willysmjeeps.com

I've glanced around trying to see what might go in the hole down and left of the ebrake. Other then peoples after market switches and whatnot that doesn't look stock, I can't find what might belong here.
Any ideas?
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The answer is in the M38 resto Guide, page 143.

Are you referring to Ryan's book? The one I don't have

yes. but I do , and the answer to your question is...drum roll...winch control(Garwood winch). hope that helps.

I did a search on here for the Garwood winch and only got one result stating a Garwood was only used on the pilot model. With that, are we saying that they kept punching that hole in the dash of thousands of following units for no other reason than the pilot version had punched? Or is there another used or it?
Thanks

There are several metal stampings on the jeep that retained unused openings for thousands of copies. It's all about cost and time. Some of the prototypes were tested with Garwood winches which means the possibility would remain over the M38's production life that some user may decide they want the Garwood winch. The leaving of the hole does no harm. The changing of the stamping dies has an additional cost. Most production tooling planning is usually pushed schedule wise to be ready for the expected orders. Un-needed changes and corrections to production tooling simply delays production.

Makes sense, thank you.