1951 Willys "Wall-E"

Houndy95

Member
Where to begin... I guess the best place is on a relaxing Sunday while surfing the web, I came across a 1951 M38 Willys. There was not much info on it other than it has a title, runs drives and needs break work. So after talking with the owner it has all the original markings (or what's left of them). I passed it on to my father and we agreed we had to have it. So 3 days later we picked it up and brought it home.

After digging into it we noticed the original engine had be replaced with a newer F series engine. However after digging though the parts box that was in the back we found it had the original 24v distributor, original carb, battle rings with guards for the headlights, top brackets the original data plates, a bunch of blackout tail lights, fording equipment. It really is a very complete original vehicle minus the engine and fuel tank. We spent some time also researching the serial number to determine if it was in fact a M38 (we figured with all the distinct features of the body it was but wanted to be sure). Also found out it was a radio jeep. Although it doesn't have any of the radios it does have the hookups for them which is cool. The outside is mostly OD green with the red primer coming though but the inside and wheels have a lot of Air Force blue in it. So not to sure where exactly it came from but we do know its a late 51 somewhere between July and September.

Our plan is to bring it back to its glory days. We hope to get to it soon after we finish up another project were working on at the moment. As far as the name we came up with Wall-E because it has so much character to it even the way it sits, you can really feel the history in it when your around it. Now its time for pictures I'm sure that's what you all have been wanting to see since you saw the title (its ok if you skipped the write up and went straight to the pics, I don't blame you). :D
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AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
Man, that is awesome! If it were me, I would be tempted to get it mechanically new, fix the rust cancer, but leave the body and paint the way it is. That thing has so much character and a perfect amount of patina. Simply gorgeous! Great find!
 

dchotrod

New member
Man, that is awesome! If it were me, I would be tempted to get it mechanically new, fix the rust cancer, but leave the body and paint the way it is. That thing has so much character and a perfect amount of patina. Simply gorgeous! Great find!

^^^^^^This! That is such a cool piece of history. I bet you guys will have a ball with this project.
 

Houndy95

Member
That is really cool!

Damn I'm jealous !!!

Nice! Enjoy it

Man, that is awesome! If it were me, I would be tempted to get it mechanically new, fix the rust cancer, but leave the body and paint the way it is. That thing has so much character and a perfect amount of patina. Simply gorgeous! Great find!

^^^^^^This! That is such a cool piece of history. I bet you guys will have a ball with this project.
Thanks everyone! We are very excited and we have discussed getting it running and fixing a few of the bad spots, then keeping it the way it is. I don't know what is better actually getting to work on a piece of history or all the cool info you get from researching it.
 

Houndy95

Member
As I said earlier the original engine had been swapped out for a F series engine. So we took to the interwebs to find just how hard it would be to find an original engine. Sure enough it was going to be hard since they aren't many left. The original engine is a L-34 Go Devil. As luck goes I found one local in just the next city over.

Here is a little insite on what I found. I got a late 51 M38 true Go Devil engine. The owner had a CJ3A that he restored, he bought this engine from a friend who had converted his M38 into a V6 (no idea why you would do that to a M38). Anyway he bought it from his friend as a spare engine for his because he thought his was bad (luckily it wasn't). He had sent the engine off to a shop in South Carolina, who made it all new again but this was in 1986. Since then it has been sitting in this guys garage. So now not only do we have a very complete M38 we also have the era correct engine. Go I guess you can say a lucky find. :bleh:

And of course pictures...
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piginajeep

The Original Smartass
As I said earlier the original engine had been swapped out for a F series engine. So we took to the interwebs to find just how hard it would be to find an original engine. Sure enough it was going to be hard since they aren't many left. The original engine is a L-34 Go Devil. As luck goes I found one local in just the next city over.

Here is a little insite on what I found. I got a late 51 M38 true Go Devil engine. The owner had a CJ3A that he restored, he bought this engine from a friend who had converted his M38 into a V6 (no idea why you would do that to a M38). Anyway he bought it from his friend as a spare engine for his because he thought his was bad (luckily it wasn't). He had sent the engine off to a shop in South Carolina, who made it all new again but this was in 1986. Since then it has been sitting in this guys garage. So now not only do we have a very complete M38 we also have the era correct engine. Go I guess you can say a lucky find. :bleh:

And of course pictures...
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Nice find! The flat 6 in my FC was sitting since 1990 or so. Little work and it runs great !
 

Houndy95

Member
Nice find! The flat 6 in my FC was sitting since 1990 or so. Little work and it runs great !
Yeah the guy kept it oiled and hand spun the crank every month to keep it free and it's really smooth. So I'm guessing it won't need much to fire up.
 

sipafz

Caught the Bug
Wow, I love these old Jeeps and hope to get one of my own someday. Congratulations on your find!
 
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