Willys M38 A1 - "Klinger"

**pajeff02** · 01-15-2019, 02:47 AM

Renovations at the office are complete but still have not been able to get started on the transmission overhaul. My brother-in-law with the body shop took a look at Klinger for the first time over the holidays. He thought that the paint applied over top of the markings might come off. Over the weekend, I soaked a rag in lacquer thinner and sure enough, the paint wiped right off and did no harm to the markings or the color coat. Somehow I missed the tire pressure markings and still have to do those but a total improvement in how Klinger looks.

**pajeff02** · 06-30-2019, 03:07 AM

Transmission is rebuilt - all new small parts, bearings, countershaft, 2nd gear, synchros, 2-3 shift assembly, synchronizer plates, and throwout bearing assembly. I ended up pulling the bell housing off the engine. Not a whole lot of fun, but glad that I did. The clutch has been replaced and looks to be brand new. Unfortunately, they utilized a mix of bolts to install it, including a couple of hardware store Grade 2 bolts. Replacing everything with Grade 8 bolts this morning and then will attempt to install the transmission and bell housing as a unit. Transfer case is in the parts washers coated with over cleaner. I did the same for the transmission and 65 years of grime melted away and cut scrub time to a matter of minutes.

**pajeff02** · 07-03-2019, 03:05 AM

Fail. Cleaned up the transfer case and flushed out the innards a few times last night. My attempt to install it solo failed miserably. The transmission output shaft bearing is sandwiched between the transmission and the transfer case and I just could not get it to slide together. In taking it back off, I accidentally separated the transmission output shaft from the input shaft and a few of the needle bearings fell out. I called it quits around 9:00 last night and will give it another shot tomorrow.

**Y2KArcticSS** · 07-03-2019, 06:40 AM

It's never fun when things like that don't go as planned, and REALLY not fun when you create more work for yourself in the process of failing. Been there a few times, with the T/A, the old SS and most recently my brother's 67 C10. BUT, it's most satisfying when it all finally comes together. You'll get 'er there soon enough. Good luck on the second attempt

**pajeff02** · 07-04-2019, 02:23 AM

Here are some of the pics detailing the rebuild process.

**pajeff02** · 07-04-2019, 02:29 AM

As you can see, it was about as dirty and nasty as these things come. The cleaning process started with scraping the transmission case and transfer case with a paint stick and flat blade screwdriver to remove the layers of grime. I then dropped them each into the parts washer and coated them liberally with oven cleaner. I kept them "wet" by applying additional coats of oven cleaner and let them each soak for several hours. I then fired up the parts washer and scrubbed them down with a brush. Although I ended up plugging two filters, despite my pre-filter in the drain, the cleaning process went much quicker than expected.

The transfer case was especially nasty:

**pajeff02** · 07-05-2019, 02:29 AM

Well, we are back together and running again. Unfortunately, there is an issue on the 3-2 shift. The transmission works perfectly on the R-1, 1-2 and 2-3, but I can not get it to shift 3-2. It will come out of third into neutral but not engage second. Even double clutching (which I almost always had to do previously) does nothing. On the bright side, it no longer jumps out of second on downhill runs.

**pajeff02** · 07-07-2019, 12:23 PM

Fixed. After taking the shift assembly off, I could see a small hot spot on the synchronizer assembly and third gear synchro. Looks like things had to "clearance themselves" a bit as I have some brass filings in the fluid now. After reassembly, and a few failed attempts, I was able to make the 3-2 shift double clutching it.

We loaded Klinger up yesterday and went to a family gathering and some trail driving. From there we trailered north into New York for some more trail running. Other than an occasional stall and hard re-start, Klinger did incredibly well. Today, we went on our longest ride yet down to the lake and Klinger performed flawlessly.

**pajeff02** · 07-08-2019, 03:26 PM

Great thing about a Jeep? I don't need the big trailer to haul it!

This is from our ride on Sunday afternoon down to the lake.

***SMWS6TA*** · 07-09-2019, 06:37 AM

God I feel the roads from Honduras again just looking at those pics.....

