Like a bear emerging from it’s cave after a long winer, Paul temporarily removed his custom M-38 from its Alaskan lair.
He writes, “The garage was opened and the Willys was pulled out into the early morning light today. The poor Jeep was coated with sanding dust which I removed by blasting the body with high pressure air and followed that with a water rinse so you’ll notice the water droplets clinging to the sheet metal. Anyway, with all the glass installed, the stainless wiper arms and blades mounted and most all of the major work done this project is looking pretty good to me. I need to work on the frame welding up the extra holes, finish the radiator mount and double check everything before the frame gets sandblasted one more time before getting powder coated glossy black.
When my new sheet metal brake arrives I’ll finish remaking the fuel tanks, I wasn’t happy with the first set I built so I scrapped them and started over with a slightly different design. Viewing the Willys outdoors from a distance is so different from the usual close up view in a packed garage I’ve become accustomed to and I get a better idea of what the finished Willys will look like. I think this Jeep will cause people to stop and take a second look but that might be wishful thinking on my part. Either way, I’m happy with the progress (I’ll admit I’ve taken much longer than I’d originally planned) and there’s more to do but I’m still a happy guy.
Over 4,000 hours of fabrication time to get to this point and still many more hours of work are necessary to complete this rebuild but I’m not tired. I’ve learned a lot along the way and I’m reasonably pleased with my quality so far.”
