1952 CJ-3A on the left and a 1962 CJ-3B on the right.
In the ‘it’s a small world’ category, David Darrah grew up barely a mile from where I did in Renton. His father Ray was a charter member of the Seattle Rump Bumpers Jeep Club, so he’s had jeeping in his blood from birth. Where David lived was just a street over from George Steele. George has been involved with jeeps a long time (and still is — I talked with him this summer) and my parents knew him pretty well. As a teen, David knew George well also, occasionally begging him for discounted parts for his first jeep, a 1942 MB.
A few years ago David had a chance to buy a green CJ-3A that George had rebuilt back in 1996 (though George no longer owned it). Despite owning several different flat fenders over the years (see end of post), just owning one jeep wasn’t enough, so David recently bought a second one Willys, a 1962 CJ-3B that needed a little bit of work. David feels like he’s well on his way to owning a ‘collection’ of jeeps. He just needs some more room (don’t we all!). David lives in Puyallup now, so I’ll be getting down there at some point to talk jeeps and see these in person. Thanks for sharing David!
1952 CJ-3A with some modern touches added by George Steele:
153 cu. in. Iron Duke 4 cyl, T14 3-spd, Dana 18 T.C, manual saginaw steering, Cherokee 11 inch drum brakes, Warn Hubs and Overdrive. Stock Dana 25/41 538 ratio. 3A needs nothing other than replace a few warn parts in Overdrive unit (growls a tad—still works good) Owned this Jeep almost 3 Years now.
Extra bracing for the side mirror (not rusty, extra bar is either copper or brass):
Iron Duke motor is from a 1979 Pontiac Sunbird. Has 21,000 since complete rebuild (1996):
The 1962 CJ3B:
134 cu.in. F-Head-Huricane, T90 3-spd, Dana 18 T.C, power saginaw steering, Cherokee 11 inch drum brakes, Allstate hubs and Warn overdrive, stock 25/44 488 ratio. New springs, shackles, shocks and body mounts (all done by Olympic 4×4 along with power steering and brake upgrade). The 3B could use better front seats (stock ones are okay, but not very comfortable) and needs a backseat. A lot of the secondary electrical items (small gauges, heater blower & gauge lights) need to be connected. Speedo, headlights and signels all work.Just bought this one as an early Christmas gift to myself a month ago. This will go and maintain 60 mph without much effort (2200 rpm) in overdrive.
Steering column is out of a 1979 CJ5 (tilts and locks) steers like a dream:
New exhaust all the way from manifold (manifold hasn’t even got surface rust yet). Since this was taken, has new cap, rotor, plug wires and ignitor (electronic ignition).
As I said before, the guy I got this from dropped a bundle on the undercarriage at Olympic 4×4. Power steering conversion (w’stablizer), 11 inch brakes, e-brakes goes to rear wheels, not off the back of tranny. New springs/shackles (you can see the paper stickers haven’t even wore off), shocks, tie rods & ends, U-bolts (u-bolts have skid shields underneath) & body mounts at every mount. 
Several other vintage jeeps David used to own:
This is a great story Dave, Makes the hobby so much more interesting. There’s a story behind every old Willys Jeep, and if we take the time to tell the story it makes the picture so much more interesting. Think about it, a lot of these Willys Jeep vehicles are 60+ years old and somehow they survived. I for one encourage more trips down memory lane.