Body mounting bolt question

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:44 pm

I am helping a friend put an MB back together, after it was torn apart and stored for 10 years,
He had a body man, (fresh out of school) Bondo all the rough spots in a rusted tub that has been patched with clips from other bodies. (It is a Ford body on a Willys chassis)
Anyway, the owner is mechanically uneducated, and talked me into helping put it back together. Four of the mounting bolts for the tub are captured in the hat sections on the bottom of the tub floor, and they are free to rotate, making it impossible to tighten them.
I suggested drilling holes through the floor, to accommodate a socket, but I thought I would ask the knowledge base here how the originals were handled.
I don't know if the body guy filled any access holes, of if there were cages around the heads of the bolts inside the hat section, so any help about how the originals were done would be appreciated.

Thanks, CZ

Bretto · Post by **Bretto** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:56 pm

There are folks that know the MB more than me but that doesn't sound right to me. You may want to go check out the G503 and ask them.
Brett

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:46 am

I'm not familar with the G503.
Is it another web site, or a subset of this one? I didn't see anything on this this site that hinted of that title.
Thanks, CZ

Bretto · Post by **Bretto** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:59 am

Yep, website.
http://g503.com/forums/

OKCM38CDN · Post by **OKCM38CDN** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:10 am

The holes that go thru the hat channels are carriage bolt type and go thru the floor and hat channel to the frame mount... the basic way the bodies bolted down did not change very much with the different models...

There should be two in the front floor and two in the area behind the front seats....

Hope this helps...

DanS · Post by **DanS** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:13 am

Carriage bolts are not correct for the WWII jeep. I suggest you go to G503 and get advice on the correct style bolts. Note that reproduction body bolt kits for WWII jeeps are pretty expensive, ie, $90.

Post by **wesk** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:13 pm

Here's a good place to look for info as well:
http://www.1945mb.com/

http://www.darrylsgarage.com/wwiijeep/jeep-c4.htm

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:14 pm

Bretto wrote:Yep, website.
http://g503.com/forums/

Thanks, I registered and am waiting for conformation.

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:16 pm

OKCM38CDN wrote:The holes that go thru the hat channels are carriage bolt type and go thru the floor and hat channel to the frame mount... the basic way the bodies bolted down did not change very much with the different models...

There should be two in the front floor and two in the area behind the front seats....

Hope this helps...

Thanks, I found a 2 owner CJ2 that had the carriage bolts. The next reply has me wondering.
CZ

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:18 pm

DanS wrote:Carriage bolts are not correct for the WWII jeep. I suggest you go to G503 and get advice on the correct style bolts. Note that reproduction body bolt kits for WWII jeeps are pretty expensive, ie, $90.

Thanks for the reply.
Do you know what the correct bolt type is?
I registered at G503, but have not recieved a conformation yet, so cannot do a search, or ask questions.

CZ

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:23 pm

wesk wrote:Here's a good place to look for info as well:
http://www.1945mb.com/

http://www.darrylsgarage.com/wwiijeep/jeep-c4.htm

Thanks, that was where I started the search. I could not find anything about the bolt type, or how the bolts were installed. Did they go through both the floor pan and the hat section? there are no holes in the pan on this one, and the bolts are not captured inside the hat sections, but are free to turn.
So here I am, hoping that someone can give me a verbal picture of the mounting method for the four forward bolts.
CZ

Post by **wesk** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:31 pm

Take a closer look at the second web site I gave you. Darryl's Garage. He shows where they go and lists everyone as Hex head type bolts and gives their dimensions. My 45 MB bolts all the way through the floor skin and the hat channel. Yours may have had the floor skins replaced and the bolts installed through the hat channel before the new floor skins went on.

Darryl's image is below:

Powermwt · Post by **Powermwt** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:21 am

On this thread I post the two most likely bolt configurations, one for the earlier MB tub with the square gusset and the other for the composite body MB with the oval hole gusset.

http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=229436

The change was at the very end of 1943.

Do you know what year your MB is?

Wait... did I read that correctly, you have a MB frame but a GPW body?

DanS · Post by **DanS** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:21 am

Note that on locations 1 & 2 some WWII jeeps had a long bolt with a spring between the nut/flat washer and the flange the bolt passes thru. Mine had them, but I am unsure what jeeps were supposed to have them. May be a GPW thing? There was a discussion about this on G503 a while ago.

Dan

CaptonZap · Post by **CaptonZap** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:50 am

Powermwt wrote:On this thread I post the two most likely bolt configurations, one for the earlier MB tub with the square gusset and the other for the composite body MB with the oval hole gusset.

http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=229436

The change was at the very end of 1943.

Do you know what year your MB is?

Wait... did I read that correctly, you have a MB frame but a GPW body?

This Jeep is a cobbled up mess, by a Kansas blacksmith/ Nash dealer, using parts from who knows what.
It is a Willys frame with a Ford body, and parts from who knows where welded onto parts that had rusted. It sat out in a field for years before the PO put it in running order.
The frame is MB431612, April '45, and the body is 215952, made by the subcontractor to Ford. Date unknown.
Whoever did the scab job was not much of a mechanic, thus the questions I have about the right way to mount it.
This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, going to be a genuine restoration, but I would like to get it reasonably correect, if you can over look the bolts being made in China.

Anyway, thanks for the information, I can now drill the mounting holes up through the floor board with a clear conscience.

CZ