My 1952 M38CDN Refurb - This will Take Awhile!

[coolpool]

Well the old Jeep developed a noise in the motor at 32K miles which I wanted to tackle before it threw a rod or destroyed something major. So as most things go, if you start on a project they tend to snowball which this will be on an epic scale. Being 68 years old, the old girl was in need of a thorough going over so I decided I'll do a frame up refurbishment to make it safe, dependable and corrosion free. The good news is that everything worked well up to this point on it and shouldn't need a lot of repairs except for a motor overhaul. Hopefully by end of day today I'll have the tub off and can start on the undercarriage.

Plans right now are to:
-replace all seals and gaskets on the transmission, t-case and front and rear differentials
-have a rad shop go over the radiator
-re-arch the springs and install new shocks and shackles
-replace all the brake flex hoses
-replace the wiring harness with a reproduction one
-replace the windshield and sealing rubber
-replace body mount rubber and anti-squeak strips
-rebuild the master cylinder and go over all brakes
-fresh paint

If you're familiar with US models or Canadian models, they had a semi gloss paint on them from factory. Weeeell I'm not doing that, lol. I've found out that Canada trialed a 3 color camouflage in the late 60's that I will replicate. The purists of the hobby will squeal but hey....it's my jeep!

[BOB MARLIN]

I had a 1952 m38-A1. Sold it a few years back. Kinda miss it now.

[ATC King]

As a teenager, me and a neighbor drove his granddad's '47 CJ-2A all over the place.

It was a mess and low on power, but we took it through some very rough stuff.

I know where another flat fender is, just sitting in a shop. I rode in it a few times, then the owner got involved in other things and it's sitting now. I looked at it today.

There's some YouTube videos with some of these in Moab. It's incredible what they'll go through with a good driver. I know from my teenage years, they're harder to turn over than what most people think.

They're certainly off road machines though. Modern highway speeds are not achievable/sustainable with them anywhere near stock form.

[coolpool]

Got it down to the frame now. Surprisingly I only broke 3 bolts getting this apart, 2 small body bolts behind the rear wheels and one body bolt under the drivers floor board going into the hat channel. Everything else came apart nicely! There was one part of the frame that was pinched from a previous recovery so I borrowed a Enerpac from work and spread the C-channel apart again. None of the springs are broken so they'll go for a re-arch and new clamps and such. Instead a sand blasting the frame, I'm taking it to a shop to have it ultrasonic cleaned for a couple of hundred bucks which I think is cheaper and less invasive as blasting. They have a 12' x 5' tub that will accommodate the frame nicely. The motor will be taken down to the builder in Edmonton on the 30th as well as the springs which will go to a spring shop.

[coolpool]

Time for an update. The motor is at the shop for a rebuild, the frame is back from ultrasonic cleaning and the rad and springs are back from servicing. I've pretty much gathered most of what I need to start piecing the frame back together once painting is complete. Surprisingly the front pinion seal was leather and probably original. There's a picture of the frame before and after ultrasonic cleaning which I think did a pretty good job for $150.00 cash and a box of donuts :-)

[200xman]

Nice job so far. I did the motor on my 48, crazy how long the stroke is compared to the bore. There is a guy 20 minutes from me that specializes in old Jeep stuff. Peter Debella Jeep Parts. Has pretty much everything and is very knowledgeable.

[coolpool]

Nice job so far. I did the motor on my 48, crazy how long the stroke is compared to the bore. There is a guy 20 minutes from me that specializes in old Jeep stuff. Peter Debella Jeep Parts. Has pretty much everything and is very knowledgeable.

Yes I've seen Peter's ads in the Military magazine I get, lots of great businesses in the US that deal with old iron. I'm out West so I've been going with a company out of Oregon, Ron Fitzpatrick Jeeps, great service and fast shipping. I feel that I might have caused the motor problem trying to go too fast on the highway one day, got 55mph out the old girl. Weirdly it's almost a blessing in disguise as the metal and flex brake lines we're in rough shape and the drivetrain oil leaks were getting bad. This forced my hand to do something about it.

