ENGINE DROPPED OFF

25 November 2009:  Dropped off the original block that came with my jeep at Piqua automotive to have magna fluxed and cleaned up.  As this was the original engine that I received with the vehicle I wanted to have it rebuilt to keep with the jeep. Received bad news on 3 January 2010 when they called and said they found a crack in the block that ran from the valve seat down the cylinder wall.  The bad thing is that the crack extends up the cylinder wall and continues along the flat portion of the block face.  I was told that if the crack was only in the cylinder wall, it could be machined and sleeved and still have years of use left in her.  I was given a couple of names by the men at P.A. in the area to try and contact about repairs but found no luck with anybody that was comfortable or had the knowledge to weld a 60-year-old cast-iron block.  If anybody knows of a way around this, please contact me as the plan will always be to return that engine to the jeep.  The biggest reason for wanting to do this is because of the rebuild tag that is welded to the side of the block.  The other reason is the engine number that is stamped above the water pump is the number that was attached to my jeep when originally titled in California.  I’m not sure if this is the original vehicle ID number, but it’s what I have to work with.  The rebuild tag tells the story of my M38A1’s service.  It was delivered to the Japan Ordnance Command, shop OOD, in March of 1957 for overhaul.  The rebuild was completed on May 14, 1957.  If anybody knows the details of these shops and their general location, protocol, service area, etc., I would love to hear from you. 

GAS TANK

October 20, 2009: dropped off the gas tank with George Williams with Midwest radiator service in Piqua for a complete renovation. I tried to fix this myself but realize that this was a bigger undertaking than I had imagined. Mr. Williams was referred to me by his daughter Jessica Baltus that I was a Cub Scout leader with. He informed me that he could rebuild it and as a token of his gratitude for me being a Soldier, he would charge me nothing to do it. 

ENGINE TEARDOWN

18 October 2009: Today we successfully removed the engine and did a completely disassembly.  We then began transferring the parts from the military block to the donor engine that I purchased on eBay.  Overall a pretty successful weekend and I was sad to see Mr. Nettles have to leave.  His knowledge of this project is priceless and I’m not sure how I could have done it without him. 

ENGINE REMOVAL

17 October 2009: With the help of Mr. Nettles we determine the engine was seized and would require a complete rebuild.   This is bittersweet because I really want to use the original engine for this rebuild, but I also don’t want to have to do a complete rebuild if I don’t have to.  This took the entire day of trying everything we could come up with.  He also brought the passenger and rear seat frames, the original canvas top and bows, spare tire mount, rear bumperettes, gas cans and spare tires.  This guy is pretty awesome.

 

RADIATOR

October 15, 2009:  Today I dropped off the radiator for repair with Dale at Piqua radiator. Radiator was pressure tested, power flushed and repaired.  Picked it up on October 23, 2009. The bill was $48.04.  Trying to get everything ready for a visit from my buddy Leonard who is driving down from Chicago for the weekend to help work on the engine.  Pretty excited about this.