Mid June and light evenings are here!, Summer Solstice is next week, although I will be up at 4am to go to work I will try do something on the Sostice, be it a walk, cycle or Jeep drive...
With friends Phil and Anne up in their camper visiting the Shire we drove along to the site and enjoyed an evening sitting in the warm weather and some home made Pizza on Phil`s Wood burning Pizza Oven...
Driving home the light cloud had cleared out to sea and Sunny Dunny was indeed sunny...
Stunning...
77 YEARS AGO... OPERATION OVERLORD...
The Normandy Landings were well underway - the biggest Military Operation in history and The Jeep had started to do it's roll which it has become so famous for, still famous for its roll to this day. It is the original 4x4...
Some have said it was the vehicle that won the war, it certainly played a big supporting roll, and continued to do so in Armed forces world wide right through until the the end of the Cold War in the 1990`s...
The Hotchkiss is nearly identical to a WW2 Willys MB including using the Go Devil 2.25cc engine, the changes to make it look an authentic WW2 Jeep are not to expensive and all the original French parts can be kept with the Jeep if Anyone wants to restore it French specs-but this Jeep is not getting sold!, been too long a wait and I’m using it for enjoyment for myself, G, and friends,
Who can and does own an original WW2 Jeep and drive it about regularly anyway?, there now fetching silly prices and over £20,000 in the UK now and ready to drive , Ok it must be great to own one that really took part in WW2, and has the history of it, but most are not really original anyway as most if have really been used are rebuilt with replacement parts and so are not really original are they?,
The French made Hotchkiss M201 is a war time Jeep, from a later era, so while most WW2 Willys MB parts are identical and can be bolted straight on there are some improvements in the Hotchkiss, like a stronger chassis using a slightly thicker gauge steel and reinforcement points , stronger suspension with 2 more leaf springs, and 12 or 24v electrics,
So I have decided to fully Americanise my Hotchkiss... why?, well because I always have wanted a US Army Jeep, with the invasion star on the bonnet etc for a very long time indeed, right back to an Action Man Jeep I had as a kid and is in the Garage...
Friends say I should change my Jeep Bonnet (Hood in the USA) serial number to the same as the Action Man Jeep! lol...
This month I started with a couple of small mods, starting with a cheap £10 stencil which came easy to use with a glueless but sticky plastic sheet easy to apply then peel off once painted before it dried, I thought it would be a paper stencil you have to hold down with magnets and the paint can easily get under the edges so this was a good buy and gave an impressive finish, I used white primer spray...
Another cheap change at £22 and this week some wood bonnet blocks arrived from Dallas Autos...
The windscreen Hotchkiss stops were removed and the original bolts kept on them...
Shorter bolts were fitted and these will get a quick spray of aerosol Olive Drab once finished...
Next I sat the blocks and windscreen down alined them and marked their position with a sharpie pen...
Then removing the canvas on one block I relined and drilled the 4 holes needed for attaching them...
Then screw on the blocks and job nearly done...
One last thing to do - usual quick spray with 1942 Olive Drab paint on the windscreen bolts and around the blocks to match them...
There is a leaking engine sump gasket i want to swap soon and will combine this with an Oil and filter change, and while at it will fit a MPH speedometer as I hate using the Km speedo here on our roads despite it having 20,30 and 50 mph marked on it with Tipex, and the reset trip is a bit faulty on it not always resetting correctly, I can then keep service records to the mile in the future.
Further changes will include a canvas top cover and seat covers, the plastic covers are horrid on a real hot day and the hip pads don't match anyway. Will also buy a Wartime production steel steering wheel which i can also buy here in the UK,
Meanwhile it`s nice getting out with the screen town and feeling warm air on your face, A wee film driving around town, Song is `Captain Coulls Parrot` by Peatbog Fairies
More soon...
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