Tool Time; £5000 Tool kit for £500 on YouTube...

I`m 50 years old now and been collecting tools since I started to fix my own push bikes around the age of 12, and many of these tools I still have because there great quality, many I did kind of borrow from my Dad and they kind of ended up in my tool box as the collection grew I picked up used tools at anywhere from Jumble sales to Car Boot sales to things in the local paper, and I am back to using ex Miltary Ammo boxes to store them again like I did when I started for their different jobs.   And I still spend £20 - £30 a month every pay day getting a few more small cheap things which make working on something easier...

And decent tools have never been cheaper to by I have discovered buying stuff for working on my Willys Jeep in the last year with many companies offering a lifetime guarantee, it's not just expensive stuff like Snap On that does so...

And I say this about starting on anything new be it Mountain bikes,  Fatbike, parts for these bikes, or camping stuff, there is loads of cheaper options out there just as good as the new big brand stuff, 

My advice is don't be brand snob with everything when you spend your hard earned cash...

I follow this guys channel on YouTube and like many folk I follow you learn a lot from how they fix things, and if your starting out fixing your own bikes or old motors etc, or starting a professional career in the Auto industry you should definitely watch this by Lord Muck...

More soon...

Beachcombing again at JMCP...

 

Out a cycle JMCP for low tide again and Beachcombing but noo Hispano finds today...

It goes without saying you should not pick up anything you don't know what it is and these objects are a good example, we think these are Para Illuminator Mortars, Army will refer to these as blinds, to the public that means UNEXPLODED, so don't touch them...

These you can pick up all day long... .303 cartridge  cases...

And this is a belt clip for Hispano 20mm Cannon, found a lot of these elsewhere at Site X but first one here at JMCP...  Electrolysis using a 12v battery charger may clean this up...

Would also clean up this item...

Tail fin form a fred 3" Mortar...

JMCP is like a cycle of two halves, the woods and Hedderwick sands, then down the beach  of Belhaven Bay...

Wee film, song is `Hours` by Tycho

Then down the sands tail wind assisted to Seafield Bridge, this is like from another day!

Song is `Cypress` by Tycho

More soon...

Willys Jeep Update; GPS Speedometer and few other new items added...

 

Doing some routine maintenance on the Jeep the odd evening over the last few weeks... 

Every 3 months i check and top up the front and rear axles, gear box, and the transfer case with the SAE 110 gear oil and was looking forward to using either of the proper pumps made for the job I recently bought, rather than using a large medical syringe with pipe attached - which worked at the time but was a bit messy, but the first pump - an oil transfer syringe did not work, the gear oil was I think to thick, I bought 2 of these syringe pumps but I can use them for other jobs and will keep one for clean oil and one for removing used oil, like in the engine oil filter case when it gets serviced...

 

G got the container transfer pump which did not work before when I last tried it working by priming it so using an empty Screen wash container I had that ready to use...

This has to be the best £8 (free p+p) eBay purchase yet!, with a  clever barb type end that hooks in the threads of the plug level threads the whole operation of topping up oil levels was real easy with minimum oil wasted...

Gearbox took the most with a few pumps needed...

With that job done I fitted a rifle rack, along with WW2 era style identification plates that came from India where Mahindra make the Willys MB under licence of Willys like the French did with Hotchkiss,

The brackets did not line up but I soon had others drilled and mounted it after a repaint from gloss dark green (India army colour) to red oxide primer and 42 Olive drab...

Neighbours cat Fudge showing an interest as usual when he appears in the garden!...

While I was at it with the paint I painted a section of CLS wood I cut and primed with undercoat to fit under the rear seat to stop a blanket wrapped around the emergency towing arm rattling out from under the seat...

Another evening I cleaned the plugs and re gapped them...

On cylinder number 3 the plug is a kind of bronze colour which means it has been getting a bit too much heat or it may just be a duff plug,  by swapping it onto another cylinder I will see if another plug goes the same way will confirm its the engine, which could be a slightly too tight valve?...

All Plugs are running the correct tan grey colour so may just be a dud plug...

Spare plugs, points and condenser are in the plastic ammo box bolted onto the position of the original 24 volt second battery...

And another evening I added the WW2 style ID plates on the glove box door, and the original French one on the inside...

My mountainbike bottle cages are maybe not era, but that's the beauty of a non original post WW2 Jeep like a Hotchkiss M201, it is still a military Jeep, you can make it your own and dress it how you want, not be scared to use it and enjoy it, and your investment will continue to rise....

Electrician friend Al popped round last weekend for a tuition on how to properly set points and what to look for,  and I learned a lot...

And I got the GPS  speedometer fitted I bought  a few weeks ago wired in by Al, and I am really impressed with this as I did not like the Kph speedo that danced around at only around the 8-9 o'clock position while driving at 35-45 mph,  The GPS speedo reads spot on and goes all around the clock, it was a bit fiddly to fit securing the back plate with 2 nuts but Al wired it in easily enough, it has a constant live feed, a feed via the ignition switch to with it on, a back light wire, and an earth...

The original cable drive Speedo has been moved underneath the dash onto a chassis beam to record the original milage as there is no Odometer to record milage on the GPS speedo...

I painted the new speedo surround Green a few days before for it to match...

Basically Al wired a constant live feed and wired it to switch on when the ignition is turned on, along with a back light wire and earth onto the chassis. The only tricky job was fitting the rear holder with the 2 screws in such an awkward space hard to get into but it was soon on...

Went out a wee spin to check it working ok and it was...

And it reads the speed perfect!...

Real happy with this and worth the £105 price...

Got a lot of films to upload out driving the Jeep over the last few weeks when the sun has been out,

And when it met another icon from the Cold War which is a bit bigger than the Jeep a few weeks ago which I will post up next...

More soon...