Time Capsule Navy CJ3A by Valentine APU |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Say hello to my little friend of 75 hp glory, and my partner in crime Jim (WeeWilly). My partner in crime had the Jeep safely running in about 5 minutes. Jim plugged off the oil filter and soon enough I was blasting across his yard. That extra +15 hp really makes a difference. Everything checks out beautifully with this Jeep. Here's the plan: In a couple weeks when I'm on spring break I'll bring the Jeep home. I also have a parts 3A with a potentially running L-head and rotted body. So swap the 2A drivetrain into the APU, then the 3A drivetrain into the 2A. Sell off the other Jeeps and be scott-free with my engine. The APU will rise!
Edited by Nick_ - 02 Mar. 2016 at 2:47am |
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WeeWilly
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 07 May 2009 Location: Clayton IN Status: Offline Points: 3422 |
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Enjoyed the evening with you Nick and glad to be of a help. Jim
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47 CJ2A (Ranch Hand) 48 CJ2A, 48 Willys truck, T3C 3782, M274 (Military Mule)
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Bob W
Member Sponsor Member x 4 Joined: 08 Aug. 2005 Location: Monticello, NY Status: Offline Points: 1689 |
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Keep in mind that a CJ-2A and a CJ-3A use different engine front plates and the drivers side mount bracket on the frame is different. F-head engines could also have a few different front plates depending on the original application.
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Bob, I think I should be golden. The APU frame is already setup for the F-head engine. On the engine plate itself I will have to find out once I get everything pulled apart. On the driver side of the F-head mount, there's a piece of angle iron that mounts to the 2A frame.
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was1257
Member Joined: 22 Jan. 2015 Location: pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 22 |
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If those 1950 dated headlights are made by cocoran-brown , you should be able rebuild them.
If you google Corcoran-brown headlights, there is a post on how to rebuild and replace the bulbs. I bought the 6volt bulbs in England for about $3 a piece. It takes about an hour per headlight |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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During spring break I brought the donor 2A home for some engine
transplanting. My master plan was to do a 3 Jeep drivetrain swap as described
in my other post, but bubba and time were against me especially with traveling
to Arizona. I did manage to pull the F-head/tranny out of the 2A. This donor Jeep was too nice to go to waste, and the L-head I was
going to put back in ended up having an internal noise. So I checked Craigslist
and ended up finding a Hobart Welder in Chicago... I was more excited than I'd
like to admit when I picked it up. The owner was excited that I was excited and
nothing but giggling. This thing was an absolute beast, and the L-head worked
great for the donor Jeep. Now the 2A's all back together and about ready to
move on (I don't need another project). Engine for the APU! Here's something interesting: this had a 9
1/4'' clutch like an M38A1 rather than the 8 1/2'' CJ clutches. Next time I'm
home, I'll check and see what the numbers on the engine are. That would be
pretty neat if it was military. The engine paint has the perfect amount of wear 'n tear I wanted for the APU. I'm going to order a new clutch, pressure plate, fork, and throwout bearing to do this Jeep right. She will ride again!
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Zuma58
Member Joined: 10 Mar. 2011 Location: Vancouver, Wash Status: Offline Points: 383 |
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Hey Nick, another member here is looking for other owners of APU Jeeps, not sure why but you might PM him and see what he wants, his member name is Toms52Willys. Jiust thought you might want to know....
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Steve
Long May You Run!!! |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Thanks for the heads up, I've already been in contact with Tom for the past few months. I talked to him before I even went to look at the Jeep. He's one of the pioneers in APU history research, and is always emailing me some cool stuff. Here's an early APU based on a WWII Jeep:
And one of the only known pictures of a Valentine APU. That guy must've irritated it.
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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There hasn’t been any physical progress
on the Valentine since I’m stuck at campus for another month til summer.
However, Tom has made some unbelievable progress in uncovering
history/mysteries about APU’s. He frequently travels to the National Archives
to obtain documents.
