Frame question

Xamon · Post by **Xamon** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:38 pm

The front cross member, the round one that the rad would attach to, is it available as a reproduction part? "bubba" hacked mine in half horizontaly and moved the rad to the other side of it so he could mount a 327 chevy in it. I will post pics eventualy. I have lots but no gallery yet. Fortunatly everything else on the frame seems alright except other missing brackets/mounts.

Post by **wesk** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:09 pm

I do not know of any repop frame structures for the M38.

evanso1975 · Post by **evanso1975** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 12:16 am

The only repro frames I've seen are the MD Juan

ones:
http://www.mdjuan.com.ph/index.php/prod ... 0030-04-00

Obviously you don't need a complete frame, but I did purchase some of their panels (I know!) as "special order" a while back. It's possible they would be willing to sell one to you as a one-off. Check with one of their dealers local to you:
http://www.mdjuan.com.ph/index.php/dealers/

Failing that, you might try modifying one of the MB front crossmembers:
https://www.dlbensinger.com/product_inf ... 5a0e29f77e
You'd need to cut off the grille bracket, and flatten the underside of the tube to take the steering bell crank bracket (I assume you still have this?).

A cheaper option would be to do what this fellow did (about half way down the page):
http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=169966
I suppose you could do that with round tube instead of square?

Owen.

Xamon · Post by **Xamon** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:25 am

not sure about fabing my own but that MB looks pretty close, if it will work I might go with that, otherwise I will take the measurements and see what a local shop can fab up. Can anyone compare the MB crossmember to the M38 please?

evanso1975 · Post by **evanso1975** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:57 am

Dad's WW2 jeep ia a GPW (different style of crossmember), so I can't check that one.

The picture in this post is of an M38 crossmember:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... highlight=
Note that the bellcrank is attached to the crossmember. Note also the flattened area of crossmember around where the bellcrank bracket is welded. This post has a picture from another angle:
http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=74136

The MB bellcrank attached to the front axle, so no flattened area on the crossmember:
http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=76164

The holes in the radiator mount brackets for that repro MB crossmember look a lot smaller than my M38 ones too:

Not sure if those larger radiator mount holes are correct, or if Bubba tried his handiwork on mine. Can anybody confirm?

Owen.

Xamon · Post by **Xamon** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:01 pm

My original steering box is there thankfully.

Here is a shot of the part in question. Gonna be fun fixing this. Also a couple of what are theys....

hope I did that right....
Oh and the hole size looks right he cut my brackets and moved them and the holes look about the same.

evanso1975 · Post by **evanso1975** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:22 am

Yikes, Bubba's certainly done a sterling job there!

Your 1st "what are they" photo looks like one part of the strap that goes over the fuel tank to hold it in place. There a photo here:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... highlight=

The 2nd "what is it" is the headlight dimmer switch (I think). Here's one on Ebay, courtesy of RonF:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Willys-M38-M38a ... 3369e55806

Good luck with that crossmember.

Owen.

Xamon · Post by **Xamon** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:26 am

Thanks, I thought that was what the strap was, kinda wierd to have that and not the tank though. I will have to look closer at the electrical piece its in a tight spot.