Attached are pictures of my new (to me) 1954 M38A1. I picked it up from a local seller (my landlord) on friday. The PO purchased it from the fire local department way way back when (jeep still has faded fire dpt markings on the hood/fenders). The Jeep has been sitting since 2002.
I brought it home friday. Since then I have removed tires, hood, windshield, both seats, fuel tank, pressure sprayed 14,000,000,000 pounds of dirt/crap from under/inside the jeep, drained fluids, soaked cylinder bores, pulled spark plugs, pulled wires, and pulled battery trays.
I soaked the cylinder bores all weekend. After 24hrs of soaking I SLOWLY turned over the motor by hand. Sunday afternoon it was turning smoothly and freely. I continued this cycle is soaking and turning by hand. Earlier this evening, I hooked up two new batteries, added oil and the motor turned over under its own power for the first time since 2002. the motor once again turned over smoothly and freely. Obviously I pulled the plugs because I still had motor oil in the cylinder bores during this cranking session.
I have compression....now I need spark and fuel. I have new plugs and wires on the way via snail mail. Once I know that I have spark (for sure) I will work on the carb. I doubt it will still flow fuel but I want to at least give it a try before either sending it off for rebuilt or attempting to rebuild myself.