Running a MUTT, from a newbie viewpoint

[moose53]

Hmmm.. looks like the famous Bob Amon conversion to me....

Jim

[raymond]

You beat me to it

[Ralph Fuller]

I started to mention the Bob Amon conversion, but decided to let someone else explain it to the new members. I also remembered that Bob put a curse on the last guy to mention it.....nobody has heard from him since....life is short enough as it is.

[simey]

I knew I would annoy someone eventually, and that someone appears to be Rick. Sorry for any offence Rick, and rest assured that I read every response carefully and sit here with my nose against the screen looking at pictures of engine bays trying to see whats there. That really is the big problem for me, I can see a picture and read the description but from Ricks description of Jays fitting it seems that you need to be so specific with the fittings and threads here, a lot more than is afforded by a picture on a computer screen and a box of parts.
I'll call G again, he actually came recommended by Ken and is good freinds with him hence my trust in this guy, but of course he has not been able to actually see my engine yet either so we are all working a little bit blind.
The boxed carb came with lots of fittings, but none were 45 degree, all 90 degree, so I suspect I need to find that 45 degree fitting to the carb that is shown and described in the pages before. Right now I'm looking at the two brass fittings that came with it on my desk to understand the difference in threads and sizes, both are 90 degrees and so I don't think either are the ones I require for the fuel inlet. Getting the hard line from the fuel pump cut to length will be easy, is there a certain type of fitting I should use between the hard line and the flexible hose?

[simey]

and I'm sure I speak for anyone thats come to this site with a question, we really do appreciate the help from those of you with the knowledge to help out. I know it's your free time and an unpaid (and often thankless) task, but rest assured you have certainly saved one MUTT from the attack of a well-meaning but ill-informed wannabe mechanic. There are many MUTTs and Willys over here, and the usual thing to do is replace the engine with a Toyota, disable the 4wd, install large wheels and paint JEEP on it, but I really don't want that, I want the thing to at least be true to it's somewhat mongrel roots. Now time to apologise to the girlfreind, again, as washing the engine bay in the carport seems to have deposited a lot of dirt and grease on the ground...

[Jay Mallari]

Here is another pic of the 45 degree fitting. The other pic is deceiving but the thread is definitely not tapered on this one.

[toptiger]

simey- my guess is you are thailand, or perhaps cambodia, during my last trip there i saw a few m151s, but all were as you described, modified with new diesel engines, unusual paint schemes with bling wheels, etc.... The only one i saw in phnom pen that looked all correct, with good military markings was going in the other direction and by that time my wife had had it with the frequent stops to check out the jeeps. She has no appreciation for my fascination with this jeep. She doesn't understand why i carry pics of mine with me or why i love anything in olive drab OD. In jaipur, india, once I saw a 1960 M-38 still in OD hidden behind a wall, spent days trying to find the owner. Turned out it was captured during one the wars with Pakistan and later sold off by the government. It had had three engine changes since and was being driven by the first owners grandson daily to university after his father had it and did the same thing when he was in school.
BTW, i really don't think Rickf can be pissed off by anyone except, perhaps, the local code enforcement guys in NJ. He is always there for anyone and knows what he is taking about. I, like you, I guess have zero technical knowledge and my masters degree doesn't help me with understanding those manuals. My one blessing is that a mechanic in my town in florida was a motor pool guy in the army and knows the 151 by heart, and my M274 mule too. First time i took it over to him, i stacked all the manuals in back. He never opened them, fixed my problem and then adjusted everything else he saw that needed it, including an exhaust manifold bolt that had broken off that i hadn't noticed.
anyway, glad you are trying to save another 151, and post your adventures. Good luck.

[simey]

Thailand is correct, an island called Koh Samui. Got the jeep from Phuket, the thai guy that serviced it had 4 in his garage and one was immaculate, even had the gun column in the centre. Not for sale at any price, he said. shame.

[toptiger]

spent some time in Phuket at the Aman there. and during one trip I took a boat from Krabi, around yao yai. Great place, great food, and great more importantly- great people. You must have a good life.

[simey]

Lifes OK, cheap and cheerful, I like the food, great place to drive a topless jeep and very little, if any, rules regarding motor vehicles.

I'm using my old carb to check and test the fittings, seems that I have a 90 degree brass fitting for the carb, into which goes the fuel filter, from there the flex hose to the fule line. That might take a little bit of work and I'm trying to eb careful, so today I took the front seats out and cleaned out the inside. Took off the instrument panel (one screw was loose anyway) and foudn that my fuel guage has been repaired at some point, the metal housing of the gauge has been cut off at the back I assume for repair and is now help together with electrical tape. I could just leave it.....but I don't want to. So next step is to get a new fuel gauge and to re-attach the wires going to the 3 small bulbs on the dashboard, also need to get new rubber boots for the handbrake lever and front axle engage lever - might as we do it all while I'm here. So now back to my supplier in Bangkok to see if he can get me the parts. Thats the big advantage you guys have over there, you can simply order parts and get them delivered, here you have to get them from the army or other places with ex-military stock, and it's not easy.
Does anyone have a picture of the top of their fuel tank, without the intank fuel pump, so I can make sure the conenctions are good while I'm here? I'm tempted to remove any electrical tape connections I see, check them, and then either re-tape them of use a connector and then tape it up.

