Projects and modifications

this is a great upgrade when changing your jeep from its standard 6 volt to a 12 volt system, most of the converted jeeps retain the original 6 volt starter, very bad news as the original design uses ineria to enguage the cog when cranking, when changed to 12 volt this is will then run at twice the speed and torque the cog hits the flywheel teeth at twice the speed and torque causing damage to the teeth and eventual failure and engine out or gearbox removal is the only way to replace the flywheel teeth, stitch in time is to fit a modern denso pre enguaged starter costing £250 available from Alan Hodds tel 07748777963, picture below shows the pre enguagement desighn meaning the cog only turns after  has been enguaged with the flywheel so woint  damage the teeth   

I have discovered many ways to soften the ride on a ww2 or hotchkiss jeep, the one alteratiuon that has the biggest effect is to remove the hard military shock absorbers and fit some mnodern shock absorbers from a lighyt car or van, Its mainly the back pair that will give a noticeable change in the comfort but for the icing on the cake change the fronts also , I have fitted many different shocks depending on what was available seconhand at the time , the ends will need cutting and the rings from the original units will need to be welded on , the best way to do this is to cut the main part of the rings off the replacement  units leaving the bottom 30% part of the ring so the standard rings can then be sat in and welded in the two places as shown in the picture, the  shocks i have used for the rears are vauxhall vivaro light van, citreon c2 etc and the fronts have been fiat panda, citreon c3 etc but the 2 crutial things you must check are the length closed and the length open , also take an old original with you to the car breakers to compare softness both on the down and the return stroke 

Wow this is a big one, before you do anything, check thast your radioator cap has a good rubber seal and a spring above that holds the seal against the filler cap, without a good condition radiator cap, every time you warm up the engine and the thermostat opens the water will push past the seal and out the overflow pipe . overheating is common on  old jeeps that have been used without antifreeze or drained down in winter and filled in summer with water only, also some people fill the radiator to the top without leaving a 3/4" air gap so the jeep pushes out some  of its coolant each time it warms up only to be constantly topped up by the owner with just water , this dilutes the  rust inhibeter incorperated , the proper antifreeze has a rust inhibitor incorperated which stops build up of rusty sludge inside the radiator and engine so Its vital that a good strong mix of antifreeze is permenantly inside your jeep, the radiator vains are very narrow and can block up over time with rusty sludge, nothing will properly clear this so a re corred or replacement radiator is the best remedy but only after you have flushed the engine with a chemical to clear out the waterways, check your fan is pulling air well from front to back of jeep , also check the thermostat is a low temperature 71 degree or 165 farenheight and is working correctly,   check it has a buypass hole of around 4mm so air cant get trapped in the top of the engine , some people remove the thermostat and run the engine without one , this is not advisable and would be better to drill a couple of buypass holes in the thermostat , also use a low temperature thermostat of around 71 degrees, the jeeps dont cool well when left idling so general driving cools best, In the Philipeenes and Australia they fitted 6 bladed fans to cope with the extra heat, make sure your 4 fan blades have a good strong curve on them and the engine makes a healthy wurring sound when excelerated , check the felt is in in place between radiator and grill otherwise the fan can re circulate hot air from the engine bay instead of pulling the colder air from outside, one fault I have very recently discovered that was causing an engine to get very hot under fast driving was as simple as a substandard bottom hose that was so thin it was closing in on itself under higher aceleration  completely starving the flow and strangling the circulation , I only noticed this when the jeep was stationery revving the engine and looking at the hose, one piece hoses are a great upgrade as they only have half the joints so half the leak areas but make sure the hoses are good thick hoses Dont get caught like I was recently, joes motorp[ool sell good on e piece bottom hoses , they also sell a good quality low pressure radiator cap that will stop the coolant escaping     

the later post war jeeps and the Hotchkiss m201 was fitted with the more economical and simpler Solex carburettor, this has most of its jets accessable externally , the float chamber is much simpler to access so to clean out any build up of sediment is a much simpler job , the only 2 things that a solex can fail on is the little external exeleration diaphram can deteriorate and leak , this is visable from the exterior and a quick replacement from a rebuild kit or another donor carburettor will work, the other small thing that can happen on a solex carburettor is the idler jet can become blocked , If you have a filter in the top of your your fuel pump you shouldnt experience this little jet ever blocking ,  It   is a simple easy to get at externally mounted jet at the very top of the carburettor facing towards the batterys, (8mm spanner size) It has a tiny hole which when blocked causes the carburettor to run erratically or die out when the choke is put in , I use a tiny fine wire to clear it, other than that I find these little solex carburettors a superb upgrade , good reproduction solex carburettors  are available from india on ebay at around £65 they are advertised as willys cj2 carburettors , the willys cj2 has the same engine so the carburettors will fit right on, I know this, I have done it and the carburettors work fine, the drawback is waiting for it to arive from India, please read about the upgrade one way valve in the next article, verey important if you want great performance and instant acceleration .    

 erratic idle or constant choke needed for running? hesitant acceleration? firstly clear the idle jet with very fine wire , I use a tiny fine wire to clear it out , this jet is near the top of the carburettor facing the batterys an 8mm spanner fits this jet , the job only takes seconds to do and If this is the cause of your erratic running , It will be instant cure , secondly for the instant acceleration check you have a non return accelerator pump jet fitted, see details at end of this message

Its also worth cleaning out the float chamber when you have chance and checking that the fuel lift pump on your willys or hotch jeep has a fine mesh filter inside the cover bowl  , this will stop any further debri getting into the carburettor, the glass bowl design is ideal as you can observe when it needs a clean out, obtainable from Jefrey engineering , Note they test the lift pumps on a jig before posting as some of the reproduction AC pumps were made with an internal fault and you wont want one of those. 

A non return pump jet should also  be  retro fitted, If your very lucky and have an original unrefurbished solex carburettor on your jeep it may still have this non return valve but from the mid 1950s on they were refurbished in the french army  and the wrong jets fitted in place of these valves,  a very good u tube video is available to watch , see greendot319 and type in , if you have a ww2 jeep watch this now , It  only takes seconds to fit one  and  eliminates the  hesitance  when instantly accelerating, just a few pounds and a 12mm ring spanner removes it from the carburettor with carburettor in situ  , 2 suppliers for this non return valve to fit the solex 32 pbic  Alan Hodds tel 07748777963 or john craddock tel 01543577207, if using John Craddock quote solex solex pbi - 2 lb56 as this is a landrover solex carb standard fitment , john Craddock is a landrover specialist   

this is what you should have on your solex carburettor , iots situated directly under the acceleration pump diaphram and accessable without removing the carburettor, its on the surface of the carburettor body and a 12mm ring spanner is all that you need to remove the incorrect jet and fit the upgrade non return valve, available from 2 suppliers listed in the above article, here is a picture of what you will be buying accept the ball bearing in the end will be stainless steel on the latest version, my picture shows an original ww2 version with the glass bead , these were wrongly changed in the mid 50s for a jet used on generators called an economy jet , It was a comunication error when printing the parts diagram and thousands have been fitted with a tiny jet in place of this non return valve  by mistake when being refurbished  

I have had a few jeeps with this little modification, 24 or 12 volts , they have always seemed fine while i have had them however they can be known to fail withouit warning and without having a complete spare unit you are stranded, i prefer the conventional points and condencer , i then carry a spare points, condencer  and rotor arm in the glovebox , the stanndard points can be checked with a screwdriver accross the connections to see if you have a spark  (not possible with electronic ignition )  the electronic ignitions  spark early when cranking so you get a sort of hesitence on start up unless the distributor is set a little  retarded, Im not a fan

Hotchkiss 12 volt sparking mod, this is a common upgrade and eliminates the problem of an overheated ignition coil and loss of spark , It can be done with electronic ignition or conventional points and condencer.

