The coastal redwood forests of California are beautiful and majestic, drawing visitors from around the world. However, like many scenic places, there’s a big difference between visiting them at ideal times and living in them all year round. What most tourists don’t know about these forests is that in winter they are gloomy, misty, and wet. If there is one day of rain, the trees go on dripping for a week afterward; and though the temperature seldom drops below freezing, it often feels much colder because of all the moisture in the air.
These are not good conditions for vehicles, especially vintage vehicles, and while today’s cars and trucks with fuel-injection and electronic ignition systems aren’t much adversely affected by this kind of environment, the vehicles I grew up with — many built in the 1940s and ’50s — were. Even if they were driven daily, there was always some doubt as to whether or not they would start the next morning. Vehicles that sat for more than a week often had low or dead batteries. Electrical problems such as generator and voltage-regulator failures, dim or non-functioning lights, and wiring corrosion were common. It was as if the trees didn’t want vehicles there — as many “new-age” folks insisted — though the problem was simply the constant dampness.
Since the area in which I lived was mostly served by dirt roads that turned to mud in winter, many people owned WWII-surplus or older civilian jeeps, or other military vehicles such as Dodge WCs, which were often only used by the owners to get from their cabins to paved roads where their cars were left parked during rainy weather. While my M38, with its waterproof ignition and wiring system, performed quite well in the winter redwoods, I was often called upon by neighbors to start or repair their cars and trucks.
While many historical military vehicle owners don’t live in such wet environments, electrical problems on vintage HMVs, especially pre M-series World War II types, are
