Jeep Starter Problem

Above, a few days ago at the Cibola National Forest fence road. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yesterday, I was trying to start the Jeep to go down to the Flying J to pick up my mail.

At first, it was cranking fine, but an occasional "clunk" noise was made. Then it made the noise again and it no longer cranked. In fact, it did absolutely nothing when I turned the ignition key. 

I have a strong feeling that it is the starter, or at least the starter brushes inside went bad. 

I'll have to check with my mechanic to see if they can rebuild old starters. I'll have to take pictures of the starter to make sure we get the right parts, or even a replacement starter. Since the Jeep had been modified from 24 volts to 12 volts, I have to get the right parts or starter. I have a couple of vintage Willys Jeep parts suppliers to check with, one of which I recently received a new 2025 parts catalog in the mail.

I would prefer getting the starter rebuilt rather than getting another starter. Starters for this particular Jeep (1952 Willys Jeep M38A1) cost around $470. 

I am going to try to get it started by either the hammer method or using a screwdriver on the solenoid today. 

I'll have to figure out how to get the Jeep into Gallup as I used up all of my AAA service calls for this year, the last being a lock-out a few weeks ago with the Mustang. It doesn't renew until August. I have friends with flatbed trailers, though.