My Experiences in Rebuilding a World War II Jeep

1942 Ford GPW Jeep

When I was I junior (or maybe I was a sophomore) in high school, my brother purchased a surplus World War II Jeep. The body was in pretty good shape, but the engine and transmission were shot and Clyde asked me if I would like to attempt rebuilding it. If so, he would pay for the necessary parts. Naturally, I jumped at the chance, not realizing just how much work would be involved in this project. The Jeep was subsequently towed and placed in the backyard of my parent’s home on Highmarket Street in Georgetown.

My first step was to learn a little more about the Jeep. I noticed that there was a placard located either on the dashboard or in the engine compartment which identified the company that manufactured the Jeep. In this case, the company was Ford. I believe it was manufactured between 1942 and 1945. Although it was designed by Willys, they were unable to keep up with production needs during the war, so Ford was directed by the government to also produce the vehicle. For all practical purposes the Willys and Ford models were essentially the same. See http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/thehistoryof/80558/index.html for additional info on Jeep history.

I immediately purchased a Jeep Maintenance Manual. I can’t remember which manual it was (probably a Chilton), but I do remember that it was extremely detailed. I also found out that there were a number of mail order auto parts suppliers that specialized in parts for World War II Jeeps. These sources still exist today.

It was obvious that the engine would have to be pulled in order to rebuild it. The question was – how was I going to accomplish this? I pondered this question for a good while because I didn’t have an A-frame or a hoist. I finally decided to roll the Jeep under a limb on one of the pecan trees that were in our back yard. I then borrowed a come-along and some chains. One of the chains was then attached to the limb which was pretty much parallel with the ground and another chain was attached to the front and rear of the engine. The come-along was able to lift the engine to a level which allowed me to push the Jeep out of the way and lower the engine to the ground.

Thinking back on this process makes me realize what foolish things we do when we are young. It never crossed my mind that the pecan tree limb wouldn’t support the weight of the engine. Thankfully – it did!

After getting the engine on the ground, I was able (with some help) to drag the engine over to a little shop beside our garage (It used to be our wood shed). I stripped the engine block and took it to a local machine shop to have the valves ground and seated. Once that was done, I brought it back home and proceeded to rebuild the engine; installing new piston rings, crankshaft bearings, seals, gaskets, etc. 

I won’t further bore anyone with the details of overhauling the transmission, transfer box and clutch assembly. Just believe me when I say that it was another challenge to get the transmission out and back in without having a lift.

I must say that I learned a lot from the process outlined above. The major lesson was – don’t ever try something like this again! The other major lesson was – the most insignificant things can cause you the most problems. After all the heavy lifting chores described above, I finally reached the point which I thought would be the easiest and most enjoyable part of the rebuilding effort. This was installing the spark plugs, distributor, spark plug wiring and making the necessary adjustments such as setting distributor point gap, and setting the timing. However, when I tried to start the engine I found that the engine was too tight for the starter to properly turn the engine over. I had been told that this may occur, so I was prepared for it. I asked a friend to pull the Jeep with his car. We attached a rope between the two vehicles and once we got up to speed, I would pop the clutch and the engine would roar to life. Well, the theory was good, but the engine would still not start. How depressing was this?

I fiddled with the engine for a few days, but finally conceded that I needed some professional help. So, my friend and I pulled the Jeep to Parrish Motors which was located on Orange Street with an entrance on Front Street. I picked Parrish Motors because my parents had dealt with them for a number of years. I left it there for a few days and finally received a call from them saying it was ready. The big day had arrived… or was I going to get some unexpected bad news?

I hurried down there wondering what had I missed?  Was it a significant problem or what? Upon arriving, one of the mechanics asked me if I wanted to sell the Jeep. Of course I said no, but it was certainly reassuring to be asked the question. He went over to the Jeep, started it up and the engine roared to life! IT WAS A SWEET SOUND. Of course, I asked them what they had found and the answer was that I had connected the spark plug wiring in the wrong order. I couldn’t believe it - I had screwed up the firing order! How embarrassing! However, I soon got over the embarrassment when I drove the Jeep home. What a satisfying ride it was.

I’ve searched high and low for a photo of this Jeep and I just can’t find one. I had it for at least 2 years and find it unbelievable that I (or anyone else) never took a picture of it. The photo accompanying this article is another 1942 Ford GPW which is identical to the one discussed in this article. Perhaps I can Photoshop it and turn it red with cream wheel rims. Yep- those were the colors. Maybe I can even place myself standing beside it or in the driver's seat. We'll see.

I’ll cover a few of my experiences with the Jeep in a future blog.

