53NavyJeep.com

A Frame Off Restoration

October 2011

Completed the Teardown

Jeep Chassis
We finally reached the teardown milestone! After 160 man hours of labor the jeep was reduced to its bare chassis. All the parts were inventoried, photographed, and stored for cleanup and restoration. We were then ready to start Phase II, Parts Restoration.

Next Step, the Chassis

Chassis
The next step was to remove more parts, clean, repair, and paint them. Starting from the rear end we worked our way forward until all the parts were restored.

Pulled the Drive Train

Pulling the engine
The engine was our first target for restoration. It is not the original engine, it’s an L-134 “Go Devil”. It was in good running order so we will use it for the first build, then the plan is to swap it out for a period correct F-134 “Hurricane.”
The only things we needed to do to the L-134 was t0 fix two broken manifold studs, one on the exhaust manifold and one on the block and add a mechanical fuel pump. You could see the original OD paint color under the yellow coat. The next task was to remove the old paint and repaint the engine in its original military colors.

Removing Engine Parts

Photo of WO Carburetor
We continued removing parts from the engine in preparation to pull the drivetrain, stripping the jeep to it’s bare bone chassis. We had the carburetor rebuilt.

Pressure Wash

Cleaning Engine
Daniel came over and helped pressure wash the frame, front end, and engine in preparation for pulling the drive train and stripping the rest of the jeep down to its chassis.
1953 M38A1 Navy Jeep

Phase I Restore

Phase I focused on dismantling each component. It was important to take a lot of pictures, organize the pieces in plastic baggies, plastic shoe boxes, and larger containers. It was years before we put it all back on, so time spent organization paid dividends later. One piece of advise we read and now experienced; take more pictures!

Click the Phase I link below and scroll to the bottom to see the progression.