Opinions on engine swap

32sbct · Post by **32sbct** » Mon May 23, 2011 7:17 pm

New member, first post. I learned quite a bit on here already and have all the military manuals and Ryan Miller's excellent book. My jeep is an M38. Here's what I have. The jeep was brought at a surplus auction in 1963. My brother bought it in 1976 and drove it until 1979. He then took it apart and had the engine rebuilt but never ran it or put it back in. The jeep sat dismantled in a garage for the for the next 30 years. I picked it up a few years ago after he passed away and I am just starting to rebuild it. I have the rolling frame, trans, transfer case, front body parts, windshield frame and grill but no tub and no electrical items at all. The serial number and delivery date are no longer there. The only date is on the trans which is 12-7-1951.

The engine I have is a WW II MB block and a Ford GPW head. Most of the rest of the brackets, filters etc. are all MB or GPW items. I found an M38 motor that was used as a generator motor. It is pretty complete including the 24V distributor. The motor spins freely and the valves all move. The offer is to trade straight up one motor for the other. Neither one of the motors can be run so we don't know the true condition of either one. So my question is based on this limited information, does this seem to be a good swap? I like the idea of getting a true M38 engine in the jeep and I would think that a generator motor may have run for many hours but at low RPM. I'm not looking to do a 100 % restoration but would like to come close to having a fairly accurate example of an M38. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Post by **wesk** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:25 pm

You could say at this moment the two engines are the same condition! Unknown! With that said your long range benefit from using the M38 engine is of course originality and resale value. Are you getting an equal amount of accessories in the trade? Not all water proof distributors are 24 volt. Many WWII radio jeeps had the Bendix waterproof distributor as did many PE-95 power unit engines. Get the make, model and part number form the tag on the distributor.