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M38 "The Moose"

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rover67 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 7:34pm
Howdy Again folks!

I've been riding by this rig for years now seeing it in the same field and wondering "man that'd be a neat project". Before the end of the year I was able to get in touch with the owner and talk to him about it. It turns out it has been there through a few changes of ownership of the land and now that the current owners are ready to build they were up for letting me adopt it and move it down to our place to make space for construction. I was super excited to have the opportunity and towed it down to our house a few streets down and have since started digging in.

From what I can tell it had been sitting for a while. One of the batteries in it had a 1956 date stamp on it and of course the whole rig looked rough. I emptied it out and started kind of cleaning things up to see where I stood. 

The engine looked to be a factory replacement, and the rest of the truck was relatively complete. I was excited but soon realized the block was cracked near the back of the main oil galley necessitating a replacement as well as a rebuild. The transmission was not only loosely bolted to the bellhousing, but was also missing one of the 4 bolts completely. When the clutch was pushed in the tranny was able to separate from the bell housing about 1/8". After taking the top over off I noticed that while the gears looked to be in relatively good shape the oil slinger/guard thing for the front bearing was pretty chewed up from the input shaft running loosely in it, my guess being that it was because it was all coming loose.

Anyhow, i'm in it now and excited to share. The plan is to "get it running" and hopefully be able to share the joy of driving it around a little bit with the old owner :). It had a little plastic moose in it I found during cleanup therefore the namesake :)

I'm pretty sure it's a 1951 M38. The Serial number on the plate on the right rear fender reads MC 71732.

Block Serial number Reads RMC 125917








Edited by rover67 - 10 Nov. 2017 at 7:57pm
Marco
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smfulle View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smfulle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 7:45pm
Love it!
Stan
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 7:50pm
Unbelievably the tires held air. It has been sitting on it's own inflated tires for a few months now and is currently exploded in the garage. I was able to find a decent gear driven block to build the motor from for now, it has been bored 0.060" over and cleaned up reasonably well with several passes of the hone. The bores are maybe 0.0025" bigger than where they should be which is right at the upper service limit per the manual. My crank from the old motor has been ground 0.020" under and seems like it's in great shape as well as the rods. I've ordered new bearings and some 0.060" over pistons and hope to put it together like that. I also am getting new valves and valve guides and will touch up the seats prior to reassembly.  The Melling oil pump in it seems to be in good shape, so after a call to Melling, they are sending me a new cover gasket for it. I'll weld up the cam timing gear squirter hole which is at 0.070" and drill a new one at 0.040" to hopefully bump the oil feeding the bearings up a hair.

I've managed to get the carb rebuilt and have a garage full of Jeep guts :)





Marco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ggordon49 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 8:22pm
Oh Man! So Cool!! Love the pictures of The Moose in it's natural habitat Wink

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RICKG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 8:23pm
Marco, i'll take nothing away from this site, it's about the most informative on the interweb. The link I will post is for a site that I'm quite familiar with and is M38 specific.  Members there can download the M38 specific tech manuals no charge. If you don't already have these manuals I highly recommend them..
I never met a mule I didn't like!
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'50 CJ3A "Bucksnort".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oldtime Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 10:22pm
Quote It had a little plastic moose in it I found during cleanup therefore the namesake :)
Quote The transmission was not only loosely bolted to the bellhousing, but was also missing one of the 4 bolts completely.
  

Hence the old adage.... "THE MOOSE IS LOOSE" !


Edited by oldtime - 10 Nov. 2017 at 10:26pm
Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
T98-A Rock Crawler using exclusive factory parts and Approved Special Equipment from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963)
Zero aftermarket parts

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oilleaker1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 11:08pm
I love the fact you are saving it. It will be your buddy. Mooster is back! Can't kill a good old Jeep. You might consider hard seats in the exhaust valves. New valves and springs are cheap and make a huge improvement to your engine. Hope to see you on the trails! Thumbs Up  Oilly
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Unkamonkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov. 2017 at 11:11pm
Check behind the passenger seat. A M38 usually had another tag with the VIN number there.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote m38mike Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Nov. 2017 at 2:41pm
What a great find and score!  Congratulations!  It looks like you're making super progress getting this M38 back on the road and trail.  I hope to see it in person someday soon.  Thanks for sharing the story.  "Come On Moose!!"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Nov. 2017 at 5:13pm
I got all the technical manuals, they are pretty nice to have, very detailed!

