A Willys M38 Restoration In the Philippines

My father first collected the parts to assemble this M38. He finished this in 1999. This Jeep is his pride and joy. I intended to preserve it in memory of him since he passed in 2009. The body is brand new reproduction from MD Juan Philippines as of the accessories. It has a 24 volt system, but the engine and under chassis are from a Mitsubishi Jeep 4DR5 2.7 liter diesel short chassis from Japan. Amazingly, my father was able to place a power steering on it with a power steering cooler.

I can’t forget the how happy my father was when he completed this M38 and when he brought it home. It is still a work in progress and the clutch needs to be upgraded because it is so heavy and hard; and also need new tires which I plan to purchase, the 700 x 16,  nondirectional.

I am really happy your company exists to preserve these Jeeps for future generations to come, so they can appreciate their simplicity & also the their history, when they were used during the War.

The whole story of this M38 started first with the mechanical winch that my grandfather kept in his barn for 38 years and gave it to my father. We also saw an M38 with a diesel engine in Baguio City, Philippines and could not believe that a diesel engine would fit in the very small engine bay of an M38.

So we decided on a diesel engine to increase the reliability of this M38 and to easily find parts for it in the Philippines and also because diesel fuel is cheaper there. My father did a cross country drive with the M38 for 1400 kilometers with no problem. It took him 3 days to get through because of the bad roads we have.

Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – Julius Chua Tiu

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