Greg tells me that a few years ago he was half-heartedly looking for a flat fender when found an old, modified (or perhaps more accurately hacked up) 1956 DJ-3A for sale. He bought it and began a complete refurbishing of the jeep into something he could dependably drive on-road and off-road. He credits Randy Ellers, his boys, and eWillys for a variety of the ideas he employed in his rebuild. The real credit goes to Greg himself, as it looks like he’s done some great work on this rig.

Greg writes, “I had been seeking a flat fender Willys off and on for several years, and had taken to surfing several jeep sites on the net in search of a suitable candidate for my goals.

I wanted something that I could keep true to the character of the Willys, but improve on the dependability and capability over time. When I found my jeep, the condition of the body is primarily what attracted me. The body was in better than typical shape for its age and I thought it would be a good start point for my vision. In fact I thought it would be roadworthy enough to make it a long term project while having fun jeeping it as I enhanced things.

As purchased, it was a 1956 DJ3A body on a late CJ3A chassis with an owner built roll cage, Vintage 8000# Ramsey winch, 10.50 x 31 Michelin tires on 7×15 wheels. After service as a runabout delivery vehicle in/around Auburn, AL, it eventually became an unlicensed farm vehicle for many years. Evidently the original hard top can be credited with limiting typical rust damage.

Shortly after I got it, I rebuilt both the three speed and transfer case. I also found a full set of 4 NOS 11” brakes to significantly improve stopping power. Soon after, I discovered the engine block was cracked so the search for acceptable re-power was on. Ultimately the Chevy 4.3L Vortec and TH350 transmission got the nod.

Over the course of the past 5 years or so, I’ve essentially gotten the jeep close to where I want it both in character appearance and performance. I’ve had it on a few club and Jeep Jamboree events and to date it continues to impress me. While it doesn’t have the creature comforts or modern flex suspension of the newer jeeps, it still does rather well on the trails, and we have loads of fun with it.

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Kevin Morgan shared photos of his 1947 CJ-2A that he purchased through eWillys. He bought it in the fall of 2013 and spent the winter restoring it. After purchasing the jeep, he happened to find a trailer, which he refurbished to match the jeep. Not only does he enjoy driving his jeep, but it also doubles as advertising for a lodge he recently purchased and operates in Lake George, New York. He’s hoping some day to have a Willys meet there. If you are interested in such an event, comment below or send me an email and I’ll forward it to Kevin.

Here is Kevin’s description of the lodge: Our lodge is 1950’s vintage with a mix of cabins and suites that we purchased this Spring and have been renovating (check us out at www.foresthilllakegeorge.com). It’s Adirondack style, rustic and cozy, and we want to attract people who enjoy campfires and slowing life down a little.

Doug picked up this CJ-6 recently. As you can see, this is an example of a jeep that was nicer than the pics taken by the seller. It’s a really good looking jeep, especially with those hurricane rims 🙂

These are the new pics. Doug was able to get some good cloudy-day photos that helped show just how nice the paint is.

New Photos:

Old photos: Between the shadows and the lack of closeups, it’s hard to tell just how nice the paint really is.

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Gerald got out with his kids for some summer four wheeling in Pennsylvania. Looks like he had a good time in the mud. It starts out pretty . . .

Jason and his family enjoyed a family jeep outing last weekend.

He writes, “Last Saturday was our 4th annual family jeep rally through Parke County, Indiana (covered bridge capital).  Attached are some photos for your use.  The trip was a 30 mile round trip that took us through Bridgeton, IN.  The Bridgeton Mill just happened to be making flour the same day.  We anticipate twice as many jeeps next year to join in the trip.  Each year we pick a different route that includes another bridge. We passed three on our trip this year.”

