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

Saturday 25 September 2021

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...