WillysM38

March 2011

Work Log: March 2011

Paint, continued

So, I sprayed the first shot of custom-mixed OD, and it looked wrong. Very wrong. Wrong like baby poo after eating too much creamed peas wrong. I'm so glad this isn't the correct color! The spray can from the other supplier came in on the same day, so I sprayed it out on a card, which Tri City Paint will use for matching. My plan is to use the bad batch for a first coat and pretend it's mimicking the original "primer" coat, which was in fact lighter and yellower. At least my paint "booth" is working out well.

Axles

Rear

Remember how I noted that the bearings in the differential were good? Just kidding! Well, I thought they were good, but they weren't. So, ordered a complete set of new bearings. Postponed that rebuild pending parts...

Front

We already knew these bearings were bad, so we had replacements in hand. Soon after starting the reassembly, we managed to damage both carrier bearing cups by getting them cocked too much when trying to insert the carrier into the housing. Whoops, that's a $50 mistake. Obtained replacements and realized we were scraping up the housing pretty bad by hammering in those bearings. A differential case spreader is the right tool for the job, but they're crazy expensive and not available for rent down at your local auto parts store. Other people have supposedly had success without them, but we sure aren't! Heaven forbid you actually manage to get the carrier in, for then you have to get it back out. That requires a puller be rigged up since the Harbor Freight pry bars we are trying to use just bend. That sucker is in there tight, especially if it's been sitting there for a week. Yes, the end of the month has arrived and we still have a ways to go on this mesh...

Air cleaner, continued

This arrived and it fit beautifully. It was the only shiny part in the engine compartment. I took it out to keep it clean.

Wheels

We took the wheels in to get the rock-hard tires dismounted so I could begin work on cleaning and straightening the wheels. They are in pretty sorry shape. The worst is the severe rust around the valve stem hole on every wheel. Water seeped in, probably because the lack of air pressure in the tubes didn't create a good seal between the valve stem and metal. I'll have to see what these look like after stripping paint and bead blasting.

Carburetor

Even though the WO carburetor isn't correct, for budget reasons it needs to stay. The idle circuit didn't seem to be working correctly, so I pulled it off and started the rebuild during a rainy week. Both the throttle and choke shafts are horribly worn, so we'll have to machine replacements. Since all the linkages are rusty, I'm re-plating them. Since I don't want to buy a fancy kit, I'm just doing zinc plating. I don't have a photo of my real set-up yet, but at right is my experimental run, plating a large nail. Mom was thrilled to come home and find her kitchen counter converted to an electroplating lab.

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