Original USMC M38A1 FAC Radio jeep found in Iceland.

GIJOE290 · Post by **GIJOE290** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:52 pm

Nice jeep and all the goodys and documention to go with it. You lucky dawg.

BullRun · Post by **BullRun** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:25 pm

Hi Hinrik:

I got to look over the period photographs I have of USMC M38A1's with the "cannons" and am pretty sure that your jeep probably did not have one for the following reasons.

1) All of the USMC jeeps in my photo's with a cannon had the rear panel removed. 2) The vehicle numbers were in the 182xxx, 183xxx, 184xxx range and I don't think USMC vehicles got renumbered. 3) The gun cradle was left in all the unrestored jeeps I have seen. 4) The rear of the body was significantly modified and reworked. Pretty major body work to get the gun to fit. 5) There would be a lot of other holes in the body as Wes pointed out for the gun accessories. 6) I think just about every USMC jeep I have seen had some kind of radio installed. Communications being more important than fire power for most of these vehicles. My comments are not a definitive statement, but I think it is unlikely that the jeep had a cannon.

The rear panel on your jeep looks original to me. The rear areas on the M38A1's always look a little like they have been squeezed together and crudely welded. I believe the rear seams on the tubs actually did not fit together very well when the metal panels were assembled and with the arc welding method and speed of assembly line production they come out a little rough but this is how they were actually made.

One thing worth mentioning is how undamaged the body is on your jeep. Pretty remarkable. Most of the USMC jeeps I have seen have a lot of dings and dents.

Hinrik · Post by **Hinrik** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 8:35 am

Guys, thanks for comments. This is a very original unmolested example. If you look close at the period photo of the jeep, then it seams to me that the side cabinets also have waterproof covers on them. Too bad we dont have more photos of this. This is what I have, its from a manual owned by Mr. Paul Vandervort, kindly supplied by Dave "twin brother"

Hinrik · Post by **Hinrik** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:41 am

New photo showing the right side antenna mount a little better:

Working on finding more photos.

Hinrik · Post by **Hinrik** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:48 am

The Ford Bronco front bumper was put on temporarily just to get it through the "DMV" motor inspection. Still on there...30 years later...haha.
On this photo it still has the original early battery cover, so I am hopefull that I will find it later....

Hinrik · Post by **Hinrik** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 5:31 pm

I found this sticker inside on the glove box lid. Form 317 Preventitive maintenance service info tag. Unfortunatelly not legible any more, but...still there!

Post by **wesk** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 5:34 pm

Hello Hinrik,

Any progress on this project. I know you plate is quite full at your museum.

jeeperjoe · Post by **jeeperjoe** » Mon May 06, 2013 2:51 pm

Henrik,

If you ever come back to this site; contact me, I have a third MRC-35A Jeep and it has some of the parts that your's is missing. I've sent you several E-mails and PMs from various forums but haven't gotten any reply.

In the mean time take a look at this old book http://www.scribd.com/doc/39145495/WWII ... -Equipment. At around page 24 or 25 it has a summary of the ART-13 radio set (part of the MRC-35A) and it shows pictures of some of the components that are also used in the MRC-35A such as the CU-24 Shunt Capacitor and CU-25 Loading Coils and the T-47 Radio Transmitter. Also you might want to look up the MRC-22 and some of the other radio sets. The -22 uses the same AB-390 Antenna as the MRC-35A so you might be able to find out more about the antenna from those manuals.

jeeperjoe · Post by **jeeperjoe** » Mon May 06, 2013 3:08 pm

Henrik, et al.

I found a copy of the ART-13 Maintenance Instructions manual on line. http://pp.collinsradio.org/archives/man ... l-1956.pdf This manual dated 1956 and revised thru 1958.

Wes, do you add this to your collection? (Or a link to them)

PS: I just found another version of the manual. This one is older (1945, revised thru 1954) but it seems to have a LOT more detail, including details of a Dynomotor (not the same s that used in MRC-35 though). http://w5jgv.com/downloads/ART-13.pdf

jeeperjoe · Post by **jeeperjoe** » Mon May 06, 2013 3:58 pm

I've just been researching the MP-57 Mast Base and found that it was also used for SCR-284 and other radios. The SCR-284 was also installed in 1/4 ton Jeep and ArmyRadio.com has a number of drawings, instructions and even parts for that installation. See http://www.armyradio.com/arsc/customer/ ... CR-284.htm.

One of the particularly interesting thing to me is Figure 21. It shows the layout inside the Jeep and it shows that the passenger seat was removed. I've been wondering about this since my MRC-35A Jeep doesn't have a passenger seat but it still has some funny brackets attached to the seat's front mounting hinges. I don't know how Henrik's Jeep is set up but in mine that appears to be part of the mod for the MRC-35A radio installation.