willysmjeeps.com

mdainsd wrote:The paint is readily available. Online search.

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Thank you for the info.
Sweet Jeep. I love well used vehicles.

Here is a picture of the rear lights.

Pull those funky lights off and locate the military version that goes there.

Early M series tail lights are what you are looking for (round). Get two left hand or drivers side. Look in behind the lights through the wheel well, is the bracket still there for the military tail lights.

Lose the backup light.

That is where the trailer connector goes.

the back corner of that jeep looks pretty solid. If the rest is like that you have a great starting place!

The spare gas can holder goes where those four bolts are in the tailgate. Get one of those on there and she will start to look Military again. That little bracket welded to the top of the tailgate? Leave it! It is for the strap that secures the spare gas can to pass through.

Pull the license plate and see if the mountings is still there for a pintle hook.

Super helpful.

Thank you. I'm going to get bags, bins and sharpies, and clear out some shelf room in the garage and start taking things apart.

I'll also start sourcing some parts to replace the stuff that isnt an M38 as I go. I figure I can bag and tag parts and slowly sand blast, primer and paint as I have time in the evenings to get the parts redone.

mdainsd wrote:Pull those funky lights off and locate the military version that goes there.

Early M series tail lights are what you are looking for (round). Get two left hand or drivers side. Look in behind the lights through the wheel well, is the bracket still there for the military tail lights.

Lose the backup light.

That is where the trailer connector goes.

the back corner of that jeep looks pretty solid. If the rest is like that you have a great starting place!

The spare gas can holder goes where those four bolts are in the tailgate. Get one of those on there and she will start to look Military again. That little bracket welded to the top of the tailgate? Leave it! It is for the strap that secures the spare gas can to pass through.

Pull the license plate and see if the mountings is still there for a pintle hook.

I do it a little different. Remove only one part or assembly from the Jeep. Restore it completely, wrap it up and label it. Then on to the next part or assembly.

The benefits of doing it this way, when you get to the last piece everything you did is finished. Just bolt it all back together. Fun stuff.
Another benefit is if you decide halfway through that you arent going to finish it and want to sell it (even in pieces), you will get far more if a prospective buyer sees all the parts ready to go and not a huge pile of rusty dirty "things"

Here is the type of tailight you are looking for. And this offering is for two left hand ones.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363912303907?h ... SwThli1EVR

Thanks for the suggestion. sounds reasonable!

Also, is there a reason I want to left hand ones? is that how they came on the M38?

mdainsd wrote:I do it a little different.

Here is the type of tailight you are looking for. And this offering is for two left hand ones.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363912303907?h ... SwThli1EVR

You want left hand ones because only the left ones that the M38 uses have the larger red lens for a normal tail and brake light. The standard right hand one only has blackout features, not useable on the public roads.

All the round ones like the pictured ones fit the M38. It is part of the standardization that the Army went through in the very early 50's.

Should this thread be in the Projects area?

Yes definitely. Maybe Wes can move this thread?

That’s an M38 tailgate, no doubt. Great score. Even has the reinforcement panels welded in the corners later.

Done Moved It!

For daily drivers the Gama Goat full red lens make a big difference in visibility.

Go to my photo album and peruse it awhile. You'll see a several hundred reference photos that will answer half of your questions.

Back to tail lights here's my turn signal album:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php

And Here's my M-series lighting album:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php




Bottom lamp is the right one and top lamp is the left one.


Here's the stock setup.


Here's the two left lamps setup.


Here's the two left lamps setup but using the full red Gama Goat lens.

Here's the Early Relay box military turn signal kit:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php

Here's the Late transistorized military turn signal kit.
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php

I bought a Jeep with Prestollite lights and mini orange blinkers on the back, but hey, I drove down the main road, almost to the end of the village, and then there's a turn to our house that you can't see, it's overgrown, but I'm going, it was sunny, I put blinker, I look in the mirror and see a VW Passat rolling behind me min. 80 km/h before I turned left it had a good 100 km and it would have swept me away and I didn't write it anymore, of course it was supposed to go 50 km/h it was still in the village but he was driving I can't see it. the mini blinker is overgrown again, you can't see it if I'm not careful, or God forbid I bring the kids - I don't even want to imagine it.
So I got mad, I looked on the net to see if you can still buy the Hella lights I had on the Mutt A1, luckily they still do after 12 years, I threw out the beautiful Prestollite and installed Hellas, which fit perfectly, everyone can see right away, that the tail light comes on to indicate that I'm braking and that I'm turning, those war lights are not for current traffic, that's a killer unfortunately.Sorry for the Google Translate

Really helpful inputs.

I'm slowly going through the jeep. Cleaned out the rear and removed the tailgate. Here are some pictures of the progress. Next is taking off the rollbar and all the brackets and footman loops on the tub before starting to fill holes, grinding flat and in general cleaning up the tub to take off and send to painter.


Note the cut in the tire carrier - I'm inclined to clean it up, and just paint it and put it back.

Wow, you have the rare right-hand drive version.

Kendall wrote:Wow, you have the rare right-hand drive version.

hehe...sorry, tried to rotate image and it mirrored it as well.

but that was funny