> This piece is of the Willys type as are the shock absorber mounts and
battery
> tray. It is the same frame as used on the Slat Grill Willys in other
words.
Does it have the Willys or Ford front crossmember?
> There are no "GPW" holes in the rear bumper so I wonder if there were in
the
> front bumper? This jeep still retained a few "F" marked parts but there
is
> not one "F" marked bolt on the entire jeep even though there are several
that
> are clearly original.
> This may not seem like such a dilemma, we can just assume that the very
> earliest GPWs didn't have "F" bolts yet. But we don't know if my GPW is
> really one of the earliest or not. We know it is the lowest serial
number,
> but its date of delivery is Apr 10th which would not qualify it as super
> early. Unless it was made back in Feb but not turned over until Apr. 10th
OR
> maybe it failed inspection OR maybe it went on bond drives OR maybe the
> engine sat and waited to be used for two months
I think the engine" sitting" around is the most likely. It is my
understanding that the reason all 3 numbers on the Fords match is that Ford
built and stamped engines at engine plants in MI and then shipped them to
Jeep plants around the country. When an engine was pulled and then put
into a chassis they stamped the engine number on the frame and then the DOD
tag was made to match. So, if your engine had new engine assemblies piled
in front of it just as it was about to be used or was shipped to a plant,
like say CA by rail, the ensuing week or so trip would put it well out of
synch with say # 3 or # 5, even though they were made minutes apart.
Willys' method of numbering the chassis, tossing in an unmatched engine and
stamping the DOD tag to match the chassis meant that MBs were built in
sequence but without 3 matching numbers, Fords method meant that all 3
numbers would match but that the serial numbers were not built in order or
all at one plant so the spread of engines, (and therefore VINs) was all
over the board, relative to delivery dates. I'm also not a GPW guy, so
every word of this may be wrong.
> Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Why hold yourself to a higher standard than the rest of us?
> This jeep is still so full of mysteries that I hate to
> bring it up for serious discussion before I can REALLY look at it. So
ponder
> you opinions for another month or two and then we can all jump in with
both
> feet.
Guess I should have read the whole thing first.
Regards,
JP
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