I use a 24 to 12v voltage dropper, 12 volt conventional externally mounted coil and a ballast resistor, retaining the current distributor but removing the internal 24v coil that is prone to overheatiung and failure when hot,  conventional spark plugs, NGKB6S  and plug leads will reduce pressure on the coil even further allowing it to run even cooler

This is a picture of some mud shields i made up for a willys Hotchkiss jeep. They are made from black alkathene type sheet material that is very thick and hard to cut with scissors but just possible to cut as long as they are very sharp. I cut them to exact size so when pushed up inside  the rear arches without need for driling or bonding, they clip in tight  and completely mask off the areas where  mud and water  can  cause so much corrosion. The front mudflaps are so effective they stop all the slush and water getting onto the front hat channels and the exhaust is kept dry  

It is quite easy to add a remote brake reservoir to a willys or Hotchkiss jeep, A morris 1000 plastic reservoir can be purchased on ebay for just a few pounds. Remove the standard reservoir filler cap, braze over the vent hole and thread or braze in a pipe connector. Mount the new reservoir in a suitable place for easy access then connect a pipe between the two

Corrosion protection and shielding from mud and water is so important if you want your jeep to be preserved. But we all like to go for a run on a dry winter's day, trouble is the roads around me are still wet and muddy even if the rain has stopped, so  I have fitted mudflaps on several willys jeeps,  They don't detract from the look, they  use the existing wing bolts so no drilling   and completely protect the front hat channels and silencer from mud and water ingress. I cut the front flaps from 1/4 inch thick rubber conveyor belt, for the rear light protection I  have  discovered a very thick black alkathene  sheet material that can be cut to an exact size and will line the rear arches without any drilling or bonding needed. Masking off the rear light sockets and the c section infront of the rear wheel this  stops  water or mud getting on these vulnerable parts. This is a great way of protecting and preserving a  jeep without any visible detraction to the look of the jeep,The rear protectors  can be fitted in seconds and removed just as quick, call 01548521278 for the measurements 

Easily made up or can be purchased. I would make one or have one fabricated for your jeep, Try and make it very light so you can lift it out of your boot and  man handle it onto the jeep. I purchased one on ebay but found it too heavy for me so I cut away a lot of the excess heavy steel.  I also modified it so it could be left folded upright when not in use like the wartime a frames. I should have made one myself from scratch as I ended up altering everything on the one  I had purchased 

I also  made one up myself to recover a few non runner jeeps down my lane from lorry to farm. I used a different idea to slide 2 separate tube arms over the outsides of the bumper then the 2 tubes are  held secure by a ratchet strap. This worked well but the bumper does get scratched as the jeep goes up and down over undulating ground. A couple of very strong hinges like on the one piece A frame  would overcome this. Also the ring hitch I made could be enlarged to fit a ww2 type pintle hook

Make sure the fan blades are nicely angled and haven't been straightened to stop the whir noise. A fan that is cutting lots of air will have a healthy whir when the engine is accelerated

I use a cool 71 degree  thermostat also used on early landrovers, 165  centigrade. A standard type of thermostat can be drilled on the side with a couple of 4.8 ml holes to let a little water start circulating from the start and this also allows trapped air to get out through the cooling system, You can test if a thermostat is  opening wide and quickly as it should by standing it in a saucepan of water that has just boiled.

If you want to test the coolest  running of 2 thermostats, put them both in the water at the same time, observe how they open and then slowly pour cold water in until they start to close, The one that closes first will be the hotter running one

Old jeep radiators sludge up over the years due to lack of antifreeze  containing rust inhibitor. One indication of this is the radiator gurgling and bubbling and taking ages to re-fill

A good clear radiator should take water as fast as you can pour it in with a watering can. A good Idea is to drain out the coolant from engine block and radiator and flush through with clean water, then run the engine with radiator cleaner to break up the sludge and clear out the channels in the radiator. Don't use the rad flush with antifreeze present, it works far better with just water in the system.

When you have cleaned out the rusty water,  flush through with clean water and then refill with a good mix of antifreeze. Antifreeze is a rust inhibitor also a coolant and more effective than water for cooling. Make sure the radiator is not blocked on the outside with chaff or dust, blow it through from the inside outwards with a compressed airline. If you still have overheating problems you will have to get more involved, fitting replacement radiators , fan cowlings,  changing gaskets , perhaps give me a call

A rattly clutch can just be the original design ww2 clutch or an aftermarket  pressure plate. Its annoying if you have just fitted a new clutch pressure plate and now have a little rattle when you depress the clutch  but this is just the design. Providing the rattle vanishes when you release the pedal It can be ignored as many ww2 clutches rattle similarly when first depressed. If the clutch makes a constant screech bearing or woosh noise when the pedal is depressed but not when released it could be a dried out thrust bearing. This bearing  is sealed so the only real way to sort the problem is to remove the gearbox and fit a new replacement however it is possable to do a field repair that can be as good as a replacement , to re-grease,   drill a small hole in the soft metal surround, inject 7cc of bearing grease inside then seal the hole with a blob of  jb weld . This will lubricate the dry noisy bearing which should then smooth up and quieten  with use. It will take a few miles of driving for the bearing to lubricate and polish itself inside and go quiet. Make sure the clutch pedal has 1/2 to 3/4 inch free play so the bearing stops spinning when the clutch is released. The operation can be done through the bell housing inspection hole. Once you have access to the bearing depress the clutch with engine running in neutral to listen and make sure the noise is definitely coming from this bearing, Several people have now used this greasing remedy and it works well, testimonials below. If your clutch noise is intermittent and noise comes and goes when clutch depressed, it may be a dried out or worn spiggot bearing in the centre of the flywheel. This is a tiny part that costs pennies but sadly it's an engine out or gearbox out job to fit it or lubricate the original  

Hello again !  new Clutch kits from Joes motor pool are superb, i have fitted 2 and they are the modern diaphram design so  they cant rattle like the ww2 copys and the clutch plate is very high quality so you shouldnt get any trouble afterwards like sometimes hapens with the repro seal tested clutches

Just done the operation and its much quieter all ready!  this Quick fix works thanks ! 

Best regards Stefan 

Sweden

The repair you made to my thrust bearing seems to have worked a treat. I tried it again this morning, nice and quiet and gear changes as they should be, so a complete success.

Therefore many, many thanks for your help and advice over the weekend. It was very much appreciated and we hope to see you again at future events. We'll get the kettle on!!

