Project Salty

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:08 pm

good evening all,

I am April. A Coastie with 21 years of service. Been a Machinery Technician 20 of those years, and am now a Naval Engineer Chief Warrant Officer.

I bought a 5/52 M38 just a few weeks ago. S# 66792 It has army hood numbers, and the body is in terrible shape. I bought it from a gentleman in Carlisle PA but it came from somewhere in NY before that as the title I have states NY was the previous title. According to the title, those are original miles. The engine serial number does not have an R preceding it either.

My intentions are to build this out like a coastie jeep. We have been known to steal, borrow and obtain anything left over from other services in our history. I served in a LORAN station in northern Alaska once and found a bunch of photos of an old jeep up there. I even found bits and pieces of the jeep in the landfill we had on the spit of land, but it was trashed.

Anyway, here is what I am starting with. Either I will purchase a new body tub from Kaisers in the summer, or try to locate a used body that can get a little patch work to. I can weld.

Not my first vehicle project. I built a 1963 F100 custom cab pickup over the last 6 years. It is going on the road any day now. Long time coming.

anyway, i will check in with parts of the build when i get around to doing it. I am still active duty and assigned to my 5th Cutter, so I do need to go on deployments here and there.
Take care,
April

Kendall · Post by **Kendall** » Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:17 pm

April, welcome to the group! Looks like a great project. Both data plates have matching numbers- that's nice to see. The rust on the right rear corner panel is a common issue- fixing that issue with one of mine right now. There are a lot of great people on this forum with a wealth of experience and expertise (and opinions). Keep us posted on your progress.
Kendall

MattyT · Post by **MattyT** » Mon Dec 23, 2019 6:05 pm

Nice!!! Welcome! I did a quick comparison to Wes’ M-38 database in the downloads. The hoodnumber falls in line with 5/52 and the data plate serial number. That’s a nice bonus in my opinion. I’m not sure the shape of the left rear bumperette, but you may be able to find what unit it was attached to.

Other than that, This site is a repository of a treasure trove of information regarding the M-38 from the manuals, to diagrams, to tricks tips and the frustrations that have been had. You can pretty much find the answer to any question you may have, in the forums. I would buy Ryan Miller’s book too!

Good luck, safe travels and thank you!

mdainsd · Post by **mdainsd** » Mon Dec 23, 2019 6:51 pm

welcome! A good start there! Somebody has messed with the tail light openings. Also the tailgate isn't quite right, shouldn't say "willys". But baby steps is the way to get there.

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Mon Dec 23, 2019 7:37 pm

I know the tailgate has a faint 4wheel drive faded area where the paint or decal was (probably off a cj3a).

The word was this Jeep was purchased by an old man 30 years ago. A aftermarket cap WAS put on it and he used it for plowing for 30 years. He sold it, the guy I bought it from took the plow and cap. I bought it from him maybe 2 - 4 weeks after the original sale.

The bed floor is rusted straight through. The windshield is seized. There are rust holes everywhere. Floor boards were tin pop rivetted to the rust.

If I find a good donor body, awesome. If not, I’ll buy a Repro from Kaiser in the summer.

Post by **wesk** » Mon Dec 23, 2019 11:26 pm

Hello April and welcome aboard. Nice unit to start with. Look forward to seeing your project move ahead.

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 6:19 am

It’s Christmas Day. I spent a lot of last night reviewing various posts on here, downloads etc.

Was looking on Kaiser regarding potential costs of patch panels vs buying a new tub. Surfed through searchtempest, Facebook marketplace etc and no joy finding a M38 tub itself. Trying to find if a CJ3a body would fit... I can weld, but I don’t want to spend just as much on panels as I would a replacement tub. If I can find a suitable body tub with a little patchwork to do, it would be easier than a full weld job on my current tub.

First off, this week I have been cleaning up my side yard. The previous owner of my house had a new fence put in. It’s a nice fence, crappy bushes along the shaded part of my home and it’s always a mud mess in here.
I chopped the bushes down, and my neighbor and I are going to relocate my fence opening back about 6-8 feet. That would align with his fence we are replacing tomorrow and will allow for shared support for strength.

By moving the gate back some, and bushes gone, it allows me 7’ wide walkway (Jeep is only 5’ wide). See where I’m going with this?

My garage has the almost finished 63 in it. I need to put the Jeep in a safe place and somewhere I can tear it apart. Today I am going to take out two old cement fence post piling where PO just cut off at ground level and covered with dirt. I have a engine hoist, so screw a eye bolt into the old post, lift with strap. I already dug out the sides of it about two foot down. I can’t lift it myself though.

I live in the Yorktown VA area across from one of the battlefields and while digging up a root ball, I found a Mini-Ball bullet from the civil war.

Making room for the Willys.

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 6:26 am

The tailgate was from a civilian model.
You can faintly see the 4 wheel drive

The bumperette is so rusted. There is writing on it, but not sure how to clear it up.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 8:52 am

Welcome April!
Classic Enterprises, Midwest Military and Army Jeep Parts to name a few make and sell nearly the whole tub in the places where it commonly rusts out, floor panels, sides, rear corners, hat channels, tailgate surround, etc.

If your tub fits well on your frame you should seriously consider repairing your tub if possible. Horror stories abound of folks trying to fit the MD Juan tubs to existing frames.

Just my two cents.

More pics please? Is it still 24 volt?

Merry Christmas,
Brian

MattyT · Post by **MattyT** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 9:27 am

Merry Christmas to all!! I’d love a pic or two of that bumperette!

Post by **wesk** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 12:32 pm

It would be a simple task to put an awning (aluminum or canvas) off the side of the house there to keep your project dry.

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 1:19 pm

This is the bumperette... not able to see anything,

(image was corrupted and lost)

Got the two old concrete piling out... had to use my engine hoist to pull them because they were 36”deep
(image was corrupted and lost)

In the back yard, I have room for the Jeep for sure. I have a shed back there that I a, going to put a sub panel electric out there. I want to put my 60 gallon air compressor out there.

That’s a summer project when I come back from my next deployment though.

Tomorrow we move the fence.

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Wed Dec 25, 2019 1:27 pm

4x4M38 wrote: Is it still 24 volt?

Brian,

It was converted to 12v by a former owner. He used this as a plow Jeep for 30 years.

I’ll try to get more pictures soon. The fence project is upon deck.

CoastieReid · Post by **CoastieReid** » Sun Dec 29, 2019 2:22 pm

From this ( on left)

with an opening of 4 feet, to the new

with an opening of 66”. (5’6”). Jeep access!

rgmutchler · Post by **rgmutchler** » Sun Dec 29, 2019 3:48 pm

Good luck on your project, welcome to the site. I think you mentioned that your floors were in bad shape so for what ever it is worth I was at Brent Mullins recently and he has NOS floor and firewall replacements and NOS front floor only replacements,