Paul wrote to share his experience unwrapping some old parts as he continues his M-38 rebuild.

Paul wrote, “One of the first jobs on my Willys rebuild list from many years ago was to overhaul the axles. Naturally all bearings and races were replaced with new, new ring and pinion gears with 4.27 ratios were installed along with a complete set of 11 inch backing plates and brake drums. Well, sometime during the past 25 or so years the new steering knuckle seals failed due to old age. Geeze, I haven’t even driven this thing yet and now I’m having to replace the replacement parts which are still new but old.

Oh well, it was time to go shopping once again. I was able to purchase a set of heavy duty steering knuckle seals from the local parts store (that can even be rebuilt when necessary) in addition to an extra set of replacement rubber seals for future use. Today I installed one seal kit on the left front knuckle with no problems, everything fit like factory, nothing was missing and the quality was perfect but that’s just what I’d expected. You should understand that these steering knuckle seal kits were packed by Willys Overland Motors for military use in May of 1952. The package had never been opened and all the parts were still coated with a preservative grease like coating, which required lots of paper towels to remove.

I can’t imagine whoever packed these parts so long ago had any idea that 60 years into the future some guy in Alaska would need these parts for his M-38 but I’m sure pleased the packer did such a good job protecting these seal kits. I took pictures of each step as I opened the package and the final photo shows the clean, new parts visible for the first time in over 60 years.”

Paul’s been eagerly awaiting the completion of his frame’s powder coating.  I told him that it was too pretty to put under the jeep.  Instead, he ought to hand it in the house.  No response to that idea so far . . .

Paul writes, “Early this morning (to retired folks it seemed real early) I traded a fist full of cash to a local businessman and in return I received a beautiful black powdercoated Willys frame fresh from the curing oven complete with that new frame smell. Quickly hauling it home I positioned the frame inside the connex slightly ahead of the body while leaving enough room to safely install the springs and axles. I needed to somehow support the frame high enough to allow the axles to fit underneath while not damaging the new coating and still allow the frame to be easily raised and lowered. Did I mention this proposed support structure had to be cheap?

While the connex is incredibly strong the metal roof is way weaker than the weight of the snow we receive during a normal winter so years ago (to prevent the roof from collapsing) I reinforced the roof structure with full length headers bolted to the connex sides and 2X4 doublers positioned right below the original roof bows. With all this structure just waiting for me to use I attached the ends of four ratchet straps to the headers and hooked the opposite ends to the Willys frame. By adjusting the tension of the straps I was able to position the frame level and at the height necessary for clearance of the wheel and axle combination. I normally carry four ratchet straps in the truck (you never know when you’ll run across something that’s just too good to pass up so I’m ready to load it up, cinch it down and head for home at a high rate of speed before anyone changes their mind) they were quickly removed and became the Poor Folk Deluxe Adjustable Lift. This worked GREAT! Total cost…nothing!”