Best regards
Nigel and Kath (Thomas) - US Navy Jeep

I have discovered many retro fit improvements to make a willys jeep softer on its springs, easy to start, more economical to run, better braking efficiency and easy remedies to cure annoying problems. If you have a nagging problem that you can't get to the bottom of I may just have had the same on one of my jeeps and cured it so feel free to message me or call me for advice. 

The hotchkiss jeeps have harder springing than the original ww2 jeeps but jeeps that have been fitted with after market leaf springs are a very hard rough ride . The leaves in the aftermarket springs are thicker and stiff as a cart. There are many reasons your jeep could be giving a hard ride and several things you can do to soften the ride.

 a set of softer shock absorbers make the biggest change in the softness , I modify and  fit modern van or car shocks from vivaro van or citeon c2, see picture on shock absorber article, The french hotchkiss springs can still be obtained and are way better than using after reproduction springs, Other ways to soften the ride if you have the hard reproduction springs already fitted is to  remove a few  bottom leaves too. If the curve has gone out of the original spring leaves, cold press a new curve into each leaf and then reassemble the spring,  Also spray thin oil into the leaves and this will feed into the centres of the springs and lubricate them allowing a little more movement. 

 The shock absorbers / dampers on willys and hotchkiss jeeps have 2 way damping, this is for spring protection when jumping and dropping  jeeps from the air but also makes for a very hard ride. Some people change the dampers retrofit modern one way damping type, you will be amazed by the softer ride.

The shock absorbers on the ww2 and Hotchkiss jeeps are very stiff and give a very hard unforgiving ride. The rears are the main cause, the fronts are ok as the heavy engine above keeps them moving , I  switch my rear shocks  for a couple of citroen c2 shocks or vauxhall vivaro 2 stage shocks , To fit  these you need to cut the top 80% of the mounts away leaving a y shape , then weld in the 2 mounting rings from the old take off shocks , all you need is a disc cutter and a welder, see picture,  The ride is  much more comfortable,  You wouldn't believe the change. Shocks from an 08 vauxhall vivaro van are also very soft and give a very comfortable ride as they are 2 stage damping. If your  jeep  has  the reproduction springs  these are rigid and hardly move especially with the original shocks on , to show  the difference soft shocks can make to the ride just take off a rear shock and push up and down on your jeep, the ww2 copy shocks are dampered in both directions and terribly stiff in operation. This was originally for protecting the springs when droping off a plane or loading down with men guns and ammo. But running empty with just one or 2 occupants a nice set of soft shocks will transform your jeep's ride. Such a pity they can't be purchased as an upgrade to save our backs on the long hours. But currently no one is offering such an upgrade so it's a case of having to go down to the breakers yard with your old shock and matching something up, Also don't pump the tyres up rock hard at 30psi, This is madness on a crossply type of tyre, It won't be able to flex  and you may just as well have solid tyres if you're going to do that, I run mine 15 to 18psi as it's usually just me driving it and I am only 67 kilos. The leaf springs are also a big part of getting the jeep back supple again. Try and find some originals and have the leaves individually re pressed to a nice curve. These original springs are so supple compared to the reproductions, no comparison.,You can  oil the leaves on the originals as they are scalloped along the edges and the oil will track in between the leaves and help the movement like the Rolls Royce  cars always did, If you discover any modern soft  shocks that will fit without any modification please get in touch and I will spread the word, the softer shock absorbers are 90% of the ride quality 

The hotchkiss jeeps have radial tyres. These are more flexible and give a softer ride. The ww2 type crossply bar grip type tyres can be run at  lower pressures than people realize especially if the jeep is not  loaded down with people and supplies. This will give a softer ride equal to the radials on the hotchkiss jeeps. I run my radials at 25psi and crossply bar grip tyres at 18 psi , the ride quality is much improved.

I have had jeeps with wheel wobble and steering shimmy. This could be caused by allsorts, tracking should be very slight toe in ,  the 2 part split rim wheels could be  out of balance, or slop in the steering joints, extreme  play in the steering box or worn bushing and shaft in the bellcrank situated at centre of axle. A loose steering box can be tightened up to a degree and will improve steering dramatically, king pin bearings and wheel bearings could also be sloppy and need adjusting.

  Some jeeps I have purchased have been riddled with wheel balancing weights to try and cure this to no avail. I have discovered one quite effective  remedy worth passing on. If you don't want to change the split rim wheels or strip everything out, run the tyre pressures lower at 15 to 18 psi. The only drawback to this may be a bit more tyre wear but only an issue if you are  doing thousands of miles. If this doesn't cure it, check the track rod ends for play and the steering box  and joints for play, wheel bearings and king pin bearings for slop. If it's just the wheels or poor quality  tyres out of balance and you don't want to run low air pressure, change them over to the post war hotchkiss one part wheels and better quality tyres instead of those malhotra things  .   

Hotchkiss jeeps have enclosed waterproof distributor, this has a bad side effect. The enclosed ignition coil can't ventilate and cool so  gets very, very hot after a run resulting in  intermittent sparking and sometimes complete loss of spark until engine cools again.

One way to overcome this is to cut away the body of the Hotchkiss distributor around the coil area, giving the coil exposure to the moving air. This will allow the coil to shed some of its heat and perform more reliably, also make sure the points gap hasnt closed up completely and change the condencer for a genuine old stock replacement or fit a high quality swift tune externally mounted condencer 

picture enclosed

another excelent sparking remedy is to convert your Hotchkiss to 12 volt sparking, this can be done on just the sparking system leaving everything else 24 volts , all you need to do is fit an externally mounted 12 volt coil and run the supply to the coil through a 10 amp voltage dropper reducing the 24volts  down to 12, the standard hotchkiss distributor and points and condencer can all be retained , even cheaper and far simpler is to buy a 24 volt externally mounted convensional coil available from Jefrey engineering or buy one on line from France , I like the 12 volt sparking conversion as the droper also comes in handy for things like sat nav and phone charger and one or 2 small  low amp 12 volt gadgets like klaxon horn , etc 

This can be done on a 24 volt jeep without affecting the rest of the jeeps electrics eg 12 volt to the sparking and 24 volt to everything else. Ideally a conventional ww2 type distributor should be fitted  but the hotchkiss type distributor can also be modified. Fit a conventional 12 volt coil costing around £15  use a 10  amp 24 to 12v dropper available from ebay for around £24. Wire this between the 24 volt supply and  the 12 volt coil. If you have a hotchkiss distributor  remove the internal 24volt coil and its 2 supply wires,  disconnect the input wire at the base of the distributor, this wire now needs to go to the  voltage dropper, the 12 volt output from the dropper goes to the + on your 12 volt externally mounted coil,

The negative on the 12 volt coil goes straight to the points in the distributor, on a hotchkiss distributor the  supressor cartridge  needs to be  disconnected together with the wire going up to the old internal coil. The lead from the negative terminal of the  externally mounted 12 volt coil goes into the distributor and  connects directly to the points. The ht lead in the centre of the 12 volt coil has to be fed into the distributor cap through a drilled hole in the  casing , it will connect  nicely with a used nut from an old set of points, 

Hotchkiss plugs and leads can be re used or conventional plug leads and NGK  B6S  plugs can also be fitted to the hotchkiss distributor to reduce risistance at the coil and help it run cooler .

