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Welcome to eWillys.com, a website for vintage jeep enthusiasts. I update this website nearly every day with jeep deals, jeep history, interesting reader projects, jeep related info, and more.
These quick searches can help you find things on eBay. People list in the wrong categories all the time, so don't be surprised to see brochures in the parts area for example.
The links to posts below show jeeps grouped by models, condition, and other ways. Some of these jeeps are for sale and others have been sold. If you are unsure whether a vehicle is still for sale or not, email me at d [at] ewillys.com for more info.
There are plenty of interesting, unusual, historic and surprising stories related to Jeeps and their owners. In addition, some of these features have nothing to do with jeeps. This link will display all featured stories starting from the latest.
Looking for parts and not sure where to go? There are a variety of large and small new and used parts sellers both online and offline.
Importantly, the allure of buying a project jeep can be romantic. The reality of restoring a jeep can be quite different, expensive and overwhelming without the right tools and resources. So, tread carefully when purchasing a "project". If you have any concerns about buying a vintage jeep, or run across a scam, feel free to contact me for help, comments or concerns .
Another item I felt comfortable installing with the engine in place is the grille. I was already pretty confident where it would go, but I wanted to be sure. As a reminder, because I'm using the post '72 Cj-5 frame, I have to extend the fenders and hood approximately 3" as you can see here in this test setup below. So, there was no default location for the grille anymore.
After installing the engine, tranny and tc, I thought I'd better test to make sure the body fit over all three. The good news was that it did. The bad news was that the shifter was hitting the dashboard when I shifted into park.
So, I took the bracket and extended it with a piece of halved 2×2 square tubing. Then, I used a convenient hole bracket in the tranny (I have no idea what it is for) to add a back mount to the bracket. The results are below:
I put the body on and placed the seats on their mounts. The body slopes backward a bit, but that will be fixed when I put the correct suspension brackets on the back.
The CJ-5 I bought last year had been modified to accept a GM 350. I really liked the way they put together the engine mounts, so I chose to reuse the mounts and then modified my frame to accept the mounts.
To make the mounts, I took the standard buick v6 mounts and removed the rubber blocks, leaving only the steel. Then, I cut and welded some 3×3 square tubing to the mounts.
To make the holders that are welded to the frame, I used some recycled angle iron and added side braces to create the triangular look. I look this setup much better than what I did in my first jeep.
The tricky part of putting the engine, transmission and TC into position was making sure the TC was in the right location. If I got it back into the right place, I would not have to change the lengths of the drivelines. Fortunately, I had plenty of room for the engine, so I had lots of flexibility upfront.
Once Transfercase was in place, then I could position and weld the engine mounts.
These shots show the painted frame with the Dana 44 rear and Dana 30 front painted and attached.
With my Dana 44 all taken apart (See article below), it was time to put everything back together. One aspect I have left out of the rebuild process is the importance I placed on using the appropriate language to assemble and disassemble the R&P properly; lets just say I'm glad my children weren't about.
Gathering tools and parts
In terms of parts, I needed to gather a rebuild kit, a locker, and axle kits. Using Craigslist, I found a locker for 3:73 gearing locally for $325. The rebuild kit I got at half price from a jeeper in Bend, Oregon. The axle bearings, cones, and outer seals were purchased online through Tellico4x4.com. The inner axle seals I purchased at Schucks. At first, when I realized I had forgotten to order these (oops), I went to tellico's website. The seals themselves were around $5 a piece, but the cost for shipping was going to more than double the price. I thought that was ridiculous. So, I dropped by the local Schucks to see what it would cost to get the seals (I figured they would have to order them). Well, to my surprise, they had them in stock! $10 later, I was out the door with them.
The Goal .. take apart my Dana 44 housing and install a Detroit Locker along with new bearings and seals. Sounds easy enough, right?
When building my last jeep, I did not have to rebuild either of the axle housings. In the rear I had a Dana 44 from a mail jeep. Mail jeeps come with detroit lockers: note that the housing is a little narrower than a standard jeep by approx 2". To fix this, you can have some shims machined that will allow you to use standard flanged jeep axles.
Fast forward to the new jeep. I had a Dana 44 I knew nothing about and a detroit locker I wanted to install inside it. I figured this would be a good opportunity to learn about ring and pinions; and, learn a thing or two I did!
The First Issue – Broken teeth
Naturally, the first step was to pull off the housing cover and examine the condition of the gears. Unfortunately, the news was not good. I quickly discovered that I had a very broken tooth on the ring gear.
