Military Vehicles, January 1997,: Re: [Fwd: Re: GPW floor panel replacement]
Re: [Fwd: Re: GPW floor panel replacement]
Todd Paisley (paisley@erols.com)
Tue, 21 Jan 1997 19:57:36 -0500
I agree with Steve. The floor is just flat steel. Any decent
welding shop should be able to weld in a new floor. The
reproduction bodies out there are not authentic, but they
are good enough to fool people who are not aware of the
differences. You probably would be able to take the repro
body and fix it to make it more authentic by taking parts
off your old body and welding them on. Most of the time
this is not done because the reason they replaced the
body to begin with was to avoid doing body work and
welding. Not that this is wrong or anything. Some people
would rather have a vehicle up and running faster and enjoy
it, while others would rather spend the time and have a
totally accurate vehicle. It all depends on why you like the
hobby as to what way you decide to go. I personally
would rather spend the time doing it correct. (An example
of this is the Genmarc repro back panel. On my '41 MB,
someone decided they would rather have a tailgate and
hacked off the rear panel. I purchased what a thought was
a real good repro WILLYS script back panel. After looking
at it, I noticed the rear taillight brackets were installed 90
degrees off (installed horizontally, rather than vertically).
And then I noticed the center hat channel was a little taller
than the original. Because of this, the hand crank retainer
bracket was the wrong size since it was welded to this
hat channel and the 2 center U-shaped rear body mounts
were shaped wrong since they were bent around this hat
channel. Also, the outer rear body mounts were shaped
slightly different than the original and the lip around the
bottom of the panel was not the same size as the original.
Most people would never even tell the difference. But to
me, I want it to be correct and take the time to make it
match the original. I will take off the hat channel, and
center rear body mounts; spot weld a hat channel that is
the same size; reshape the center rear body mounts;
reshape the outer rear body mounts; fix the bottom lip
size and make a pair of correct taillight brackets. (If I
would have kept the rear taillight brackets the way they
were, it would have been a dead giveaway that screams
"repro body" on my year Jeep.) To each his own. The
diversity of what a restoration really is is part of the fun
of the hobby.
Todd Paisley
----------
> From: Steven Malikoff <steven@phaedra.apana.org.au>
> To: mil-veh@skylee.com
> Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: GPW floor panel replacement]
> Date: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 3:43 PM
>
> > . I'm trying to make a decision whether to fix my rotted body or
> > to go with a new tub. Money has a lot to do with it and it may look
> > better and be less expensive (and time consuming) to buy a new body.
But I
> > don't want to sacrifice authenticity. I really need to completely
replace
> > the floor, but once again, GPW hat channels are different from the
MB's.
> > Any info?
>
> As Tony said, I'd *really* try and keep the original body. It is as much
a
> part of the vehicle as the chassis is. The extra effort and cost in
fixing
> it rather than putting on a repro means you won't ever have to think or
tell
> people "yeah, it's original, BUT...". I think you'd gain more respect
from
> other jeep owners, too. Besides, what's a jeep with a perfectly straight
> body? How I wish I could send my jeep back in time to get a few authentic
> bullet holes in it, or (slight) battle damage :)
> GPW hat channeling is much simpler than MB channeling. If we can get it
> here in Oz, then anyone in the US should have it even easier. A sheet
metal
> place could fold some up for you. The floor, and most other parts of a
jeep
> body is just flat steel. The most difficult part to replicate is the
cowling,
> with those compound curves. I had to put in a new rear panel into my '44
GPW,
> but since I was replacing a rotted homemade one I felt better about it!
> My opinion - stick with the genuine body. If you ever sell the jeep, it
ought
> to be worth more. At the big WW2 jeep parts auction held here last
weekend,
> a '43 GPW with practically no floor at all but just oozing original parts
> all over went for about $1000 more than another one with a good body and
> chassis.
>
> Steve.
> steven@phaedra.apana.org.au