Aug 18th '09 - Ignition System

The parts from Tony Sudds arrived today, so this evening I began the refit. The condenser and points were an easy job to screw in place and the points were then re-set. The Willys leads were pretty short, but just long enough.

The rubber waterproof caps were superglued to the HT lead leaving the lead long enough to push on the distributor spring contacts. They were then pushed over the screw threads and held in place with a plastic cable tie. A test drive seem to show all was well, so next opportunity, I'll pop the leads back off and add a little silicone to the inside of the rubber cap to further secure the lead.

Aug 16th '09 - Ignition Fuel System Check Over the last few weeks, the Jeep engine has been miss-firing every so often, particularly under acceleration loads. In an attempt to narrow down what the problem was, I stripped down the carburettor to clean it and the distributor to swap parts with a spare I had. The carburettor is seen below in the first picture from the front left, showing the main fuel feed pipe leading into the float chamber. The second picture is from the front right, showing the throttle linkage to the left and acceleration pump on the front.

The fuel pipe was disconnected from the fuel pump, and then the top of the carb removed to reveal the float chamber ( below left ). The float was removed and the bowl cleaned out of sediment. The cover plate had the one way ball valve checked.

Next the accelerator pump was removed and the pump checked that it was still pumping fuel through the port. Several other jet screws were removed and the areas flushed out.

The distributor had the points cleaned and re-gapped, and the condenser swapped for another old one off a spare distributor. The plugs were removed, cleaned, re-gapped. At each stage the engine was test run to check for improvements.
The plugs in cylinders 1 & 2 were running colder than 3 & 4, so they were swapped with 3 & 4 and the engine re-run. This showed the plugs to be ok as the plugs in cylinders 1 & 2 were still colder. No 1 & 2 HT leads were then swapped resulting in smoother running 99% of the time. It seemed the HT leads were likely to be suspect, either fractured or shorting. First thing Monday, I ordered some new points, condenser, HT leads and plugs from Tony Sudds. Unfortunately Hotchkiss leads aren't that common so I ordered Willys leads that would need altering to get them to fit the screw to distributor.

July 7th '09 - Door Modifications

At last weekends event at Ingleton, we spent some of the time with the front section of the doors unscrewed when it was warm, but it was a pain screwing them back on when it rained.

I decided to make them quick release so if I was driving with them removed, they could be quickly re-fitted. To achieve this, I filed off the end of the hinge pin, and replaced it with an 'L' shaped pin that would allow it to be easily drawn out of the hinge.

The parts of the hinge can now remain screwed to the doors, while the pin can be easily withdrawn and replaced along with the doors.

To further enhance the Flying Control look to the Jeep, the rear sections of the door sets were also painted checkered today. This more resembles the 100th Bomb Group Follow Me Jeep in my 100th archives photo album.

Continuing from the plug clean, the 24v distributor as stripped and all the contacts cleaned. When it all went back together, the engine wouldn't start! Two hours later after checking everything, it still wouldn't start, but I had narrowed things down. There was a spark at the points, and I was getting power through on the HT side contact on the distributor. From there however, it wasn't delivering the power to the rotor arm and on through the HT leads. After further cleaning and checking, I used a model railroading product called 'Electro-lube', an electrically conductive oil. This was added to the contact between the electrics and the distributor cap, and between the contact in the cap and the rotor arm. It was all put back together yet again and finally the engine started much to my relief!

The Jeep engine has been missing occasionally and seemed down on power recently, so today the plugs were stripped and cleaned. Unlike the standard Willys plugs, these are the sealed type with the screw on ignition leads. Each plug can be split in two, and buy unscrewing the top section, the centre terminal can be withdrawn allowing cleaning of it and the contacts within the plug body. All the plugs were re-gapped and checked for spark before fitting. The air filter was also removed, stripped, cleaned, a load of creamy sludge removed from the bottom, re-oiled and re-fitted. A quick road test showed the engine to be running much better.

April 4th '09 - Engine Primer Modification

If the Jeep hasn't been run for a while, the engine needs a prime before starting, otherwise the batteries and starter get un-necessary use pulling the fuel through. Previously I had fitted a welding rod through the hole in the primer arm, and the other end hung over the horn bracket. With the hood open I could pull this wire. Reaching this wire is impossible when the doors are fitted.

Today I made this little bellcrank modification. The steel bellcrank was welded up from scraps I had kicking around, and bolted through an existing hole in the fender. The original priming wire was cut short and fastened to one end of the bellcrank.