This Valentine is 1 of 75. No wonder this is the only one to surface. Here is the original quote from Valentine to the US government: Full document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6edWObkSS3ORnhQd0lfMTNXUXM/view?usp=sharing I have #19 of 75… unbelievable. |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Where do I begin? I'm out of school until next semester. In the past 2 days I've been home its been nonstop work on the APU. This whole week my family and I are going to New Orleans for a car club event, so next week I'll have about 3 days to get the Jeep operational for Effingham. I swear I'm not crazy.
First are the tires I thought I ordered: The tires I received. They aren't as aggressive. I've been working on getting the correct ones from the warehouse, but if not I can live with these. I'm putting whichever tires I end up with on the original rims. A matching set is a step-up from what she's at now. Last night I started surgery on the Valentine itself, going where no man has gone before in this century! To drop the transmission and transfercase, the PTO system must first be removed. Here is the cover plate that first comes off: The oil drain on the PTO: Surprisingly it was still pretty full of clean oil. The axles were at the fill level as well. Pretty amazing since she's sat since 1962! And drop: Next I decided to do some preventative maintenance. Keep in mind everything worked perfectly in the donor Jeep. Of course while its out, changing the oil seals would make sense. I separated the trans/tcase/bellhousing. Put a new gasket on the front of the tranny (and in true fashion dropped the needle bearings, so those were re-greased and set). The shifter pin on the tcase refused to be slid out, and during the process of heavy equipment, the front part of the case got cracked. While removing the front part of the case to change it, the shifter rod snapped in half. It also cut my finger nail in half So the plan is to take the rod from the "original" tcase and swap it over. Yep... I've turned oil seals into tearing the whole thing apart. The list now is: 1. Build the tcase 2. New clutch and mate drivetrain 3. Completely overhaul the brake system 4. ???? 5. Self-powered ride into the sunset Did I mention I'll have 3 days? |
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berettajeep
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 03 Feb. 2009 Location: Astoria OR Status: Offline Points: 4304 |
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Quit wasting time here and get back to work!
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Aaaaand the 3 days have begun!
Yesterday I spent about 12 solid hours working on the APU. During the trip to New Orleans, it hit me: I had another tcase on a shelf. So once back home I checked it out and it looked great. It got pulled apart for all new oil seals, just to be sure it wouldn't leak. Next was a new clutch system for more preventative maintenance. Then finally mated the drivetrain together. I forgot to take pictures of this, but will do tomorrow. Today the Jeep was brought into the main shop for major surgery. I figured the brakes needed to be completely gone through. No wonder the front wheels sat crooked, this is what the front axle looked like: No axle shaft! No backing plate!
It makes me wonder why it was all left apart. I know the original owner was planning a restoration. Maybe this was the first step he never finished. Good thing I'm a hoarder. Had this CJ3A chassis sitting out back just in case the APU needed it. Who woulda thought? Here are the pre-restored rear drums. Yuck. I successfully took off 3 hubs with ease. The driver rear drum absolutely would not come off for anything. Knowing I'm on a tight time limit, I decided to give up and move on. 3 of 4 should be enough for this parade cruiser, at least for now. About 11 hard hours later we have beauty. They're adjusted and ready to rock. Goals for tomorrow: Install master cylinder. Connect brake lines & bleed the system. Put the Jeep on its wheels again. Finish up the little touches on the drivetrain, then drop it in. |
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46Willard
Member Joined: 25 May 2012 Location: Aurora, IL Status: Offline Points: 160 |
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I just noticed the right taillight, I assume not original, but it has a nice vintage look. I have not seen that style before, is there any markings on it?
