Well, I'm new-ish to jeeps, new to this forum, and new to the 'postimage' site, so I may really mess this up, but here goes.
I recently acquired cj3a 31865, seen here-
I got this from the grandsons after the grandfather had passed away. The grandsons just wanted to sell, they didn't seem interested in their grandfather's vehicle. Granddad had fishing lures stuck to the dash, deer hunter scent killer, tools, jeep parts, fencing tools, camo spray paint, several small fluid pumps, jumper cables, and just a lot of stuff piled in the jeep. Non-working fuel pump still in place but replaced by an electric fuel pump sort of improvised into use. I had the impression the granddad's jeep maintenance level had declined as he had declined, but I think the jeep must have been stored under cover much of the time, due to the amount of paint left, and less rust than I expected. I wish I could have met the gentleman, and I hope I can do justice to his jeep.
Here's the vehicle i.d. number. It was a bill of sale transaction. No license plate on the jeep, no old inspection sticker on the windshield. I don't think it had been registered in a long time. I'm thinking 1949 from info from online. I read it as '31865'.
Here's the engine serial number and a rebuild tag riveted to the engine block. The engine number ends in '20371 but I could sure use some help on that first part, -- not sure what to expect. From reading, I was expecting the engine number to be higher than the vin number, -- more engines produced than vehicles, is that right?
I've had the starter rebuilt (by J and I in Marshfield, Mo, -- not far from me and so far I'm very happy with their work) and ready to install. I re-purposed an old clevis pin to use to bang the old bushing out of the bell housing and insert the new one. I read online there is supposed to be some sort of freeze-plug-like plug on the back side of that opening to keep stuff out of the bushing, can anyone give me any info on that? I can do just a bit more than turn the lathe on, --- here's my bushing tool/ clevis pin
I have the right fender off, --- making more room to get to the starter bushing, and just getting acquainted with how many captive nuts are froze up or missing, sheet metal tears, --- the hat channel that supports the fender is broken, the air shroud is bungee corded to the rear of the radiator, the bolts holding the grill to the frame are missing, etc etc. But mostly the jeep seems original and not in bad shape considering 68 years of age.
I initially thought I was going to encounter a 6v generator, but I found a delco-remy 12v generator and the corresponding voltage regulator --- vintage, but clearly not original. It had a 12v battery when I got it, but the grandsons had bought it, and they probably didn't know 6v existed. The generator is in the rebuild shop (--- I don't trust myself to rebuild starters and generators . . .) and Dad and I are to pick it up tomorrow. Dad's a wwII vet, he went through basic in the summer of '45 training for the invasion of Japan, but after the war ended suddenly, he served 18 months in a truck maintenance unit near Naples, Italy. At nearly 91 he is doing well and having a blast playing with jeeps again.
My general plan is this: I don't think it's been all that terribly long since this jeep ran. I blacksmithed a 1 3/8 hex socket to use to check to see if the engine was frozen up, and it turns fine. Oil and antifreeze both look ok. Only one tire wouldn't hold air. I saw this advice somewhere on this site, --- get it running with the least disruption possible and catalog and photograph the problems and current condition before doing anything drastic. That sounded like a heck of a good idea to me.
Well, as time goes by I'll try to post mostly an account of what I have actually done and not too much about pipe-dreams of what I hope to do.
JohnD
Sparta, MO