Dennis recently moved from Ohio to Astoria, Oregon. A few weeks ago he decided to drive his CJ-2A (w/out an overdrive no less) the entire way. He had a few hiccups along the way, but otherwise arrived safely. You can ready the entire post from the CJ-2A Page here:

http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/i-am-moving_topic29896.html

Jason emailed me the other day asking about some wiring specs for a Jeepster. Thanks to Colin’s wiring diagram, his father got a Jeepster running that hadn’t idled in thirty years.

Jason and his family own a variety of jeeps. Each year as a family they take a drive through Parke County, Indiana (Covered Bridge Capital) on Memorial Day Weekend. Sounds like fun! Here are a few pics:

Jim provided a report on his family’s 2014 Moab adventure.

He writes, “Here are some pics of our adventures at the Easter Jeep Safari. We all faired pretty good. The 1953 CJ-3B ended up breaking a rear axle on Kane creek, but with Russ’s many years of Willys driving experience he was able to finish the trail with it. The 1947 CJ-2A blew the balls out of the front axle but due to Jakes finely tuned Willys repair knowledge he was able to make a quick repair. And my 1962 CJ-5 suffered and broken headlight and a scratch down the side from a scrub oak.(that’s what I get for wheelin and texting). All in all it was a great trip and we can’t wait for next year.”

Robert sent this wonderful note to me. He asked me to share it in case it motivates others with their projects.

My name is Robert and I am writing to thank you for hosting ewillys because it has had a great impact on my life. My father and I decided to get away from the rock crawling scene and build an old willys jeep with a small block Chevy motor because my father was a GM mechanic in the 80’s. However, being from Pennsylvania almost all old jeeps have fallen victim to the rust of the northeast, and as a result, finding a willys worth having was no easy task. After several failed trips to purchase potential projects I stumbled onto ewillys and my father and we decided to purchase a jeep from the west coast.

My father called on over 50 ads from your site and eventually got a call back from the owner of a 1942 GPW with a SBC 305 in Portland, Oregon. The seller was willing to deal with shipping the jeep! Therefore, in early December of 2010, we blindly purchased the jeep sight unseen and prayed it would eventually arrive at the house. The jeep arrived at our house in Pennsylvania a few days before Christmas! The truck driver spoke very little English, but did advise that the jeep ran very poorly and had almost no brakes at all. However, a few negatives could not overcome to excitement my father and I shared upon confirmation that we had not wired some stranger thousands of dollars for a mythical willys, and the jeep was wonderful.

After the long awaited arrival of the GPW we decided to that even though the gas tank said “remove from boat when fueling,” and the seats were mounted on handy angle we would test the brakes and drive the jeep if at all possible. We determined that we could take a short drive down the cul-de-sac since I could not physically push the jeep when the brakes were applied. As we drove in front of the house the transmission was screaming louder than the motor and steering column was far from safe. That being said, we had to see what a barely running 305 would do in the light willys jeep. Therefore, taking the condition of the jeep into consideration it felt like we were flying when we came back past the house. We began to slow the jeep far before the stop sign and made the turn into our drive way to end our first drive. To our surprise, when my father depressed the clutch pedal to the floor the clutch did not disengage, and as you can imagine this quickly became problematic because the one brake that was sort of working could not even begin to slow the v8. This put us on a crash course with the garage door! Fortunately, my dad is quick on his feet and killed the ignition in the nick of time which allowed us to stop before hitting the house.

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Derek just posted a great story Sebastian wrote titled “Three Willys Jeeps and 2,500 Miles in Between. It covers his life with jeeps, both in Colombia and in the U.S., and includes lots of great photos.

http://cj3b.info/Owners/Sebastian.html

You may remember Ed Wilson’s father’s Egypt photos from yesterday. Well, Ed’s got a couple jeeps himself (a 1962 CJ-5 and a 1947 CJ-2A). Both have an unusual story.

