Yup, Al, I got the 48 Jeep when I was in high school, about 1957 as I recall. Worn out when I got it, rebuilt then and worn out and rebuilt again about 25 years ago. I havn't licensed it for a long time, just use it for a farm rig, but it's the only 4x4 I own at the moment. I may put it back on the road come winter.

It's far from restored. Rust has taken a toll every place where they used wooden stiffeners under the body. It was wrecked when i got it, was cobbled back together, and is still that way. It was good enough for a high school jalopy and hunting rig. When I get rich like Jay Leno I'll restore it. Don't hold your breath waiting for that day.


Man alive, O.M. you got a bunch of batteries to deal with. I've only got about 10 if I install all of them, and I get sick and tired of cleaning terminals, neutralizing boxes, shuffling good batteries out of one rig to another and jump starting the ones that have "push batteries". (That's one with enough juice for a spark but a crank is out of the question.) Again, when I'm rich like Jay Leno, all the rigs will get batteries that work!

Jack

Hi Jack,
What would be the fun in that:)
Speaking of "Jeep", I left out one of my current projects. Setting up an industrial "Jeep" engine out of an old FMC sprayer for a utility cart. Drives a 400 amp continuous DC amp welder (old warbird generator), a 5.5 gpm high pressure wash pump (primarily for wet sandblasting) and a 3000psi hydraulic pump to run my hydraulic impact wrenches, pole pruning chain saw and pole pruner. Also has the prop shaft drive for the fan that I haven't decided on the use for yet....maybe a chipper.

I remember the old FMC model 24 Speedsprayer very well. Did you find one without a cracked head or block? Those were F-head engines so you had the opportunity to crack either piece or both.

They were a good little rig, performed well beyond expectations for such a small machine in their day. They lasted pretty good if they were taken care of and wern't opperated at excess RPM. This is what killed a bunch of Chrysler, Contental, to a lesser extent Herculese, and, of course, Jeep engines. FMC just didn't allow much of a sefety factor in their engine specs when they built those sprayers.

Sounds like a really convenient power unit you are making. Are you puting wheels and self propulsion on it too? Should be a snap with the hydraulic power already in place.

How about a picture, with a Cat included with it of course, when you get it more or less finished?

Jack

Hi Jack,
Actually have two of the old SpeedSprayers, one with early and one with late F-heads. Made a good towable unit out of the two but had to widen the frame to mount everything on it. Haven't looked to far into the engines yet, will rebuild if required, of course got the "running when parked" story. Expect to use it for Cat support:)
Could see where overspeed would be a problem with that "Mickey Mouse" Zenith carb and "gov-U-retor" attachment. That went in the junk pile and replaced it with a Solex unit and Pierce governor. Will slip in a pic after the "Woodland" adventure:) Are you going to be there?

Most of us here just locked the governor at full speed and put a stop on the control. The load on the engine is 90% to the fan and it's a very predictable load, so we didn't really need the governor at all. I ran the big model 36's with JXD Herculese engines. They did a pretty good job on the third row over, so we could drop the set RPM by about 100 and never notice it in the job.

I sure wish I could be at Woodland, but I'm driving forklift for another cherry harvest. Some of us old geezers still can't afford to retire. I'm not sure about Brooks. I might be able to catch that on a Sunday. Woodland would be great, and we have friends there where I could park my wife, who has been dragged to enough Cat wrecking yards to last her several lifetimes and has stayed on anyway.

Jack

Sorry to hear you won't be there:(
Interesting comment on the wife....mine must be from the same heritage.....started out helping me pick flathead ford parts in junkyards way back when....that's when they were somewhat scary places with assorted characters living in strange vehicles:)