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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I'm not sure if it's original or not, but here's a picture. It reads: "Stratolight" Today was day 3 of my mechanical restoration. Yesterday I thought the brakes were just about finished and would just need some quick work, but that was not the case. I fought the master cylinder, all the brake line threads, and clogged brake lines. There was so much clogging that the pedal was completely stiff. I managed to get one of the front cylinders to work. The rest will have to wait. I also had to pull the front hubs apart. It was a day full of 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards. Tires: It turned out my eBay specials were a tick too short. They could have worked, but ground clearance is low enough as it is. The local tire shop had some 5.30-12's. My original tires are 4.50-12's, but the sizes are almost exactly the same. I also like how the tread doesn't look completely like a trailer tire. All said and done with tires, tubes, and labor I was only out $235. The tire shop had to completely wire wheel the inside of the rims then tube them. I kept the original tire that's identical to those in historic photographs. 5.30's must be the new 4.50's but they do look great. Here's the culprit of most my stress during the week. Like I mentioned yesterday, I put on a new clutch, pilot bushing, and fork. Both the tranny and tcase got all new oil seals. Hopefully it won't leak too much. While it's out of the Jeep, it only makes sense to replace the wear items. This picture was at about 10pm. *Que the music* Today I started out at 9am and left the shop at midnight. Once the brakes starting giving me trouble I heavily debated throwing in the towel, just install the radiator and push it up the trailer. I'm glad I kept moving forward. Tomorrow afternoon we leave for the Effingham show. It's going to be a final day of running around like a maniac getting the drivetrain hooked up. |
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Dmac
Member Joined: 25 Mar. 2011 Location: Coatesville IN Status: Offline Points: 210 |
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Nice, going to try to make it to Effingham myself tomorrow. Good luck!
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43 Ford GPW "AWOL"
48-52 CJ Series Bubba Jeep |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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What a crazy week! Looking back at my posts from last Monday, I can't believe this is the same Jeep.
The final day, Friday, started out with the engine in the Jeep. I thought we could be rolling to Effingham at around 3 pm. It turned out I underestimated the amount of time it would take to "finish" the job up. Around 12 pm I knew it was pretty far behind. It turned into an all-hands-on-deck operation to finish the: -Wiring
-Driveshafts -Engine hoses -Oil hoses -All fluids changed -"New" exhaust Around 8 pm I was finally rolling out for the 5 hour drive. I arrived at the hotel at around 2 am. The bed was so cozy I uh, overslept a little. After Hugh calling me about 5 times to wake and tell me some people were looking for the APU, I shot right out of bed. This was taken just after I backed it out: At the reunion. I couldn't have been more proud at this moment: Not only was it a Willys reunion, but a brotherly reunion. Sitting next to the APU is Hugh's MB, which was purchased at the same property. I believe they were both bought from surplus at the same time. I moved the Jeep over to some scenic trees for a little photo shoot for the Dispatcher magazine. This will be in the June 2016 edition. More and more people gathered to see this piece of machinery. All said and done, I'm glad I worked round the clock last week. Unloading the Jeep and having masses people gather made the whole process worth it. I learned I'm not the only guy crazy enough to fall in love with an APU. A few people pointed out my gas tank had a special anti-spark fuel pump, which they've never seen on a Jeep before. We learned quite a bit at the reunion, met some great people, and had a blast driving the APU for the first time. I have a little video I'll have to upload. Right now I'm debating going to the Ohio show next Friday. She lives after 54 years!! |
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JEEPzilla
Member Joined: 24 May 2016 Location: Port Townsend Status: Offline Points: 23 |
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Sweet find! I'm glad to hear your keeping it patina style. I left my 46 as is out of the barn like Dad stored it. I'm thinking on clear coat over, and rust kill (POR15) under for body metal.
Good luck! |
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Bill Norris
Member Joined: 01 May 2006 Location: MI Status: Offline Points: 1839 |
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Nick,
It was definitely 'the find' at the show this year. Glad you got it going and brought it. I didn't realize Valentine was in Detroit and actually not too far from where I work. I have an inquiry in at the library here to see if they have any info. I'll let you know what I hear back. Bill
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Holy Toledo! Jeep Calendars and the Dispatcher Jeep magazine
http://dispatchermagazine.com |
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