Ed reports from Canada, “This is my first jeep that I got almost 20 years ago and have still not completed a restoration. Long story… but when I was buying it I was in the owners home looking at original photos in an album. I was very focused on the purchase and pictures, but then realized that I was in a room surrounded by gold records on the wall! It turns out, I was sitting on Bryan Adams bed in his bedroom of his family’s house. I ended up having a long talk with his mom and step dad.”

Here is the picture of my jeep with Bryan Adams step dad and his wife…not Bryan Adams mom the day of purchase. Note the winch.

This is after some use.

Now it’s ready for some work.

Ed’s second jeep is a 1947 CJ-2A. He writes, “My 47 cj2a has an interesting story as well. I purchased it from a guy that worked all his life in his dad’s jeep dealership. He has had a jeepster all his driving life and you can find a picture of it and his story in the link below. It is also a Kelowna jeep. His dad was named “Mr. Jeep” by Willys. You can learn more about “Mr. Jeep” by reading this story about “Mr. Jeep’s” first Jeepster (that he still owns):

http://web.uvic.ca/~lwoolard/a3/kamloops-vccc-site03/featured-articles-national-1950WillysJeepster.html

The author is leaning on his white CJ-3A. I do not know the author’s name (but would like to know).

I stumbled across this neat forum article about a group of friends who decided to check out Hole-in-the-Rock, Utah, in 1955 after reading a National Geographic article (probably this one). So, in a fleet of three vehicles (looks like a 1949 CJ-3A, a CJ-3B, and a MB/GPW), they set off from Los Alamos, NM and drove to Escalante, Utah, before venturing into the Hole-in-the-rock area. Most of the photos that were taken are in areas now under the water of Lake Powell.

According to the article’s author, “My jeep was a 1949 CJ3 and it was a wreck when I got it. I think it had never been lubricated. I had to replace all the universal joints and overhaul the engine. The cab was aluminum and I bought it at Sears. The red jeep was an old military model. My friend had bought it and built a wooden cab for it himself.”

I wanted to contact the author of this story, but I can’t figure out how to register (says registration is closed) to the popphoto.com forum. Furthermore, I can’t figure out to contact an administrator. I’d like to contact the guy (he was 94 as of 2007 — likely passed away by now), because he doesn’t know what to do with the photos he’s taken.

The author’s notes in a separate post, “I wish I knew some historical society or such that would be interested in the slides I have. None of my relatives and friends are interested in these things. I suppose eventually they will be put in a big cardboard box and auctioned off for a high bid of $1.”

Since that was his wish, I’m going to preserve his story in total here, so I’ve post it below. You can see the original post here: http://forums.popphoto.com/showthread.php?151510-Kaiparowits-Plateau-A-journey-from-the-archives-to-Hole-in-the-Rock-Crossing-1955 along with the follow up comments.

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Kaiparowits Plateau: A journey from the archives to Hole -in-the-Rock Crossing 1955

This trip was inspired from a National Geographic article in the 1950s. This magazine had several articles on little known areas of the southwest. Most were in very isolated areas with few, if any roads and trails.

A party of three Jeeps set out from Los Alamos NM to Escalante Utah. We arrived in Escalante about noon time, and then proceeded to find our way to the Hole in the Rock crossing. So named because early Mormon Pioneers lowered wagons and horses to the Colorado River, and then rafted across the river at this point.

Leaving Escalante we headed off in a South-easterly direction. The maps we had showed the distance to be approximately 50 miles.

We passed some remarkable formations, This was known as Dance Hall Rock. Locals had dances here periodically.

The Dance Hall Rock in Utah, 1955

After awhile we came to the dreaded fork in the road. As we debated which fork to take, a man appeared on horseback. He asked if we knew where we were going, we said we knew where we wanted to go, but not how to get there. He gave us directions, and on we went. He neglected to tell us what obstacles we would find. After several miles, we came to an enormous outcrop of slick rock, and the tracks we were following ended there. It was obvious that we had to cross the rock, We did that rather easily.

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Juan showing his grandson a CJ-3B. Juan is passing on the joy of jeeps.

