willysmjeeps.com

A member of our M38Yahoo group posted this over there.

A buddy of mine has a machine shop and metal fabrication business that has some open time coming up in the fall. We got into a discussion about jeeps and knowing that I do restoration work he asked if there was something I might need fabricated.

We decided to see if there is a need for shovel brackets? We were thinking of making 100 if there is a market for this many or more if there is demand. Or something else that can't be found. Any ideas? He can do foundry work too for cast parts.

These would be USA sourced materials and manufacture.

Using an original Willys part as a pattern the reproductions would be the correct gauge, proper bends and have oval spot welded weld nuts. An exact copy.

Would you want them bare steel or electro-coated (E-Coat) or phosphate coated?

What price range would you be willing to spend on this?

If interested please respond offsite to trip2sea@yahoo.com I will pass it along. My friend is a real motorhead and eager to find some work so it is a good deal for everybody.

The shovel brackets are already being done by MWM. You should look for something that is not currently made and attack that. Why re-invent the wheel.
John

John makes a very good point however we should still support healthy competition in our capitalist system.

A couple of very good items to bring to the repop table are the winch frames and the support bearing/bracket.

How about steering gear parts - quality made ones.

How about upper stretcher racks for the M170. I have a sample.

That offer came via another source. Send interests to:

If interested please respond offsite to trip2sea@yahoo.com I will pass it along. My friend is a real motorhead and eager to find some work so it is a good deal for everybody.

These two items bring a MAJOR price tag in the name of LIABILITY. You have to have an umbrella package that is in the 10's millions to cover yourself. That is only if you can find an insurance company willing to underwrite your venture. I can tell you that I have searched hi and low to find an insurance company that will underwrite what I do, and there are many stipulations in my contract that limit what I can and can't do. Unless you get a major brand name company to make the part under there insurance, the little guys shouldn't even look at it.
John

I would think the only liability threat would be the steering box. And there are plenty of alternatives for the "do it yourselfer" to modify his own jeep and carry the liability himself. I would think things like steering and brake components and lunettes will be tough to insure production on but rest of the items above should have no problems.

Who makes the repop lunettes everone is selling today?

Well, it depends. A lot of guys are selling the MD import ones. I bought the original tooling from the government contractor and I have them made under the same mil spec contract now. So, my parts are drop forged with certified heat treat specs, certified material etc. My parts cost more, but you are assured that these are equal if not better than any surplus, or used originals that are on the market.
If you think that someone with a brake or steering component that fails and ends up in a law suit is not going to go back after the company that made the part, that is naive. People file suit all the time for less than that. I am not willing to risk everything I have for that.
John

If you think that someone with a brake or steering component that fails and ends up in a law suit is not going to go back after the company that made the part, that is naive.

No I did not think or say this. I said parts that have no real impact on operational safety should not be a liability insurance issue and parts that are in the operational safety arena will be hard or expensive to insure and protect one's self from.

I bought the original tooling from the government contractor and I have them made under the same mil spec contract now.

This is a good idea but still does not protect you from a suit. The legal system is full of cases where the manufacturer of a product crossed all the "T"'s and dotted all the "i"'s but still must defend himself in court even if the complaintant was an absolute idiot and caused his own loss. I have went through this several times in the Aviaition Maintenance business. Each time I sign my name to a bit of repair work I do on an aircraft I pick up 18 years of liability for that work and must pay to defend myself in court when the idiot kills himself by running out of gas and falling out of the sky in an aircraft I put new lamps in the instrument panel. Why? Simply because my name is in the aircraft's log book. We all expose ourselves to legal liability and suits every day by simply getting out of bed and going to work! We all establish our personal limit as we see it for liability risk and move through our daily lives accordingly.

To get this thread back on topic we have another future repop parts manufacturer interested in helping us with our hobby. I am sure he is cognizant of any liability risks he may encounter but if we wish to make sure he is aware of liability issues we can contact him at the email address he provided. To move right along I encourage all our hobbyist to continue to forward their ideas and needs to this gentleman. I also encourage everyone to also offer these new ideas to our existing group of repop manufacturers as well to inprove the odds that one day they will be made available.