Archive - Willys MB Jeep

Progress on the Pintle hook - Despite not having bought a trailer I decided to set up to fit the new hook anyway. I removed the existing M201 unit with ease, it's in great shape, looks hardly used. The ring bolts, plain bolts and shim plate will all be used in fitting the original.

The shim plate was sanded clean and treated with "Rustol" (another Owatrol product) as were the plain bolts. The ring bolts were already quite clean so I just treated them with Rustol. I also sanded the area on the chassis where the hook fits and Rustol treated it. I then primed up the shim plate and chassis with Hammerite Metal primer.

When the primer is 2-3 days old I'll overcoat it with Matt Olive Drab and fit the whole lot. I included a pic of the reverse of the chassis where the hook fits, nice 'n clean and pretty rust free. Hook will soon be on!

Whilst all that was ongoing I received my new original blackout marker lights from USA. The BO marker lights are the little ones set in the front grill. They have a prismatic lens in them which shines only directly forward. They're used to keep a set distance from the vehicle in front when night driving in convoy. The prismatic lens prevents light straying upwards so the vehicle is less likely to give away its position - clever!

The lights are from different manufacturers - Yankee and Corcoran Brown

They will require a fair bit of cleaning up, should be fun to find out whats inside them.

The current marker lights are French M201 types made by Marchal. Some pics of how they're fitted and a close up for contrast with the US ones. When I work out how to take them out it'll be interesting to see how they compare internally.