Building a forest service jeep

[garage gnome]

Last year at the beginning of February, I was searching craigslist like I had done everyday for the past 5 years searching for the perfect, unrestored, unmolested, all stock, decent bodied jeep. Now, this is a rarity here in the rust belt, but I knew one had to be out there some where. Well, that day came on Feb. 14, 2012. A 1952 CJ3A was listed for sale a couple towns over from me for $1000. I scanned the pictures over real well. The thing looked to be what I had been searching for! It had a few alterations, but noting major. I called the guy up and made arrangements to look at it.

I was looking it over, and I noticed a few unusual things, like the VIN. I thought, no, its not a '52, but a '49 with the brass foot to boot! The guy said it had a blown engine, that he had running briefly and if it didn't sell, he was going to part it out! �:o No way was I going to let that happen! The body was in very nice shape for being up here, no pitting on the frame and the original wiring wasn't cut anywhere. It would be a crime to destroy it! So I made him an offer and he wouldn't budge. So I had to pay in full �[smiley=angry.gif] Oh well, it was worth it to me to save it.

This guy also had another '49 3A. He called it restored, but I didn't think it was. The body had nice paint and all, but it was rotting out, so he had aluminum diamond plate all over it. I thought the one I had bought was in much better shape! �;D Well, that popped up on CL a few days later...

Anyways, this is what a 1000 buck can buy you. A '49 3A with a wicked lean and supposedly a bad engine. After some wrenching, I got the ole girl to fire up. It sounded sweet! After taking it for a test drive, I could see why he thought it was a bad engine, the thing had no power! I brought it back in the garage, and well, the PO had crossed the #2 and 3 plug wires! �;D After fixing that, the thing ran great and drove great! Couldn't have been happier.



You can see it never had a heater in it from the knockouts still being in place. Another clue... The engine had a lot of water in the oil. Not good... Turned out to be a frozen PCV valve and from the POs head gasket replacement job... �:o Not a cracked block!





After crawling around it for a while, there was no way this thing came from around here originally. The PO said he got it out of Connecticut. On the tailgate, it says Davis Hollow Security. After googleing that, that was the missing piece to the puzzle! It came from a camp ground down south! Awesome!

[garage gnome]

Here is the engine bay after some reworking. Generator works great too despite the crappy looking wiring to it! Horn works great too!



The dashboard all cleaned up with original amp and temp gauges.



And I put the springs in from my old frame from the Jalopy. I think they are 1" lift. It certainly looks happier now too. I didn't have to torch anything either. It was great! Took me like 2 hours to do this.





I also managed to track down an original spare tire carrier for it. I had a spare wheel and bald tire for it. I painted the wheel with red primer to match the others. At least the color is easy to match up! �;D I also found a set of dualmatics with the right patina for it. Believe it or not, it is much harder tracking down parts with the right patina for this jeep.

[garage gnome]

I also had an original passenger hand wiper for it too! It came on the 3B I got in my '53s restoration thread.



I got these lights for it too. The chrome Nacos came from a 2A page member and the arrow lights came from Ebay. Both sets have just the right patina.



After some rewiring, I got dual brake lights and turn signals. I didn't have to cut the original harness either. I was careful about that. These can be easily removed. Oh, the surprising thing is, I'm still using the original brake light switch on this! �:o





I did a tiny brake upgrade. I plan on driving it a lot, so I put later style drums on. I don't have to remove the hubs anymore to change brake shoes.



I cleaned the engine bay too. The Luzon red sure looks nice!







The original brown on the headlight buckets looks nice too!




I had also collected enough parts to install a heater in it too. This Harrison is pretty rusty, but it has the right amount to fit the jeep perfectly.







The original cage nuts and knockouts. Now I have some nice Luzon red samples!

[garage gnome]

This is how it stands today. I put some different wheels and tires on it just for better traction in the snow and coming mud. I want to put new tires on the stock wheels this summer.

Now, I need the help from this page. The tub needs a little work, some hat channels are rusted out, under the gas tank is almost gone and there are a few holes in the floor. I really can't decide whether I should fix the rust issues or leave as is. If I did fix the rust issues, then should I repaint it, or just leave it red primer? Should I also fix the driver's side rear where it got crunched in a bit (see first post of the rear)? I want to use it to drive around town (in style of course  ) to do errands and such when I don't feel like using a modern vehicle. I'm really undecided as to what to do from here.

[garage gnome]

Here is an under the tank shot from when I had to change out the gas tank. Probably the worst spot on this jeep rust wise.

[garage gnome]

Ok, I decided that I'm going to pull the tub off and fix the rust issues. I'd rather save the body than let it go to hell. I'll find some brush-on rustoleum that closely matches the original luzon red. I could spray it, but this jeep will be getting use a lot, so the brush on can easily be repainted to match.

The fenders are good, just a little rot in the hat channels. I'll patch that too. I'll leave all the dents and imperfections.

[athawk11]

I have to say Nate, that I like your plans for this one.  I agree that you don't lose the 'Pantina' affect if you do some nice patch work to the floors.  

In your current climate, if you don't address it, you may be sorry you didn't.  Of course, everything is fixable, but right now it's pretty manageable.

I might even take a hammer and dolly to the crunched panel.  Maybe not to the level you did on your shiny red Willys, but just enough that it looks like some PO was bummed out when he backed into a tree stump and wanted to fix it the best he could.  Then just a splash of red primer.

Tim

[garage gnome]

I can probably fix the rear crossmember easily where that is bent. I'll have to look closer at the tub damage, but IIRC, it is pretty significant. I think the top of the fender well is folded a little too. We will see. Right now, I'm on hold because I have to wait for a cold day to drive my '53 to our other shop on a paved road (we live on a dirt road) and that will free up the space on the lift where I can work on it. Mud season is the perfect time to work on it anyways because the skinny tires just make ruts.

I'm still torn whether I should paint it (black frame and some color for the body) or just retouch with the red primer like I've been doing? I guess I'll see how much metal I replace and make my call from there.

[garage gnome]

Here is what I have to deal with on the '49s body. It isn't as bad as Rany's or Tim's tub, but I don't want it to get worse. Within the next couple of weeks, I'll pull it apart ad start fixing it. During that time, I have to rebuild the tranny and the engine. It has 85 psi across the board. I have to be careful in preserving the complete original wiring harness too. I'm only going to paint the frame, axles, body and wheels. Everything else will stay dirty and rusty. Why? Because I like it that way. After I take it down some trails the rest will match.  













Also, my friend and I bought this beater '78 Power wagon for $150. I payed half and I wanted the tires from it. They still hold air and have like new tread. They are 15 by 7.00s and are 30" in diameter. Now I have to find a set of wheels for them to put on this Jeep!

[Ryan_M]

Hey Nate - Any chance you can get me the dimensions of that wood block the spare tire carrier mounts to? I noticed yours is now conveniently accessible. Thank you sir.

[garage gnome]

I sure can! It happens to be the original for 16 x 6.00 tires.  

[garage gnome]

Down at the Picnic, I scored a PTO winch for it! Along with some other small parts.

[athawk11]

Nate,
I can't see half of your photos, including the most recent score.

Tim

[1955CJ-5]

Well, when you see it you will want it!

The pics are slow to load for me...it's almost to the point where I give up and then they start loading....

[garage gnome]

They loaded for me just fine! Grrr...