coastrider: Willys Hotchkiss M201 Jeep Update; Ready for summer...

Old Jeep advertisement...

It's always good when you sort things with something your a bit worried about, the last week it was trying to sort a continuing oil leak on the transfer box on the Jeep, replacing the sump gasket with silicone did not work, then re tightening the sump bolts and disaster! a bolt snapped!, I guess 55 year old bolts and too much tightening took the toll, help was at hand and with a loan of some bolt extractors and friend Chris starting the job drilling the pilot hole we got the offending item out, and replaced it with a new bolt,

This was after i removed the sump for a second time and refitted the original much thicker gasket using High Temperature (HT) silicone sealant and it of course meant the fiddly job of re filling the sump oil again!...

Oil drip fixed!;

But all done and it is staying leak free, impressed as the pressed steel sump is not flat having placed it on a window to check it. but its leak free after a drive to Garvald and back getting everthing heated up, so happy days!.

I also have a new engine sump gasket which if it still seeps a bit despite using Loctite on the sump bolts on that also I can swap it when the engine oil is due to be changed...

Park Brake fixed!

The parking brake previously had stopped working after I stupidly left it engaged and with the torque of the motor it simply pulled away and your not a where of it until you smell the burning shoes!,

I thought I had cooked the brake shoes in this drum on the prob shaft and they would need replaced at £25 and they are not in stock in the UK at the moment, I also thought the drum would maybe oval with the heat and also need replaced at a cost of £75 so it would cost £100 to safely leave it parked, but I persevered with adjusting the two shoes which is more awkward than hard to do lying underneath but its adjusted perfect now and the drum seems to be ok and not oval so result!

Engine running well;

Giving everything a once over to check if tight I did a quick spark plug check and clean and the plugs are running a tan/brown colour so not running too lean or rich...

So with hopefully no more salt on the roads after this recent sunny but frosty weather turns more warmer I washed all under neath using the small power washer to reach the hidden corners etc to get rid of the salt without being to strong to force water into electrics etc, then using the paraffin gun on the compressor I sprayed underneath with Duck oil which while protecting the metal will also remove moisture in the electric connectors and the Jeep is near ready to go for warmer days...

Brakes;

I will tune up the drum brakes in the next few days as there are good videos on YouTube showing how to correctly do this as the new shoes will have worn in a bit now in the 500 miles or so I have now driven...