My Skeeter Hydroplane

Photo courtesy of Craig Svenson

During the summer of either 1950 or 1951, I saw the plans in Science and Mechanics magazine for building a small speed boat which they called a hydroplane. At the time (I was either 12 or 13), this magazine was one of my favorites. After reading the article, I decided that I had to have this boat, so I immediately started purchasing the material specified in the plans. The plans called for an all wooden frame with a plywood bottom and sides. The large deck was covered with stretched canvas as depicted on the magazine cover to the left.

Photo courtesy of Craig Svenson 

I remember starting construction under our beach house at Pawleys Island next to the shower. Back then, I possessed zero power tools, so I had to use an old handsaw to cut out the curved frame members as well as all other wood components. I remember the article specifically stated that the “Skeeter” could be constructed at very low cost and completed in about a week. Well, that proved to be a slight exaggeration, because I had to transport the frame from Pawleys Island to Georgetown in the back of my Father’s pick-up after school started in the fall. Fortunately, the boat was slightly less than 8 feet long with a very light frame (See photo on right). I finished it in the backyard of my parents’ home it Georgetown. My oldest brother, Clyde, who was 10 years older than me, helped me with the final steps of construction.

The following photos taken in the backyard in Georgetown are the only photos that I have of my Skeeter. The photo on the left shows my sister-in-law, Julia Ann with her son and my nephew "Chip". That's Chip and me in the photo on the right. Notice my brother's Studebaker in the background.

I used my 5 HP Scott-Atwater outboard motor to power it. My Father, who sold Scott-Atwater outboard motors, had given me the used motor the previous year for use on my 12 foot flat-bottom cypress boat which I used exclusively in the creek at Pawleys Island.

Obviously, the Skeeter wasn’t blindly fast with a 5 HP motor, but it felt pretty fast. I usually left the boat on our dock, which was on the north end of Pawleys Island creek behind our house. One day, this guy came by in a boat powered by a 10 HP Mercury. Now everyone knew back then that Mercury outboard motors were much more powerful than the advertised HP would indicate. Anyway, this guy saw the Skeeter and stopped to look at it. He then asked me if he could mount his Mercury on it and give it a try. I figured that this was probably the only chance that I would ever get to see how fast it would go when properly powered because I knew my parents weren’t going to give me any big motor.

After launching the Skeeter off the dock and into the creek, this guy disconnected the Mercury from his boat and mounted it on the back of the Skeeter. I figured that the guy would start off slowly and gradually get up to speed, but to my surprise, he must have twisted the Mercury’s twist grip throttle on its steering arm to what had to be full throttle. The Skeeter suddenly jumped out of the water and took off like a “bat out of hell”. I thought to myself that this guy was nuts and I may never see my boat in one piece again.

It was about a quarter of a mile from our dock to the north end of the island which was the direction he was heading, so it took a few minutes before I saw him barreling back toward me. He was flying when he passed our dock going south and circled around the big sandbar near the causeway bridge and made his way back to the dock with the Skeeter gradually coming down off of a plane and settling into the water. He pulled up to the dock, shut down the Mercury and calmly said, “That was fun, but I don’t think it was much faster than my boat”. Well, I’m not sure about that because it looked pretty darn fast to me. The guy then transferred the Mercury back to his boat, thanked me and sped away. He must have been a visitor to the island, because I never saw him again.

Building the Skeeter was a very good experience for me. It gave me confidence in my ability to create something with my own hands. Thinking back on those times, I realize how lucky I was to have parents that would allow me to pursue this kind of endeavor. Obviously, I didn’t have many resources of my own, so my parents must have helped me buy the material and the time spent with my older brother putting the finishing touches on the Skeeter was pretty neat too.

Incidentally, Science and Mechanics magazine continued to be published into the 1980's with its last issue coming out in 1984. Another great magazine bit the dust.

My King Midget

In the early fifties, my mother, sister and I took a trip in our 1949 Dodge from Georgetown SC to Cincinnati OH to visit my brother, Dorrance, who was attending the College of Music.

Prior to the trip, my sister and I had seen advertisements in Popular Mechanics magazine about the King Midget automobile that weighed 500 lbs and got 75 miles to a gallon of gas. Since it was manufactured in Athens OH, we were somehow able to convince my mother to stop by Athens on the way back to Georgetown where we received a demonstration of the King Midget’s features. Note- that's me standing next to the King Midget in the backyard of my parents home.

This car was approximately 8 feet long, weighed 500 pounds, carried 2 people, and was powered by a 7.5 horsepower air cooled Wisconsin engine with a top speed of 35 to 40 miles and hour. In addition, a number of options were available including an electric starter, an alternator, a 2 speed transmission with reverse and a removable canvas top. The basic car had a pull-cord starter, no alternator and no reverse gear. The King Midget rep stated that they would not sell the car to such young drivers with the manual pull-cord starter.

