Willys MB 1942....

**Walkwolf** · 05-08-2017, 07:54 AM

Photos of my May 7th 2017 visit ( painting and parts ) plus a shot
of frayed tailight wiring - This may be part of the reason
half of the lighting system failed.

The small yellow zip-lock bag held a pair of Poppet balls and
springs which were about $23.00 CDN, shipped from
the USA. Parts are not cheap these days.........!

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 05-08-2017 07:54 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Walkwolf** · 05-08-2017, 08:08 AM

by Danmark

Good idea!!
( i was always told jeep stood for "just empty every pocket"

......thats the cost of nostalgia )

A friends father said that JEEP meant ''Just Enough Essential Parts''.........

**Walkwolf** · 05-08-2017, 08:13 AM

My nephew and his son in his Quonset hut garage.........

**earlymb** · 05-08-2017, 10:12 AM

He has a great workspace! I work outside on the street in front of a 1-car garage... You have nice, original looking wiring on your jeep.

I added the new grill to our jeep, to replace the less accurate repro one:

**Walkwolf** · 05-08-2017, 08:53 PM

Nice early MB - and very discrete signal lamps.
Was there much difference between your new
grille and the other one.........?

**earlymb** · 05-08-2017, 09:18 PM

See for yourself

But the difference is mainly in the details and won't be noticed by 99% of the public.

Old grill:

New grill:

The main difference is in the construction; the slats of the old grill are wider and lack the small feet. There are also no welded tabs for wire clips, slight differences in thinkness of the metal stock used in the construction and other details that are different. The old grill was a poor repro when we got it but I made some modifications to it to make it a decent repro. I already sold the old grill and it will be fitted to another early MB.

In the photo's you can also see the 'tombstone' blackout light bracket on the fender that was retro-fitted to most early jeeps and a number of other vehicles that weren't originally equipped with one from the factory. They are very hard to find and I was lucky to get this one from a friend. It turned out the fender did have the correct holes for it, which were welded shut by a previous owner.

**Walkwolf** · 05-09-2017, 12:46 AM

Makes a big difference when it looks right !

Indeed, some repro parts are horrible and do not even
properly. ( happened to me with a windshield frame )
As you say, most people would never notice - but it
bothers you every time you look at it.........!

**earlymb** · 05-09-2017, 11:21 AM

Even with the MB already in production the jeep was still very much a 'work in progress' at that time, so early MB's not only differ in many details from 'standard' MB's; they can also differ quite a lot between themselves. The first challenge is to research what version of a specific part you need, and the next challenge is finding that version. Sometimes they are just un-obtainable or made of solid gold (according to the prices some sellers ask), and then a correct repro is a good alternative.

When we got this jeep it had a CJ2A grill, and since we couldn't a repro or original slat grill during the restoration (this was in the pre-internet, prehistoric days) we put on a repro stamped grill (the standard model most WW2 jeeps have) but always with the idea to replace it if possible. That opportunity came when we found this first repro slat grill that we could make work with some modifications, and then now this high quality repro. If I ever find an original one for a good price I'll change it out once again.

As for good repro parts, there is a new company from the UK that gets very good reviews. I checked some of their parts for myself and they do look very good indeed although I didn't buy from them yet. Their name is 'Joe's Motor Pool' and they're on eBay, Facebook and have their own website. They have an agent in the US and possibly Canada too. I find their prices to be very competitive too so they'll be the first I look at when I need a repro part.