Jeep project underway

[Mike K]

The Ford factory drawing of the jeep spring hanger: the inside width dimension should be a few thou under 1.7" . After measuring the repro hangers I have, I discovered they were wider by quite a margin. I managed to press the sides inwards to the cortect width using a hydraulic jack.

[Mike K]

I have tracked down a few more jeep bits and will be picking them up this weekend up as the Melbourne/regional travel lockdown has finally been eased.

I bought these drills and the feedback reports seem to indicate they are decent quality. For the price it's worth a gamble.

https://www.banggood.com/Drillpro-50...r_warehouse=CN

Can't have too many drills Postage time for items from China has slowed right down recently. Wonder if there is any W.A. iron ore in these drills

[Mike K]

The Banggood drills have arrived, they appear to be decent quality , M35 grade but who knows what they are actually made from

In between lockdowns I managed to pickup a NOS WW2 Jeep front axle assembly minus the CV joints and brake bits. The seller informed me he purchased the axle from Hughes Coburg in the 1960s. I paid what people pay for a carton of beer these days.

On teardown it displays nil wear , the bell crank post is mint which is handy as these things can be a nightmare to remove.

On the negative side it has been stored in a damp environment and rust has damaged the crown wheel to the point of being useless.

I will be replacing the tie rod ends and all of the bearings , the hemispheres have suffered from corrosion too but should clean up OK . I found the RZEPPA tags still on the swivel housings which is a bonus.

The crown wheel was difficult to get out , seized carrier bearings .

[Mike K]

An update on things.

The suspension issues on the build are turning into a nightmare. I want the suspension to be solid and safe , no compromises. This Jeep came with post-war locally made replacement springs, almost certainly fitted by the Aust. army. These 1950s replacements have the usual issues, worn/thin leaves and worn eyes.

I do have three original WW2 springs, again, worn leaves, worn out of round eyes , corrosion , just what you would expect from near 80 year old springs.

I decided to buy two new front 8 leaf springs... yes, they are strong, and have slightly thicker leaves (about .030"). Problem is, they bear little resemblance to original WW2 Jeep springs, just about everything is wrong ! Leaves are wrong length, edges not beveled, the rebound clips are incorrect.

What to do. I have decided to use the two new long #1 and #2 leaves, and file the edges to a bevel. I have the original WW2 specs. and drawings. I found some 80" Land Rover springs ( also slightly thicker ) in reasonable shape, these are the same width as Jeep springs, 1.75" . My plan is to cut these LR leaves to length and file the edges and re-camber them to the correct arch.

Well, that's it. All this takes time and effort and it never ends !

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Is grinding or otherwise adapting the new springs to approximate the originals even an option?

[Lars R.]

Mike,

are you not doing the same work on the LR springs now, which could be done on the new repro springs? The correct (NOS) rebound clips are still available and could be used...and the re-cambering seems to last from "lunch till noon".

Nearly EVERYTHING is reproduced (quality?) nowadays (re-cast motor blocks and T84 cases even!), but correct and good springs are not...strange! MDJ tried GPW ones several years ago, but I believe they never hit the market!

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Lars R.

Mike,

are you not doing the same work on the LR springs now, which could be done on the new repro springs? The correct (NOS) rebound clips are still available and could be used...and the re-cambering seems to last from "lunch till noon".

Nearly EVERYTHING is reproduced (quality?) nowadays (re-cast motor blocks and T84 cases even!), but correct and good springs are not...strange! MDJ tried GPW ones several years ago, but I believe they never hit the market!

Hi Lars and Bruce

The problem is: the new 'repro' spring leaves I have, #3 to #8 are too short. My plan is to relocate/use some of the new repro leaves in my 'made up' spring pack which will be a mixture of the new repro and old Land Rover leaves. I can fabricate the Willy style rebound clips , no need to buy them.

The new 134 blocks have problems , I have read reports of valve guide bores being out of alignment and much casting flashing needs to be cleaned up, plus they are copies of the post-war CJ geared type blocks which is a rather strange way to go.

With the T84 stuff, I can only comment on what I saw back years ago when repro parts were not widely available, back then, we all generally used genuine original (partly worn) parts. We had no issues as far as I can recall. Nowadays, problems seem to arise when people use repro T84 parts that have been made to improper tolerances.