Willys MB Jeep - MB365678

Of the many recent runs the jeep has been on, today has to be the smoothest and one of the most pleasant.
Off into the countryside early on a beautiful autumnal Sunday morning. Warm, sunny, with just a hint of breeze, close to perfect. Jeep runs smooth as silk and a veteran gentleman tips his hat to me with a big smile as I trundle by him Very satisfactory indeed.

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

Looking at other jeeps is often dangerous!
I noticed on a number of other jeeps and in some photos the panel lights on the dash were different to mine - longer! Not that I'm prone to extension envy, but when I looked into it there was a change made for the later jeeps which extended the dash light cover. Not sure why this was but it could be assumed it was to try to improve the visibilty of the lower instruments - the panel lights are pretty poor at the best of times.

So, that looked like a fix I could do myself. I thought I'd have to get a new set of extended covers but luckily James at Dallas Autos provided me with a set of extensions - Thanks James which allowed me to use the original short covers.

First photo shows the original covers "popped" off the dash. I did agonise about how these might come off but then just decided to rive at them and happily they succumbed quite easily.

The extensions themselves are very simple.

The bulb holders clip into the base of the cover, it needed a bit of prising with a small screwdriver to flip them out. Each holder has a 6V torch bulb in it (no wonder they're not bright!)

The bulb holders have to be grounded to the dash by a good bare metal to metal contact otherwise they will flicker or just stay off. I prepped the fitting holes and all the parts with a small half round file to remove rust and paint and expose shiny metal. This is what they look like when they're on. You can see I'm having to push the left hand one against the dash to make the ground (earth).

This is a pic of the extensions and the covers together.

I decided to paint the covers and extensions before re-fitting - Dallas Autos matt Olive Drab aerosol spray (my favourite!). To refit I did the right light by pushing the bulb holder straight into the assembled extended cover. The left light had a shorter wire so I did that by pushing in the extension first then fitting the holder into the cover and pushing that into the extension. They all fit together nicely but the cover to extension fit is very tight. Once assembled on the dash it looks a bit weird but a bit good too!

After fitting and testing I treated myself to a little tripette, just six miles but fantastic since work has kept me away from the jeep for over 2 weeks!
As they say in the adverts: This jeep Runs, Drives and Stops just like it should - looks nice too!

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

I really love this show

Apart the rubbish weather on day 1 (Sunday) it was its usual excellent mix of cars, car stuff, burgers, beer, motorcycle stuntmen and ice cream - I doubt if it could get much better. Hopefully some photos will tell all, firstly my favourite thing in the show (after the jeep of course!)

A Ford V8 Pilot Pickup Truck:

Here's her indoors after finding out a bit more about it:

This is what all the young guns want:

My favourite photo of the show, Daddy's Toy:

A selection of some of the excellent vehicles:

And now some MV's:

This is a rare beast - Ford Sidevalve Fieldmouse, nearly a jeep!

Finally the jeep - it rained on my jeep....

Looking forward to next year already

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

http://www.hampshirepageantofmotoring.co.uk/index.html

Last year I made my own replica headlight ground cables. They weren't too bad but luckily some real ones came up on the famous auction site.

The packages came from America - they look absolutely brand new. They're dated 1952 but made to the same spec as the original factory production ones. Inside the packages the cables looked like this:

Really top quality condition, just a little stiff due to the cosmoline preservative having hardened off.

Some closer views of the cables:

After gently straightening them out, I removed the cosmoline from the connectors by wiping them with white spirit and then fitted them to the headlight brackets. When I made my own replicas I fitted them under the headlight bracket, this is wrong, they should be fitted on top. I picked this up when I was lucky enough to get a look at a really original MB a little while back.

Final result is very pleasing

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

When I got back from holiday I naturally got the jeep fired up as soon as the freaking rain stopped. I got about 200 metres down the road when there was a fairly disconcerting growl from somewhere and the engine began to get very loud. Fearing the worst, I shot back to the garage, this was the issue:

The end plate of the silencer had disintegrated - not good news (but it sounded great!) I was happy it wasn't something worse.

Replacing it looked like something I could do, so off I went to Dallas Autos for a new one. Nice shiny new ones available complete with a comprehensive fitting kit.

Getting the old silencer off wasn't complicated but was a pain as all the bolts were tight with rust.

