CJ3-M38 clone

[Mogman]

I am not sure why I bought this, I ran onto it late in the auction and dang for something that is around 75 years old it looks relativity rust free which is a big issue around here.
It looks like an honest old barn find that is relatively straight and has not been jury rigged too much, original seats, engine, etc
It does have a 2A windshield and a few other items.
If I kept it I would likely make a M38 clone out of it.
It does have the VIN tag which will make getting a bonded title much easier..

So what say you?

 

[M813rc]

Nice!
Clean her up and make an M38 clone sounds like a great plan.

Cheers

 

[Mogman]

Pam, Diggy Dog and I went and picked it up today, 6hr round trip so not too bad, we were only 25 min out of the way of my favorite tractor tire shop Gensco, they do crazy stuff like retreading 30 ply aircraft tires for tractor use, they started with just old aircraft tires but now have many tires custom manufactured.
I picked up a couple 26 ply tri-rib tires for one of my Olivers, NO more flats.

But I digress

The jeep was as nice as I hoped, I cannot see any serious rust.
This is very unusual for a old flat fender, around here, if the constant high humidity soaking everything exposed every night doesn't get them then the poop that is thrown into all the cracks and crevices rust everything to hell including the frame.
Yes she is beat up a little bit and there is some body filler, some strange stuff is going on in the tailgate area, and the dang CJ2 windshield frame.
I do not see any evidence that there was a mechanical issue that was being looked at (its all together) it just looks like it sat until it would not run.
There was a set of lockout hubs in the back that look like possibly the first style made, has only a knurled knob to turn.
This should be a fun project.

 

[JEB]

A question...
Are you planning on making it look more like a M38?
A different windshield should be easy enough...
What else needs to be done?

Have fun!

 

[Mogman]

A question...
Are you planning on making it look more like a M38?
A different windshield should be easy enough...
What else needs to be done?

Have fun!

I am not sure what I am going to do with it, the first thing is to just check out the running gear, it has no motor oil or coolant, that makes me a little nervous.
It has a starter solenoid instead of the mechanical (push to start) so I am assuming it has been converted to 12V, I plan on pulling one of the headlights to see if I can confirm.

 

[Mogman]

It also has a Victor head set in the back, that adds to my nerves, someone destroyed the new temp gauge capillary tube where in goes into the block.
I think the new gauges are Chicom.
EDIT, looks like India, $60 shipped from India for a complete set of gauges, how do they do that???

 

[Mogman]

So I got her on the lift and all the gear boxes have oil, the transfer case is really low.

There is no drain plug in the oil pan, I did not see it in the bed and of course it is something "special" meaning not a pipe plug. and this is biting me in the ass.....
I filled the cooling system and put the hand pump on it, got it to about 15psi and water started coming out of the exhaust pipe which had become detached just below the manifold.

I pulled the plugs and had a look see with my Chicom endoscope and sure enough #4 has water in it.

The engine is not stuck although there was one little tight spot that felt like there may be a little bit of rust at the top of one of the cylinders.

I would like to throw a battery in and turn it over to blow out as much water as I can and then put some MMO down the holes but with no damn oil drain plug I do not want to spin it over dry.

So I guess I will blow it out the best I can toss some MMO in there and turn it by hand, now we know why there was a top end gasket set included.

At least this is one of the easiest heads to pull I have ever seen and I have the top end set already!

I am heading out to see if I can find anything to plug that damn hole with, we maybe after I order one!

EDIT, I will be danged they have one in stock at the local O'Reilly's will get it in the AM

 

[Mogman]

I got the head off today (After big Chinese lunch!)
I have to say if you have to use a paint pen to number the cylinders on an inline 4 cylinder engine that twisting wrenches is definitely not your forte.
Notice the eclectic variety of fasteners used on the head, anyone that knows about studs would know this is a big no,no as a screws do not have the same crush as a stud, moreover it appears some of the nuts were frozen to the studs so they were simply used as screws.
I have ordered a full set of studs, The only stud remover I can find in the shop is too big for these so I am going through the tedious nut lock method.

I have seen better looking cylinders, but I have seen much worse, #4 looks worse than it is as I have not fully cleaned it yet, the exhaust valves have much more lift than the intake valves, not sure if that is normal, and YES that is red silicone sealer used on the block

I can see many sins committed, improperly installed heli coils, raised block surfaces around the threaded holes for the studs where they pulled the threads, no sealant used on the studs which do go into the cooling jackets, I have never seen anyone paint the combustion chambers before and it looks like it was not run much since the head was last installed AND 3-4 may have fired very little or not at all.


This engine no doubt needs a full rebuild but I hope I can get to run long enough to evaluate the rest of the running gear.
The frame has some issues but they do not appear to be real serious.
Kinda leaning towards getting a complete M38 body and see if anyone would want the CJ body for their project.

 

[Mogman]

WELL, I started cleaning things up and found these cracks, not TOO bad, I think these would not be a big problem, lots of gasket material around them and they do not go anywhere that really counts.


But then I found this death nail, not even sure if the geniuses at the machine shop can fix this, maybe they can stitch the crack and sleeve the cylinder.
Now we know why water was getting in #4

I will have a chat with the guys at the machine shop and see what they think, in any case this project is now on extended hold

 

[Mullaney]

WELL, I started cleaning things up and found these cracks, not TOO bad, I think these would not be a big problem, lots of gasket material around them and they do not go anywhere that really counts.
View attachment 963463

But then I found this death nail, not even sure if the geniuses at the machine shop can fix this, maybe they can stitch the crack and sleeve the cylinder.
Now we know why water was getting in #4
View attachment 963464
I will have a chat with the guys at the machine shop and see what they think, in any case this project is now on extended hold

.
Well dang... Yes sir. Thinking that finding a sleeve might be troublesome.
Definitely looks like that is where the water was coming from.

 

[Mogman]

.
Well dang... Yes sir. Thinking that finding a sleeve might be troublesome.
Definitely looks like that is where the water was coming from.

Actually there are several engine kits that come with std. pistons and sleeves but I don't know if this is actually fixable, have my eye on a rust bucket jacked up donor

 

[DeetFreek]

If it's any consolation, I had this crack show up on #2 cylinder and was quoted way more than the block was worth. Grind out and refill, check cylinder to make sure it's not out of round, if so, bore and sleeve, make sure other cylinder isn't out of round. Check line bore to make sure block didn't twist. Basically, well over 1k for just a crack.