Kaiser Willys Jeep of the Week: 044

044: Lee Granger’s 1953 M38A1

This is my 1953 M38A1 that I restored myself in my backyard a year+ ago. Where it came from: My grandfather gave it to me because he never had time to start fixing all the problems it had just months before he passed. How it went: I trailered it home since it would not go over 15mpg. I stripped it down to the frame and didn’t originally plan to do a restore but more of a mod (V8 setup) and along the way decided I just couldn’t do it that way. So I decided to keep things as original as possible. I rebuilt the original motor and trans. Painted it the original OD and my wife helped masking things off when it came time to paint the stars and lettering.

I have done a few performance mods to get all I could out of that little hurricane engine. I installed Clifford Headers, milled the head, pertronix ignition and currently running a 12v system instead of 24v because some of the needed items were too expensive. But I did keep all that I had that was good for the future when one day I can hopefully go with a full 24v system.
I have also more recently, since these pics, purchased a new spare tire and tube and found an original wheel on ebay. It ispainted and mounted on the back and looks great! Future items to purchase: NDCC tires, original wheels, data plate set, 24v wiring harness, horn switch setup, bumperettes and lift shackle setup….and maybe an O.D.

Enjoy the pics. I have many many many more pics. I just tried to pick out a few. I like the pic of super clean tranny case. It’s amazing what it really looks like after removing 55yrs of dirt and grease. And the tub had quite a few mods to it too over the years but was in pretty good shape still. Fenders were not rusted out nor was the tub. Bottom side of the windshield was a little holey and the cowl battery box was completely missing.
Thanks to the web friends I was able to rebuild one from sheet metal since there is not one available for this model jeep.

-Lee Granger, Louisiana

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