Both my sister and I were very intrigued with the car and upon returning to Georgetown , we were able to convince my parents that we should purchase one. I promised to pay for my half of the cost with earnings from my Charlotte Observer paper route. I’m not sure what my sister promised, but after much cajoling, my mother agreed to our proposal and she in turn somehow convinced my father to go along with it. If I remember correctly, I think we paid around $650 for it.

It was shipped from Athens to Georgetown by railroad (with all of the options listed above) where my brother Clyde picked it up and drove it to our home on Highmarket St. in Georgetown. It was painted California Coral (yellow) with a beige canvas top and it was a beautiful thing to behold – at least in my eyes.

I was only 13 and one half years old at the time, so was unable to drive it right away. Back in those days, you could get your SC drivers license when you were 14, so I didn’t have to wait too long. I even got my license in this car. I have a vivid memory of the discussion between the two SC Highway Patrol officers about which one of them was going to ride with me during the road test.

Fortunately for me, my sister who is about 2 years older than me soon lost interest in the car and I became the sole driver of this little jewel. I drove it everywhere and even delivered Sunday newspapers in it as well as pulling my small 12 foot boat back and forth to the boat landing. I spent a lot of time working on this car because the brakes shoes wore out very quickly and the chain drive wasn’t too reliable either. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, maintaining the car was rather enjoyable because I had to improvise a number of fixes due to the difficulty associated with getting spare parts.

My parents owned a house at Pawley’s Island where we spent each Summer. I drove the car from Georgetown (about 12 miles) and back on numerous occasions despite the rather low 37 miles per hour top speed.

Although the King Midget was very small, slow and lacking in amenities (like no speedometer, radio or gas gauge) I have many fond memories during my early teen years tooling around Georgetown and Pawleys Island in this very unique little car. It was definitely an attention getter. I eventually sold the car to another Georgetown resident, but have no idea of what happened to it. I moved on to rebuilding and driving a World War 2 Jeep manufactured by Ford. I'll cover that vehicle in an upcoming post.

Production of the King Midget ceased somewhere between 1967 and 1970. You can read all about the history of the King Midget at http://www.kingmidgetcarclub.org/. My King Midget was the Model II version.

Mayonnaise & Aspirin Sandwich

When I was very young (around 5 or 6 years old I guess), I was unable to swallow pills. So my Mother, just like most moms, had to come up with inventive ways to get the medicine into me. I was the youngest of four children, so perhaps she had been down this road before. Anyway, she would take the time to crush-up a couple of Bayer aspirins and mix it with Duke's mayonnaise (or was it Miracle Whip). She would then spread this concoction on a couple of slices of bread, thus making a Mayonnaise & Aspirin (M & A) sandwich! It worked very well and all was fine with the world.

Then came that fateful day when I got sick enough for our family doctor to come to see me. You have to remember that this was a long, long time ago when doctors actually made house calls. Our doctor was Dr. Richey Siau. He was a wonderful guy who in my mind was all powerful and could undoubtedly cure any medical problem in existence. After he had examined me, I distinctly remember him telling my mother that it wasn't anything serious and to just give me a couple of aspirin to reduce the fever. Bless her heart - she then proceeded to tell him that she would first have to make that sandwich for me.

Well, you would have thought that she had just revealed the most disgusting secret the world had ever heard. Dr. Siau immediately told my mother to get him a glass of water and then leave the room. I expected my mother to stand there and protect me, but instead she dutifully brought the glass of water and then left the room - closing the door behind her.

There I was - face to face and alone with the all knowing doctor! He placed an aspirin in the palm of my left hand and the glass of water in the other hand. He told me in a very firm voice that there would be no more Mayonnaise & Aspirin sandwiches and directed me to put the aspirin on my tongue and wash it down with the water. Now, all of my past experiences with this process resulted in a lot of choking and crying on my part (the exact reason why the M & A sandwich was created), but for some strange reason, I swallowed the aspirin without a hitch.

I'm pretty sure that I recovered from my illness in a short period of time, but the most important thing about Dr. Siau's visit that day was the fact that my Mother never had to make me another M & A sandwich.

First Blog

I know that relatives and friends are going to ask me why I've decided to blog. It's a fair question, but I'm not sure if I have a good answer. When you get to my age (almost 70) you think a lot about the past. As your siblings and friends begin to pass, your life changes a little. You start thinking about events, both small and large, that happened many years ago. Some of these events are extremely insignificant, but for some reason they are etched into your mind.

So - I've decided to put some of these thoughts into a blog. I know that they will be extremely boring to some people, but perhaps some will find them meaningful and even get a laugh out of them.