Willys MB Jeep - MB365678

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

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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!

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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....

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Today I took a trip across country to the Solent Overlord Show at Horndean. I have to say it was excellent!

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

Friendly, very relaxed atmosphere, a mix of all sorts of vehicles and plenty to see and do.
My route across and back took me through some of the nicest countryside I've ever driven in - magic.
The show speaks for itself best in the pictures - lots of them

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
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Got this beauty from the famous auction site, it came half way round the globe from Australia

It's in great shape and still has its original stiff paper insulator on the back

The insulator is fixed to the bracket, has markings for the two posts; "AM" and what looks like "I" stamped on it, it also has brass rings which sit around the posts.
The gauge itself has been sealed with some type of waterproofer around the cork insulators on the posts, each post has three brass nuts and a lockwasher

The jeep had a repro amperes gauge (ammeter) fitted

Under the dash this is what the repro gauge looked like, the gauge at the bottom is the temp. In the second pic the lock nuts are off showing the wires attached, three to one post and one to the other (I'd love to tell you what they are .... but I'd be guessing )

To get the repro out and NOS in was like having a game of twister without the mat! I shouldn't have to do those kind of contorsions at my age. I ended up lying on my back on the passenger seat with my legs hooked over the back of it and my head stuffed under the dash and twisted sideways.

Tip: if doing this, fold down the windshield as it prevents you clouting your head on the gunrack

Comparing the two gauges was interesting; Repro is left, NOS is right

The most obvious difference is the shorter needle on the NOS, it also has "amperes" scripted differently and the face fixings are in different places.
I was struck by the relative closeness of the shades of OD between the repro (Dallas Autos Flat OD) and the NOS. The NOS was almost the same green but with a hint more black - not bad for 1 year old paint vs 60+ years old!

Having compared them I then stuck my head back under the dash and fitted the NOS gauge in place (having isolated the battery first!!!). I hoped that the posts on the NOS were the same as the repro and just wired it back in as it was. The repro gauge was unmarked so I had no clue if it was right. It worked first time but with discharge and charge the wrong way round! Never mind, just reversed wires on the posts and hey presto

I also managed to fix and re-install my NOS oil pressure gauge, the threads were still good after all! So, when the Motometer speedo is in I'll have original gauges everywhere except the water temp

For All Your Jeep & Dodge Needs
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35 miles around the New Forest this morning, even strayed a little off road

That's a fine lookin' jeep!

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Bank holiday Monday, the nicest day weatherwise so far in the Easter holidays, what do you do? Jump in the jeep and head off to Portsmouth! To Fort Nelson on Ports Down Hill to be more precise.
The Royal Armouries Museum there was holding a "World War 2 Weekend". Displays, demonstrations, talks and reenactors - very good too! I especially liked the firepower displays - 25pdr artillery, 105mm gun carriage, rifles of all types, sub machine guns and machine guns. The rifle and machine gun displays were done by some excellent reenactors who had clearly gone to a lot of trouble - well done to them. There was also time for a good look round the museum of artillery and the Fort itself.
The jeep was parked up outside the Fort with a good number of MV's from the local area, it looked very well.
A 40 mile round trip, great weather, great driving, excellent event and still time to get back to the local for a couple of pints before tea

Some photos of the event - but sadly, not very good ones

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Fort Nelson Website:

http://royalarmouries.org/visit-us/fort-nelson

Today the canvas top came off and because the weather was so nice, the windscreen came down too.
Amazing feeling, hacking along at 40 with the air rushing hard against your face and chest, eyes watering behind the sunnies and a big grin on your face

Engine running smooth, oil pressure 50, falling to 30 under load at 10 at idle, temperature steady at 140 degrees - apparently it should be 180 degrees but I'm happy.

Beautiful driving and so much quieter than having the tent up and all flapping around.

I took some pics to record the event - the dog got in them again somehow????

For all your Jeep and Dodge needs:

http://dallasautoparts.com/index.htm

Some time back I got two original convoy lights from the USA, one by Corcoran Brown and one by Yankee. I was unsure how to repair them internally so I gave them to Dallas Autos to fix and fit during the refit. As always a brilliant job, shot blasted, repainted and re-wired.

This is how they look now:

This is what they looked like when they arrived from USA:

The front of the CB light was so thick with paint I couldn't see the "CB" marking on it until it was restored and re-coated.

They work really well (although the photos aren't great!):

Also, I decided to give the cylinder head a bit of a tart up. Not much prep and a brush application of semi-gloss OD, much improved!

Best of all, good weather today and yesterday meant I was able to get out and drive - sweet!

For all your Jeep and Dodge needs:

http://dallasautoparts.com/index.htm

Probably the best buy I've had from the famous auction site to date - A genuine Motometer late WW2 Jeep speedometer. It's a beauty, even in a completely unrestored state - this is how it looked when it arrived:

Question is, what to do next? It looks like it should actually work right now. Apart from a clean up and some lube on the trip meter I reckon it could fit it today. But would it be better to get it restored or even restore it myself??? I'll have to think about that one.

In the meantime I've done over 100 miles this week and how much better is it with the new gearbox, unbelievable, I can actually downshift without crashing the box.......

Great weather, great driving, looking forward to summer

For all your Jeep and Dodge needs:

http://dallasautoparts.com/index.htm