This 1946 Willys Jeep has been sitting a while, and I'm slowly chipping away at the old parts to make it run again. Everything turns, but will the old starter crank over the engine? Today we find out.
Fred, thank you for being so meticulous in your diagnostics and your repairs. I am considering a purchase of an old flat fender to rebuild and watching your process of work has me thinking I can actually do it too!
One more check for 12volt. Check the back of headlight bulb for voltage mark like on generator, flasher relay, and coil. Also regulator or resistor for coil might give some more clues. What a fun journey.
Like how you break it down I imagine most of us just assume everyone just knows how things work.every little thing could be a big help to someone new to wrenching on junk.
I'm right there with you with my '52 MD. I'm converting it to 12v and still haven't tried starting it. Have the T90 out and waiting on parts for that. Going to do the Land Cruiser starter and have a Delco 1-wire so minimal wiring to deal with. I feel the highs and lows with you.
This is such a lovely therapeutic video, well done Fred, I am so happy you are creating this content, I have been watching you since the first DED episode.
I'm working on my 93 yj. The steering column is falling apart. People are crazy, I was just looking for the plastic cover for the column, they want more for just the plastic than I can get a whole new column.
Moving right along. I know guys like Jay Leno mount those batteries on their sides. If I rember correctly the wiring for a 6v system will run 12v but witing for a 12volt system is not strong enough for a 6v system. My personal opinion if it is not a show vehicle where it has to be original I would modernize it. 30 years ago you could find 6 volt parts in rural parts stores. Not any more so I install the easiest to find to get back on the road.
I got a 52 dodge power wagon,still 6 volt. I use a 12 volt battery. Still works fine. It never leaves farm,it has no lights hooked up on it,just my amp gage. I always unhook battery after driving.
Fred ,, since you now have the engine cranking, Before you do anything else you should hook up a oil pressure gauge and get a reading to see if it has acceptable pressure. Then perform a compression test on all four cylinders to see if they are at a sufficient compression psi level. The engine sounds pretty fair when you were cranking it over on the video,
I rebuild a 63 VW years ago and did a conversion to 12 Volt. I asked a starter rebuild technician about reusing the 6 volt starter. He said it would be fine. The motor will turn faster on 12 volts and if it doesn't start right away stop cranking to avoid burning it up. One thing that makes me nervous watching this is working around a battery without safety glasses on. If you have ever seen a battery explode you would know why.
They do make 12 volt alternator in a generator case. All the reliability of an alternator that looks like a genny, and you don't have to change the brackets.