As I stated in the introduction forum, my Dad had an old jeep under his lean-to that he had gotten from a former customer/parts chaser. When he closed down his shop he brought the jeep home and put in under his lean-to with the intention of restoring it. Needless to say he never quite got around to starting on the restoration process. Mom and Dad decided to sell their house and most of their belongings including the jeep. No one in the family knew what it was worth or much about the history or obsession with old jeeps. As customers wondered through the yard sale many asked about the jeep with a few stating it would be worth more if it were running. As a full time mechanic I never had much desire to work on cars on my off time let alone restore any. After some thinking I decided if I was going to get it running I might as well restore it. Little did I know that this would turn into a obsession
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The original ID plate was still on the firewall and I was able to determine that I had a 49 CJ3A. As I went through the restoration process I found that the brakes had been replaced with 11", there were some electrical modifications made, although it was still 6v, and a few other changes but for the most part it seemed original with the exception of the repairs to the tub. I recently found out thanks to Bob W that I have a factory rebuilt engine from the late 50's.
I did a full frame off restoration starting in late May of 2012. I bought a cheap sand blaster and did the frame and axles and painted them with rattle can frame paint. I rebuilt the axles, replaced the springs, shackles and shocks, rebuilt the trans and transfer case, rebuilt the engine and before long I had a rolling chassis. The tub and fenders were badly rusted with the floor having been replaced with wood and most of the side panels sheet metaled over. I decided the tub was too far gone for the repairs it would need and for the room I had to work in, mostly the wife didn't want the smell of grinding, welding and filler work getting into the house
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By December of 2012 I had a reproduction body kit fitted, with the usual problems with tunnel cover not fitting and lining up the fenders, and did my first test drive, all went. After some final fitting I removed the tub, fenders, grill and windshield and sent them to the local body shop for paint. I chose Luzon Red and hopefully they got the color close. I refit the painted body back on and did a test drive on January 15th, the day before I went in for knee surgery. At this time I would say the project is 90% done, I have a few leaks to try and stop, I would like to add a top, and I need to highlight the Willys stamping's to name a few.
I didn't find this forum until the majority of the work was done. The expertise that the members bring to the table would have been helpful in trying to keep this project as era correct as possible.
Here is a link to pictures taken along the way, I hope you enjoy as much as I have looking at the projects found here. The pictures loaded in reverse order so you will need to start at the end.
http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/gheitman1/library/49%20CJ3AThanks for looking
Glen
