Builds Research Archives

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Builds: Mark updates us on his Jeepster Project

January 27, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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During Mark’s last update, he got a steal on some Mitsubishi seats that fit perfectly into “Her Royal Highness”.  He’s made some additional progress since then.

Mark writes, “You may recall phase I consisted of making her safe, legal and roll down the road without leaking out all the  fluids. Phase II for me was to make it reliable and comfortable. Phase III is body & appearance and that one may take awhile. I’m rather fond of the aged patina look (alright I’m lazy).

After sitting in a barn for 18 years I’ve been leary of opening up the 265 on the highway because I was afraid the gaskets would fail so I replaced both diff. gaskets, the t-18 cover gasket and the oil pan gasket on the SBC. Once I got in there I was amazed at the pristine condition of the gears, they looked new. I installed a sound system and finished off with some sweet tan leather seats.  Replacing the orginal split bench with modern buckets changes the whole driving experience for the better.

One neat idea was to mount the seats with 1lb. rubber mallets cut and drilled to compensate for the uneven floor board. I’ve included some pictures.”

 
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Builds: Hugo’s CJ-3A in Uruguay

January 22, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, International This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: You can see the final build here.

A citizen of Uruguay, Hugo recently contacted me to appropriately correct me from confusing a town, Londrinha,  that doesn’t exist in Puerto Rico with one that does exist in Brazil (In this case, I believe I can blame Google Maps for my error!).

Because of this error, I got to know a little more about Uruguay, which it turns out I didn’t really know that much about.  One cool thing I learned is a hand was installed on (or more accurately into) the Punta del Este Beach in 1982 by Chilean artist Mario Irarrazabal.  He titled it the Monumento al Ahogado (Monument to the Drowned).  Apparently, he did another, different hand in a Chilean desert.

Hugo reports that the jeeping is excellent in Uruguay, though he hasn’t had much of a chance to jeep this summer (it is summer there of course right now), because his CJ-3A is currently dismantled in his garage for repair.  However, he did forward this picture.  Thanks for sharing!

 
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Builds: Goose Fixes up His CJ-3B in only 4 Months

January 18, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Goose wrote me an email today, announcing he had finished the restoration of his CJ-3B.  Not only did he complete his budget-conscious restoration in only 4 months, but he also documented it in two different locations (see links below); not a trivial task!   He’s done a good amount of work in a short time and I think he’ll be happy with it for quite a while.  Well done Goose!

Goose writes, “Hey Dave. I finally got my jeep finished and wanted to share the story. I’ll include a couple pics with this email but feel free to pull any others down from the links below too. The first link is from thisoldjeep, which I discovered here and the second is from a site where I frequent due to my dirtbike passion.

http://thisoldjeep.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=578&highlight

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=949807

Here are a couple before images:

Here’s a midway point photo:

And a couple completed photos:

 
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Builds: Jeremy Finds a New Project

January 17, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Jeremy discovered just the project he was hoping to find.  Congrats!  You can see he has already recruited an enthusiastic assistant!

Jeremy writes, I “Found this on eWillys.com – was listed as a 1942 GPW.  Sent my wife down yesterday and got it today.  Turns out to be a 1943, but the frame and engine match – I am really happy with this jeep.  Lots of original parts and the owner James was super nice.  James was insistant that he sell the jeep as a whole unit to someone who will restore it rather than part it out.  I guess he just had to wait for the right buyer.  Looking forward to a long restoration.”

 
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Gary Spends some Time in the Snow

January 10, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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While out playing in the snow, Gary took some shots to share with us.  Looks beautiful Gary!

 
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Builds: Ron nabs a Craigslist Find

January 6, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Willys Trucks This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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A reader named Ron wrote me the other day.  He spotted a great deal on a restorable truck at a great price and now has a website with pics of the early work (I’ve included a couple pics below).  Click on the photogallery to see all the pics. Ron already has a 1971 CJ-5 and his son a 84 CJ-8;  you can see pics of those vehicles in the photogallery as well. Congrats on the find and good luck with the rebuild!

Ron writes, “We are in the middle of the off frame restoration of the 61 Willys. It was purchased new in 61 by a lady with a farm in Connecticut. She ordered it with a snow plow and a hydraulic dump bed. It only has 22,000 miles. I bought it from her grandson.”

