more correct engine currently. Here are some pictures of the body restoration. Pictures of the bell housing and starter will follow when I get home and take some. Working toward final assembly to running and driving jeep in the next few months.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 21, 2020, 06:56:23 AM »

Thanks Bob. You guys are right. Im over it and moving forward on the body work. I want to be driving it this summer. Two steps forward and one step back won't get me there.
Posted by: Bob W
« on: April 12, 2020, 06:34:39 AM »

Quote from: mstokes on April 12, 2020, 12:51:14 AM
Wife says no one is going to see it leave it. Get over it.

I agree with your wife on this one. LOL
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 12, 2020, 12:51:14 AM »

Well the pulling of the transmission went well. Pretty simple without the tub on. Got to the clutch and inspected it for any signs of abnormal wear marks. Nope all good. Reinstalled the transmission assembly and fired it up. No more knock. Sounds like a sowing machine as it should. I can’t explained it other than maybe it needed time to circulate oil to all parts of the engine. It has sat for the last decade. I did manage to forget the reinstall my clutch cable and my clutch fork got chewed up when it fell in to the spinning clutch. Got wear marks now. All over the inside of the bell housing. Beautiful paint job in there DESTROYED!!! Wow!!! What a show of sparks :o. So ill be ordering a new clutch fork and pulling the trans assembly to repaint inside the bell housing. Wife says no one is going to see it leave it. Get over it. Can’t do it. It will drive me nuts. Never a dull moment in my shop. Good news is I’m on to the body work. Probably be a couple weeks now till I have anymore progress updates for the group. Take care and send me your comments. Constructive criticism is well received and will save me time and money.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 11, 2020, 04:00:41 AM »

Well the next day was uneventful, finished hooking up all the pertinent infrastructure to fire off the engine for the first time and what do you know? No spark to the plugs. Suspect the distributor rebuild quality. I rebuilt the dizy myself way back when. So put her away for the night. It was late by the time we actually got to fire it off. Went to work for the last few days and when I got off work straight back to the shop to figure it out. Got the good old test light out and started looking for a short at the distributor. Nope all good. No grounding out. Baffled put the cap back on and gave it turn over and BOOM! Fired up and idled beautiful. Timing a little off on the negative side. Fixed with a 1/8th inch turn. Ghosts I tell you! The only thing i did differently was add a ground wire to the body of the ignition switch. So good to go :D. I do have a knock and yes its a clear knock.  :(. Very loud in the bell housing. Fingers crossed I screwed something up installing the clutch. I’ll be pulling the clutch tomorrow and then run it with out the clutch to hear what I hear at that point. Yes I shut it off quickly but fired it up a couple more times for 60 seconds or so to try to diagnose. If it turns out to be a rod bearing issue or something major I'll move to sourcing a actual 3A engine to have rebuilt and have my current engine rebuilt latter. When I say have done I use a local machine shop to do my short blocks. Fascinating trade and disappearing skill set. True artist of their craft. Wish they would let me spend a few weeks helping in their shop. Oh what I could learn. The old man repeatedly told me “Knowledge is power kid”. True statement. Who knew?  ::) Wonder if my indestructible, knows more  than me kid feels the same when I’m talking? So you might be thinking, ok so he has a local machine shop do his engines for him then why is it knocking. Full disclosure, I didn’t with this engine. This is for myself so I cleaned it, Valve job, resealed it and rebuilt the bolt on’s. Simple overhaul. Was running great when pulled (eye witness to it). Like I said it sounds like it’s coming from the clutch. Let’s hope. The positive. We moved to the body in the meantime and started marking the repairs needed and met with the media blaster to set up the blasting. I decided to use my original tailgate instead of save it for the wall in the shop. It’s been with the jeep all this time so it will continue to be. I'll put all the numbers back on just the way I documented them. Keep on rolling. Here’s the pictures from today.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 07, 2020, 04:27:44 AM »

Didn’t get to fire off the engine today but still made progress. Cleaned up the shop in prep for bringing the tub back from storage. Can’t wait to see the tub next to the frame after all this time. Tomorrow should be a good day. With any luck I’ll get it fired up for the first time. Always a nerve racking moment. Something I did take notice of today was my rear crossmember. I replace it years ago when restoring the frame. #1. The method I used to retain the factory look as far as the rivets are concerned. #2 the holes that are now missing. So for the rivets I ground the heads off leavening the back side of the original rivet in place in the frame. Instead of knocking them out I pried the old crossmember away from them leaving a nub the thickness of the old crossmember existing. Then when reinstalling the new crossmember I spread it slightly over the nubs witch filled the holes in the mounting locations on the new crossmember and it kinda snapped in to place. From that point I welded washers over the old locations of the original rivets ground the welds down with a #60 flap disk and boom! Looks pretty close to factory. Probably not the first guy to figure this out but i thought i would share it. Might help someone down the road. Maybe I’ll go check the tech section to see if its been posted before. Might be more appropriate. #2 the missing holes. Since my Jeep spent some time in the Navy it had bumperetts. I didn’t know this until recently and it just dawned on me when starring at the project today in deep thought about my next move. Guess i have some drilling to do. Got to put those holes back. I can see them in some old pictures before the swap. Good news is i have a few bumperetts extra laying around here somewhere. Here’s some pictures for your viewing.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 10:42:05 PM »

