Frank suggested the following, “a suggestion, which I have done myself, is anyone who may be building a Jeep with a new metal body try sealing all the seams where the floor or rear fenders contact the body with urethane sealer (in the caulking tube). It’s about $10 or $15 a tube as I recall. Just make sure that all the surfaces you apply it to are clean and dry.

Since the main reason Jeeps rust (I believe) are all the seams and crevices that hold water, sealing out the water should help. Urethane is also sandable and paintable. It is used for installing windshields on late model cars and trucks which makes the glass an integral and structual part of the body in an accident.”

Frank provided this tip, “I’ve worked in Chevy dealers since 1971 and they used to carry Windshield Cleaner, Bon Ami cleaning powder part # 1050011. It was mainly used for windshields that had oily or greasy film on them from wax or what have you. It works very well (I’ve used it myself) just follow the instructions.

It may still be available at GM dealers. I still have a box at home and the seal on top reads ‘same formula as Bon Ami cake’. Now you would think that Bon Ami cleaner available today would be the same since there are no bleaches or chemicals listed in the ingredients. But the container reads ‘do not use on windows, glass or mirrors.’ Very puzzling….”

I have received a variety of useful tidbits that Sam has been sharing with me, though either Sam or his employee Lee deserve credit.  Lee worked for many, many years in military motor pools (as did some of his family members) and now works with Sam to have some fun.

On to the tip …. One day Sam purchased and trucked a flattie to his shop with an engine that sounded problematic. In fact, he got a great deal on the jeep because both Sam and the Seller though the engine had a problem.

Now Sam, who is no stranger to engines of all types, suspected something inside the engine, but as soon as Lee heard the sound, he said it was the harmonic balancer. Sam looked at Lee and said, “really?”

Lee probably responded with something like, “you young whipper snappers don’t know anything!”  (Note that Sam and Lee are about the same age).  So, Sam proceeded to swap out the balancer with another one they had and, sure enough, within short order Sam had a perfect running flathead.

Lee told Sam that the harmonic balancers can go bad on a Willys flathead engine.  So, before you have that flathead rebuilt because it is making a noise, check out the harmonic balancer.