Simon

[rickf]

Simon, I am sorry if I came across a little annoyed but I belong to six technical forums, have a full time job and several projects of my own so I do not have a lot of time to spend on here. This is the forum I spend the most time on but I get frustrated when I give advice only to see someone do just the opposite and screw something up and then say "What did I do wrong?". The thread on the inlet side of the carburetor is a straight, fine thread. You can not put a filter or a fuel line or the wrong angle fitting in there without riuning the thread. It is not the fault of your supplier if you try to make something wrong fit because you did not have the right piece. Once you enlarge those threads with a tapered pipe thread fitting you will not be able to get the correct fitting to seal unless you are very lucky. Look closely at the second photo that Jay put up and you will see that both of the fittings on that carb have straight threads with a sealing nut. The return line coming out of the top is there to maintain a small amount of fuel flow back to the tank to prevent vapor lock. You can get away without it without damaging anything. And no it will not cause flooding of the carb! I am sure your mechanic is very skilled at what he does, I am amazed by some of the vehicles I see over there, but I get the impression that he has no experiance in working on stock M-151's.
Rick

[simey]

OK, a understand the point and see what confused me. I have bought a packaged carb set from Gavin, and it includes two 90 degree brass fittings, each with a straight fine thread and the larger one has the lock nut. The smaller matches the top fitting in Jays picture, the larger matches the picture in the previous page (I think from Ralph) where the fuel pipe actually comes from the fuel filter over the carb and into the firewall, this is obviously designed where the fuel pump is in the tank rather than mine which is mounted on the left of the engine (a difference between A1 and A2 I think, alrhough not sure which way). As I don't have the pipework in place for the fuel return line I'll leave that fitting off and use the small black 'stopper' screw to block it as it was in the original carb. All looks fine, it would be neater with a 45 degree fitting but thats fine for now, it's on the wishlist. Is there any problem with having two fuel filters now (as I have one inline from the tank to the fuel pump) i.e. for fuel pressure or is it just overkill? One thing I'm sure I need is the air line from the carb back to the distributor, that is blocked off with a screw right now on the fitting with double outlets, but I'm told it's important. Jay - I notice the fitting you have between the fuel filter and carb is actually only part screwed into the carb and then the sealing nut is used - is there a rule of thumb about how far to screw in the fitting before using the sealing nut?

[Jay Mallari]

Simon,

As I have said before, this mutt is not mine.I wish it was It belongs to the Burtonwood Heritage Trust. It's a museum piece. It was donated by the US army. Never issued and it's exactly as it rolled out from the assembly line. I took pics of it in January as a pictorial reference for my own restoration.

I live in the UK and my mutt is being restored in the Philippines. You could just imagine the difficulty of this exercise. My mechanic has limited
experience with mutts but he is sensible, always willing to learn and he has the manuals to consult. When he gets stuck, I call him, we discuss
the problem. The guys on this forum have always been helpful. These are the same guys who are also regular posters on G503.
Hang in there Simon and you will eventually get it right ,I envy you because you get to tinker with your toy. As for me, I never got a single fingernail dirty
in the engine resto

[simey]

Well, it's been a while but we are back in business. Getting the fuel line conencted correctly took a bit of work and modifications, but now it's done and with the new carb is running very well. I still have to get replacement fuel gauge as mine is beyond repair, but thats easy. It ran for a couple weeks and then would not start (dead battery), I think thats because the batteries were very low to start with and I don't drive it long enough to charge properly - anyway removed the batteries and charged them individually and now it seems fine.
So to another question. On top of the radiator (where the filler cap is) there is a mount attached to the engine with a rubber bush type thing, this actually looks like a 2 pronged fork with a prong either side of the radiator filler cap. On my MUTT this is loose - the prongs sit either side but the radiator has a small amount of play left/right and back/forwards. Is this correct, or should the 2 prongs actually be attached to the radiator is order to keep it still?
Heres a problem maybe not many people have - a coconut fell on the bonnet and has cracked the paint (same happened to my ranger) so it might be time to respray in olive drab. Could have been worse I suppose, could have hit me!

[rickf]

A Coconut! That was good for a laugh at 05:00. No we don't have much problem with falling coconuts here in the states, At least not in NJ. Yes the bracket is supposed to be soldered to the radiator. Don't let it go like that for too long or it will wear a hole in the tank.
Rick