Hi! Thanks for chiming in. Yes I’ve been following your posts on your jeep. I’m very envious of your jeep and restoration. I wish I still had my Navy data plate like you. I ordered a couple from a reproduction manufacturer in Poland. Couple months till they get here but no worries I’ve used him in the past for data plates on other restorations. Top quality and exact to a “T” even the relief of the pressing.  I also ordered Bob’s book last week for more information about our 3a’s. If you find away to use your registration numbers to get some history on your jeep please share! I’ve tried that with the WWII stuff and hit dead ends. Probably due to the time that has past. Might be different for the 50’s era stuff. My numbers on my tail gate are painted on witch actually helped in their recovery. The past owners paint didn’t stick well to them. I suspect that my jeep came from one of the Navy stations in the Bay Area of California. All those bases down there Navy and Army are responsible for a wealth of historic jeeps and equipment in my area. Most of the big farmers in my area would by jeeps and other vehicles at the auctions they regularly had for use on the farms. They where cheep for them. There are two WWII half tracks 2 miles from me in a barn still sitting and rotting away. The farmer wont sell them. Guessed they used them in the orchards back then. They have flat beds on them currently the way they sit. That’s the same farmer I got my 1941 MB slat grill from. Tomorrow is a big day for me. The kid and I are firing off the engine for the first time. Then back to the body work. Keep in touch and I’ll be following your progress. If I come across parts or information I’ll send you a PM.
Posted by: Squishymonster
« on: April 05, 2020, 09:45:33 PM »

Hey, my 53 cj3a project is a navy jeep as well. Check out some of the hood and tailgate numbers in the project "crunchy roll" thread.

I have not looked the numbers up yet. I'd love to figure out what base the Jeep was commissioned to.

I'm wanting to keep the vinyl numbers and I'm trying to decide on a tasteful way to do it. I've considered masking off the original numbers and painting around them, leaving the current numbers in their patina state. I'm not quite sure yet.

I'm doing a restomod I guess. But I'm interested in keeping everything able to be fully restored to original at some point. Ie, dont do anything that cant be undone.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 07:42:27 PM »

So I mentioned in my OP that I found my Navy registration numbers on the tailgate the other night. In between the generator and drive lines I was researching the forums on Navy Jeeps and came across some really interesting reading. One post was finding registration numbers on the tail gate. So I figured it’s worth a shot. I missed my shot on the hood because I was ignorant at the time to the fact that it also was marked but back 10 years ago I wasn’t looking for them or for that matter cared. This was my CJ after all. Bad on me. I wire wiped the hood with out regard for history. Your probably thinking (and this guy restored WWII vehicle’s) Ya that’s a no brainer before restoring WWII stuff. Gather pertinent historical information and research. Number one thing. I should have known better. You live and you learn what more can I say. Sorry it wouldn’t photograph well so look close. My current dilemma at this point is do I get a replacement tail gate and hang this one on the wall for show and preservation or blast it, restore it and run it. I will be restoring the jeep back to a Navy CJ3a. Proper color and markings. The registration numbers turned out to be 9402441. “US” was under the Willys logo to the left and “NAVY” was to the right separated by the strength pressing. With the registration numbers under them centered. Here you go the tail gate pictures.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 06:53:44 PM »

Next came tackling the drive lines. The wire wheel ended up being no match for the drive lines. I had to blast them before painting. Can you see what’s going on here? Using my time stuck at home to get all the parts done ahead of time so I can do a mass assembly. That’s the pay off. That’s the fun part for me. Seeing it all come together. 
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 06:33:09 PM »

The next generator I found needing a home was this Autolite 12 volt as well. It needed a full rebuild however it was working fine when I found it. My kid was amazed theses old parts still worked all crusty and rusty. I showed him how to check old generators and starters before restoring them. Need to know its a viable candidate first. I know theses parts may not be correct for the jeep but they will get it back on the road and their all I have currently. It helps keep the cost down and its fun bring them back to life. This generator fit perfect and lined up great. I plane to acquire the correct components over time as they come along. Then find the proper vehicle’s theses fit and move them along helping someone els complete there restoration of what ever it my be. If anyone has extra correct 3A parts feel free to contact me. Condition doesn’t scare me.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 05:57:05 PM »

From a few weeks ago. Found this starter and 12volt generator in the shed with all the old jeep parts I’ve acquired over the years. Glad I saved all those parts. It’s really cool digging through the archive and remembering all the other restorations. Finding it to be a treasure trove now! The Delco generator didn’t end up working out. The mounting lobes are to short and the body of the generator was resting on the front engine plate. Besides, we had to really modify the mounting to get it to line up with the other pulleys. I wasn’t happy with it.  I’ll go do more digging in the shed. There was a few more generators in there.
Posted by: Bob W
« on: April 05, 2020, 07:44:52 AM »

Very nice!
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 06:21:47 AM »

A few more of the current state of restoration.
Posted by: mstokes
« on: April 05, 2020, 06:02:39 AM »

More. I think the rims are M38.