Colin contacted me a few days ago. As a tech article writer for the Willys Overland Jeepster Club site, a restorer and owner of multiple willys, and, as you can see below, a very creative guy, Colin has a wide range of Willys experiences.
He’s been kind enough to share images and information from both his restorations and a friend’s as well. I’ll be publishing them over the next week. Tonight I thought I’d share this unusual project. Thanks Colin!
Colin writes, “Here are some photos of a little Jeep I built for my middle son and grandkids. It is a 1/2 scale Bemak 1941 Willys MB Slat Grille body mounted on a 1980 John Deere 111 lawn tractor chassis and powerplant. It has an 11 hp Briggs and Stratton engine with 5 speed manual transmission. I had to do a little cutting on the body to get it to fit the chassis, but most everything worked out pretty easily.
It has a 12volt electrical system with working headlights from Harbor Freight, WW II blackout lights for the front parking lights, and a WW II blackout lens with red LED for the taillight, a Harbor Freight 2000lb winch and a trailer hitch and receiver on the rear. I fabricated the front and rear bumpers to match the Willys stuff. I used EZ Go golf cart front hubs to get 4 bolt pattern for the Harbor Freight wheels and tires. I modified the rear axles to accept the 4 bolt wheels. I mounted a spare tire on the rear and fabricated a “jerry can” mount for the 1.5 gallon jerry can that is the fuel tank. I used the old clutch and brake pedals from the CJ3A and fabricated the shift linkage for the 5 speed transmission. The seat is a 1950s Willys station wagon driver’s side seat that I modified to do a double fold forward, where it covers the 12 volt battery. The windshield has Lexan inserted and a buddy made me a to scale WW II rifle mount for the back of the windshield. He also has restored WW II Jeeps, one MB that he just sold and the other is a 1944 Ford GPW US Navy Jeep. I painted it in WW II US Navy paint scheme, as our son is retired USN.”
See many more images by following the link below ….
Nice 1/2 scale working model! There are many memories being created for them-thar kids. They will be true Jeepers when they grow up. Nice Jeepster, too. Will you build a 1/2 scale Jeepster, too?
**Steve E.**
Thanks for the kind words Steve. The kids are going to be Jeepers for sure. I am doing another 1/2 scale Bemak for our youngest grandson, but not sure exactly how the final product will look. I have several ideas that I can work on while I plot it out. Not sure I want to tackle a 1/2 scale Jeepster, though. I am about out of room for any more toys, unfortunately!