My Saudi M38A1 is home!

[Brinken]

Hi everyone!
My story starts in summer 2015, when I visited my older sister, 650 km away from my home. In her barn I found a Jeep after her late husband. It had been sitting there for about 8 years without any care. I asked her if it was for sale, and it was, but there was a little hook, it had never been registered in Sweden.

I told my sister that I am interested in buying the Jeep on one condition, and that was if I can get it registered. I will have no use for it if I can't drive it in the streets.

I started up as a member in this excellent forum and got all needed help to find the origin for my jeep

http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php? ... ic&t=10182

To make a long story short: My M38A1 was manufactured 1961 and exported to Saudi Arabia. 1987 it was imported to Sweden along with 101 of its brothers, from Kuwait or Qatar (depending of whom to speak with). Import from Saudi was banned at this time so they had to say Kuwait and Qatar.
My jeep was sold to a guy using it for fun, and he sold it to my brother in law in 2001.

During winter 2015-2016 I had a struggle to convince Swedish authorities that the jeep had been in Sweden since 1987, it was not a goods of smuggle, and it was not my intention to sell it and make a profit. I was only interested in getting it into service and drive it in the streets.

After some months I finally got a proclamation to go ahaid for registration. So now starts next step in my Project, to get it home.

[Brinken]

The journey home started Friday April 15 with driving up 650 km with an empty trailer behind the car, in 80km/h, took some 11 hours.


After arraving to Sis Place, loading started with the last trip with Sis at the wheel.


And me at the winch


After loading, securing is essential.


On Sunday morning the journey back home started, and almost all the way it was raining.


After 11+ hours she was finally put in my garage.

[Brinken]

First step was to, anyway try to, start the motor. It was baerly turning around. Was the battery flat? After buying a new battery, same procedure again. After a while the battery cables caught fire!!!!!

After new cables, Another try!! And suddenly something got loose and she was turning around smooth. But no fuel to the carb. Took the earlier added electric fuel pump apart, cleaning and testing on the bench. Working properly. Back in place in the jeep, but no fuel in the carb. I think it was after the 5th test and trail, fuel arrived to the carb, but first a half pint on my cloths!!!!

BUT, still no running motor!!!

No sparks in the plugs!! Disassemle the earlier added electronic ignition with its high energy coil. Test on the bench and a good spark can be seen.

http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules/gall ... .sized.jpg
Back in the jeep, still no sparks. Check the breaker! Some oxid was found.

And suddenly the high enery coil caught fire.
A new coil was purchased, and another countless trail to start! SHE is coughing and farting, and all of a sudden she is running.

After getting a little warm and some pedaling on the throttle she is actually spinning like a cat.

http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules/gall ... .sized.jpg

So, now after about four weeks with motor trails starts next step, to see for tires and brakes.

[4x4M38]

Congratulations! A running engine is a good feeling!

That is a very clean jeep.

If you go to your photo pages and select a photo, clicking
on it will enlarge it.

I copy the link to that image and paste below the smaller
photo in your project post. This allows someone to easily
click on the link and make the photo larger, but keeps the
database from being filled up with a lot of extra photos.

Hope this makes sense.

Take care,

[wesk]

Jan-Olof,

You have linked the small index or thumbnail copy of your photo from your album index page to your post.

If you click on the small thumbnail photo on your album's index page you will see a larger photo appear. It is this large photo you must link to your post.

I have used two different methods to provide the larger photos in your post.

Method 1 was to open your album page. Then click on the desired photo. The first larger size will appear. Right click on this photo and click on "copy image address" and paste that address in your post between the 's. Or if you are using Microsoft's Internet explorer then right click on photo and click on properties and then copy the URL shown there to your post.

Method two in your last post I did as Brian suggested and copied the address of the larger photo below the thumbnail photo you had already posted.

[Brinken]

Thanks Wes and Brian, I will improve


Today I brought her outdoors for the first time, and she got new Firestone NDCC tires as well.

[wesk]

Jan-Olof,

I caution you if you have not driven the military tires on ice, or wet/slippery paved surfaces they perform poorly and require very close attention to speed and direction changes. I drove these tires in the military back in the 60's and they were extremely unreliable under the above conditions. They were designed primarily for mud and sand and the center rib allowed them to perform reasonably well on dry paved surfaces. Today I only mount them for show and originality. When I use my jeeps as drivers I use civilian style mud and snow bias ply or radial tires.

[Brinken]

Thanks for the warning Wes. I got these tires, manufactured 2005 but never used , on the black rims from a guy here in Sweden. I noticed today when I had a small, but illegal, ride in my local street that they are very hard and ruff to ride on. I still have the old warn out tires on the original rims in the garage. I will save the rims and put some better tires on them to use for daily driving.
Thanks again

[4x4M38]

You might check those NDCC tires for the correct air pressure.

[Brinken]

Yes thank you
Do you have any suggestion where to find such info?

[4x4M38]

On the US jeeps the tire pressure was stamped into
the data plate on the dash, and stencilled on the fenders.

If I remember correctly you have the dash plates, but are
removed from the vehicle.

In the meantime see this post:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... e+pressure

Take care,

[Brinken]

Thanks Brian
25 Psi will be OK for me to convert into European measures.

[wesk]

This was the post I made back then (JUL 2011).

The Army was primary contractor for the M38 and originally for the M38A1.During that time most of the services who obtained their jeeps thru the Army procurement system usually complied with the Army's TB's and MWO's.

TB-ORD-560 dated May 13, 1954 changed the tire pressures for both the M38 and the M38A1 in their original operator's manual TM 9-804 (M38 Nov 1950) and TM 9-804A (M38A1 Jul 1952) respectively.

The new pressures were:
Highway 25
Cross Country 25
Mud, Sand & Snow 10

The above pressures are reflected in both Tabulated data and Data Plates in TM 9-8012 ( M38 1956) and in Data Plates only in TM 9-8014 (M38A1/M170 1955 but original publication shows only one pressure (28 PSI) in tabulated data. This oversite by the tech writers was corrected initially in Chg 1JUN 1956 and then again in Chg 3 JUN 1958 where it became 25 Hwy, 25 CC, & 15 MSS.and changed again in Chg 5 MAR 1960 to the same pressures listed in Chg 3.
_________________

[Brinken]

After sitting in the garage for two and a half weeks, I tried to start the F-134 again in the middle of last week, but she didn't start. She behaved as she did when I tried to start her for the very first time in 8 years. She was extremly sluggish and the battery cables to the starter got extremly hot in just a second. I wrote a question on the forum for an alternative starter,
http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php? ... ic&t=10646
and got some good advice back.
But during my struggle to start her, the mechanical foot contact left me for a new life up in the clouds.


I had to improve the electric solenoid the former owner started to install but never finished. I put thicker cables from the battery and to the starter. But the cables still got extremly hot.
Therefore I took the starter to the local automotive electric workshop, but I have still not got any answer from them if there is anything to fix on the starter.

In the meantime I got hold of a bunch of footman loops on the Swedish second hand jeep market, painted them and hung them to dry. I earlier noticed that 11 of them are missing on my M38A1


So, the next challange will be to get her started again........

[Brinken]

The original starter showed fully and complete short cut in the windings, and my decision was to find a new one, which was not easy here in Sweden.
Ebay solved my problem, and last Friday the brand new and modern 12 volt starter arrived to my garage, and today it was installed in the jeep.
She have been sitting for some weeks now, and she was a little stubbern to start, but finally she was spinning OK again.
She backed out of the garage and saw some daylight for the first time in months