Todd Paisley
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> From: Bill Kish <kish@browncow.com>
> To: mil-veh@skylee.com; Michael Meister <mike@agen.tamu.edu>
> Subject: GPW rubber parts. Was:1943 GPW
> Date: Monday, January 27, 1997 9:57 AM
>
> Michael Meister writes:
> > I have a couple of questions regarding authenticity:
> >
> > 1) When did they go to leather boots over the transmission and
transfer
> > case shafts?
> >
> > 2) When did they start using lengths of steel tubing in the radiator
> > hoses instead of all rubber?
> >
> > I know these changes were a result of the rubber shortage beginning in
> > 1942, so is it safe to say that in April 1943 both of these changes
had
> > been made, or is that an incorrect assumption?
> >
>
> You're right. A 4/43 GPW would be well into the rubber shortage time
> frame. I don't have any exact dates for the above changes and it may
> be impossible to ever determine them, but by Fall '42 Ford seems to
> have started replacing rubber with less critical materials where
> possible. This included:
>
> Shift lever boots, radiator hoses, hood blocks, grommets, carb intake
> seal, tie rod end seals, tool & glove box seals. (Any others?)
>
> It would be interesting to hear from owners of original GPWs in the
> crossover period to try to determine the approximate dates of the
> changeovers at the various Ford assembly plants.
>
>
>
> -BK
> --