Here’s the truck before restoration.  It looks like a good starting point.

Here’s a look at how the rear of the dump bed frame looks.

And here’s a closeup of the dump mechanism.

 
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Happy 17th Birthday Chris

December 31, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Over the past year and a half Chris (from Mossy Rock, Wa) and I have been trading emails every-so-often as he works his way through his flat fender project.  He recently figured out how to work with some bondo; he also tried his hand at using Herculiner.  You can see the results below.   It’s a bit of a trial and error process for him, but he’s making good progress.

January 1st is his birthday, so have a great birthday Chris and keep the pics coming!

 
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Colin Provides Some Updates

December 29, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Colin provided a couple updates.  He’s got a new top for his Surrey and his son, Lee,  got their CJ-2A project running for the first time.

Colin writes, “I had a new top put on the Surrey.  Here are a couple of photos of it.  I also attached a couple of photos of our project 1952 CJ3A that is nearing completion. It has a CJ2A windshield and is now 12V with upgraded larger 11″ brakes.It still has the L-134 4 banger, but also sports an electric winch, custom built rollbar and custom bikini top.   These were taken the first time we fired it up..it ran like a Swiss watch!”

 
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Stephen’s Merry Christmas

December 29, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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A reader named Stephen is feeling quite Merry about this year’s Christmas after purchasing a CJ-2A project. Good luck and keep us updated!

 
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Jim’s 1947 CJ-2A

November 30, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-2A, Features • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Jim recently purchased this nice looking CJ-2A.

He writes, “Here are a few pictures of my 1947 Willys CJ2A. It has had a ground up restoration several years ago. I bought it out of Kansas and now it is in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains where I use it at our cabin.

The Willys has a new tub body but original hood and tail gate. It has all the original plaques and auto numbers. All other parts reflect the period except a roll bar and a steering stabilizer. The engine runs like a sewing machine.

I am still working on it to make it better and original. The paint job also reflects the year. If I could find a restored flat fender with the original body and in this good of shape I might jump ship. Meanwhile I enjoy driving this vehicle where everything works like it did 63 years ago, which by the way is my age!”

Congrats Jim.  It looks like fun 🙂

 
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Paul is back in the Garage — Year 25 …

November 18, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Reader Stories • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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passenger_sideWith winter descending on Alaska, the time has come for Paul to direct his focus back on his beloved, shiny, stainless steel M-38.  One exciting difference between this year and the previous 24 years is that he is almost done — But no pressure Paul! Click on the pic to see the original post and followups.

Last spring, Paul reported that after some investigation, he discovered a M-151 radiator would fit perfectly into his engine compartment.  Recently, he took over an auto parts store (ok, maybe just a hose booklet in the store) to figure out a hose solution.  With that problem solved (it took 2 different hoses and a tube to link them), he now must figure out a fan solution.

With that background, take it away Paul …..

The Fan and Shroud

Paul writes, “After talking with the folks at Spal concerning their electric fans I ordered a 13 inch puller fan with straight blades along with a fan relay/installation kit.  The crazy part about this deal is when the Spal people wouldn’t sell me a fan over the phone, I would have to hang up and order on the internet and best of all I would pay over $50 dollars more for the fan and temp sensor/wiring kit than a Spal dealer in California was charging for the exact same items.  For some unknown reason The Fan Man (California dealer) sells lots of these fans at quite a discount and these are brand new fans.  No factory seconds, returns, or rebuilt units.

Anyway, the fan arrived last night undamaged and it looks great.  Thank you Fan Man!  The total fan thickness is slightly under two and a half inches and I have a little over three inches between the aft side of the radiator and the waterpump shaft.  Sweet!

The shroud on the M151 radiator has a 16 inch diameter circle for the fan so I bought a ten dollar piece of thin sheet steel, cut out a 16 inch diameter circle and tack welded this piece to the shroud.  After finishing with the tack welds I rough cut a 12 inch diameter slightly offset circle to allow for the correct placement of the new fan.  I didn’t have a compass large enough to layout a 12 inch diameter circle so I used a stir stick for paint and drilled a pivot hole in one end and another hole 6 inches away and large enough to hold the tip of a sharpie marker.  It worked slick.  Tomorrow I’ll finish welding the insert to the shroud, clean up the welds and trim the inner circle for a more precise fit to the fan assembly before I attach the fan to the shroud.