[coolpool]

I'm finally down to where I can start painting now. The frame has been stripped down to it's farthest point and any remaining rust dealt with. Not sure what this block of wood under the axle snubber is for but quite the bubba mod? Surprisingly I found cracked welds on the front spring hanger which I didn't know existed. The more I dig into this the more I'm glad I'm doing this refurb.

[Dirtcrasher]

Really cool project!

Why did you choose to ultrasonic clean the frame rather than sandblast?? I thought maybe you wanted it clean before blasting, just curious...

[El Camexican]

Interesting piece of wood.

Is there perhaps a chance that the military at some point determined that something was rubbing, or hitting when the springs bottomed out to the original depth and therefore wanted to limit travel by a 1/2”?

[coolpool]

Really cool project!

Why did you choose to ultrasonic clean the frame rather than sandblast?? I thought maybe you wanted it clean before blasting, just curious...

Good question! I wanted to degrease in every nook and cranny including the boxed part of the frame....and because I'm cheap this was probably 1/3rd of a sand blast price which doesn't remove grease where it doesn't hit. Subsequently I wire wheeled every inch of metal in preparation for paint. It should last another 70 years easy.

[coolpool]

Interesting piece of wood.

Is there perhaps a chance that the military at some point determined that something was rubbing, or hitting when the springs bottomed out to the original depth and therefore wanted to limit travel by a 1/2”?

No, it's definitely a bubba mod and homemade. The guy I bought it off of told me the previous owner had a mega snowplow on it which he removed as well a bunch of frame strengthening plates. I suspect the springs were hitting the snubber and he put it there? He figures that's what broke the weld too, overloading it.

[ATC King]

Those look like slag hammer marks on that weld. I guess the frames were hand welded back then with a stick. The parts that weren't riveted anyway.

Back when companies employed people instead of robots, and still managed to make a profit somehow.

[coolpool]

Hard to believe another month has gone by since the last update. I switched gears and decided to paint it OEM Canadian Military Dull Drab after all; the purists are rejoicing, lol. It will definitely make it easier to keep clean. Laid down some primer and color on the frame, springs and miscellaneous items. Feels good to start bolting stuff back on for once. This was my first foray in using a paint gun and I'm happy with the results for a beginner. I tore into the front brakes and bearings and got another nasty surprise, questionable bearings and a hand ground spindle of all things. Surprisingly this thing drove straight and didn't show any signs of front end problems at all? Another $450.00 in parts are on there way to redo everything correctly this time; it's just money right?

[coolpool]

I'm getting more comfortable with the paint gun and am mildly happy with the results........and I'm finally bolting parts back on. I've received everything I needed to re-assemble the brakes including new master cylinder, steel and flexible brake lines, wheel cylinders but re-used the brake shoes as they are good. And I replaced the ground down axle stub with a good used one plus new bearings and seals and inner stub bushing. Got some bad news on the motor from the builder though....seems the front pulley had worked itself loose at some time and destroyed the keyway and wore down the front of the crank. Someone has been into this thing as he also found knurled pistons and none of the internal fasteners seemed to be at the correct torque. I managed to find a re-conditioned crank near me ground .010 under on the mains and throws and ordered .040 over pistons, rings, all bearings, frost plugs, oil pump and complete valve train components. I have a NOS head that I'll throw on for good measure too.

[coolpool]

Can't believe it's been so long for an update! This has definitely been a marathon thus far with a few u-turns added for good measure
The brakes went together well and I even made a custom adjustment tool to help out. I'm trying to solve some very pesky leaks at the copper crush gaskets even though it's all new components....I've ordered more parts so I'll get it eventually. Let's talk springs.....I had the springs re-arched in Edmonton and have a bit of a dilemma. You can see the device I made to pre-load the springs so I can bolt up the shocks and brake lines. Then I can slowly unload them later on by loosening the nut. I've reached out to a few brethren from a military vehicle forum and am assured this is quite normal until the major components are installed to add weight. It's a bit unnerving is all. I'm in the process of going through the tranny and t-case for serviceability, seal them up and hopefully get them painted soon. The motor is being re-assembled as we speak so I may see it soon too! I have a target of end May to be driving this thing again so the race is on!