Interestingly, there was no evidence of broken pieces in the oil. This lead me to suspect that the previous owner may have discovered the damage while changing the gear oil and 'forgotten' to mention it to me. Also, once I pulled everything apart, I would also find the pinion gear broken as well.
Last year I purchased some plastic racing seats to put into Gus. However, I was never very happy with them. I never felt like I fit as well in them as I did in the seats I put into my first jeep. After searching for months for seats, I finally discovered a pair of beat up seats exactly like what I used to own on Craigslist for only $20.
To get them to meet my my needs, I needed to repair the fiberglass (extensive holes and cracks) and then drill holes for side belts and shoulder belts.
At left is a pretty stock CJ-5 frame. There were some cracks where the front crossmember attached to the passenger side frame rail. Because of this, I felt the crossmember had to go so I could box in the front of the frame.
At the back of the frame, the driver’s side was slightly lower than the passenger side. Also, because I wanted to outboard the back springs, I needed to add a bracket onto the side of the frame to help support both the front and the back of the springs.
To make all these changes meant a great deal of work .. welding, grinding (and welding and grinding again) and painting. I am pleased with the results.
Click here to see many more pics of the frame transformation.
I've heard rumors that a TV show in the 1960s did an episode on the Naches Trail. Good News! I finally found the episode, which was created by Exploration Northwest. The best news is you can buy a copy of it and some other early jeep videos on DVD from the Don McCune Library.
Jeeping 1 (Click link and scroll down to Jeeping 1)
This DVD features 3 episodes:
1. The Meeker Trail: "Join this spine-rattling trip with the Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club as they retrace the oldest route across the Cascades: Naches Pass. Filmed in black-and-white in 1965, it is based on Ezra Meeker's book "Pioneer Reminiscences of Puget Sound", which recounts traversing this old Indian trail with the first immigrant wagon train of 148 people in 1853."
2. The Doe Run: "The female members of the Seattle Jeep Club leave their families at home and enjoy a weekend 'Doe Run' on the rugged backcountry roads of the Cle Elum and Salmon La Sac area in the Cascade Mountains." (The WWJC club did something similar about this time – my mom and grandma went)
3. The Mud Race: " Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club race their specially-equipped jeeps through a mud-hole track in central Washington."
The Desert Races DVD (Click link and scroll down to Desert Races)
This DVD features 3 episodes
1. Mattawa 100: "The 1975 Mattawa 100 features 750 dirt bikes racing across 100 miles of sand and sagebrush near the eastern Washington town of Mattawa. Aerial and slow-motion photography offers an exciting view along with comments by contestants. The Everett Highriders Jeep Club and the Stump Jumpers Motorcycle Club assisted in the event". (I think I was at this race. Our jeep club was helping run a checkpoint. Guys were coming to the checkpoint bloody from falling. Very memorable).
2. The Sunfair 300: "Sponsored by the Washington Off-Road Racing Association, the Sunfair 300 is a desert race with 4-wheel-drive vehicles and rails (dune buggies) on a 225-mile course near Yakima that ranks as one of the toughest in the nation! Members of the Yakima Ridge Runners staff the race course check points." (I believe this was what my original racing jeep — that I purchased for $600 — was built to compete in).
3. A retrospective of the life of the host, Don McCune.
I find this jeep slightly puzzling. I love the nice detail and old school upgrades — the full roll cage, the extra large windshield, a good front bumper mod, the nice paint job, updated seats — yet it still sports an F-head? This jeep looks like it should go fast, but can’t.
“Fresh F-Head 4 Cyl., new exaust, 3 speed w/overdrive, 8000# Winch, full roll cage, front disc brakes, custom tall windshield, custom seats, rock bars, custom bumpers — $4,500 o.b.o.,”
Looks to be street legal. Has lights and a license plate.
“Selling my toy. 1946 Willys Jeep .The only thing on the jeep that is a 46 Willys is the Tub and Title. Motor is a Pontiac 468 with 1970 Ram Air heads 500+ HP, New narrowed 9″ 31 spline axels with limited slip,frame lengthened 12”,aluminum hood,aluminum fenders and tail gate.Turbo 400,new transfer case,new paint,custom headers. Have full canvas and doors.two sets tires sand and street. street legal, Jeep is at the dunes at Coos Bay until April then will be in Grants Pass …. “
A reader asked how well a MB Body would fit onto a CJ-2A frame. My guess was that it fits pretty well, though some minor mods are necessary. This website provides some further clues http://www.dlbensinger.com/website/FAQ.html. The site suggests that body mounts might have to be changed slightly.
