Willys Jeeps; There is always something to do on them...

It is roughly just over 600 miles from Normandy to Berlin if you were driving today, however in June of 1944 when The allied invasion of Fortress Europe began it was not a straight forward drive using a  Michelin  map, so wondering how many miles the those first Jeeps really did is quite irrelivent giving the harshness of terrain they were covering, and the battle damage and burden of equipment often transported that some endured required a lot of mechanical time from basic day to day checks on the basic oil and water to period service intervals. Today owning a Jeep we probably do a lot more miles cruising about than many Military Jeeps in service did, for example I have covered 839 miles since March - note replaced  Willys WW2 used speedometer - the owner had 5 for sale, all rewound to 0 miles, I forgot to blog this when I fitted it back in March after the GPS speedo packed in after only 6 months. Stick with original parts - that GPS speed while £105 was a lot cheap plastic rubbish, oh notice the colour of it? Pacific green,

Back on topic and a wobbly right hand side front wheel was diagnosed with these studs on top of the hub being loose, quite scary when you imagine what could go wrong if this lot let go....

Some thread sealant should avoid this happening again but checking these on both sides has been added to the monthly list....

With the thread lock drying I took the front wheels along to Border tyres and for £12 had them balanced as this could have been the cause of bolts being loosened...

Copper grease on the wheel nut threads is always a good idea before refitting, and after a wee drive the wheel nuts will get rechecked for tightness - the is one of the monthly jobs I check...

Other jobs on the monthly check list include checking radiator hose clamps, j

Just a matter of going around the jeep in general, the carburettor is now checked monthly after it once loosened off. A  9/16 AF  spanner cut down and bent allows to get into the bolts on both sides holding on the Solex Carb. Most tools that are small enough I keep in the plastic ammo box bolted in the engine area under the bonnet where the second battery would sit if the Jeep was still 24 volt as Manufactured by Hotchkiss....

A spied bumper bolt was re tightened - after some thread lock on the bolt...

Sump bolts are another monthly check

And suspension mounting bolts...

All easy jobs to do just using a handful of AF spanners and socket and ratchet, these were purchased real cheap - as decent tools are these days. I bought Nielsen AF sockets for £23, and US Pro rachets (1/4  1/2  and 3/4) set of 3 for £30, full set of US Pro AF spanners were only £35...

It all adds to the satisfaction of owning something when you look after it as much as you can yourself,