Note the tiny  air vent tubes from the side of the hotchkiss distributor must be  disconnected when using conventional plug HT leads. Change the leads one at a time and  number the leads as per firing order 1342 and use rubber shrouds to hold them in securely .

If you can source  a 24 volt conventional externally mounted coil from france  it is possible  to keep the sparking system  24 volt  but eliminate the overheating internal coil,  Wire it in exactly the same way but without needing to use a 24 to 12 volt volt dropper to supply it,.

If you have 12 volt electronic ignition module  fitted in the distributor there is an extra wire going to the distributor and a 12 volt dropper and coil can still  be used. With electronic ignition there are 2 leads coming from the distributor instead of the one.

picture enclosed

If you have a 12 volt system and the coil is getting very very hot you may have a 6 volt coil without realizing or a 12 volt  ballast resited type coil fitted. This will need a ballast resistor fitting in the supply line to the coil to bring the volts down even further.  you only need  to use ballast resisted coil  if your jeep has a high compression cylinder head or the cylinder head or block has beem skimmed causing higher compression so will need a boosted spark on start up  . The answer  Is a bit long winded but eisier to explain on the phone.

I can be contacted on 01548521278 for help and advice with  the 12 volt sparking conversion

If you have a 6 volt jeep that you would like to upgrade to 12 volts or the 12 volt alternator already fitted has failed, almost any 12 volt alternator can be fitted especially if  you are a bit handy with a mig welder. The alternator  should have the 2 mounting lugs at the front opposite each other ,  if the belt is the old wide type a split pulley can be sourced and thick washer fitted between the 2 pulley halves to get the right width, A small section of flat bar can be drilled and welded to the original mounting bracket to take the front lug. Once the front mounting lug is fitted the rear lug can be positioned and lined up by eye with belt fitted and lined up with the other pulleys,  The wiring is easy on an alternator they usually  have a large fixing or wide spade connector for the main output lead and a small spade connector or fixing for the thin cable going to 12 volt ignition  bulb which has to be 2.5 to 5 watts, (no more or no less). A 12 volt  alternator can be tested on the floor with a cordless drill and a 12 volt car battery, The main positive connection or large spade connector goes to + on battery. The thin cable with the in line bulb  goes from the + on battery to the small terminal or small spade connector on the alternator, earth on battery goes to the body of the alternator, the little bulb should then light up. Connect your drill via a socket to the pulley  securing nut and rotate the alternator to full speed on your drill. The little bulb should quickly  go out making the alternator charge and the back drag caused by the charging will be easy to detect. As soon as the drill slows down or stops the bulb will  light up again. if the alternator doesn't work , some alternators have a removable black plastic block holding a carbon  brush, check the brush is  not worn away short or the copper coated shaft it runs on is clean and not black with oily dirt, A small section of sandpaper held against the copper surface when alternator is turned by hand will clean this up nicely and can  make a non working  alternator come to life again. If you decide to buy  a new alternator , the readily available massey ferguson 135 type alternator makes a great choice and costs around £55. The front section with 2 mounting lugs rotate to the correct position for the jeep, part number

alt114    y0154902h18 

a 12 volt starter can be modified from another car or a hotchkiss 24 volt pre enguaged starter makes a superb upgrade but you have to have the internals rewound to 12 volts, Robson and Francis motor rewinds  can do this for you, a pre enguaged starter will connect with the flywheel before it rotates hence the name and will protect your flywheel ring gear as well as sounding much more refined

This shows the wire going from the negative on the external 12 volt coil to the points in the distributor. The wire  is 14 inch long, the ht lead that also comes from the external coil and goes into the side of the distributor to connect to the  stud  on end of distributor cap (spring removed)  Use a nut from an old  set of points for this

This shows how the Hotchkiss engines always  have  the 2 studs ready to mount the external coil in the normal place. This external arrangement is more durable and can cool itself and be monitored by holding your hand on the side of the coil after a long run. Even an externally mounted coil will become quite warm after a long period of idling but is  able to release its heat to the air unlike the smaller  unreliable internal mounted coils which once they have become red hot suffer sudden loss of spark and engine cut out

This is a 24 to 12 volt dropper enabling the voltage to come down to actually about 14.5 volts. This will work even better if you plumb in a secondery china volt dropper bringing the volts down another 3 or 4 volts to 11 or 12v. This will eliminate any chance of the 12 volt coil being over cooked and will ensure  optimum  sparking  when engine is hot

If you have a 24v Hotchkiss jeep and would like to convert the sparking system to 12v use a  8 to 10 amp 24v to 12 volt dropper in the supply line to the externally mounted 12 volt coil.  (The power coming out of this dropper tends  to be14.5v instead of 12v like it's meant to be) So adding  the little  china ballast resister brings  it down 3 or 4 volts to  a nice cool running 11 or 12 volts 

Fit a 12 volt convensional externally mounted coil and  plumb the Ht lead  in to the origiinal  Hotchkiss distributor cap. Cut 14 inch of ht lead for this, also 14 inch of 8 amp wire to go directly from the negative on the coil to the points in the distributor. No need to change the condenser but the old internal coil must be removed and a hole made in the side of distributor case to feed the wire into the points

Bingo  you have a cool running 12 volt sparking system  , no more engine cut outs or loss of sparking due to overheating internal 24v coil 

These droppers are actually 24volt to 14.5 volt so to be exactly right you need to fit an aditional china ballast resistor getting the volts down to a cool 11 or 12 volts

Red lead is fused and 24volt in

White  output lead is connected to the + on the coil

Black lead is connected to earth or body of jeep

For the above wiring setup make sure your jeeps batteries are negative earth. All ww2 jeeps I have ever had have been negative earth

When the condenser fails it usually creates a sporadic misfire almost like someone keeps turning the ignition on and off as you are driving. The engine will also snap and backfire when revved high. The points will be getting very hot and many new reproduction condensers are no good and fail again within just a few miles. It's best to fit a new old stock condenser if you can find one or buy an expensive racing condenser from swift tune and mount it externally,.The swift tune condenser can be used on 6/12 or 24 volt systems and will cost £20 to £30 but can tolerate huge voltages and should last indefinitely , I have tested one and it's very good indeed

I have discovered huge improvements by using modern spark plugs. The general knowledge is that the modern NGK B6S plugs are more tolerant of extreme changes in  running temperatures and rich mixtures , the reproduction Hotchkiss spark plugs also cost a fortune and give  very poor performance 

This can be due to one of a few causes. The one you don't really want  is the worn starter ring gear. This means the teeth on one place in the flywheel ring gear have worn and mis-shapen causing the starter motor gear to grate against them instead of meshing into them.

It is sometimes possible to re-shape the teeth in position with a dremel type multi tool grinder.

If the ring gear is ok   but  the starter is still slipping and grinding it's the starter motor at fault.

On a hotchkiss this could be the pre engage part needs adjusting so the cog moves further forwards and fully engages. It can be done and tested on the workbench.

