I wrote up an article last month on how to identify VEC CJ-2As. It’s a general starter guide for people unsure of how to tell the difference between an early 2A and a later one. Or put more accurately, they are the strategies I use.
http://sellajeep.com/articles/vec-cj2a/vec-cj2a-identify.html
Naturally, after completing and sending said essay to Mark Smith, I subsequently learned that the VEC body issue is even more complicated than I understood it to be. The reason has to do with Willys-Overland’s knack for randomly (probably random anyway) installing some early jeeps with tool-indent bodies, while using non-tool-indent bodies on other jeeps. The assemblers probably just used what bodies they had on hand. That’s why it is also important to track the body’s ACM number. Sean explains to we-who-thought-we-knew-what-we-were-talking-about the issue here: http://www.ewillys.com/2015/04/21/1946-cj-2a-springfield-mo-2950/#comments.