Photos of my 1951 M38 when I first saw it

These are a few pictures of the Willys-Overland M38 jeep as I first saw it in Washington, NC, on the day that I went down with a buddy to pick it up.  I had spotted it on Ebay and was the successful bidder, so this was the first time I got to really look at it.  Also included are some photos from inside my garage when I got it home and started to play with it seriously... 

If you have questions about any of these photos, send me an email and I'll try to provide an answer. 

 m38a.jpg (182120 bytes)1  m38b.jpg (173466 bytes)2  m38c.jpg (176561 bytes)3  m38d.jpg (171706 bytes)4
 ontrailer1.jpg (239903 bytes)5  ontrailer2.jpg (231758 bytes)6  ontrailer3.jpg (235435 bytes)7  ontrailer4.jpg (226547 bytes)8
 ontrailer5.jpg (241305 bytes)9  ingarage.jpg (171516 bytes)10  ingarage2.jpg (171256 bytes)11 ingarage3.jpg (229123 bytes) 12
 ingarage4.jpg (162768 bytes)13  rightrear.jpg (393069 bytes)14  dash.jpg (397329 bytes)15   instruments.jpg (393484 bytes)16
 engine.jpg (418821 bytes)17 hoodnumber.jpg (393574 bytes)18 seatlatch.jpg (403901 bytes)19 floorrust.jpg (413155 bytes) 20
 steprust.jpg (386369 bytes)21 toolrust.jpg (200873 bytes)22 parts.jpg (185542 bytes)23  
Photo Caption
1-4 Under the tarp at Ed's place along with his other jeeps.  My first actual sight of the jeep.
5-9 Shots of the truck on the car trailer ready for the ride home.  The jeep fired right up and was driven onto the trailer normally used to haul my friend's racecar.
10 Rear view.
11 Front view.
12 Left front 3/4 shot.  Note civilian marker lights.
13 Tailgate.  Note that the taillight lenses have been replaced with full red units from a M561 Gama Goat.
14 Right rear showing top bows.
15 Shot of the dash showing the fuel primer handle, early style three lever light switch (new wiring harness is set up for the single plug light switch, not the duel plug unit shown), civilian key switch, and the wires that fell down from the dash during the ride home... including three from the ignition switch...  Truck has both windshield wipers, but neither is operational at this time.
16 The wiring under the dash and on the back of the instrument panel are indicative of what the rest of the wiring looks like.  Rotted insulation and a lot of shorts.  The previous owner included a Precision Wiring of Maine reproduction harness, so the wiring will be replaced very soon.
17 Shot of the engine.  Note that it has plug wires from something other than a M38, but they are military and work well.  Also note that the wiring burned at some time and the harness has been spliced back together.  The carb is also missing a few linkages (choke and hand throttle).  Fresh rebuild on the fuel pump and a cleaned carb...
18 USA number on the hood.  The person that I purchased the jeep from had sanded down the hood sides and bumpers already.  This is the only stencil found, but it is in two locations on the hood side.  The dataplates (which are supposed to be the originals) state that the truck was a Marine Corps vehicle...
19 Latch installed to keep the passenger seat from flopping around when no one is sitting in it.  This is a field modification that I learned about on the G305 forum otherwise I might have thought it was done by a previous civilian owner...
20 Rust through in the passenger floorboard.  This is the only seriously rusted portion of the jeep.
21 Rust through at the passenger step.
22 Shot of the rust in the bottom of the tool storage compartment under the passenger seat.
23 Shots of some of the extra parts included in the purchase deal sitting on the passenger seat base.

M38 Index

Home