Things are looking good.  I really didn’t need the relay kit since I’d wired in a fan relay in the electrical box behind the passenger seat but it was cheaper to get the kit with the temp sensor and I could doublecheck the Willys wiring against the Spal wiring so I could identify any potential problems before mean old Mr. Electricity messes something up.

The Fuel Line

Today I received a 25 foot coil of copper/nickel 5/16th fuel line along with the needed fittings to attach the fuel line to the carb.  This is the same tubing I used on the brake and clutch systems (just a different size) and it’s a pleasure to work with.  The 3/16th tubing is flexible enough to be bent back to back 180 degree bends (with a one inch bend diameter so the tube now looks like the letter S) with no kinking, flattening or any defects at all.  Jeeze, I really like working with this stuff.  Check out the fedhillusa.com website, it’s amazing.    This latest batch of tubing should be more than enough to do all the fuel delivery and return lines with enough left over to cover any mistakes I might make along the way.

Modifying the Skid Plates

The local metal fabrication shop cut and bent an eighth inch thick skidplate for the V6 oil pan.  After drilling a one inch diameter hole for the drain plug (that’s the only size hole saw I have) I hand filed the hole to one and a half inch diameter before welding the skid plate to the pan.

I had to do a little work on the transmission/transfercase skid plate also.  When I welded up the exhaust assembly I included a joint below the tranny so the right exhaust pipe could be removed without touching the left side or the rest of the exhaust system.  What I forgot to figure in was the thickness of the clamp holding the exhaust pipes together at this joint so the skid plate had to be slotted to allow the clamp to protrude slightly.  To prevent rock damage (like I’m going to go bashing this thing thru boulders) I welded up a small deflector from eighth inch steel and welded this to the skid plate over the slot.  Just another little OOPSIE which needed to be worked around.

 
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Mark’s Rear Seat Solution for his Jeepster

November 2, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Mark recently hit the 1 year anniversary with “Her Royal Highness” (That would be his Jeepster, not his wife).   He’s been updating her throughout the year.  Here he comments on his rear seat find.

Mark writes, “Halloween night marks the end of Year one for the 49 Jeepster I named “Her Royal Highness”. I’m a middle-age crazy rookie that knew very little about rebuilding an auto when I started (some strong arguments that I still don’t) [ed note: some days, I don’t feel to smart either!]. I decided to leave the aged patina Windsor green paint for now because there’s very little rust and it doesn’t look that bad. She’s a great runner and a fine Sunday truck.

I wanted to put in tan leather buckets to improve comfort and to be able to call her the original “King Ranch Willys”. A few days ago I saw an ad for 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse seats, ‘$20 bucks and wife wants them out of my garage’. So, I went over to check out the seats. I discovered the buckets were trash, but the back was practically new. I bought it and carted it home.

Wouldn’t you know, that back seat fit into the back of the Jeepster like it always belonged! A couple of cleats, some zip ties, a little leather remnant from the fabric store over some 3/8″ ply and here you go. The seat backs fit on the original back frame with a little ingenuity. Folded down it makes for a convenient map table. The front buckets are still in my cross hairs and they will be found eventually, but who knew that backseat would fit so nicely, 50 years later!”

Here’s a reminder of “Her Royal Highness”

Here’s what it looks like with no seat:

Here’s the seat installed:

Here’s the seat folded down:

 
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Pete’s got his Wagon on the Road (Well, at least the trail)

October 20, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, videos, Willys Wagons This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Pete, who operates the OldWillysForum, contacted me the other day to let me know he lives just down the road from me near Hailey, Idaho. When not working on cars, Pete designs beautiful homes.  Check them out at andersonarc.com!

Pete and his kids have been doing some work on a wagon that they recently made road worthy.  He shared a video with me that you can view below.  It’s always great to see a wagon on the trail, but the best part of the video are the short, funny comments made by his son.

 
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Buttercup — A True Love Story

October 4, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Reader Stories This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Buttercup has come home again.  Here is the story as told by Buttercup’s current steward.

