M151A2 in its new home

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Today with 99% of the parts reinstalled, we turned it over and I backed the Jeep out of the garage under its own power! Dave took it for a test run up and down his country road. A few issues, but no show stoppers. Yay!

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I'm getting excited! Was at Dave's on Sunday, and we did several small tasks. I found the never-installed front licence plate. Dave identified why no one had mounted it before. There is a broken bolt in one hole on the bumper. Then he very diligently measured, cut, radiused and tapped a new holder from a piece of 1" bar stock. I cleaned the vinyl top and matched seat cushions to frames. No point in giving a labour job to a skilled worker. Robert did green touch up paint on the exposed hardware all over. The two of them read and troubleshot the pin connectors for the trailer wiring. Gotta love the USGI electrical connection commonality standards. With the tarp on and the doors hung, it was easy to see where the remaining footman loops had to be placed. But, the fire extinguisher mounted on the tranmission hump fouls the passenger seat.

Showing far greater experience with handheld stamps than I would ever muster, Dave stamped:
manufactured by AM GENERAL
US contract DAAE-07-71-C-0103
Canadian contract CD 3613100
VIN AB456590 / 45111 for the serial number of my representation CFR
delivered 01/1974
Inspector Dave and Robert's initials.
He's obviously stamped many plates before, because he masked off the lettering to expose only the spaces, and taped the plate to a 1" steel plate. No warping! Just before supper tonight he sent me a picture of the plates reinstalled with 1/8th poprivets.

The registration was renewed (free vehicle registrations in Ontario, although I did have to buy the Veteran vanity plate originally), but Hagerty took $432 for insurance.

All I need is to road test, take delivery, pay Dave, and road test it daily before the 1 July Canada Day parade!

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Friday night a flatbed tow truck drove out from Ottawa to Dave's place and we loaded the Jeep for its return to my driveway. Not quite 4 years since I had it home. The driver paid me a compliment (I think), I led in my car and chose a route parallel to the obvious road which avoided lots of potholes, construction and traffic. When we go to destination, the driver said, 'You push good gas'. Which I accepted as a compliment from a guy who is on the road every day.

Two faults were found in the test drive. First, Dave took the thermostat out and it boiled over. I'll put it back in tomorrow.

Secondly, the generator is not charging the batteries. This is the same component swapped onto the Bob Phillips engine. I have always had charging issues with this vehicle. One phone conversation suggested there may be a faulty noise filter coming off the main supply. There are no obvious boxes inside the engine compartment before going through the firewall. Would there be a noise filter on this vehicle? and would it be behind the dash?

Bob's ex Fort Drum 141.5 Cubic Inch engine ran beautifully too. Thanks Bob. But, the vehicle is not ready for Mike's Canada Day parade (unhappy face). I posted on FB that I'd still drive out to meet the paraders before they departed. Just to see old friends.

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Up early and on the road to help dispatch Mike Calnan's standing Canada Day parade convoy. My role for the last several years has been roadmaster at the driver's briefing. This year I only gave the brief, helped herd the cats, and waved good bye. Home to work on the faults found during the test drives.

The thermostat had not been installed. It went back in. As a word of caution - get the ears on the gasket aligned with the bolts; then make sure you actually have the thermostat in the housing before reinstalling all the hardware; and finally, inspect with a mirror before claiming the job is done. Three very good learning experiences all on the same part.

The oil was a nice dark brown when drained. No apparent chunks or smells, just discoloured. A new Fram PH8A filter and most of a $40 jug of Shell Rotella 15w-40 poured in.

I disconnected the batteries and charged them over night and into the morning. When reconnected, the ammeter showed on the yellow/green line. Temperature was about 180-190 deg F. And, the oil pressure read 32 psi. No leaks and no leftover parts. I'd call today's driveway work a success.