M38a1 steering wheel color?

Seymour · Post by **Seymour** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:18 pm

I have a Feb.53 A1 with a green steering wheel. I've been looking at restorations on the net and see that most of them have black steering wheels. Was there an early/late change or do I have to look for a black one?
BTW..nice site, Wes.......Mike

Post by **wesk** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:06 pm

OD. There was a model of black wheel in the WWII jeep lineup.

Powermwt · Post by **Powermwt** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:40 am

Mike, it would be nice if you posted a photo of said steering wheel, that way we know you are not trying to leave some late model Dodge steering wheel on the A1.

Seymour · Post by **Seymour** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:25 pm

Nah, Mark..It's original metal flake green with chrome spokes

Seriously though..I wonder if it is the same green sheller wheel used on early WW2 jeeps...GPW 3600 A3 or WO- A 6343? I have one of those brand new in the box...

Had to edit this three times...can't hardly see what I'm doing on this brown background...been here one day and already griping..

Post by **wesk** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:25 pm

I've got a nice collection of steering wheels for review on my photo site:
http://steeringwheels.mypicgallery.com/ If you see any errors just let me know. They are photos straight out of my files without any proof reviews.

This was on an MA

This was on a 42 MB

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:00 pm

Hey Seymour

What part of the world are you in.?

Just wondering!

Seymour · Post by **Seymour** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:21 pm

Oakridge, Oregon..about 40 miles south/east of Eugene......Mike

davem201m38 · Post by **davem201m38** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:13 am

Black Schellers are quite common on the Hotchkiss M201, lots of these have been exported from Europe to the US. Where they pass for 'new' MBs.

Also, huge quantities of M201 stuff that is the same or better (manufactured and materials wise) have recently been found and released by the French via one of our bigger European dealers, lots of this stuff is heading (headed) for your shores and will be appearing on a table at a fair near you shortly!

Also, I hear that large quantities of M38, M37, stuff have been released by Greece via another large European dealer, this will also be winging its way your way.

Lots of this stuff is 'the same but different'
For instance the M201 looks like it has the m38 distributor, leads, charging etc but the devil is in the detail and it isn't compatable (easily), the leads look identicle but have a different thread on the dizzy end.
Oh yeah, I have been told that lots of M201 engines (24 volt MBs) are also heading your way, these will not be cheap I imagine I seem to remember that the distrubutor drive rotates the opposite direction, a real bugger to figure out if you don't know that!!
Cheers,
Dave.

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:18 am

So, If I understand form the pictures, the correct color for the M38 is green.

Correct?

Post by **wesk** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:35 pm

Yes, OD green

Jeeps4Brains · Post by **Jeeps4Brains** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:43 pm

Has anyone had a good result of taking their existing wheel that has age cracks and filling them with JB weld? Then how was it after it was sanded down and painted? My original M38A1 wheel is OD green and not that bad except for the cracks.

TonyMorreale · Post by **TonyMorreale** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:44 pm

Could an epoxy also be used to fill steering wheel cracks? I've been wondering what to do about mine and had never considered the JB Weld, but am willing to try whatever those have found to work best.

Jeeps4Brains · Post by **Jeeps4Brains** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:20 pm

I have collected these over time but haven’t tried them yet.

“This may sound odd, but super glue and baking soda works very well. It's best for small cracks and dings. Apply a small drop of super glue to the area to be repaired then sprinkle baking soda generously on the super glue, the mixture hardens instantly, then repeat the application over and over until the area is filled. Sand and paint the wheel. This stuff can even be machined! For the larger cracks, JB Weld works well”

“JB weld works great. I just finished my steering wheel and the results were great. Most body shops can mix the paint to match.”

Paraphrased from one of the friends of Wes:

My steering wheel was cracked at the hub, scratched and weathered. I tried the new polyurethane glue (one is sold as "gorilla grip"). It is activated by moisture. I filled the cracks with the glue which expands when it cures. The process is: Clean the wheel and the cracks well with something like Denatured alcohol. Lightly brush the surfaces inside the cracks with water to get ready to activate the glue so it'll expand to fill the cracks. Add the glue, keeping the crack(s) upright so the glue will not run until the glue sets (several hours). You may have to repeat the process by changing the position of the wheel to fill all the cracks.

Lacquer putty from an auto body supply house can be used to fill small scratches and dents and can be sanded.

Krylon has a spray paint made for bonding to plastic, called Fusion. If you want you can try buying different colors and mix them after extracting the paint by the “Shake Rattle and Cuss” method on the following web page:
http://webs.lanset.com/buzz/spraypaint.html

You have to read down to about the 7th and 8th paragraph.

M38a1 steering wheel color?

M38a1 steering wheel color?

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