Anyone have experience doing this?
I purchased this jeep CJ-3A body and parts for $450. It came without running gear, but with a recently rebuilt engine and transmission. I just happened to have a rolling frame without a body, so I put all the parts I didn't want on the rolling frame and sold that. I ended up making all my money back from this purchase and was left with the fenders, hood, windshield and the data plate that goes on the dashboard 🙂
I decided to purchase a CJ-5 to get a better frame and running gear. Here's some pics of it. It's a 1973 CJ-5 with a Chev 350, a sm420 tranny, center rear differential with the dana 20. I ended up parting out most of it.
In January of 2007 I traded some cherokee axles for a Bobcat fiberglass body. It was a bit hacked up, but after many hours I revived it. Here’s an accounting of some of the work.
The body before any work was done:
Body after some trimming:
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $1200.
Not sure how much value is here.
“Have a Willy’s jeep. No title asking $1,200”
UPDATE: Very stock late model DJ-3A. It’s missing the gas tank inlet in some of the pics. The August 2017 auction ended at a high bid of $3300.
“THIS RARE 1964 WILLYS DJ-3A DISPATCHER JEEP IS PART OF A LARGE COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL WILLYS JEEPS THAT HAVE BEEN IN STORAGE FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS, AND JUST NOW BEING OFFERED FOR SALE.
THE WILLYS DISPATCHER WAS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 1955 AND 1965…ONLY 13,600 UNITS WERE PRODUCED OVER THE TEN YEAR PRODUCTION, AND MOST OF THOSE HAVEN’T SURVIVED….SEVERAL MODELS OF THE DJ-3A WERE OFFERED, THIS RARE ENCLOSED MODEL BEING ONE OF THEM. THESE HARD TOP VERSIONS WERE USED PRIMARILY FOR BUSINESSES AS DELIVERY VEHICLES, AND ALSO WERE UTILIZED BY THE US POSTAL SERVICE.
THIS PARTICULAR JEEP WAS NOT A POSTAL JEEP, HOWEVER. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT ALL ORIGINAL RARE EXAMPLE, WHICH STILL HAS ITS ORIGINAL FACTORY PAINT, ORIGINAL SEATS AND SEAT COVERS, AND ALL BODY AND MECHANICAL PARTS . THIS JEEP HAS THE POPULAR 134.2 CUBIC INCH 4 CYLINDER L HEAD ENGINE, AND MANUAL 3 SPEED COLUMN SHIIFT TRANSMISSION.
IT ALSO HAS THE OPTIONAL HEAVY DUTY HEATER AND WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER…..GREAT FOR THOSE COLD WINTER MONTHS…… IT HAS NO BODY DAMAGE ANYWHERE.…. NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO THIS JEEP. IT IS STILL AS IT WAS WHEN DELIVERED FROM THE FACTORY……IT HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED …. IT STARTS AND RUNS GREAT, HAS ONLY 20420 MILES ON THE ODOMETER.”
These are some unusual documents.
View all the information on eBay
“VINTAGE TO WORLD WAR 2 ERA
WILLY’S JEEP OVERLAND EPHEMERA
2 DUES BOOKLETS WITH STAMPS AND NOTATIONS
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
GOOD CONDITION FOR THE AGE
THESE ITEMS NOT OFTEN FOUND ANY LONGER”
This could go for a low price if folks don’t know the value of this.
“Toy 1940s Willys Jeep Cast Aluminum AL Toy Wonderful vintage toy vehicle, “Willys” Jeep. Made in 1940s, originally manufactured for Willys-Overland Executives and Dealers to give as gifts. All of the Al-Toy promos were cast aluminum, done by Toledo Casting, dba Central Casting and Toledo Brass in Toledo, OH. This model / replica features the original red paint, a collapsible windshield and a hood that opens. The wheels / tires also appear to be original and are marked “AL Toy 6.00-16″. Shows some paint loss but has no major dents or dings. In overall good condition. Measures 5.5″ tall x 10.5″ long. Tag Words: Children’s toy, adult collectible ZB9728 MKL”
http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/auctionview.cgi?lid=2866388&kwd=willys&zip=&category=0
Given the slat grille, maybe this is a mix of parts? Gotta love the windshield.
