It was beautiful here today so I popped the rear seat out of my 3A and headed out on a grocery shopping mission. On whim decided I'd take a slight detour to check on an M38 sitting out in the weeds a few miles from me. It's one I posted some pics of here awhile back - some of you may remember. It, of course, was still sitting there so I stopped to talk with the owner, who turns out to be a 90 year old WWII/Normandy/Paratrooper vet. I had previously met his wife but never the old fella himself. We ended up loading him, clad in bathrobe and slippers, into my Jeep for a quick ride around town. I'm pretty sure I had as much fun, if not more, than he did. Anyways, long story short, the M38 found its way onto the back of a flatbed and is now sitting in my garage. I never did get any groceries.
Below are a bunch of "Day 1" photos. I'm not sure what my intentions are at this point. I think I'd just like to fix the minimum so I can safely drive it (brakes, steering, etc) and then reassess. I'm pretty sure the motor is not original. The motor does turn by hand but there is no battery so I couldn't try to start it. The engine fluids are all full and look good. There is a new distributor cap and rotor (a good indication of recent work? or a bad sign that something much worse is wrong with it?) and it was last registered and driven in 2006. Aside from flushing the fuel system, adding fresh gas, and a new battery - is there anything else I should be too concerned with before I at least try to start it?�
The body and frame do have a fair amount of rust but I believe both are still pretty solid overall. I have yet to really climb underneath it though. The tires are newer and in good shape. The Willys hardtop still has the data tag on in and is complete with no broken glass. I'm hoping to at least spend some time cleaning it up this week and just get more familiar with it.
