Not sure what points you are researching, but I thought I would present my
evidence to help you focus where you need to look to back up your claims. My
evidence will come from a variety of sources, all of which are actual
original Willys-Overland documents. I tend to lend more credence to period
documentional evidence than the fuzzy 50 year-old memories of 90 year old
people. The human mind is an imperfect storage device. While some good
data can be derived from interviewing people, you have to frame the data
received in the context that people sometimes add "writer's embellishment"
on what was actually done or just plain forget and "fill in" what they don't
recall. We can debate this premise at a later date if we run into problems
later.
The bulk of the statements that I dispute are Dale Roeder's statements, all
of which I can provide evidence that proves these wrong.
A) Starter - He claims the starter was a Ford design. The original starter
on the Willys Quad prototype is Auto-Lite #EO-6152 which is Willys-Overland
part number A-104. This was used on the Quad until 11/4/40 when it was
finally removed from the inventory and was superceded by Willys-Overland
part number 639287, which is a Willys-Overland Commercial Chassis starter.
This was done because of the test results of Experiment #1089-7 Supplement
16. This information is derived from 2 sources. The first one is the
actual very first hand-written Bill of Material for the Quad. The Bill of
Material is the "recipe" for the factory to build a particular vehicle. It
is the list of parts required to build the vehicle. The Bill of Material I
have is dated around August 1940. The person creating the Bill of Material
took an already existing sheet from the production Willys-Overland car or
truck Bill of Material and modified it to show the part on the Quad. The
modification was done by taking yellow chalk and crossing out the old part
and hand-writing in pencil the new part number. At a later date, a typist
would retype a new sheet. I used the very first one as my evidence rather
than the type written sheets for obvious reasons... ;) An example of this
sheet is:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Street/7607/starter.jpg
The second evidence is the factory List of Parts - Numerical. It is the
factory's master list of parts arranged in numerical order. The A-104 entry
shows the Experiment number.
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Street/7607/lopn2.jpg
B) Generator - He also claims Ford designed the generator. The Quad's
original starter was the Auto-Lite #EO-4479 which was Willys-Overland part
number A-105. This was a modification of the 636798 Willys-Overland
Commercial Car generator.
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Street/7607/gen.jpg
Both of the Bill of Material entries on the generator and starter were on
sheets stamped by the Engineering Department on August 23, 1940.
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Street/7607/stamp.jpg
The starter and generator all have evolved from earlier Willys-Overland car
and truck pieces. They also were used on the Willys L-134 engine which is
NOT produced by Ford. It seems to me that you have to prove a couple
things:
1) Willys-Overland had Ford design the electrical system for the L-134
engine with components who's roots date back to the late 1920's. Given that
Willys was one of Ford's competitors in the late 1920's and Ford's market
share was eroding away because of the aging Model T, it is going to be
difficult to prove Ford would willingly design an engine electrical system
for a competitor.
2) Ford designed Auto-Lite components - Ford may have purchased Auto-Lite in
the 1960's, but at this time, Auto-Lite was a separate company.
---------------------------------------------------
C) Ford designed the frame - Willys-Overland designed the Quad frame on a
modification of the Willys 441 frame. The frame was designed prior to
August 12, 1940, which are the dates on Engineering Department stamps for
the Bill of Material. The Ford pilot model frames are very very different
from this type of frame. (I have studied the construction and documented
the frame for the Budd-bodied Ford pilot model. I'll hold off posting
photos of these details until you send me those Dearborn photo numbers for
the Budd-bodied pilot model you were supposed to send me a year ago for
Jeff.) The 441 frame is more similar in construction to the MB frame. If
you look at the MA/MB parts books, you will see the frames for the MA and MB
are very similar. The first MA frame component designed (A-400 Frame Side
Member - Left) was designed prior to 1/10/41 since it was a part entered
earlier than the next known dated entry (which is A-425 Frame Side Filler
Plate - Front End that was obsoleted in 1/10/41.) In order for it to be
obsoleted and have a List of Parts - Numerical entry, the part number had to
be assigned prior to 1/10/41.
In order to prove that Ford designed the frame, you have to:
1) Prove Ford designed the MA frame for Willys-Overland in the time period
between August 12, 1940 and January 10, 1941. (I'll be nice and have you do
this rather than have you prove Ford designed the Willys-Overland
440/441/442 Commercial Chassis frame.)
2) Explain why Ford designed the MA frame, but did not use it for its next
generation Jeep, the GP.
OR:
1) Prove Ford made minor modifications to the MA frame to create the MB
frame in the time frame of January 10, 1941 and August 28, 1941 when the MB
Bill of Material for the frame was dated.
2) Explain why Ford would make modifications in August 1941 to the MA frame
when Willys was their competitor at the time. Ford would not receive their
contract for a couple months.
---------------------------------------------------
D) Shock absorbers - The Ford pilot models used lever shocks. The Quad used
Gabriel hydraulic shocks. The MB used hydraulic shocks. The Quad's Bill of
Material sheet for the shocks is dated August 12, 1940.
You will have to:
1) Prove Ford designed the suspension for the Quad pilot model.
2) Explain why Ford would design the suspension for the Willys Quad pilot
model, but used lever shocks on their own prototype.
---------------------------------------------------
E) Ford designed the MB body - The earliest date I see for a MB body is
7-18-41 that lists A-2742 "Quad 1/4-ton 4x4 - Proposal for 2nd Production".
The earliest individual MB body part is the A-2756 "Body Side Rear Panel -
Left" dated 8-22-41. (An earlier body part would be the A-2744 "Hand Rail
Front Bracket Assy. - Left" dated 8-14-41, but I didn't want to get into an
argument over whether or not this is a "body" part or not.)
You will have to:
1) Ford designed the GPW body prior to 7-18-41 and gave the design to
Willys. (Note: All these dates are the dates they were released for
production (meaning they were in their final revision and ready to be
manufactured. They were designed prior to July 1941, but since I can't at
this time give the exact dates they were initially designed and assigned a
number under the List of Parts - Numerical, I'll give you the couple
months.)
Good luck!
Todd Paisley
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