After a bit of cursing and a lot of WD40 I got all the fittings off. I replaced all the clamps, rubber insulators and the metal supports with the new parts from the fitting kit. Pretty straightforward job (even for me) which all in all took me about 2 hours. When I'd finished it looked like this:

Only one thing to watch out for on the test drive, the burning smell and grey smoke is not your head gasket blowing, it's just the paint burning off your new silencer.. phew!

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

Spot the difference???

I got the Motometer back from the firm that overhauled it for me - Speedy Cables

http://www.speedycables.com/repair.html

They have done an absolutely awesome job in my opinion - spot on Boys! Many thanks!

A few more pics of what the gauge was like when I got it and what it looks like after a proper overhaul by real professionals

The gauge has been thoroughly cleaned and repainted internally and externally. The face and needle have been beautifully restored even down to the luminescent marks (hopefully with non-radioactive paint ). It's been repaired and fully tested for function and accuracy - Brilliant!

And of course the big question, does it work??

Of course it does....Like a charm! It took just a few minutes (with the usual contortions needed for any jeep gauge work) to get the repro Stewart Warner gauge out and the Motometer in. The cable fitted straight on without even the most minor resistance (Cable from Tony Sudds, TS Autos). Quick test drive (it was raining again!) and Bob is your Mother's brother! Perfectly restored original Jeep Speedometer.

I sit here with my pint of "Old Moggie" Bitter (my one holiday present from Devon), feeling exceedingly satisfied with my auction site purchase and its overhaul - job well done and jeep significantly improved.

As a matter of interest here's comparison pics of the repro M38/CJ2 gauge compared to the original Motometer

Original gauges are quite rare so I'm very proud to have got this one and been able to put back in the jeep in such first class condition.

I wonder what the change of mileage implication is for my MOT certificate????

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

Great driving weather, plenty of opportunities for being out and about.
Also the jeep made an appearance at a 1940's music concert at Hillier Gardens - nice! Thanks to Bill and Southampton West Rotary Club for that It was a particular pleasure to drive the lovely Highcliff Singers into the arena.
Great 1940's big band music, great big crowd and a drive home in the almost dark with the lights not blowing up - awesome.
Some photos of the event and one of me actually driving......

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

Out driving Thursday, Saturday and Sunday this week. I've now clocked 450 miles since the MOT in mid-March, a good indicator of how good the weather's been and how well the jeep is running right now.
Today I took some pics after a 25 mile trip around the local area. Windscreen folded and covered up the jeep looks very buiness like.
Good weather means the jeep can be out for all sorts trips - post office, local shop, barbers and even taking the dog for a walk
Only downside of having the screen down is you have to keep your mouth shut just in case some little beastie flies in, plus stuff hitting your forehead at 50mph really smarts

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

What a fantastic day! Outside the museum alongside Paul Morgan's display and in company with members of Solent Overlord Exec. Crowds of visitors to the museum, wellwishers and onlookers and best of all Normandy Veterans.

I was proud to be there and felt priveleged to get the chance to thank a number of the veterans for what they did. To a man they were humble and self effacing about their contribution, citing the greater sacrifice made by others as more important to be remembered.

The display and the jeeps arranged outside the entrance to the museum proved to be a great crowd puller for the hundreds of visitors. People are fascinated by jeeps, from 9:30 until well past 6 the crowds just kept on coming.

It was also a major first for me in that I travelled in convoy with other jeeps for the first time - that was a special feeling! As I barrelled down the A27 near Portchester I caught up with 3 jeeps and a Reo belonging to members of S.Hants MVT. I was more than a bit relieved to find them as I wasn't really sure how to get through Portmouth city centre and was kind of winging it. They got me to the museum in one piece and then parked up on the common - cheers chaps!

A phenomenally busy day was topped off by following Ian from SOE out of the city to Cosham where I found the A27 and headed home asap fearing it might get dark and the lights would have to come on - that's a scary thought! Thanks Ian for the "tow" home and many thanks to Paul for the invitation.

All in all a most successful and memorable day!

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/

Last Friday I drove the jeep up to Dallas Autos to collect a new 6V battery. Very smart indeed, all nicely filled with acid and charged up for me - Thanks!
Looks very nice in the jeep, I was surprised how much taller it is than the one I had. Fits snugly on the support and its perfect for the hold down bracket. Casing is a very good replica of the original types, so all in all it adds that little bit extra authenticity to the engine compartment

Last Friday was also my record daily mileage - 107! Will have to beat that now....

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
http://www.dallasautoparts.com/