coming home

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:00 pm

I plan to haul my M38A1 home tomorrow, finally. I bought it Jan 6. The weather forcast for tomorrow is good. This will be the first Saturday in weeks that we have not had snow or very high winds.

Post by **wesk** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:39 pm

Good luck and I know you will savor the moment it arrives in your driveway.

GIJOE290 · Post by **GIJOE290** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:26 am

Congrats! Post some pic's when time permits.

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:48 am

I was afraid that we were in for a tough job hauling the Jeep. When it was moved last , which I'm told was mid November , it was dragged onto and off of a rollback with all four flat tires sliding rather than rolling. Yesterday I put three borrowed wheels and tires on it and pumped up the remaining one. I released the parking brakes , which were pulled up when it was moved before.All four wheels roll now making it much easier to move . One of the borrowed wheels is a white , spoked, wagon wheel type. I like it , and think I will get a set to install on it while I look for the correct Jeep wheels.Other than the different wheels and tires it looks much the same as in the pictures I posted some time back in "New guy from western NC with a M38A1". Now I can get serious about freeing up the engine and getting it running, I hope.

DMCarpenter · Post by **DMCarpenter** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:03 am

Tommy:

Congratulations on getting the A1 home.

Your new best friend is now John Bizal www.midwestmil.com

I have dealt with John and he is a good one.

Dave

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:55 pm

I have removed what was left of the right front fender and have all the bolts out, except the one under the grill, to remove the grill , radiator , and left front fender together. Once the front clip is removed I can get to the engine to do whatever is needed. I removed the gas tank because I thought the bottom was rusted out. It wasn't. The pan underneath the tank had rusted out and had been patched with a piece of sheetmetal , which had rusted out again. The bottom of the tank still has shiny black paint on it with no rust. The inside of the tank is clean as new. A buddy that has had a M38A1 or two says the tank must be a replacement , although it fits perfectly, because the filler neck is smaller than the original. After removing the red shag carpet I find the floors to be in good condition with a little rust in both front sections. The channels are solid.I hope the mechanicals are in as good shape as what I've found thus far.

Post by **wesk** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:03 am

The military tank has a deep sump area that drops much lower than the floor. The tanks with a small diameter civvy filler pipe do not have the deep sump section. Most likely you have a repaired floor that was modified to be flat without the dropped sump area and now have a CJ5 gas tank.

M38A1 tank

CJ5 tanks 55 - 72

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:23 am

I'm sure you are right , as usual. Since I'm not concerned about 100% originality right now I will reuse the CJ tank. How much less gas does it hold than the Military tank?Also, could the sending unit , which looks new,as does the tank,be the 24v in the civvy tank ? Would the difference in voltage even matter ? I see no markings on the sending unit.

53a1 · Post by **53a1** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:23 pm

If you intend on tearing it down, do yourself and the Jeep a favor and get a gallon of PB Blaster and just start spraying everything a week in advance.

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:48 am

Thanks, I didn't buy a gallon, matter of fact I've never seen PB in gallons,but I have been spraying everything.I'm blessed in that everything I've taken off so far has been easy , with no bolts breaking.I haven't even found any rusty bolts or nuts that the socket or wrench wouldn't hold yet. The only one that has given me any grief is the bolt under the middle of the grill . Someone had used a bolt that was three or four times the necessary length and then used two different size nuts, jamed together. No big deal, just a minor delay.All things considered I believe my Jeep is in better condition than a lot of the ones I see being restored. At least I won't need all the patch panels I see others using.It's about time I dragged something home in that condition.