M38 Markings

[magnum]

I have a 52' M38 with a serial number of 059383. I am trying to make heads or tails of which markings to use. When my grandfather bought the jeep from the Army, it had U.S. ARMY in 2" with the numbers below. When we sanded the hood down we got to the first coat of paint( which was WWII olive-drab) the numbers were and letters were 3" with brakes in the stencils and read U.S.A. So, I guess I am looking for some direction in which way is the right way to go.

Thanks,

[wesk]

M38's left Willys with the U.S.A. above the registration number on the hood. Any U.S. Army hood markings were painted later in the field. The Army switched to the U.S. Army from the U. S. A. in the mid 50's.
The two most common manuals for markings found for this period are the Feb 1945 AR 850-5 and the Oct 1964 TB 746-93-1. Both can be found free on the web. The AR 850 at Jon's Jeep Draw aite and the TB 746 at the Army Radios Site in the UK.

This is how they looked brand new in the Willys shipping lot in 1951:

[magnum]

Wes,

Thanks for the information. When I boughtyour book, the Service manual and my stencils from Rick Larsen, I had looked at the pictures over and over to try to determine what was right. I have the drawings from Rick Larsen which are the same as Jon's site, so I will go with U.S.A. with the stars and othe division markings. Thanks again for the information!

[wesk]

Remember Jon's Jeep Draw site is WWII. The M series jeeps 1950 and on do it a bit differently. IE the point of the star on the hood goes forward after 1945. Jon's site is based on WWII and the AR 850-5. The TB 746-93-1 is a better choice for the post WWII era jeeps.

http://www.armyradio.com/arsc/customer/ ... lletin.htm

The illustrations below are from this TB:




Keep in mind this is a Oct 64 pub and the US Army was not used until about 55. per the earlier manuals such as TB ORD 626 Oct 57, TB ORD 2300-10/1 April 58 and a few more.





This is from the same TB's appendix:

Vehicle
1/4 Ton Utility Trucks
Size in inches Location
6 Front fenders or cowl
6 Right, left sides
20 Top of hood
3/4 Ton Cargo Trucks 6
6 Tailgate, front bumper
16 Right, left doors
20 Top of hood

[rwbow1969]

If I could chime in, standing in front of a M38 what star would you see from the front, would it be on the bumper? The one in the diagram looks to be a M38 A1 and has the stars on the curl of the fender.
Thanks, Rob

[wesk]

Using the later pubs they do not allow a national star smaller than 6" between opposite points. So the M38 gets no frontal stars. The 1945 AR 850-5 does allow a 4" star and thus a M38 painted IAW that regulation would have a single 4" star in the center of the front bumper.