Tuercas viejas
MB Enthusiast
The Jeep of WW2 era.
As a preamble we are re-building the engine from a 1947 CJ2a for a family who inherited it from their granddad, a business neighbour of mine .who passed away last year.
The engine was full of coolant due to a head gasket failure that had locked itself up, and had been left for several years in that state.
I had the apprentice and female intern remove it and tear it down, which for teenagers was a foray into motor vehicle design of the 1930's & 40"s yesteryears .
Now the CJ2a was Willys' continuance of postwar production and emergence of a Civi version of the GPW & the predecessor experimental Ford based Bantam, which all ended up & copied by Landrover's concept with the MK1
One thing about observing this side valve engine in bits is a term we have forgotten, QUALITY of the component materials used.
Like a huge crank /camshaft HELICAL drive gears all made with a good I would imagine carbon ally steel unmarred from being submerged in a mix of oil & coolant.
Now enter the story of my late dad wartime 6th Airborne Para who used the Willys Jeep as a Recce /light tactical attack vehicle , often driven out of a Horsa Glider with Bren/Vickers machine guns.
Apart from being a post war small repair shop owner my dad was GM nut. If it had GM, GMC Vauxhall Bedford on the grill it was the best and all the rest was $chit expect for the Willys .
I could tell he had a special connection to the vehicle as a British soldier.
We boys over the dinner table would get him going about Jeeps and Jeep history, of Ford and Willys,
So the other week i stumbled upon this article which also cover the lawsuit claims the Frenchman who claimed he designed the Jeep well before WW2!
Interested ?
Then read on :-
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/20...cades-claiming-he-invented-the-willys-mb-jeep
Its useful to look at D Day invasion spec Jeeps with the Airborne.
One thing of visual interest is that British soldiers lopped about 12" off the ends of the front bumper ,this to clear the hinges of the glider cockpit as it was swung upon to drive it out.
That mod became a standard on production in the USA plus stretcher mods et el for casualty transport
Take a look at the Airborne Paras web site to see Jeeps in action.
All fascinating auto trivia stuff from yesteryear .
Tuercas viejas
As a preamble we are re-building the engine from a 1947 CJ2a for a family who inherited it from their granddad, a business neighbour of mine .who passed away last year.
The engine was full of coolant due to a head gasket failure that had locked itself up, and had been left for several years in that state.
I had the apprentice and female intern remove it and tear it down, which for teenagers was a foray into motor vehicle design of the 1930's & 40"s yesteryears .
Now the CJ2a was Willys' continuance of postwar production and emergence of a Civi version of the GPW & the predecessor experimental Ford based Bantam, which all ended up & copied by Landrover's concept with the MK1
One thing about observing this side valve engine in bits is a term we have forgotten, QUALITY of the component materials used.
Like a huge crank /camshaft HELICAL drive gears all made with a good I would imagine carbon ally steel unmarred from being submerged in a mix of oil & coolant.
Now enter the story of my late dad wartime 6th Airborne Para who used the Willys Jeep as a Recce /light tactical attack vehicle , often driven out of a Horsa Glider with Bren/Vickers machine guns.
Apart from being a post war small repair shop owner my dad was GM nut. If it had GM, GMC Vauxhall Bedford on the grill it was the best and all the rest was $chit expect for the Willys .
I could tell he had a special connection to the vehicle as a British soldier.
We boys over the dinner table would get him going about Jeeps and Jeep history, of Ford and Willys,
So the other week i stumbled upon this article which also cover the lawsuit claims the Frenchman who claimed he designed the Jeep well before WW2!
Interested ?
Then read on :-
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/20...cades-claiming-he-invented-the-willys-mb-jeep
Its useful to look at D Day invasion spec Jeeps with the Airborne.
One thing of visual interest is that British soldiers lopped about 12" off the ends of the front bumper ,this to clear the hinges of the glider cockpit as it was swung upon to drive it out.
That mod became a standard on production in the USA plus stretcher mods et el for casualty transport
Take a look at the Airborne Paras web site to see Jeeps in action.
All fascinating auto trivia stuff from yesteryear .
Airborne jeep | ParaData
The 4x4 General Purpose vehicle, (nicknamed “Jeep” either due to the “GP” initials or after a character “Eugene the Jeep" in the Popeye cartoons), became a familiar sight amongst all allied units. Used for a variety of purposes it was heavily modified when adapted for a wide variety of roles for...
www.paradata.org.uk