The older style ww2 starter is a main cause of the damage to the ring gear especially when the system has been converted to 12 volts. The cog spins up with twice the speed and torque  before meshing with the ring gear and  is rotating as it hits the ring gear.

A dry starter  shaft will stop the cog engaging quickly and cause the similar symptoms so oil that up.

Also the tiny spring and the end bush on the starter could be broken or loose causing jam up and similar  symptoms.

The hotchkiss pre-engaged starters are excellent upgrades. They engage the cog t before spinning  the motor so can't damage the ring gear. I have  fitted a pre engaged hotchkiss starter on  ww2 jeeps with worn ring gear and this stopped the grating  providing the area of wear on the ring gear was not too badly damaged but If the wear is very bad then  one day if the problem comes back you  will have to take the flywheel off  and fit a new ring gear.

It is expensive but one great way to overcome this ring gear damage is to use  a 24 volt Hotchkiss starter, It may work ok  as is but will be slow. Alternatively get it  re-wound down to  12 volts,  providing you are using 12 volt batery, Once  you have the modern type pre-engaged starter on your jeep , the ring gear will be protected from this type of damage in the future, I don't like the American reduction gear type hi torque starters as they sound harsh and noisy 

Motor rewind specialists who can do this for you  are Robson  and Francis tel 02077332353

Ideal for  12 volt converted willys jeep, I have just had a Hotchkiss 24 volt pre enguaged starter re wound to 12 volts. My jeep has worn ring gear on the engine, the standard ww2  starter is a crude 1920s design that is spinning as  it engages with the flywheel. This will eventually  damage  the teeth on the  ring gear.  The original starters sound harsh and rough in action, the pre engaged type is a superb modification, It turns quietly and smoothly, it engages with the flywheel before  the starter motor  starts to turn. The grating can't  happen and  no more danger of damaging the ring gear any further 

I am not a fan of the reduction gear hi torque starters that are available from the US, the gearing makes them  sound noisy and harsh,  they wear out quickly and  dont have a protruding shaft to connect with the bell housing bush , 

The pre engaged Hotchkiss m201 starter is an excellent design that fits straight on to a ww2 willys or gpw, voltage has to be changed on the starter to 12 volts , they start on the floor button or button on the dash or off the key like a modern car, It is far more refined and up to date design. The Hotchkiss starter  has an incorperated motor brake so will not spin on after startup

I far prefer the key or button on the dash for starting as aposed to the floor pedal,  the pre engaged starter can be used with all 3 methods It is so smooth and refined every time you start the engine

The company who did the Hotchkiss pre engaged starter rewinding from 24volt to 12 volt is Robson and Francis  tel 02077332353

This is a 12 volt pre engaged starter fitted to a ww2 willys jeep, it was found from a period classsic car and works beautifully without the  noise you get from  a gear reduction stater. The main thing to check when fitting one is the gear size and number of teeth, shaft size and reach etc, Several different starters can be modified and made to fit the old willys and hotchkiss jeeps   

Use a 12 volt alternator conversion or change the regulator to a 12 volt. Also change the bulbs to 12 volt, the ignition coil to a conventional 12 volt, and disconnect the fuel tank sender. (Don't buy a 12 volt starter that looks identical to a 6 volt because it will  be a  6 volt reproduction marked with a 12 volt sticker and  you won't gain a thing), I have been caught like this before.

 the best 12 volt start conversion you can do on a hotchkiss, is to retain the hotchkiss 24volt pre-engaged starter motor and run it on the new 12 volt supply. The starter will have to be sent away to a motor re-winders and changed into 12 volts. In this case keep the starter cables large diameter and short lengths.

Converting a hotchkiss shielded ignition to standard plugs and leads is a great move. You can do this retaining the 24 volts by changing the ht leads to standard and fitting NGKB6S or b7s plugs. You must remove the tiny vent pipes going to and from  the distributer when using conventional plug leads . You can also change the internal 24volt coil for an external 24volt coil, this will run cooler and won't let you down like the little internal 24v coils can. Also you can cut away the distributor casing exposing the internal coil to the air, I never use a china reducer on its own to bring the ignition volts down from 24 to 12, it never worked well enough for me and I ended up getting coil failure when driving  for long periods.

I have  uses a 10 amp 24 to 12v dropper (available on line ) and a conventional 12 volt branded coil from a proper motorfactors so i get 12 volt sparking but everything else remains 24 volts, the original 24 volt distributor can be retained and the original points and condencer can  also be retained 

If you want to keep running 6 volt start, great improvements can be made by oiling the starter gears, greasing the end of the shaft and cleaning the comutator  that the brushes make contact with. Also use a large earth strap going directly from the battery earth to the starter casing, use a large bore cable from the positive to the starter switch and keep these 2 cables as short as possible to reduce volt drop. Don't use the hand made replica 6 volt battery, use the modern 6 volt plastic case factory made battery. It pushes out a little extra power. Also make sure the timing is not over advanced as the  cylinders will be sparking before they have got to  the top and slowing the cranking speed. Retard the timing slightly, this also makes using a starting handle safer.

On very rusty jeeps that have been standing for decades, exposed to the elements, the spark plugs can go rotten and sieze  due to the recess they sit in filling with water. The plugs can shear off when trying to remove, this is due to the manufacturing process at the factory. Plugs are made in 2 halves and sort of swaged together. If you are unfortunate enough to have this happen to you, don't despair, use a stud remover with the tip cut off so as not to break the bottom tip from the plug, or buy the larger size remover and it won't go too far down onto the hole. If reasonable force won't remove it then use a blowtorch and get the stub of the plug nice and hot, (wait for it to cool ) and try again with the stud remover. I have had this happen a few times and it's worked so far.

This is common and not to be worried about too much as it usually slips out of gear very gently so won't harm the gearbox. The slip out happens on the over-run going down a steep hill and is usually so gentle it takes you by surprise. Many people drive along and rest their hand on the gearlever when in second to hold it in but this can be tiring. The proper cure is to remove the gearbox and replace the worn spring and ball or bent selector lever etc. An easy fix that works a treat is to fit a stack of magnets on the dash and when the lever selects second gear it sticks to the magnets. Job done. 

If your jeep slips out of   other gears also, then its time to take things apart and investigate more deeply

If this is also noticeable when the jeep is not running it could be a simple case of removing the top plate on the gearbox and checking the selector plate for snagging. This can be done with gearbox in place. Sometimes the selector plate is wrongly fitted with the spring washer underneath, sometimes the plate was never set up properly when fitted and has a slight curve causing snagging on the bottom of the gear lever. Clean the plate off and look for tight rubbing marks. Sometimes all that is needed is a slight gringing to the gear lever tip to alow clearance or re-shaping of the selector plate to allow clearance, lubricate the cup and ball on the gear lever to stop the bottom of the gear lever wearing downwards onto the selector plate. If this is not the cause and tight gear selection or nasty grating happens when the jeep is driven it could be more involved, like worn or incorrectly-adjusted syncro rings or wrongly assembled gearbox. Coming back into 1st gear will always grate as it has no sycromesh fitted to this gear.