I have gathered lots-o-parts and finally started rebuilding the new used block. Dingleberry hone cylinders and a DIY 3 angle valve job. The cylinders are close (i'll keep telling myself that) to being round and free of taper and a few thou oversized. Hopefully the rings live a decent while. I'm going to try to weld the old block's cracks and keep it as a spare if it works so in the future I can bore it and maybe do it "right". for now I'm just going to see if this used block works with minimal effort. Anyhow, we started putting in the valves last night and I realized the M38's have different retainers and keepers on the valves than the civilian rigs, so an order of keepers and retainers as well as valve springs was in order this AM.

"The Moose is loose!" Maybe I need to swap my regular diet of beer to Moosehead for the rebuild!




Marco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov. 2017 at 5:44pm
I got pretty far on the engine over the last weekend. I realized the rotating valve retainers don't work with my new valves so I have NOS Retainers and new keepers of the standard flavor on the way. I also found a broken valve springs so I went ahead and ordered 8 new ones also.

The crankshaft went in fine with new bearings. New .060 over pistons, rings, and rods with new bearings neatly mated up to the freshly installed crank.  I also welded up the 0.070" oil squirter hole in the timing housing and re-drilled to the smaller 0.040" to bump the pressure in the oil system a touch.  The engine had the gear style melling oil pump that looked great so I kept it and bolted it up cleaned with new gaskets and primed. I also took apart the oil strainer and cleaned it all up, it was pretty bad. The cam got a new fiber timing gear and cam bearing.

Last up were the accessories, I was able to clean and check the distributor, the points and coil seem in good shape. I installed it and set the timing with a multi meter since with the waterproof plug wires using the timing light is difficult (or you get the tool that splices into the plug wire).

I also stuck on the water pump, generator, and belts. New oil lines for the filter went on as well.

Hopefully the valve springs,retainers and keepers get in before I have to leave town for the holidays.. if not the  project will have to wait a week or so.

Marco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oilleaker1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov. 2017 at 5:57pm
It's refreshing to see others spending money on their Jeeps-----LOL Looking good! John
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RICKG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov. 2017 at 5:59pm
Nice work. Just a hint: be sure your oil pump is indexed correctly per the TM as the 24V mil dist has limited rotation for adjustment due to it's shape (unlike the civvy dizzy).  It appears you're going to keep the 24V system-keep a look out for the complete elect test adapter set, priceless!! They can sometimes be found for 75 bucks or less.. 


Edited by RICKG - 20 Nov. 2017 at 6:04pm
I never met a mule I didn't like!
MC51986 "OD MULE" DOD 01-52
'50 CJ3A "Bucksnort".
Keep 'em Rollin'
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov. 2017 at 6:08pm
That electrical test adapter set looks well... amazing...

I'll keep and eye out. It would certainly make things easier.

I stuck in the oil pump as described in the TM (in with fat side at 1 o-clock, final position 2 o-clock) and was able to get the distributor installed and timed at 5 degrees BTDC with a touch of movement left in it still.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RICKG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov. 2017 at 6:20pm
I never met a mule I didn't like!
MC51986 "OD MULE" DOD 01-52
'50 CJ3A "Bucksnort".
Keep 'em Rollin'
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov. 2017 at 6:29pm
Oh look at that, you're right, I put several on my watch list. Thanks for the heads up!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov. 2017 at 3:33pm
I had time away from the motor last night so I tore down the transmission. The guts look decent except for a mangled splash shield. Herm the overdrive guy's removal instructions for the overdrive saved me a lot of grief!





Marco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rover67 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Dec. 2017 at 11:27pm
I finally got the right valve keepers and retainers in so I was able to finish the motor. All in all it got refaced valve seats, all new springs, retainers, and valves. I rebuilt the distributor, used the original oil pump since it was a nice melling gear one, modified the timing gear oil squirter to a smaller 0.040" hole, all new bearings and seals, reman Borg Warner clutch, new timing gears, new plug wires, new water pump, and new vent lines for the tranny and t case. I also rebuilt the tranny in the mean time. I ended up machining a spacer to get the output shaft clearances right. I also ended up deleting the overdrive for the time being. The surfaces where the needle bearings run on the spider gear cluster thing are totally shot and the roll pins are being a pain. When I get it fully torn down i'll send it to Herm. He does a bushing retro fit so the whole thing doesn't need to be replaced which will be nice.

Anyways it runs, and it sounds great. Not bad if I do say so myself for setting the timing with a multi meter and guessing on carb settings!

now on to steering and some brake work and engine goes in!

And umm... I know starting it on the hoist is probably not a great idea but I couldn't help myself.... It didn't move too much. It made 40 psi running it in the video at idle with 10-30 so oil pressure is stellar in my opinion!



Marco
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