[coolpool]

And the saga continues......! Picked up the motor from Edmonton and mated it to the drivetrain.
The rundown on progress:
-checked over the transmission, t-case and pto and sealed everything up nicely. Oil is in and no leaks so far!
-removed the dual seals on the t-case output shaft, re-mounted a metal dust cap and re-installed the proper seal and felt washer.
-the anti-rattle clips were also missing on the shift levers so they're in place now
-dealt with bent the skid plate that someone pointed out to me (I honestly thought it was supposed to look like that), so I removed it, re-blasted and it had a date with a 50 ton press. It's nice and straight now and re-painted.
-managed to get the brake lines to stop leaking after annealing the washers and replacing the tee fitting and master cylinder banjo bolt.
-replaced one bad u-joint and put a new (homemade) slip yoke seal and split washer on the rear driveshaft.

The winch is in progress now and once painted and mounted, I can finally say mechanical is done.

Of course I got a run in the front bumper after painting so it's up for a sand and re-paint. And the good news, the front springs have relaxed enough now that I was able to remove my pre-load tensioners. Check out the cool knurled piston that came out of the motor!

Next step is the body...argh!

[El Camexican]

Looking spectacular! When’s it’s first parade?

[coolpool]

I really hope to have this back on the road by end June....doable if I stop getting distracted by warm weather beers around a fire. I plan to farm out sandblasting the tub and all body components to save me a ton of time with a sander. There's virtually no bodywork to do so this part should go quicker. But then we all know about hidden ghosts once you start into something!

[coolpool]

Got the winch installed now. Found a good facsimile of the original cable clamp to attach the chain to the cable. I had to manufacture my own elongated links on each end of the 5/16" chain links too which was a challenge but turned out OK.

[El Camexican]

Thanks for posting.....



.....a link



:p

[kiser]

Very cool project! I have always liked old military Jeeps/trucks but have never owned one. Keep up the good work!

[coolpool]

Update: Got the electrical in place, she rolls over and has spark. The faux firewall is good enough to hold the dash board in place and allowed me to temporarily install some pedals to run it on jack stands to test everything out. It developed a leak at the drain fitting in the radiator which the rad shop repaired with no hassle. I have a start up date of September 10th at the place where the engine was rebuilt which I'm understandably excited about. I started picking away at the tub and am very happy with the limited corrosion I'm seeing. Good thing these things sling grease and oil around like they tend to do

[ironchop]

Good to see progress on this

Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk

[coolpool]

Good to see progress on this

Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk

True enough Iron! We have had a record breaking summer for heat and we capitalized on camping for a lot of it....over 30 days thus far. Combine that with taking care of the gardens and such plus regular work.....well the hobbies sit a bit. Closing down the campsite this Sunday hobby time here I come. A huge stretch goal is to have it back on the road for Remembrance (Veteran's) Day, Nov 11.

[coolpool]

Started prepping the tub for body and paint by degreasing and power washing the whole thing. Had a little mishap when I was trying to manhandle it up onto the little trailer I use to move it in and out of the garage. It kind of fell and delivered a glancing blow to my right foot. I confirmed that nothing is broken but it's still really swollen and tender. When the wife came in the shop after hearing the noise and seeing my foot she said I should have used an engine lift or something...I said like the one sitting right there:wondering. Right now I'm contemplating whether or not to try and strip this thing by hand or send it to the sand blasters. The cons for one is the time it will take and I won't get it down to bare metal in all the little pockets and such...... and the con for the other is the $1000.00 estimate to blast the tub inside and out. One plus is the jeep itself is loaded in my trailer and heading down to Edmonton to the engine builders for a start up next Friday....pumped about that for sure.

[kiser]

Ouch! Hopefully the foot is feeling better!

[coolpool]

Yes the foot is healing nicely without too much trouble. I'm happy to report that the engine start up went well and it purrs along nicely. I did confirm I need to do a full carb rebuild to smooth out a lean idle and rough acceleration. I have 25# of oil pressure at idle and 42# at around 2000 rpm. That's pretty good for these things.

[kiser]

I'm glad to hear all of the above! Hopefully everything keeps going as planned!

[roostin atc]

Local plow shop may be a route to look at for a second opinion. They are always sandblasting this time of year. Maybe a little media change though. ��

[coolpool]

Hi roostin, I've definitely decided to go the sand blasting route....... but as you say, great care must be taken to ensure the right media is used and the pressure is turned down as to not warp the tin with too much heat build up. Hard to believe this has been going on almost a year now.