I have fitted a few of these remote brake fluid tanks to jeeps master cylinders, easy to do. Just remove the master cylinder filler cap, solder or braze up  the vent hole, drill a centre hole and thread or braze in an inlet  tube to take the pipe up to the plastic remote tank. The remote fluid tank can be purchased on ebay or from an autofactors for just a few pounds, It comes with a mounting bracket. No more wondering what the brake fluid level is or struggling to undo and top up the under floor reservoir. Just open the bonnet and have a look at the level

New reproduction brake shoes have the hard linings and don't bite in like the old original asbestos linings. They are quite frankly dangerous in my opinion, The original jeep brake shoes had asbestos in the material. This gave superb friction qualities and the jeeps all stopped with a skid and screech in the war. Nowadays people complain about poor brakes, this is usually caused by poor quality brake shoe material with no asbestos content. To equal the  braking eficiency of the wartime jeeps you must  adjust the shoes properly, make sure the whole surface is in contact with the drums by holding  them against  the drum before attaching them to the backplate. They can be sanded to fit,  Clean the wearing surface inside the drums with rough sandpaper using a rotary motion. Try and source some new old stock asbestos shoes or next best  have your brake shoes re-lined with high friction  brake material, (brake lining specialists can do this by post). I know  the asbestos brakes are unbeatable as I have had a few jeeps still running  with them, I have had ww2 jeeps with original asbestos linings and they stop really well

Picture enclosed of the unique honeycomb pattern brake material available from brake lining company

Another company who can supply this soft powerful lining material is questmead,

Make sure you ask for the soft High friction sand or light brown colour linings.

Also a company called industrial friction in Cardiff  who are a small family firm are Industrial Friction Cardiff, Again insist on the soft high friction sand colour linings.

Some people have slotted the repro shoes on motorbikes to get  better braking  but I haven't tried this on jeeps

Please let me know your findings if you fit these linings on your  shoes and I can advise the best company subject to the findings. The price is a bit high but for  the better material  but  it's well worth it

This system used on motorcycle drum brakes to give extra powerful brakes. I don't know if it can be applied safely to the repro brake shoes on willys jeeps but if they are fully bonded and I guess if you groove only 3mm deep and diagonally it could work. Best seek professional advice on this. Please let me know your findings. If it does work well it is worth telling everyone and then the companys that make the repro shoes may start grooving them

This has many causes. No reason to put up with poor brakes, they can be good in standard format like they were in the war when fitted with Asbestos linings. I have refurbished the brakes on at least 50 willys and hotchkiss jeeps and I think I have overcome pretty well every fault and symptom possible and have the remedies. If your brakes are  not binding and adjusted correctly but you still can't make the jeep skid up and stop well , I advise to  get  the shoes sent off and re-lined with quality racing car linings.  Wow what a difference.

tel Adrian Wynn  on  07850677102

Before fitting  brake shoes onto your jeep, hold them against the inside of the drum to make sure the shape is correct and the material  makes contact with the whole surface of the drum, If not they can be sanded on the prominent part of the material so the entire length of material will  contact, ( use a dust mask in case of asbestos)  I find the best way to adjust the brakes on a ww2 or Hotchkiss jeep is to start with the bottom adjusters and set the tiny divits on the adjusters so they are looking towards each other,  adjust the top adjusters either way to bring the shoes out against the drum then back off for a little clearance, tighten , check again for free rotation then move on  to the bottom adjusters and adjust the divits down and away from the axles until the shoes start to rub. Then back off for a little clearance, tighten and rotate to check free wheeling is still happening. A very slight rub in one place on the drum can be tolerated as long as it's not constantly rubbing. This should soon wear in with use. If the drum rubs periodically in one place when rotated, this indicates a slightly wonky brake drum. If symptoms are extreme the drum may have to be replaced or straightened  up properly. Tighten the bottom adjusters before refitting the drum so you can make sure the shoes still move out and back freely. If they don't some reduction in thickness of the metal will need to be done to allow clearance when tightened

Caused by oil inpregnated into the lining, poor adjustment, gearbox oil seal leaking or seizing cable. The ww2 h/brake actually works better and the oil can get away from the lining. The hotchkiss h/brake is worse as the oil is held between the drum and the brake lining and is difficult to wash out. The real cure is to fit a new prop shaft output oil seal and clean off the linings with brake cleaner and re-assemble.

If you are having trouble with the tuning of your engine please look under the heading "common problems" also under the heading "hotchkiss jeeps". I have put a little information to help with sparking  problems associated with the 24 volt system, also fuel and carburettor problems.

This can be 100 different things but with a fault finding process it is quick and easy to work your way through the possible causes until you put your finger on the cure,  01548521278 for advice

Do the basic checks first, like sparking, carburation, fuel supply, If you have recently fitted a new condenser this could be the problem as many of the new condensers are very poorly made some will be defective from the start so fit the old original condenser back in or find a proper new old stock condenser from an auto jumble  or fit a brand new externally mounted swift tune condenser that will last for the life of the jeep, If still having problems move on to the more involved checks  until you  cure it.

Old sun-bleached seat cushions and hoods can be purchased, the needle gun treatment can also be used on new combat rims and front bumpers if you want to make them look original.

New parts on old jeeps can be weathered-down using fine 240 grit or finer sandpaper on an orbital da sander. Also chassis tags, s/wheels, glovebox tags can all be given the old age treatment to help them blend in using various methods. An air-powered needle gun works wonders on the steel spokes of a new s/wheel making fine pitting just like old rust damage. Take the new finish off the rim with fine emery paper, rub some rusty black grease into the spokes. Also a glossy new paint finish on a wartime jeep can be given the same treatment using an orbital da sander with very, very fine 6" sticky discs.

The stencils for the star on the bonnet can be held down flush with tiny round disc magnets available on ebay. Use the cheap black ones for this as they are less powerful and just right for this job.

Make sure to use off white or even cream colour silk or vinyl finish aerosol as brilliant white looks stark and over  bright in my opinion. Buy a stencil made of good quality gasket type paper, this can be re used many many times. Use small disc magnets to hold the stencil down tight to the surface, mask off the area around the outer part of the stencil with old blankets, clean off dust and grease from the surface to be sprayed with brake cleaner or thinners. When the paint is dry you can go over it with  very very fine 240 grit sand paper to remove gloss or  lustre. Same with the numbers. Open the bonnet, make up a length of numbers on a stencil  and hold on with lots of small disc magnets   

If you want to keep the original look but reinstate some decor, it's very easy to weather down any graphics  that you have just added .