A piece of 2.5mm piano wire went into the other bellcrank arm, and through an existing hole in the firewall, exiting near the pedals and steering column. Now I can park with the doors on and the hood shut, and to prime, just reach down by my feet and push the little wire a few times. Job done!

With another good day forecast, I had the trailer wheels to bits, mainly to grease the wheel bearings. I also cleaned the loose paint and rust off the hubs and wheels, re-painted them, greased the spring shackles, towing eye and oiled the springs. The Winter Doors also had their plastic windows polished, as over the last couple of years, they had become covered in tiny scratches, reducing the visibility through them.

This weekend saw the inside of the Jeep being treated for areas of rust along various seams. It was a cold day which did slow up the painting, but because the doors were still on, I had a 2Kw fan heater in there with me which certainly made it a more pleasant job, and did speed up the drying times! I'm sure it won't take long for the new paint to weather in to match the old.

For some time I've noticed a row of rust blisters on the paint behind the axe and shovel. It was a nice day today and while I was tinkering with other odds and ends on the Jeep I decided it was time to deal with them. As with previous rust treatments, the affected area was ground out with a wire brush, red oxide primed, filled level, re-primed and the final colour coat painted. The axe and shovel were also cleaned and woodwork waxed ready for re-fitting once the paint has hardened.

There was also a small area just above the exhaust which needed the same treatment.

Winter Door Re-fit

The other main job for the day was to modify the winter side doors to fit the checkered canvas. With this canvas being slightly tighter, the front edges of the doors needed trimming where they butt up against the screen. Getting out of the Jeep in the garage is now a tight fit!

Smaller jobs done were to repair the glazing on one of the trailer indicators and to start making a 'Follow Me' sign to fit above the light box.

The Jeep is now back from its second round of maintenance at Croft Engineering. This time the major job was the clutch replacement, but while it was in and stripped down, several minor things came to light. Two oil seals were replaced, one on the transfer case and the other on the front diff. The handbrake shoes were also replaced as one was broken and they were covered in oil from the leaking oil seal.

The radiator hoses were also replaced as they were old and hard resulting in a poor seal. The radiator pressure tested, and the core overhauled before it was refitted.

The flexi-pipe from the exhaust manifold was also replaced as this was worn and a better fitting adapter made where the pipe goes into the silencer. With these jobs done, the Jeep should be good for several years more driving without major work.

What I expected to be a quick job actually took five hours. The bolts holding the old reflectors on were rusted solid and had to be ground off with the angle grinder. The bodywork behind had lots of surface rust and was very uneven where it had been pulled in at the welds, so after the rust was removed and the surface red oxide primed, it was filled and sanded to a more even level so as not to distort the reflectors when they were bolted up. It was primed once again before a final brushed coat of green. In the summer when it is warmer, I'll give the area a light sand and a sprayed coat of green. Once the paint was dry, the new reflectors were bolted on.

March 6th '09 - Fitting Jerry Can Strap I fitted the new Jerry Can Strap to the back of the drivers seat today. The upper 'Footman Loop' is held to the seat by screws tapped into the frame. The lower 'Footman Loop' is bolted through the angled section of the floor. We once again have an extended range when not towing the trailer, without compromising the airfield look of the Jeep.

Jessie went for some major work that I was unable to do myself, which includes replacing the steering bellcrank kingpin. I've tried on a couple of occasions to remove it and failed. Croft Engineering, who did the work, finally managed to remove it with A LOT of heat and a puller. The other work included replacing the steering gearbox bearings, fitting the new brake shoes bought at Stoneleigh in 2008, re-setting the valves, and a tune up.

During the Jeep's overhaul, I was advised that the clutch needs replacing, something I've suspected for a while. While it isn't slipping yet, we have several long trips planned this year with the trailer, so it's likely to go back to Croft Engineering to have this work done before the season really gets going. I've had the Jeep almost four years and covered 7500 miles and this is the first major work it has needed so it isn't doing too bad for a 51 year old vehicle, with some parts such as the engine, 65 years old. The engine itself was given a leak down test and is looking good with cylinder pressures all fairly close, ranging from 115 to 121 psi.

February 1st '09 - Stoneleigh Military Fair Purchases

Something that's been a bit tatty for a while is the reflectors, Hotchkiss ones, one of which was cracked. Because the Jeep I originally copied was an early type, I got some NOS 'Tiger Ey' reflectors.

Also purchased was a Jerry Can strap and two footman loops. The loops will be fixed to the back of the drivers seat and floor to hold the Jerry Can on longer distance trips where we don't have the trailer.

The last purchase for the Jeep was a bearing set for the steering gearbox which has been showing signs of play in the output shaft.