**pajeff02** · 07-12-2019, 03:13 AM

Looks like northern Pennsylvania to me.

Ordered up another round of parts for Klinger -- differential cover gaskets, fuel pump, rear seat belts and a gas cap gasket. Worked on installing the front seat belts last night and have the driver side completed. Still lots to do -- replacing engine mounts, installing the engine ground strap that is missing, drilling the plug out of the block to plumb the oil feed line to the filter canister, need to get the speedo and fuel gauge working, install turn signals, add a brake/marker light assembly on the back right, get the horn working, install rear seat belts, mount the license plate, may mess with the vacuum wipers at some point, adjust the e-brake, and likely rebuild the carb and bend up a pump to carb fuel line. That's the short list!

**Y2KArcticSS** · 07-12-2019, 06:02 AM

That sounds like a day or two's worth of work...

**pajeff02** · 07-14-2019, 02:37 AM

Good thing I have nothing else to do! I knew this one would be an ongoing project, but it pretty much ends up being the same treatment we give all of our vehicles once they join the family. A very thorough going over to ensure that they are both safe and reliable.

**pajeff02** · 12-31-2019, 02:03 AM

So Klinger and I are having issues. We attempted a trip several weeks ago to a state park along with my brother in his M151-A2. Around 11 miles south of home, I noticed the oil pressure dropping and started to hear a knock. I pulled over and immediately shut down. Oil level and coolant temperature were both fine and the only thing I noticed was a small leak emanating from the seam in the oil pressure sender unit housing. After waiting a few minutes I started the engine but again had very low oil pressure and an audible soft knock.

We towed Klinger home and I changed the oil. What came out of the pan maybe had 150 miles on it and looked fine. During my initial work on Klinger I had dropped the oil pan, cleaned out the sludge and also thoroughly cleaned the oil pump pickup screen. Not finding anything obvious I refilled the crankcase with fresh Rotella-T, replaced the leaking OPSU, and went for a ride. Oil pressure was fine and absolutely no knocking from the engine. We tried a trip down to the boat docks around a week later and, sure enough, about 4 miles out from home the oil pressure started to drop and we heard just a bit of knocking on the ride home.

This one has me stumped. Oil pump on the way out? Trash in the oil pan obstructing the pickup? Oil getting trapped in the upper regions of the engine and not draining back into the pan fast enough? My next step will be to pull the rocker cover to check top end oil flow and then the pan to see if anything obvious jumps out at me. Thoughts?

**pajeff02** · 05-09-2020, 07:01 AM

In the past few weeks, I have done some major work on Klinger -- dropped the oil pan, replaced the oil pump, took apart the oil pickup to fully clean it, freed up the stuck distributor, replaced the engine mounts, installed new cap seals on the rear main, inspected main bearing journal #2 for any signs of oil starvation or wear, removed the external oil lines and block fittings, drilled out the stuck oil galley plug and plumbed the oil filter, replaced the fuel pump, removed the intake valve train assembly and cleaned out the oil passages -- found a ticking rocker caused by a burr that I fixed, shimmed the #1 and #4 intake rockers for better alignment on the valve, re-set intake valve lash, replaced a blown headlight, marked TDC using my inspection camera (no timing pointer or marks), and plumbed in a new fuel line between the pump and carb.

Unfortunately, I did find metal shavings in the oil galley fitting at the back of the block. This is probably what lead to last fall's loss of oil pressure and slight knocking. Although oil pressure is good, I still get a slight knock at higher rpm's. I will likely drop the pan again and pull all of the rod caps. At this point, unless I come up with something obvious it is quite likely that I will end up pulling the engine and going through everything. I am hoping the crank isn't frogged -- we'll see.

**pajeff02** · 09-12-2020, 02:56 AM

Frustration lead me to walk away from this project for a while. Have to knock out 2 or 3 things on the lift and will then get Klinger back up in the air. Plan is to drop the pan and pull all the rod and main caps for a look see. Hoping I do not have to pull the engine, but am prepared to go that route if I need to.