[coolpool]

Blasting is complete...now it's time to get to work. Not too bad of shape overall, thankfully. I don't like all the braze repairs as I'm going to have to grind them out and replace with welds. I included a picture of 2 x 3/8" holes that were not supposed to be there that I filled in last night, not too bad if I say so myself:naughty:

[coolpool]

I've started welding up holes, dealing with dents and applying color to some of the bigger pieces that were previously sand blasted. I'm fairly happy with the results although the hood kicked my butt a bit causing me to sand and paint 3 times. You can see in one picture I ended up with some dry spots which were unacceptable. I had to go to Cloverdale in Lloydminster (~2 hours away) to get a new gallon of paint and was shocked to find even though the codes are the same and the dot on top looks good, the paint obviously isn't correct even after drying. Guess I'm going back next weekend, argh!

The tailgate is definitely going to be a challenge with the amount of repairs needed. I cut off an unexplained extra tab that was welded on the tailgate which has a match on the tub also. I intend to weld up as much as I can with bondo used sparingly. I'm looking for suggestions on how to deal with the formerly brazed holes which will hamper welding where they need filling. Metal filler maybe?

[knappyfeet]

Man...I can't wait to see this finished!.... looking good!

[El Camexican]

I've started welding up holes, dealing with dents and applying color to some of the bigger pieces that were previously sand blasted. I'm fairly happy with the results although the hood kicked my butt a bit causing me to sand and paint 3 times. You can see in one picture I ended up with some dry spots which were unacceptable. I had to go to Cloverdale in Lloydminster (~2 hours away) to get a new gallon of paint and was shocked to find even though the codes are the same and the dot on top looks good, the paint obviously isn't correct even after drying. Guess I'm going back next weekend, argh!

The tailgate is definitely going to be a challenge with the amount of repairs needed. I cut off an unexplained extra tab that was welded on the tailgate which has a match on the tub also. I intend to weld up as much as I can with bondo used sparingly. I'm looking for suggestions on how to deal with the formerly brazed holes which will hamper welding where they need filling. Metal filler maybe?

Looking good buddy, sorry to hear about the paint mixup. Make sure to take a sample piece with you when you drive back to sort it out.

The tailgate is pretty nasty. Particularly if you are going for a concourse quality restoration.

Is there any chance that you could cut that rusty lower molding off and have somebody bend you up a new piece?

It will be a lot easier to repair your holes if you could tear it all apart get behind the panels and put some sheet metal backing behind the holes before you weld them. As far as the existing brass goes, if there is access from the back, I would drill and die grind the brass out and then patch them from the back and weld them up.

You’re going to get some warpage when you’re welding all these holes up, so you’ll have to do some hammering and absolutely some Bondo work unless you want to spend the rest of your life grinding and hammering on it.

If there’s no way to get the thing apart and you’re willing to cheat a little, fiber glass is a great filler and it won’t shrink as much as Bondo. Just stuff the holes till you can’t get anymore in and then grind it to shape and finish with Bondo. You don’t want to prime and paint directly over the fiberglass, make sure that you cover all fiberglass work with a thin layer of Bondo. It should outlive you, but maybe not the next owner.

Couple other things to keep in mind; one is that back in the old days they always told us to apply the Bondo to bare ground metal. Unfortunately the bare metal eventually rusted and that detached the Bondo from the steel. I like to lightly prime the bare metal and then apply the filler. Read up on it, or talk to the guys who sell the Bondo, I’ve been out of this game a long time.

There are also chemicals out there that you can brush onto that old metal that will create a barrier to prevent rust from forming again. It may be possible to apply Bondo and fiberglass directly over it. Sorry I don’t have the name right now, but if you look around on the Internet you’ll find it

The other thing is that if that gate didn’t originally come with drain holes, you should put some in. Drain holes are an added expense in the manufacturing process and unfortunately the lack of them has caused a lot of unnecessary corrosion over the years. Getting moisture trapped in an area with Bondo will cause bubbling and eventually detachment.



