Willys cj3b

[lcuinc]

Hey all. I've enjoyed many great threads on here and thought I'd share something I've been working on if any are interested. And selfishly I'm hoping any interest in it will help to motivate me to finish!
Long story short I was given a 1953 cj3b from a great friend of mine. He and I played with it when we were in high school and then his family used it as a hunt jeep in Georgia. Even when in school I always tried to buy that jeep and they wouldn't let it go. Well we have been out of school for 19 years now and I finally got it! When I got it it had been parked at their hunt camp for 6 or so years.



Here it is the day I winched it on the trailer. Doesn't look too bad. Wrong, looks can be deceiving.
If anyone is interested let me know and I will add more updates

 

[dieselcrawler]

He!! yes we are interested! More pictures, more details, please! What needs done? What have you done so far? What's your plans for it?

About 20 years ago, in my high school days, when you were trying to buy that one, I was messing with cj5's and cj7's, had about a dozen, drove a few, sold alot of parts to build one nice '7.

 

[bcp]

Been there. V8's, 4sp's, different axles, overdrives, etc.

More interested in keeping an old one stock, now.

Keep posting.

Bruce

 

[lcuinc]

My intent was to just play with this and use it to teach my kids how to work on a vehicle. Got it home and took about 30 minutes to get her running. Had no brakes so I took it to our lot across town so my boys and I could drive around the field. Had a blast. Went through the mud hole, climbed the piles of dirt, and even got it stuck once and had to yank out with my truck. Brought back home and took a fender off to get a better look at something and next I knew I had a bare frame on the garage floor.



I'll have to get some pics from my old phone but here's the frame after most had been cleaned up and primed.

 

[lcuinc]

At this point I had decide what I was doing with this thing. I decided that I would rebuild it basically stock. Notice I did not say restore it. The body was so bad I cut it in half with a cut off wheel. From the bottom of the firewall back had to be replaced, hood was shot, fenders both shot, and windshield frame missing. You can still purchase all body panels for this Willys but I could not afford that so I improvised. I bought sheets of steel and formed then around plywood forms that I made. I tried to build them as close to original as I could. My hope is when I'm done it will look original to the average person.

 

[PILOON]

Also had one. Lots of good memories.
My son did his first miles driving it on our dirt road.
Wish I'd have kept it as it was loads of fun.
Beats all the fancy ATV's hands down.

They sure knew how to hide that master cylinder down in the frame.

 

[lcuinc]

some various pictures I am trying to load from my computer. let's see how this works, I am used to using my phone

 

[PAGUY]

Another guy with memories of his CJ2A that was 6 volt, half cab and came with a snow plow w/manual angle.
I used sheets of steel to extend the cab to full coverage. Carried an extra battery to jumpstart it when the engine was hot and 6 volt wouldn't crank it over. Had a mechanic friend who also drove a CJ bore out the 4 cylinder engine which made it run like a new engine was installed. Made some money plowing with it and drove it to work everyday. Dummy me traded it in on a 1975 Jeep Cherokee which blew a hole in the transmission case at 48,000 miles when the front wheel drive shaft snapped. The dealer foreman told me that was a common problem with that model and usually occurred around 20,000 miles. Sold it and bought a Chevy pick-up and would never buy a Jeep product again.

 

[lcuinc]

Spotted this at a yard sale on the way home from work yesterday. Got it for $2.00. Not sure it's old but thought it be neat on the cj.

 

[mark02tj]

Super Cool! When I was in HS (36 years ago!) a guy I knew bought an old CJ like that - in about the same shape. I don't know if he ever got it running.

I've had my '02 TJ for 9 years. I love driving it as much today as the first day that I bought it.

Keep the pictures coming!!

 

[Xfaxman]

I am enjoying your thread, brings back a lot of good memories of my old jeeps. :thumbsup:

 

[lcuinc]

Here are some picture of panels I built from sheets of steel. I made plywood forms and clamped the steel to it and bent the edges around the plywood to make the shapes. The top edge was bent all the way around into a u shape and I inserted a piece of 1/2" square tube in it for additional strength. I will try to find pictures of building the panels this week.

 

[lcuinc]

Here's a few pictures of items after I cleaned and painted them. The Warn hubs I cleaned up with a wire brush on my drill.



Here is the engine after paint. I replace a few gaskets and the rear main while it was out but that was the extent for now. Also added an oil filter to the system.



Here is the hardtop I drove 10 hours to buy. I can't find these in central Florida so I found this one near Ashville, NC. Bought a body, hardtop, and lots of spare parts for $400. I was thrilled when I placed the top on my body and it actually fit.

 

[wmonroe]

Great thread and nice job so far. Those old keeps are really neat. I have a TJ for fun and love it.

 

[dickfoster]

Hey all. I've enjoyed many great threads on here and thought I'd share something I've been working on if any are interested. And selfishly I'm hoping any interest in it will help to motivate me to finish!
Long story short I was given a 1953 cj3b from a great friend of mine. He and I played with it when we were in high school and then his family used it as a hunt jeep in Georgia. Even when in school I always tried to buy that jeep and they wouldn't let it go. Well we have been out of school for 19 years now and I finally got it! When I got it it had been parked at their hunt camp for 6 or so years.

View attachment 468381

Here it is the day I winched it on the trailer. Doesn't look too bad. Wrong, looks can be deceiving.
If anyone is interested let me know and I will add more updates

An original flat fender or flattie. Very popular and many still hunt them down.

 

[farm boy00]

Love this thread. I love those old jeeps. Sadly not many around

 

[PAGUY]

You are doing a great job of restoring a CJ who looked like its life was over. Hope you have many years of enjoying it in the future. :thumbsup:

PA Guy

 

[lhfarm]

Love this thread. I love those old jeeps. Sadly not many around

There are lots of Willys CJs around, enough to keep a number of large companies in business selling replacement parts. The OP can head over to the CJ3B Page (cj3b.info) to find lots of good info. I'm headed to two large mid-west jeep shows in the next few weeks. I've already had my CJ3a Farm Jeep at two tractor shows and will attend several more this summer.

I too am enjoying the thread and hope to see more.

 

[lcuinc]

Thanks guys. It has been a great learning experience. I have done lots of mechanical work on vehicles but very little body work and no metal work. I have vastly improved me welding skills and learned a lot. I am proud to say that I personally have done everything on this jeep. So, even though some may not be perfect, I did it.
Here is a picture of making the panels.



and some other random pictures




the body I bought in NC with the hard top

And yes, you can buy all these panels from places like Walcks or Kaiser Willys, but I can't spend that money for this project. I would love to be able to one day. I have to remind myself this was free so I have to keep things inexpensive. I believe when I am completely done I will have between $2500 and $3000 in the entire thing.
I would love to one day have one with a pto and a 3 point lift. I have also found I really love the Willys FC's. I told my wife the other night to prepare herself that if I come across one of those for a good price I will "have" to buy it.

 

[farm boy00]

There are lots of Willys CJs around, enough to keep a number of large companies in business selling replacement parts. The OP can head over to the CJ3B Page (cj3b.info) to find lots of good info. I'm headed to two large mid-west jeep shows in the next few weeks. I've already had my CJ3a Farm Jeep at two tractor shows and will attend several more this summer.

I too am enjoying the thread and hope to see more.

Probably should have been more specific. I meant around Michigan from what i gave saw