William writes,  “I would like to introduce you to “BUTTERCUP” a 1946 CJ2A. My father “Skip” Taylor bought her in 1973 for $150.00 and brought her out to our family house on Clarks Island in Plymouth Mass.

Out there he put plywood floors in, added yellow paint(out of a can) and named her Buttercup after a cow that was once on the property. For 20 years she was our tractor and stuff hauler. I learned to drive her when I was 10. Sometime in the 80’s Skip added the wire wheels and had a trailer built.  By 1990 it was decided that she was getting tired and was replaced by a John Deer tractor.

After a while she was sold to a gentleman with the agreement that my father would get “right of first refusal” if she was ever put up for sale. Well, 3 winters ago that man kept his word and sold Buttercup (painted red) back to us with new floors and a rebuilt original motor.

She is now back on the island, going back together once again.  She has new brakes, a tune up, the wire wheels(off a 35 ford) and her bright yellow paint (out of a can). Buttercup is running great and driving the property cleaning up branches and taking the kids out for rides. She is a part of our family and hope to keep her going for another sixty years.”

I asked William about the wire wheels and he said his father had the centers of some jeep rims cut out and welded into the 35 ford rims. Not road safe but good for an island.

Here are some pics of Buttercup.  Thanks for sharing William!

Continue reading →

 
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Kevin Paints His Wagon — With some Helpers

September 21, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Kevin painted his wagon with some unusual help …

Kevin writes, “I Finally got good help on my ’62 Willys Wagon rebuild…it didn’t hurt either to wear my “Big Daddy Roth” – Rat Fink t-shirt for inspirational artistic talents…and yes, in tradition of an old time build, I’m painting it outdoors.”

 
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Gerald and his brother’s rebuilt Mighty Mite

September 16, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Mighty Mites This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Gerald and I were exchanges some emails and he mentioned that his brother and he rebuilt a Mitey Mite a few years back.  I think he was trying to inspire me with the Champs?  Here are a few pics.

Gerald wrote, “My brother did a Mity Mite a few years back.   Toughest project we ever worked on.  It was a basket case literally.”

 
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Buck Completes His Hunting Jeep

September 11, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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There have been some outstanding eWillys reporters filing stories from all areas of world, but none were more intrepid nor braver than the Head of the eWillys Bureau in Afghanistan, Lt. Buck.  His report from the front lines (or close enough) on Willys in a field in May of 2009 from Afghanistan marked a gold standard in reporting.

The fact is, rumor has it he even joined the Army to get there, because the penny pinchers at eWillys corporate wouldn’t buy him a plane ticket.  Now that’s dedication!

I am extremely happy to report that Buck made it safely back to Montana and, I hope, has found some well deserved peace.  Since he’s been home, he managed to complete his CJ-2A build, which he put together as a vehicle to explore the central Montana plains and do some hunting.  What better use for a jeep is there than that!  Congrats and Thanks Buck!

Buck writes, “Well, I’m happy to say that I’m back home and my jeep is finally done after 10 years of on again off again work. Attached are photos of my dog Uncas and me out hunting grouse in the vast wheat fields of central Montana. I never wanted a museum piece, but a functional piece of history.”

 
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Kim’s LRDG S.A.S. Willys

September 3, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, MB, News • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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I’ve seen them in old pictures, but Kim is the first owner of a Long Range Desert Group S.A.S. Willys to contact me and share pics.  Of course, you can’t but help but think of the old Rat Patrol shows when you see these vehicles.  After reading through the LRDG.org website, one of the things I’ve learned is that there was plenty of thought, research and recon work that went into the supplies these jeeps and truck would need to carry with them as they sailed long, desolate seas of sand.

Kim writes, “The jeep I bought is mechanically perfect. The previous owner put all his money into the motor, brakes and trans.  The body on my jeep needs some help and eventually I will replace the rear and floor sections of the tub as there is some rust. Fortunately, It came to me painted in the proper color and had many extras including a Bagnold sun compass.

As a special addition to this jeep, I re-built a WW2 Italian de-milled M37 machine gun and converted it into a gas gun M.G. simulator. It sounds like a M.G. but no blanks are needed and it can not shoot a projectile. That is mounted on the front cowling. As I have been a machinist and tool maker for 30 years I machined a set of Twin Vickers machine guns out of aluminum for the rear mount. These are strictly dummies with no moving parts.