I don’t suppose anybody sells a re-pop of those? That would absolutely be my first choice.

[coolpool]

Thanks for all the tips and tricks bud! This is definitely not a concourse resto.....more of a DIY effort and a first for me using a spray gun paint system. Most folks who restore military vehicles grossly over-restore them to a point where they never were even from new. This thing is covered in spot weld divots and small dents and light scratches from being in service......I'm good with that and will call it "patina", lol. The metal on this is so thick that I haven't experienced any warpage whatsoever and have welded quite a few holes already. It's going to pain me to drill out the bronze but it's definitely what needs to be done. I'll cut some circle patches with a hole saw for welding in. A re-pop tailgate is available from the Philippines for a couple of hundred and I could go that way someday as they are easy to replace. I'll give this one a shot at repairing first. This will thing will rarely see rain and spends it's life in a heated shop so further rust issues shouldn't be an issue as long as I own it. Surprisingly with it being so dry here the body parts that were blasted in early September show zero signs of surface rust 2 months later.

The paint place is more than happy to make the correction as this was the 3rd gallon I've bought with the first two being correct. I can always find an excuse to go to Lloydminster to visit Princess Auto (Harbor Freight equivalent) and Home Depot....and as an added bonus, I need to pick up some deer heads that are done at the taxidermist.

[El Camexican]

If you’re not too worried about how it turns out, you might consider JB Weld for filling in some of the defects rather than grinding out that brass. I’ve never heard of anybody else using JB Weld for body repair, but I’ve done it a few times. Not something you’d want to use in bulk, but if you’ve got a few scratches around that brass and want avoid welding it I would use JB Weld, and then a flap disc grinding wheel to flatten it out.

Another amazing tool for these repairs is non-sanding filler primer, or whatever they call it up there. It’s basically a really heavy primer that fills in small defects rather than using glazing putty which I hate and if you apply it properly it lays out smooth and just needs a light scuff before you paint. It’s the only thing I prime with now.

[coolpool]

JB Weld....hmmm, great idea! I was also thinking of Devcon Plastic Steel which although is expensive is actually machinable when hardened.

[coolpool]

Picking away at this still. Got the tailgate fixed up and painted as well as the battery box and steering box/column. As you can see there's some work to the tub to do which is where I'll spend the next month on. The area on the floor with the rust holes still has thicker metal left than a new vehicle I'm guessing, lol. Not in bad shape for being almost 70 years old I'd say!

[El Camexican]

I hope your shop is nice and warm during all this :beer

[coolpool]

Oh ya, I spoiled myself with a heated floor when I built. Hit -36C (-33F) the other morning so at least I don't have conflicting interests to distract me from working on this now. Not too many outside fires with beer these days I'm afraid, lol.

[coolpool]

Holy moly, it's been 2 months since I started on the body work on this rig, hard to believe! After over 2 lbs of MIG wire, a bottle of gas and a can of filler we were finally ready to paint. My friend Rob is pretty good at this stuff and was instrumental in getting me to where we are today, a huge thanks to him! The biggest problem for Rob was to leave all the imperfections that military jeeps come with from new such as spot weld dimples and wavy body panels at weld points. I had to sit on him to not "correct" those areas. And yes the floor will remain dented as the metal is extremely thick on this thing and would have been a huge chore to try and correct...let's call it "patina". I'm getting errors uploading so I'll add another post pre-paint.

[coolpool]

Pre-paint pictures. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the "hat-channels" underneath which we're a real treat to fix....oh well, they're good now. I think my pictures are too big to upload:wondering. You get the gist, it was a lot of work and a lot of surprises when welding and hitting remnants of brazing and lead filler.

[coolpool]

Well after a lot of hours and $ it's finally back on the road. Still a few things to tinker on but drives, steers and brakes pretty good. Lots of set backs along the way as most things old tend to have. I had to pull the drive train out and redo the rear main seal as it developed a leak after a couple of hours running on stands. Also had to get the gas tank welded up twice due to leaks. Next on the list is the M100 Cdn trailer that goes behind it which is still 3 color camoflage and probably hasn't been looked at mechanically since it was retired from service in the 70's.

[ironchop]

Boy that turned out friggin awesome! Nice work, sir!