M38a1 Prairie Barn Find

Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:04 am

I recently bought out the remaining inventory of a scrap dealer in the middle of nowhere. He had 2 M38a1's (CDN3) and a Brown material-ton of NOS parts. I bought it all. In the barn He had Literally piles of NOS gauges, cables, grilles, radiator etc etc. No one had been in the barn in years, so we had to jimmy the door open with a crowbar. I had to climb over piles of old wool uniforms to get to the jeep stuff. The jewel is a NOS military crate engine, complete from the clutch to the carb, in a crate. The motor is preserved, with the last army inspection tag dated 1984. We estimate it will take 3 trips with a pickup truck and a 20 foot trailer to fetch it all. I actually haven't seen it all. There apparently was another building full of parts I didn't have time to look at. I will post pics when I figure out how.

https://derstrom.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/

There is also a Universal Carrier. It is in very good shape, with new tracks and bogies, running when the old man parked it. It has had the armour removed and sold but would be very easy to resto. It ain't for sale.... Don't ask.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:31 am

Nice find, Derstrom!

Looking forward to your photos.

What part of the world are you in?

Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Tue May 24, 2016 1:44 pm

Canada, the prairies.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:09 pm

It figures!

Sorry, no offence intended!

Was looking forward to maybe helping you dig
through your treasure!

Agill · Post by **Agill** » Tue May 24, 2016 4:18 pm

Any canvas lol
you never know maybe one nice top for my CDN 2 .
Glad you got it id hate to see all that good stuff go to a scrap yard .

Prairies is a little far from Quebec for me to go help you

Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Tue May 24, 2016 6:38 pm

No offence taken. This place is really out of the way.

So far I've seen some doors, and NOS seats. He had a pile of old tent bags he thought was jeep roofs but I straightened him out. Like I said in my first post, I have not seen a lot of the parts I bought. I'm going out there day after tomorrow for the first load. We will take lots of pics to share later. I've personally never seen a crate motor like that..... Figure I saved 1/2 the work of putting the jeep back on the road.

Honestly for awhile I thought I was living an episode of American pickers... Especially when I climbed into that barn.

oilleaker1 · Post by **oilleaker1** » Wed May 25, 2016 3:57 am

Nice find. Down here in the States, no title, no license where I'm at. Takes all the fun out of getting a find like that on the road again. I'm not seeing rust!!!! stuff looks in good condition. John

charlesfitton · Post by **charlesfitton** » Wed May 25, 2016 4:40 am

Nice carrier - looks like a mk II.

Pictures...more pictures! Of everything.

thx, excellent project

f

Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:30 am

The rust is mostly cosmetic. I think the drivers floor was replaced in service but I'm not sure. Rear floor is good to go, and no dents. I'm a bit worried about the fuel tank sump, but that's to be expected. In service they painted it with a brush over and over again til the paint was very thick.

The one in the photos was built in the last run at Kaiser in 1971. The USMC was still buying them til then, and the Canadian Army just tagged another 250 onto the end of the run.

My short term plan is to sand blast the badly rusted spots and preserve them with epoxy primer. I'm gonna pull the tub in the fall and get it indoors where I can work on it over the winter.

https://derstrom.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-QWNf98B[/url]

Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Wed May 25, 2016 8:43 am

I just got a call from the scrap dealer.... It's way too wet to try to get in with my trailer tomorrow so instead we are just taking my pickup out to the barn to get a load of parts. The story is that his old dad bought random containers from the govt auction and ran a surplus store out of that barn for 40 years. The building is sinking into the ground so we either have to pry the door open or climb in a window. This is gonna be fun! I will get some pics for you all.

Post by **wesk** » Wed May 25, 2016 9:16 am

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Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Wed May 25, 2016 9:46 am

Thanks Wes.

Post by **wesk** » Wed May 25, 2016 11:49 am

I added a bit to my post above.

TGP · Post by **TGP** » Thu May 26, 2016 10:45 pm

Nice Find!!
Pure Gold There.
Tom

Derstrom · Post by **Derstrom** » Fri May 27, 2016 9:04 am

I'm back from my first trip. I will try to get some pics out later today. The parts were literally stored in piles on the floor. We sorted through and put similar items in these old British ammo cans we found. Some of it was damaged from moisture and not useable so I left it. I hope I don't get Hanta Virus because there was a huge rodent problem. But there is still a lot of useful stuff and I haven't seen all of it. I've got literally hundreds of little paper packages with no label except a stock number. We opened a few, lots of wiper motors, e brake shoes, bearings etc. A few highlights:
- NOS tire chains
- NOS canvas winter front, with the paper still on it.
- NOS radiator
- NOS steering wheel
- NOS gas pedal with "Jeep" logo
I will go back in a couple of weeks. Apparently there is a couple of pintle mounts for a machine gun in the other shed....