Willys Jeep; speedometer cable replacement and out probably last mild day drive this year with the roof down!...

 

Last weekend was memorial weekend, we went to the March and service here in Town, attended by veterans and emergency services who marched behind the pipe band...

Been out each day of the weekend around town in the Jeep...

It is still mild weather for November and still no road salt, and it was good to keep the Jeep torch burning in memory of those war time Jeeps, and the men that drove and fought for us...         

                                                                                                                               My Jeep may have a 1965 French Hotchkiss built chassis M201 with a Willys L134 `Go Devil` engine and is identical in nearly all of it`s parts to the Willys Overland MB war time Jeep. Wether it’s a genuine WW2 Jeep overhauled with the new chassis in the 1960’s or built new then with a spare unused Willys engine we will probably never find out...

Reproduction Wartime data plates on glovebox...

Original Data plate is now inside glove box...

But it is a Willys Jeep made under licence by the French Company Hotchkiss, and a descendent of the WW2 iconic vehicle, and this Jeep has many USA Willys MB parts like the axles stamped with numbers from both Willys and hotchkiss and a lot of parts  that are genuine WW2 New Old Stock (NOS) which Hotchkiss probably had lots of stock after WW2, along with various used parts fitted either by Hotchkiss themselves before it was released from Army stock at Auction in 1990. Some parts probably replaced also by the previous 3 private owners,           

                          I have found it quite interesting owning a French descendent military vehicle here in the UK as apart from Dallas Autos (who do) most other suppliers of Jeep spare do not list Hotchkiss M201 parts, and one in particular was a bit rude and blunt in his reply to me when I asked what Willys MB parts fit the M201, obviously a Jeep snob, so obviously I have not bothered returning their online to buy anything!, but it seems most Wartime Willys MB parts fit the Hotchkiss M201 as Hotchkiss did reproduce their own parts in later years the same pattern as the Willys MB - probably once many parts became difficult to obtain, in fact Hotchkiss  retained the AF threading despite being European and metric and I can prove this with an interesting find…

                                                                                                                                                                     The original speedometer which I have mounted under the dash below the GPS imperial speedometer I have kept to keep an accurate milage of the Jeep recently stopped working- diagnosed as a broken inner drive cable - easy to replace as looks the same as a 1980`s motorcycle type, how ever when I asked online a Forum replied being French the outer cable threads will be metric being a Euro Kph speedo and the Willys cable will not fit. Looking at the manual they visually look the same so I ordered  a replacement and once it arrived I planned that if that was the case I would hopefully be able to use the inner cable...

With the remaining cable inside the outer I had to unscrew the outer underneath down at the transfer case which proved a bit tight to get into...

 

Using some grips (see last blog!) I managed to loosen it then get it out to pull out the remaining inner drive cable...

I removed the broken cable and lay it along side the Willys replacement to compare...

Looks the same to me the inner cable!...

So next was to try the threads of the outer cable and guess what?, screwed right on!, so a couple of folk were talking rubbish on a certain page I sometimes visit...

Next was to try the India £45 imperial Mph Willys Jeep replica I bought about 4 months ago and discovered the Hotchkiss speedo cable did not fit the speedo, so again this i bought on the recommendation of someone online that these eBay speedos fit the Hotchkiss M201 and I was left stuck with this as the cost to return it to India for a refund is pointless...

So what is this speedo from India supposed to actually fit?, I don't know but like the M1 rifle rack I also bought from there where none of the mounts lined up to attach it and I had to drill my own so advice is ignore internet advice unless they have done a film on the stuff actually fitting and save your hard earned pennies and  buy parts locally...

The speedo cable passes through the firewall via a rubber grommet washer along with wiring which probably after 50 odd years has hardened to near plastic...

So rather than trashing  it trying to remove as did not have one I decided to leave the original outer cable  as it was not rusty or anything and after letting some oil run down inside it I added the new inner cable after greasing it using Graphite grease as recommended on a Team G503 video on YouTube...

The transfer case end screwed back in was nipped up with grips again and the speedo mounted underneath the dash out the way using a Jubilee clip...

Back out and I could see the speedo working again so result and I can keep the recorded milage having only lost 100km or so...

So moral of the story - use genuine UK dealers who deal with other Hotchkiss M201 owners here in the UK to get correct fitting spare parts and walk away from those that dismiss you not owning a (supposedely) WW2 Jeep - most are not that genuine!,  and be wary of advice from folk online unless they can show on film etc the parts and they fitting...

Here is a wee film from a short run up to the Monument south of Traprain Law...

Song is `The Duke Arrives/Barricade` by John Carpenter (Escape From New York),

More soon...