New M38A1 Owner

[army_inc]

Hey Guys,
I'm new to the forum and I'm a new owner of a USMC M38A1 Military Jeep. I don't know much about cars but figured that starting out on a military vehicle would be a good way to learn. I have a passion for WWII and love collecting items from that period. Although this isn't a WWII jeep, it's still one cool looking jeep and I can't wait to finish restoring it.
Unfortuantely, when I bought it, it came with a small block V8 engine in it. So I don't have an original engine. I'm not sure what's been converted to 12V and what, if anything, is at 24V. Since it doesn't have an original engine, I was thinking about either buying a hurrican engine or maybe putting in a CJ5 engine. Any ideas or tips for a newbie?
-Dave

[skyjeep50]

I intoduced myself to the hobby pretty much as you described your story except I started with a CJ2A/M38 mombo-combo jeep, began a frame-off rebuild from front to back, top to bottom. It was a good learning tool but I was dissatisfied with it because it was not a stock military jeep and no matter what I did to it, it never was going to be military. I eventually sold it, got a M38 to rebuild and then a M38A1 to drive ("green disease"). The first and very important thing to consider is what do you want in the end. Do you want to rebuild yours as a true military jeep or will you be satisfied with a runner but a mix of parts and systems? Nothing wrong with a mutt and if its a runner now, you may want to enjoy it for a while before tearing into it. Then:
- download or look through all the appropriate manuals available on this site
- get together a basic tool set and a good space to work
- decide what to tackle first and how you are going to proceed
- do a search of old posts on this site (and at G503.com) for more information on particular problems
- ask questions
- perhaps you will be able to find someone in your area that has a similar project or vehicle that will help you with your project
- start with an easy task and keep going until it is done

The fun of owning one of these vehicles is in driving it to be sure but its also fun to fix 'em. They are fairly simple and the historic value is significant. Enjoy and welcome to the site!
_________________
1951 M38

[army_inc]

Well a buddy of mine has a 151. I talked to him about restoring a MV during out deployment in Iraq. He helped me make sure that the 38 was good to go for a restoration project (good frame, decent body etc). Basically, I'd like to take this jeep to shows, parades, and even the occasional drive to work to make sure everything is running smoothly. I think this is going to be the only MV that I'm going to restore because I don't have a lot of room for a bunch of cars. My focus, my wifes Explorer, and now a jeep is about all that my garage and drive way can handle.

I've toyed with the idea of converting it back to 24 volts and buying a hurricane engine. My buddy says that it would be easier to keep it at 12V because it will be easier to find parts for it. I'm still not sure what I want to do about the engine. I do know that this is going to require a frame off restoration like yours because I'd like to clean it up from top to bottom, front to back.

I basically want something that I can enjoy during the summers and have fun with. If it has a different engine, I'm not too worried about it. I want it to look as original as possible on the outside. I can work on the originality of the inside over a longer period of time (F head engine, possibly converting back to 24v).

I think in the end (by the time I'm 40 or so. I'm 26 now) I'd love to have an Original Military vehicle. But for right now, I wouldn't mind have a mutt that I can change latter on down the road.

About the manuals. I've browsed the site and there seems to be a CRAP ton of manuals. My data plate only shows about 4. So I'm a little confused on which ones to download. Plus my data plate shows pubs that aren't listed (1804AA and 1804AB) so I'm not really sure what exaclty to download. Any help there?

[evanso1975]

Start with the parts list ORD 9 SNL G758 (6th link down) here:

http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=39

And also the maintenance manual TM 9-8014 (6th link down) here:

http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=39&min=10&orderby=titleA&show=10

No doubt others will chip in with more useful manual tips, but those should get you started.

Good luck!
Owen.
_________________
Owen

1951 US Air Force M38
1944 F-1 1/2-ton Airdrome Trailer
1940 C15 Chevrolet CMP 11-cab
1939 DKW KS200 Motorcycle
MVT # 19406

[53a1]

Very important. I would first learn enough to determine how much butchering of the frame and tub went into the V8 swap. If you post some pictures most of us here could tell you the extent of the modifications.

I say butchering because 9 times out of 10 sloppy work is involved.
_________________
'53 M38A1 X2

[RICKG]

Congrats on your new baby. If you aquired it as a running
vehicle DRIVE IT ENJOY IT and get to know it. There will
be plenty of time later to meet and cuss a guy named "Bubba".
_________________
keep 'em rollin'
RICKG MC 51986 DOD 01-52, '50 CJ3a

[army_inc]

Well, when I bought it, the man said the engine would run. He disconnected the gas tank because it needed a new gasket. So whether or not it really runs or not I don't know. I didn't bother checking into it because I planned on changing the engine anyways. I couldn't tell you how much butchering was done. My buddy with the 151 said it was ok and not too bad. There are one inch spacers throughout the entire underbelly of the body so we aren't quite sure what that was about. But they are just bolted in with longer bolts. Shouldn't be that hard to take off. As for everything else. I'm just trying to remove the current engine because a buddy of mine wants to buy it from me. Once the engine is gone, I can finish taking the body off. Currently I have taken off the two front fenders, hood, and working on removing the lights so I can take the grill off. Unfortunately, two screws are stripped so I need to get an easy out from Lowe's so I can remove the lights, and then the grill. Now that I'll have some maintenance manuals, it shouldn't be that hard to take everything else off.

[swat]

If you are going to do restoration on your jeep, why not start out and do it right the first time. Put the L-Head enginge back in it and avoid doing mix and match on your time and efforts, You will have a much better jeep to enjoy in the long run. The F head engine does not belong in the M38. Any way you go about it, be preparaed to dig deeply into your pocket book. Doing it over an extended period of time eases the pain and lends to more quality work. Take a good look at the photo gallery on this forum. Congratulations on your jeep find.

[swat]

OOPs - Sorry I realize you have the M38A1, not the M38. The F head engine certainlly does belong to the M38A1.

[53a1]

[wesk]

V8 Chevy conversions often entail raising the tub, moving the radiator forward and some work at the firewall as well as dropping the engine's rear crossmember. So I suggest heeding the majority of advice above and carefully review what you have and what you want to end up with.

Take care with a long non-directional thread such as this one. When you get a dozen or so "What-Ifs" running thru one thread it can get very confusing as you saw with the M38A1 vs M38 mixup.

So after you

[RICKG]

If you have any trouble posting fotos to your
album (some folks do) there are any number of
guys here that can help you with that- all you gotta
do is ask..
_________________
keep 'em rollin'
RICKG MC 51986 DOD 01-52, '50 CJ3a

[army_inc]

[53a1]

Tub looks original but you should further ivestigate the rust issues by poking around. Don't feel bad because even on a decent condition tub usually you have to replace part of the floor board and hat channel underneath. As far as the frame, front cross member was cut out and new metal added more forward and steering relocated to front of grill. Looks like a decent amount of work to get it back to original but definitely doable.
_________________
'53 M38A1 X2

[army_inc]