I use an air operated orbital sander and very fine 240 grit 6 inch sticky discs. The edges can be worn down in places to simulate an original Star or numbers. Any overspray can be removed with thinner on a cloth  or the fine sander can gently remove any feathering  overspray. You can experiment with dirty oil and dust rubbed into the area to soil it a little or quite a lot    

The results of various weathering-down processes can be very rewarding. Most new fitments like glovebox tags, motifs, steeringwheels, gearknobs, leather boots, numberplates, seat covers etc etc can all be blended in with your jeep's original patina

This is fairly common on willys jeeps. Some people keep their hand on the lever when it's in second gear but this takes the fun out of driving the jeep. It usually only slips out of 2nd gear very gently on a downhill run and does no harm to the gearbox. If you don't want to have to remove and strip the gearbox out to fix this, you can do a simple little mod to stop the lever sliding back into neutral. Buy some small silver magnets on ebay, about 4or 5 mm thick and about 18 to 20mm diameter. Don't buy the ones with a hole in the centre, these are brittle, you will need enough to make a stack 40mm long. Wrap them together in one unit with duck tape, stick the magnet on the bend of the gear lever and when it goes into 2nd gear the magnet self locates to the dash with a nice click. It holds the lever in 2nd gear perfectly. When you get to the vintage show you can take the magnet off and stick it in the tool box.

This again can be  many reasons. Do the basics first. remove the thermostat and see if it's a cool running 65 centigrade  type, put it in a boiling water and see if it opens nice and quick,

Check the radiator is clear from the outside for the air to flow through, check the radiator  internals are not blocked (if the radiator fills with a watering can as quick as you can pour the coolant in. This usually means it's quite clean inside and not clogged up with rust sludge), A clogged up radiator will take a long time to fill with your watering can

Radiator cleaning/ flushing chemicals can be used to dissolve the grime inside a radiator but have varying degrees of success. It only really works if you flush all antifreeze out of radiator and engine block completely  before using the rad flush

New cool running 160 degree jeep thermostats can be purchased on ebay or direct from outback automotive, make sure there is a sizeable bypass hole in the thermostat to let out trapped air.

Check the thermostat is not a high temperature one. Run as cool a thermostat as you can get 65 to 70 degree c or 160 degree fahrenheit  type. If you can get a vintage bellows type it gives  more through flow and make sure it has the little hole in  the flap that opens to let the trapped air out. If it hasn't, drill a little one out. You can also drill a 5 mil diameter hole in the plate that opens. This lets a small amount of  coolant flow past the reacting spring and open the thermostat quicker. Make sure the fan blades have good curve and are blowing well and the fan cowling has not been removed from the radiator. Antifreeze mix should always be used and will cool better than just water. A top running temperature of 150  fahrenheit or 65  centigrade is ideal and will help keep things cooler and lessen the likelihood of  petrol evaporating in the fuel line  around the engine. I have often drilled a tiny bypass hole in a modern thermostat  to help clear trapped air and allow a little coolant bypass when the engine is running slower, If you still have overheating trouble after checking all the above it will be a bit more involved like radiator blocked up or water jacket blocked, head gasket leaking or even cracks in the engine block or cylinder head. Always do the basics first. All jeeps will run hot when left ticking over for long periods or poodling about in a convoy. This is because the fan is not revving high enough to do its work properly. Never run your jeep with no thermostat in, it won't run well and could eventually crack the cylinder head. 

If a thermostat is  working properly at start up the radiator will be cold for several minutes until the engine gets up to the required temperature and opens the thermostat to let the water run into the radiator

In cold weather  the thermostat will stay partially closed to restrict the flow to the radiator and keep the engine warmer

Willys and Hotchkiss jeep engines have a very, very solid and bullet-proof design, but some small things can be done to bring them more up-to-date and driver-friendly. They are fitted with 2 types of carbuerretor - solex or carter. The solex carbuerretor is French post-war design and the carter  dates  back to the original WW2. Carter carbuerrettors can be reconditioned and lean mixture problems can sometimes be rectified by removing one of the jets.

Weak mixture carburettor problems can sometimes be revealed by pulling out the choke a little while driving. This will rich up the over-weak mixture and eliminate the hesitant acceleration. This can signify blocked idler jets or you  have an over-weak mixture. Grey or white spark plug ends after a 3 mile run also signify this. Thick black soot on spark plugs after a long run shows too rich a mixture. A new reproduction french solex carb costs about £110 and is the best option in my mind. A webber replacement for series one l/rover is nice and runs very well but needs a couple of little things changed to enable it to fit.  If a replacement carburettor doesn't cure a misfire the next thing to check would be the sparking system, coil, points, condenser, plugs, ht leads. 

Starting voltage - early willys and hotchkiss jeeps had a 6 volt battery often resulting in very slow cranking speeds (this cranking speed can be improved) but you will still have dim lighting, Many of these jeeps have since been converted to 12 volt system leaving the original 6 volt starter in place but upgrading to a 12 volt battery and voltage regulator, or replace the dynamo with a 12v alternator available from Rodney Rushton tel 07768265911 and a light bulb change from 6 to 12 volts.Fuel tank sender can be disconnected or upgraded to 12 volts. Note original 6 volt dynamo will charge a 12 volt battery happily, but regulator must be 12 volt. If using the original 6 volt starter on a 12 volt conversion use 20ft of light grade battery cable between the battery and starter to reduce the volts to the starter to around 8 or 9v this will be less strain on the 6volt starter and it will last longer before the end mashes up, Dont get tempted to pay big money for a 12 volt starter unless you check first that its not a standard 6 volt replacement sold as 12v with a 12 volt sticker on , there are a lot of these pretend 12volt ones about 

Some later built French jeeps were fitted with 12 volts at the factory and if you have one of these you're a lucky person as they were only built for about 12 months.The majority of French-built post-war Willys jeeps were 24 volts. This made for excellent fast starting, (starter gear slip can be rectified) the 24volt sparking system  has proved to be problematic due to the internally mounted tiny ignition coil inside the distributor and the radio-shielded plug leads and highly supressed spark plugs incorporated in this design  It is possible to change these 24 volt jeeps back to 12 volt plugs and leads or back to 12 volt system or just simply modify the sparking system  which is the  bugbear of the 24 volt system, (make sure you have a 24 volt condenser fitted or fit an external super high performance condencer from swiftune ) If this doesn't cure the erratic acceleration spark loss symtoms you can fit an externally mounted full size conventional coil and plumb the ht lead in one end of the distributor cap and on top of the internal coil (make sure the internal coil has been immobilized) If you changed the jeep back to 12 volts the dynamo or alternator must be the same voltage. The starter motor can be left as 24 volts (the engine will crank it over slower)  the waterproof distributor can be left in place but modified to axept 12 volts using the externally mounted 12 volt coil,  change the plugs to NGKB6S type. upgrade to conventional  ht leads, as this is another cause of  problems. One other reason people get stress with the 24v jeeps is if they have been converted to 12 volt spark but retaining the 24volt batterys,using 12 volt coil and in line voltage reducer. The  in line voltage dropper/s are troublesome as the voltage on low revs  exeeds the 12 volts required, causing coil overheat and sudden spark loss, engine misfire or cut out. This classically shows itself when the jeep has been toddling around and about on low engine revs, road runs/carnivals etc.The 12 volt droppers/reducers to the coil act as a volt filter but let to high a voltage through on low running resulting in a very hot misbehaving coil, Change to proper 24v conventional coil and this can't happen. These new conventional french 24volt coils can be purchased from France for around £30.