Juan shared this neat story about restoring a pedal jeep for his grandson Francisco. The email was written in Spanish, so I translated it as best as I could.

Juan writes, I am pleased to talk to you about something incredible that happened to me.  A few days ago a jeep friend, Alejandro Galvan, messaged me, telling me that there was a pedal jeep for sale in acoatepec  bazaar. They were selling a pedal jeep like the one my parents gave me when I was almost two years old.

The next day my brother and I went to see it. We bought it, cleaned it and compared it with a photo of my toy jeep from 60 years ago. We were surprised to discover that it is identical, except for a few modifications such as different tires tires and a windshield. I plan to ask the person who sold me if they know the source. Maybe there’ s a chance it was originally my very own toy. How amazing that would be!

Since my grandson just turned on year old and it was his Catholic baptism, we gave it to him. To my great astonishment, when my grandson saw it I could see in his eyes the joy. After the celebration, my brother and myself began restoring it to look like my pedal jeep. I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. Warmest regards from Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico.

BEFORE RESTORATION: You can see the photos of Juan’s original pedal jeep in the photos in the first picture.

AFTER RESTORATION: (I wish I’d had one of those as a kid!)

Ted’s CJ-5 was narrowly spared by Hurricane Sandy. Great pics!

Ted writes, “Hey Dave, here’s a few shots of a huge tree that came down during Sandy and almost got my new plow truck. I almost moved the CJ and my dump truck in back round before storm but never got to it. I got real lucky, the little CJ pushed her way through three and two feet deep snow storms later in the year!!!”

Jim forwarded this wonderful story to Derek who forwarded it to me. It’s a heart warming tale of a man and his jeep told by the man’s daughter. A mechanic by trade, J.B. Martin, from Richmond, Missouri, drove a ‘beefed up’ 1945 MB. According the article he is credited with taking “children home in a snowstorm, a doctor to a snow-bound rural home, his family for bobsled rides, and in two days got around 60 cars started.”

http://www.richmond-dailynews.com/2013/03/rays-winter-of-62-one-where-a-st-bernard-and-his-jeep-were-indispensible/

J.B. Martin and his jeep. Photo from the Richmond Daily News — Richmond, MO

John told me that his dog Blitz loves riding on his CJ-3A.

He writes, “I take my dog for a ride almost every day. He likes to ride on the hood. It’s the funniest thing. People wave,point and smile. I even had one lady follow me and stop me to take a pic. I think that dam dog likes willys more then me.”

A reader shared the following story about stumbling on a barn find somewhere in the Southeast. This is just a reminder that there are still some great finds out there . . .

My son and I went for a drive yesterday. Weather was sunny and warm. We stopped to get gas and decided were to go: a nearby town we hadn’t visited in a while. As we went through town, then turned down a side street that took us to the outskirts of town. The road was lined with old shacks and barns. As we passed by an old church, out of the corner of my eye I spotted two headlights and a slotted grill tucked in a old falling down barn. I immediately hit the brakes, turned around, and stopped to look. There was a older man in the yard.
I asked him if that was an old willys.
He said, “ya a 1953. It has 6,000 miles on it.”
“Can we take a look?”
He said, “sure!”
The old man explained to us he had traded a tractor back in 55 for it. He drove it for a year and parked it. It’s been there ever since. It was the most Original willys I have have ever seen. It had about 1 inch of dust on it and fern Boxes in it. After talking with him I asked the ‘Question’.
“Would u like to sell it?”
Real quick he said “No”, then walked away to his house. No goodbye. Nothing. Just walked away and went in his house. Weird. But now I know after all the reading I’ve done what a true barn find looks like. I hope it doesn’t sit there and rot. There was no rust on it. It was stuck in time. All original seats,bows, spare tire, tires, back seat, wipers,foot steps, mirrors, every thing.
So, I decided to stop from time to time and check on it. Maybe he’ll give in, eventually.