“For sale 1942 ford jeep body in bad condition no title has original engine trans and differentials. It ran and drove about 15 years ago and has been sitting every since. It is a project but it is somewhat rare since it was built by ford in 1942 when jeep could not keep up with its military contract and the contract was split up to fulfill the military needs. The windshield was put on it by my father it was from a vw bug it does not belong on it . the price is $700.00 obo if interested please call five 20- four 19- 498zero thank you.”
http://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/4096412247.html
Has an f-head.
“Authentic 76 year old WWII Jeep. This has been in my family for 35 years. My brother bought it in a small town in Colorado in ’85 and used it for hunting and back country access. I bought it from him about 2000 and trailered it to CA. where I started a rebuild. I have stacks of receipts. I removed both axles and rebuilt them along with the steering, brakes, radiator, starter, new carb., etc. It has a later model F-head motor as opposed to the original flat head (+15hp), which was a common conversion. The MB is the military model and the later models where called CJs for civilian jeep. It has been set up for trail/hunting use with a (easily removed) custom roll bar with shoulder belts and a nice Bestop. It is titled in Oregon and has a PERMANENT historical vehicle registration. I towed it to Bend and intended to restore it to original OD green and paint a star on the hood, but the project stalled as they sometimes do.”
The Alaska Or Rust 2017 event was a great success, due in part to your support. Initially, Our goal had been to gather thirty jeeps together, but by the time we departed the list of people who wanted to go initially (more than 100) fell to eleven jeeps and twenty-four people. That turned out to be a blessing, because the size made the event more easily managed. Those that took the brave step to join us—knowing that we’d never put on anything like this—were a great bunch from all over the US and Brazil, with a wide range of experience and ages spanning twenty-two to eighty-four years old. Everyone bonded well and, even one month after the trip, we are in constant communication on Facebook. Our hope is to do another trip together, someday.
Highlights from the trip began the morning we grouped in Dawson Creek at our motel. There, a group of Canadian Mounties stopped to visit, take photos, and sign our jeeps. They even cut some patches off their vests to trade for Alaska Or Rust shirts.
Another favorite highlight was our stop in Fort Nelson, Canada, where Todd Penney hosted a dinner for us at his auto shop, Dalex Auto, and invited folks from around the town to attend. We even landed on the front of the city’s newspaper!
The next day we drove to Watson Lake. There, the chamber of commerce was thrilled to see all the jeeps, so everyone lined up in front of the sign forest (with tens of thousands of signs) and took pictures. A truly unique spot!
In Whitehorse, the main capital of Yukon, we had rooms in a downtown hotel, where people could wander by, check out the jeeps, and sign them. Meanwhile, we celebrated Hugo Vidal’s 84th birthday with a free dinner hosted by the Discovery Yukon, the tourism arm of Whitehorse. A few days later, Hugo was featured in the Whitehorse Star newspaper.
When we left Whitehorse the next day, the group stopped for lunch at a small gas station along the Alaska Highway. As we walked inside, we were surprised to hear Hugo’s voice. An interview he’d given the night before was broadcasting all over the Yukon! You can listen to it here:
https://soundcloud.com/cbcyukon/vidal-retraces-1955-alaska-highway-journey
Eventually, we reached Alaska, then Fairbanks. We celebrated with two public meet-n-greets, one at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum of Fairbanks and the other at the local Jeep Dealership. At both stops we met followers of the trip and jeep enthusiasts.
In terms of visibility, Alaska Or Rust served up an average of 1000 pages a day over six months, meaning readers saw your logos over 180,000 times. Meanwhile, eWillys received an average view-rate of 10,000 pages a day, meaning logos were seen 1.8 million times between April and September. Of course, we can’t possibly count all the people who stopped to admire and sign jeeps along the way, but we certainly attracted attention wherever we went.
Our one disappointment was that service was so bad throughout Canada and into Alaska that we could not do the Facebook Live videos like we’d hoped. We even had a radio personality along who could have done the spots well, but the technology failed us. In fact, updating the websites were a challenge at times, but fortunately, we were able to hunt down enough bandwidth to do that.
So, from all of us who experienced Alaska Or Rust, we offer a hearty thanks for your support!
The frame may not be original.
https://reno.craigslist.org/pts/d/sparks-45-willy-jeep/6978255321.html
“Buick V6
Was running but he sat for years, missing title. Great project or scrap
2500obo”