Fuel pump modification. Conventional fuel supply pump driven by the engine will need a mdern fuel compliant diaphragm fitted, or can be changed for an electric ac type vintage fuel pump. This is nice because if the jeep's been standing for weeks or months as soon as the ignition is switched on the 12 v electric fuel pump automatically primes the system, resulting in a quick, efficient start-up. The conventional fuel pump design requires long cranking periods after periods of long storage, or hand priming with the bonnet up. If you decide to stay with the conventional design of fuel pump a replacement diaphragm compatible with modern fuels is important.

Electronic ignition

Electronic ignition kits replace conventional points and are very easy to fit and eliminate the need for setting points gaps and changing points in the future. However I am not a fan as some cheap units can fail with no warning,leaving you stranded . 

Alternator conversions. All original Willys and Hotchkiss jeep charging systems are old style dynamos with separately mounted voltage regulators. These voltage regulators need their points cleaning periodically and often become internally corroded and irrepairable. Alternator conversion is a great upgrade as they are smaller, lighter and maintenance free. They also charge the battery more efficiently when the engine is ticking over. 12v or 24v kits available from Rodney Rushton  tel 07768265911 Alternator conversion cannot be done on a 6 volt system (as far as I am aware).

Brake modifications. Standard brakes are very simple in design and very cheap to replace. If quality shoes are purchased from Joes motor pool and adjusted correctly they can be quite adequate. But if you are trailering with your jeep down steep hills, or driving around fully laden a brake upgrade is a good idea. The front brakes do most of the stopping as on a motorbike, use the better quality brake shoes and cylinders  available from Joes motor pool tel 01934641811. These have friction material that grips the drum properly. A disc brake conversion is a good idea and relatively simple job. If you don't like the look of disc brakes, another way to improve the braking is to fit a booster as used on the early MGs of the 60s and 70s. Often seen on Morris 1000s and minis, and can easily be purchased online. For info on disc brake conversion Tel Rodney Rushton 07768265911 The reason the conventional brakes don't stop very well is that the shoes are fixed at the bottom and move in and out at the top only. Often the shoes have been changed with the poor quality replacements. The CJ2B jeep (later model Willys) had double acting shoes that moved out equally top and bottom. These can be put on your Willys or Hotchkiss improving the braking power substantially and not changing the look of the jeep. Jeffrey engineering is fully knowledgeable on this conversion.

Driver's seat modification. If you are a lanky boy like me, or you've got a bit of a paunch (not like me) you'll find the seat a bit too far forward. John Wayne had this trouble with his personal jeep used for filming in the Nevada desert. A simple 2 inch section was welded into the seat frame and a small cut out on the rear mudguard where the seat rests allowed the seat to be 2 inches further back making for a very comfortable driving position. I have recently done a great drivers seat mod by just cutting out the rear cross brace on the seat back and replacing with small length of flat bar allowint the back of the seat to recline 1.5 to 2" It made a huge difference

Gearbox modifications. The standard gearbox can be fitted with a standard overdrive unit. This is a rare thing to find and would probably increase the value of the jeep by at least £1000. In my opinion it's totally unnecessary unless you are travelling on the dual carriageway and have already modified your brakes.(50 mph with the top down is plenty fast enough for me). One niggling trait Willys jeeps sometimes have on their gearbox is that second gear slips back to neutral on the over run. This is common on many jeeps, usually caused by weak poppet spring. Only repairable if the gearbox is removed and dismantled. However there is a very cheap and easy alternative which I have discovered. This involves purchasing some 5mm thick disc magnets about the size of a pound coin, and stacking them on top of each other until you have a 40mm long magnet. Wrap around with duck tape to hold them in one lump and stick  just above the bend on the main gear lever. When you select 2nd gear the magnet sticks to the dash and it will never jump out of 2nd again. Make sure you buy the silver ones with no hole on ebay as they are very powerful

Towbar conversion. A conversion can easily be made up allowing you to use either the conventional hitch provided or the modern 50mm ball hitch. This can be removed at any time if you want your jeep to look original, as it is only bolted on. 

Dashboard gauges. Post-war Hotchkiss jeeps were fitted with km speedometer instead of mph and oil and temperature in metric rather than imperial.  However the original WW2 gauges fit perfectly into the dashboard holes, and can be retro fitted. 

Tyres. Post-war Hotchkiss' had radial tyres, slightly wider and higher than the cross ply, WW2 bargrip type. People prefer the original looking tyres, but in use the radials are far superior as they flex more, giving better grip and stopping ability, more comfortable ride and a faster road speed.

Key operated ignition switch. This can be purchased from jeep parts suppliers and relaces the manual switch for better security.

Key/button start. All WW2 jeeps were pedal start. If you are a purist you will want to keep it the same, but all post-war Willys jeeps had button start, and many WW2 jeeps have been converted to key start as the floor button start is awkward as you often have to have your foot on the throttle and the starter button at the same time. If you would like any more detailed advice or perhaps you may have a jeep you are thinking of selling or know of a friend who is selling a jeep,

I pay large commission for information leading to a purchase or I can buy  directly from you. Please ring me for a chat on 01548521278,   I pay very fair prices, instant settlement and collection 

 On a nice original ww2 jeep, I try and take a minimalistic approach to its restoration as it can be all the more significant if it retains signs of the trauma it has suffered over time.

If you have a jeep for sale please get in touch, good price paid, quick decision, instant payment, tel 01548 521278

Hi thanks for the email, I would warn you against building a jeep from new reproduction panels, many people have told me how cheaply made and sub standard the new reproduction jeep pannels and parts can be. I have called in on a very skilled engineer today who endeavoured to rebuild his father's old jeep with a new chassis and a new body but retaining all the original mechanical parts. First he had to repair  some of the original  worn-out mechanicals, next he struggled with the chassis because it was not well made and lots of the brackets had to be cut off and re-manufactured.

Moving on to the new body, panels and wings, none of which would fit. So many changes and cuts and re-welds and grinds had to be done to enable things to align. Like wings, headlamp brackets, radiator, bulkhead fittings, captive nuts and  brackets, engine mountings, strengthening ribs.

He has managed to do it all but says he would never  do another and if he had known how many things would be wrongly made  he  would have refurbished the original chassis and tub with much less effort and  for a fraction of the cost and with far less stressfull

My advice to you is by all means build a new  kit jeep and from a distance  it will look very nice indeed. But remember it won't be  a quality  airfix kit with eveything fitting together perfectly like those lovely little models you made when you were a child.

 The full sized new reproduction jeep parts and panels are often very  poorly  made, if you are a good fabricator/welder you will be able to  cut the welds, remake and modify most things ,

One or two jeep parts suppliers are now concentrating on higher quality built parts but these are more expensive. Often you can ask for the quality option and pay a higher  price. Most people, me included, do get tempted to go for the lowest price. It's a bit of a gamble, some parts will be ok others will be paper thin metal and won't  fit. A rusty original panel is sometimes the best option , it will fit, it's an original and the welding repair you may have to do to it will be far less labour intensive than bashing and grinding the new part or panel that won't fit. If you get good parts please put it out on line or facebook to encourage the sellers to stick to quality, If you get a horrible badly made part spread the word and   tell the suppliers how disappointed you are