I did not buy this jeep to be a Trailer Queen. This is a re-enactment jeep and as far as I am concerned it looks like it just got back from Kufra Oasis and that is exactly what I want.  My ultimate dream is to have 2 WW2 jeeps. The S.A.S (which is not street legal) and an American OD jeep that is licensed and ready to drive to work.”

And a couple pics of the Twin Vickers Kim made. In this pic, some basic outlines and contours have been created in the aluminum stock.

Here you can see many more details are apparent.

 
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Colin’s 1952 CJ-3A Project

August 22, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Another project Colin wanted to share with readers was this CJ-3A he restored.  As I understand it, this was his project before he purchased this DJ-3A Surrey.  After purchasing the Surrey, he turned the CJ-3A project over to his son who seems to be doing just fine with it.

Colin writes, “Here are some photos of our CJ3A project.  It is actually by serial number a 1952, but wasn’t sold until 1953, so was titled as a 53 (Pretty typical of Willys products).  I bought it in late 2006 and it hadn’t run in about 6 years. After getting it running, I decided to do a body off restoration on it.  The mechanicals were pretty good, with a new engine with less than 500 miles on it, and it had been upgraded to 12 volts and larger 11 inch brakes. It had a CJ2A windshield on it, which I prefer over the CJ3A style. It was yellow and my wife is not fond of yellow.  I found the original Luzon Red paint underneath the dash, so decided to paint it Luzon Red to match the Luzon Red of our Jeepster. Work progressed and I took a break from it and in December 2009, I found the Surrey for sale.  At that point, I couldn’t pass on the Surrey and our oldest son, Lee said he would take over the CJ3A, but he wasn’t going to paint it red.  I had already powdercoated the wheels and put new NDT 600×16 tires on the rolling chassis.  There was still some body work that needed to be done before painting.  Lee finished up the bodywork  and we got the paint done 3 weeks ago.  We started putting it back together and now we only need to do some of the small details and the wiring to be done.  The latest photos don’t give a true color, but it is sort of a Butternut yellow or beige.”

Continue reading →

 
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Jeff’s Fiberglass (Bobcat Body) Flattie

August 21, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Racing • TAGS: , , , , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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After seeing some of the posts about the old Desert Dog and Bobcat ads, Jeff dropped me a note saying he’s been enjoying the old ads and old pics as it reminds him of the busy Northwest days of jeep clubs, playdays and racing in the northwest.  So, he forwarded me a pic of one of his jeeps (he also has a sand drag jeep listed below for sale).

He’s been nice enough to let me post it.  I really love the creative paint job — I haven’t seen anything quite like it.

Jeff writes, “This bobcat jeep was bought back in 1983 as a project.  It was a body and a HUGE pile of parts, to which I’m sure your readers can relate. Currently, it runs a 355 chev w/ ford toploader 4 speed, a dana 20 case, a ford 9inch w/ 35 spline summers axles spool nod case and 6.00 gears.  The front is a gutted mdl 27 w/ a mustang rack.  The cage is chromoly.  The car weights 2250lbs w/o a driver.”

 
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Colin’s ’48 Jeepster

August 19, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Jeepster • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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As I mentioned yesterday, besides his grandkids mini-jeep, Colin has worked on several different Willys.  Here’s his Jeepster that was featured a couple times in JP Magazine, specifically the June 2007 issue and the January 2008 issue.

