Sixty-seven pattern Jeep progress log

[maple_leaf_eh]

So knowing my limits, I conceded that my mechanical knowledge is limiting my M38Al's advancement back onto the road. My regular car mechanic has some quiet time during school spring break, and agreed to put the Jeep in the corner of the garage for time to time work. He has a short list of things (all mechanical) to work on.

I refilled the tires after a long winter, and with a long-shaft jack lifted it off the jackstands. Then I mounted the A-frame tow bar to the bumper. The family minivan, otherwise known as the prime mover, was backed down the driveway until the remnant snowbanks stopped me. Using the van as an anchor, with chain, tow straps, and an 8-yr old boy on the handwinch, the Jeep was slowly extricated from the Montreal Driveway Shelter. The boy was quite excited to help.

Out in the bright sunshine, several things happened. The 2 batteries held their charge perfectly over the winter. The accumulated old and new parts were sorted out into big plastic tubs. Humidity can accumulate in sealed parts bags left outside. The rust scale and tree leaves were vacuumed out. I replaced the windshield washer pump with one from the OMVA sale in Kanata 18mos ago. I diagnosed that the choke cable is verily uncooperative and permanently seized. Fortunately the fording handle and its cable are the same on the other side of the firewall. But the best thing was meeting a fellow who literally skipped across the front snowbank and introduced himself saying he had a Jeep like this too! And he lives in the neighbourhood!

For the collective wisdom - the fording crankcase vent lever on the fuel pump, is the normal operating location up or down? The damper on the air intake is wired off.

For Alex Blair - standby for "Jeff" to call wanting to buy ordnance parts and shop manuals for the M38A1. $$ $$ $$

For Clive - the sap is running!

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

For Alex Blair - standby for "Jeff" to call wanting to buy ordnance parts and shop manuals for the M38A1. $$ $$ $$

After a year in the hands of Joel Bellerose in the wilds of Arnprior, the collection of manuals that was Alex Blair's is now in my posession and I will be happy to talk/e-mail "Jeff" about (Canadian) Jeep manuals.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

After a year in the hands of Joel Bellerose in the wilds of Arnprior, the collection of manuals that was Alex Blair's is now in my posession and I will be happy to talk/e-mail "Jeff" about (Canadian) Jeep manuals.

hi Grant..
No call from the varlet yet..maybe Terry can give us a number or get him to call us for some manuals...You 'da man....U...AL...!!

[rob love]

When a jeep (or any vehicle for that matter) sits for any length of time, the little check valves can either dry out or some of the particulate may keep them from sealing. The jeep has 6 of those little check valves in the pump if I recall, and the failre of even one will cause the pump not to pump. I found that by wetting the pump with some fuel (or priming the pump would be the better term) the pumps would normally work again.

When they were selling the M38A1s at auction in the mid 80s, I got one jeep with an almost brand new engine for only $1100 because they could not get it to run during the auction. A bit of gas from a squirt can into the pump quickly cured that and it was a beatiful running jeep. Replacing the stale gas made it run even better.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Tried to short circuit past the fuel pump tonight with a Coke bottle of fresh gas. I'm beginning to believe the last owner cross-connected a fuel line and a vaccuum line. There is no draw, and he has an inline fuel filter on something that just looks out of place.

[maple_leaf_eh]

The M38A1 CDN3 has: new plugs, new coil, new condensor, new rotor, new little rubber washers between the distributor cap and the cover (packed in Oct 1951), new fuel pump, freshly charged batteries. The wires spark. The plugs spark. The carb flows. The fuel lines flow. The gas is fresh. The only weak part is the starter isn't turning fast enough to kick over. I've tried ether spray, choke, stomping the accelerator, and turning it with the feeds back at neutral. But it just won't kick!

Short of starting under compression, what else can I do? Is there some electrical test I can do to see if it is getting 24v vs 12v?

[maple_leaf_eh]

Well, I towed it down the block to a now abandoned hospital grounds and tried starting under compression. No luck! But it does backfire. Merde!

I had it in the driveway afterwards and a half-ton pulled up. The driver dismounts and approaches with the fixed eye gaze, swaggering rolling gait of a gunfighter. Eyeballing the Jeep.

Smart alec me sez, 'You're not from these parts mister. You must be here for the Jeep.'

After trading one-liner questions, 'fifty-three?', 'seventy', 'runs?', 'nope', 'good shape?', 'yes and no', etc. We introduced ourselves and it turns out I've corresponded with the fellow over parts. He wasn't selling, but offered to stop by for the next few nights to help. I'll take any free advice given.

All 4 spark plugs and leads fire nicely. Gap tested and put into spec.

He brought a compression tester one night. #1 is 90 psi dry/96 psi with oil; #2 is 60/96, #3 is 110/114, and #4 is 90 and 104. The manual says 120 psi preferred.

Another night he interpreted the engine block dataplate. Bored 40 over, Mains 30 over, Rod Ends 30 over. Rebuilt Jul 84 by Bennett and Hanson in Smiths Falls, ON.

The backfiring and pulled plugs suggest it is running too rich. Time to teach myself about timing.

On another topic, how can I function the starter pedal mechanism from under the hood? A short bar or a long screwdriver?

[jim fraser (RIP)]

hi terry.a old piece of a broom handle.those bennett and hanson rebuilts arent a very good rebuilt.they were slapped together very quickly.no quality control.i have at least five of them here in arnprior and none of them are real good.all the jeeps i have had and those rebuilts gave me the most trouble.regards jim.

[jim fraser (RIP)]

hi terry.did you loosen the dist and turn it a little to see if it hits.regards jim.

[maple_leaf_eh]

My neighbour, who had been talking me through some steps, suggested I pull the carb and look for mouse nests etc in the intake. Stranger things have happened he suggested, leading into yet another rendition of his story about 1 of the 3 carbs on an outboard engine being plugged with mouse fluff, pink boat house insulation and old kapok life vest filler. As he says: spark √ ; black plug electrodes; strong spark x4 √ ; fuel √ (gassy fumes from the cylnders when turned with the plugs out); backfires √ ; enough air, dunno. Maybe there isn't enough air getting into the cylinders because of something in the intake?

There were mouse turds and leaves in the heater box where the big hose fits. The carb intake isn't very far away ...