"one piece at a time"

I've said it in the past.....if it were ever for sale, you'd be the only one allowed to buy it. truth! 

Beware these are not mutually exclusive 

In the process of servicing the transmission, I discovered a few things. I'm fairly confident that I may have just removed the original oil. Based on smell and viscosity - yes. Also the drain plugs all matched and had no tool marks on them. Either someone was very careful in the past when changing the oil, but I'm going with never been changed. The oil was dark, but no water and I could not see any yellow metals in the oil. The innards of the T-90 look like new. 

But what was very cool was this! I estimated this Jeeps build date to be on or around March 27, 1946. Today it's confirmed I am darn close! I still can't get over how unmolested this Jeep is. More and more I think the 32,000 miles displayed is real. 

And here's something I found funny. There are those that frown upon people using lights meant for a Harley in the grills of early Jeeps. 

Well my friend Eric sent me these. When I asked about the brackets he said "I had them mounted on my Harley" 

Thankfully he saved the original pedestal and hardware! 

Working on some minor bits. I swapped the exhaust to the MB style to accommodate the PTO shaft. I really don't like the passenger side exhaust, so I shot it flat black to satisfy my eye. 

I swapped a proper set of tailgate chains. And lastly installed leather boots for the PTO and the T-case shifters. 

I was about to start tackling the dash, when I discovered this. 

Stock? Military left over? I've never seen an on/off lever on the dash light itself. Anyone know more than I do? 

Glamour shots - 

Getting harder and harder to find quality rubber ones so time a man buys a couple the leather makes good sense. 

Had some distractions - work travel, family visits and piecing together a friend's CJ7 engine swap. 

I'm preparing for what I believe to be the inevitable. The motor in the Jeep needs to come out. While it runs excellent - it smokes something terrible. All cylinders are oily. So I believe it's just tired. 

I have another motor. Little history on this thing. It belonged to my good friend Eric. It powered his 2A for many years. It went from stock-ish 2A to a serious off road rig. A machinist by trade, he adapted an SM 420 to this motor and made his own adapter to the D18. 

The Jeep eventually ended up in the hands of another friend John. He wheeled the thing for a few years, Then it went to Jim. Again he used and abused the drivetrain for more years. All these owners are friends of mine. We've wheeled together for decades. Each one was told "if you ever sell that drivetrain, I want it. Well, one day Jim said "come get it" And so I did. 

That was a decade ago. I have carted this drivetrain around ever since. Last year, I let the SM420 and adapters go to Seth. I was very proud to see these bits get used in a great project. But the motor remained. I had no intention of parting with it. Over the last decade, I would oil it once in a blue moon. Spin it over here and there. I brought it to Maryland when we moved south. Needless to say we have some history. It's always been one of the best running flatheads I've ever heard. 

That said - I knew it was tired. Power was down. Oil pressure low. So I tore it down to investigate. 

It's amazingly clean inside! You can tell it was well cared for. It's been rebuilt once already. Pistons are .040. Rods and mains are .030. I think the cylinders will clean up perfectly at .060. The crank and rods may just need another .010. But we will see what the machinist has to say once I get it there. 

So, I plan to build this engine for the Jeep. No it's not original. No it's not the correct vintage. But, we have history. And this is the engine that belongs in my Jeep. It's going to be a proud day to hear it run after a near 30 year history with it. 

The old heart will beat again soon! 

This is a temporary measure while I source the correct 6V stuff. I installed a one wire 12V alternator meant for a tractor. I whipped up a bracket to hang it without doing any permanent modifications. Everything works great! 

I'm still dealing with an original and very fragile wiring harness. Once I get the time, it will be replaced. In the meantime I cleaned things up a bit. I removed some Bubba wiring and a non-functional turn signal switch and wiring. Low and behold most everything I need for now works! 

Left on the list - finish the rear seat cushions, windshield strap and a good final clean. Then I can start driving - smoky engine and all!! 

and my generator collection. Hope to make one good one out of this pile!