Colin writes, “Here are some photos of our 48 Jeepster.  We have had this car for over 33 years and when we bought it, it had a non running Studebaker Champion 6 engine in it.  Once we got it running and back in decent visual and mechanical condition, we drove it that way for many years. Around 1990, I stored it in our garage and worked on other vehicles and a house remodeling project (a happy wife makes for a happy home!).  I did our Corvette restoration from 1994 until 1998.  After I retired in 2003, I began putting ideas together about re-doing the Jeepster.  I wanted a car that looked original on the outside, which it did already, but with an improved drivetrain and suspension under it to keep up with Phoenix area traffic.  After a lot of research, I decided a Buick V6 was the way to go.  I found a freshly rebuilt (still in the plastic) 1982 Buick 231 even fire V6 for a very reasonable price.  I pulled the front sheet metal off the Jeepster and got to work.  With an updated engine going into it, I chose to put a Mustang II front end kit with tubular A-arms, Ford disc brake rotors (I wanted to use stock Jeepster wheels, hubcaps and trim rings), and rack and pinion steering into the chassis.  A buddy of mine and I did the majority of the front end work in a weekend.  I used a set of engine mounts from Novak Engineering in Utah and bolted the engine to a 1967 Muncie close ratio 4 speed that was in my parts bin.  For the rear end, I found a 1969 Ford Mustang 8 inch with 2.79 gears.  That rear end is a bolt in for any of the 46-63 Willys 2 wheel drive wagons, panel deliveries and the 48-51 Jeepsters. I also used a front sway bar and on the rear, a Willys Jeepster/station wagon sway bar. I did upgrade the Buick with a set of finned aluminum valve covers from TA Performance,  a 4 bbl Holley 390 cfm carb from a 65 AMC 327 engine and dual exhausts.  The end result is a Jeepster that runs great( 1750 rpm at 65-70 mph), gets excellent gas mileage(about 26 at 65 mph) and handles like a sports car(better than our Corvette!).  All of this work was relatively easy, even though it took me a while.”

In this first pic you see both his Jeepster and the 1960 Surrey he purchased that can be seen here.  Colin has been restoring the Surrey as well.

 
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Builds: Mike’s Truck

August 3, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Mike’s built a nice looking truck.

Mike writes, “This is my Baby. It took 3.5 years to build it was going to be a restore but it couldn’t be done. So I took a 1/2 ton chevy truck frame and narrowed and shorten it. I dropped in a 454 chevy and many other goodies. It is a show winner and a great off road toy.”

Here are a couple pics.

 
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Some Updates …

July 5, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Biscuit, Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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For the Fourth of July, I celebrated by heading back to the formerly snow bound roads near Boise’ only ski area, Bogus Basin.  As you can see in this pic, the snow is gone (see snow pics here), the mountains are now in bloom, and more progress was made.  More on that tomorrow ….

A 1950 CJ-3A: Today, Darrel had to talk to me.  So he stopped next to me, while I waited at a stop light, rolled down his window, and started asking me questions — what year was my jeep, who did my roll cage, and more …

Now, I had no idea who Darrel was.  However, in the time it took for the stop light to finally change colors, Darrel had explained through his passenger side window that he A) liked what I had built, B) had a 1950 CJ-3A, C) wanted his jeep rebuilt for his daughter, D) had his jeep nearby, and E) wanted me to follow him there.  If I learned that much at a stop light, I wondered how much I would learn about him once we stopped to see his jeep.

True to his word, he lived very close and had a 1950 CJ-3A that needed some work — hadn’t been run in 15 years.  It had a V-8 conversion, solid body, rotted top and plenty of potential.  And, to my surprise, based on my jeep, he asked me to do the work (and will pay me). I don’t have pics of this just yet.  I’ll share more about this if we go forward with the project.

Brian wrote to me late last week to share a sad tale.  As a part of the continued testing with his new build, he learned the hard way what happens if the oil in the front pumpkin housing gets too low AND the 4wd somehow gets accidentally shifted into gear (how that happened is still a mystery to him).  The result:  his front pinion started freezing up, resulting in some ugly sounds and a twisted driveline. See the pics to the right.

The good news is that everything else continues to behave well.

 
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Upgrading a Single Master Cylinder into a Dual set up

June 17, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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A reader ask me about replacing the stock single brake master cylinder, found on many early jeeps,  for a dual master cylinder.  Can it be done?  It turns out there a variety of threads and pages on this alteration.  Here are some of the links I found if you are interested in this mod.

1) http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/dual-master-cylinder_topic14193.html
2) http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45099
3) http://cj3b.info/Tech/BrakesDualMaster.html
4) Herm’s conversion kit: http://www.hermtheoverdriveguy.com/id2_dual_reservoir_master_cylinder.htm

OTHER BRAKE UPGRADE OPTIONS HERE

(Image from the CJ-2A Page)

 
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A Project Idea – 4 Door Willys Truck

June 11, 2010 • CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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I ran across this thread today at alaska4x4network.com.  The designer wanted to combine a couple trucks into a four door truck.  He photoshopped the mockup together below.  I think it would make a good looking project.