Paul’s made some progress on his Willys. You can read past posts about his jeep, Knardly Rolls, here: http://www.ewillys.com/tag/paul-m38/

Paul writes, I’m using thin poster board to make patterns for the interior panels on the Willys. Since the reinforcing structure for the top and doors will be visible from the inside and not covered by upholstery I’ve had to make 33 individual paper patterns so far. After adjusting the fit of these patterns I’ll transfer their measurements to 3/4 inch thick high density foam and then it’s time for the upholstery wizards to work their magic. Fourteen yards of fabric are on order so that should be enough to cover everything but the floor. All of the top and side wall panels will be covered with a silver gray fabric and this same fabric will be used on the seats with the exception of blue insert panels covering the center of the seats. That’s the plan right now. I still need to buy some thick upholstery foam so I can begin cutting out the padding for the seats but I wanted to finish with the patterns first.

More pattern pictures. To have enough room to make the patterns and install the upholstery pieces it was necessary to remove the fuel tanks and both front seats. The more work I can do myself the lower the cost will be to get the upholstery done so I don’t mind constantly climbing into and out of the Willys all day long. Things would be a lot easier if the Jeep was just a little bit bigger or I was just a little bit smaller. Oh well, I guess I need to call a Waaaaaaaaaambulance. Paul

Paul gives an update on his jeep build. (View past posts by Paul here)

“I’ve been making some progress on the Willys this winter but my wallet can’t keep up with my plans so I’ve had to scale my work back to consist of lower cost but necessary tasks which must be done but aren’t the flashy jobs that get noticed. One of these simple items was fabricating a license plate mount on the front bumper. I didn’t want to mount the plate on the grille where it would restrict the airflow heading toward the radiator and attaching the plate right above the bumper could restrict the visibility of the front turn signals. Hanging the plate below the front bumper would expose the plate to damage by snow piles and make it more difficult to see so I ended up mounting the plate on the center of the front bumper with some 1/8th inch thick angle stainless providing the needed support. These angle sections were cut so they were slightly wider and taller than the plate, the edges were filed and contoured to match the plate and riveted to a 16 gauge stainless sheet which fits just behind the license plate for added support.”

“With these parts together I riveted this assembly to the upper and lower surfaces of the front bumper. All rivets were flush head style which not only look smoother but prevent interference with the mounting of the license plate. The attach hardware for the license plate ended up being too close to the bumper structure so I had to hand file four openings in the bend radius of the reinforcing angles to allow clearance for the washers and nuts. The license plate mount is pretty sturdy and doesn’t restrict airflow or visibility so I like it. I’ve attached pictures of this mod so you can make sense of what I’m talking about.

By the way, the license Rolls is an old joke which began in either late 1972 or 1973. With the original four cylinder engine and the 5.38 axle ratios this poor Willys was slow. I drove many miles down the shoulder of the roads while faster vehicles (furniture vans, garbage trucks and kids on bicycles) zoomed past me. Naturally, my friends seemed to notice how slow my Jeep was and were often surprised to see a speedometer in the gauge cluster. They thought since the Willys was so slow I’d use a calender to measure my driving speed. Somehow the general opinion came to believe this Jeep was not built by WillysOverland but by a company called Rolls Knardly because the Jeep Rolls down one hill and Knardly make it up the next one. The name stuck and I paid extra to have Rolls as a personalized license plate much to the enjoyment of my friends. I still have the plate and someday I hope to have the all new and improved Rolls Knardly back on the Alaskan roads, I might even try to pass someone!”

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!”

Paul sent this to my inbox today. A couple days ago he removed his stainless steel body from his frame so he can complete the work on his frame.  It’s a good thing he listened to his intuition!

“I spent a few hours yesterday in the connex cleaning up my mess and double checking the security of the Willys body resting on the 2X4 support framework.  For the most part I felt the body was safely held three feet above the floor but my mind kept coming back to the thought “Would it stay in position during an earthquake?”  Since it’s much faster and easier to add additional support structure than it is to repair damaged stainless body panels I fitted eight more bracing legs to the existing body holder.  I really didn’t think any additional strength was necessary but I’d sleep easier with this bit of overkill engineering and the cost in time and money was negligible.  

While taking a shower this morning I was surprised when the house started rocking back and forth as several sharp jolts announced the arrival of an earthquake.  The quake was a small one, only about 4.6 but it was close to Anchorage (about ten miles away) and it was over quickly.  After getting dressed I hurried to the connex, opened the door and viewed a beautiful sight. The Willys body was safely resting on the framework undamaged and perfectly aligned on the supports.  

I realize rebuilding Jeeps can be an experience in frustration when money and time conflict with dreams but I really could do without adding earthquakes into the mix.  I’m slow enough as it is, I don’t need Mother Nature increasing my heart rate with exciting special effects.  On the other hand I’m happy the Willys is safe, the body support held and I don’t have to repair any damaged body panels.  Now all I have to do is to hurry to get the frame work accomplished and reattach the body to the chassis before anymore earthquakes visit my workspace.”