Hawk's CJ3A 13655

[bretto]

Wow Tim, I guess I really haven't been paying attention to your build.� Along with the others, I will offer my compliments and say nice work.
I did what you did and just bought 16G sheet steel also and made my own stuff on my M38 rebuild.� If you have the time, you can sure save a lot of money for other surprises..
What's your green CJ doing during all of this?� I bet it's excited to have a sibling
In some ways I wish I didn't have a trailer queen rig but something more baseline to enjoy in the hills and whatnot.� What are your intentions with this?  Is it easier to get by buying stuff for it with the Mrs know its going into her rig?

[athawk11]

Hey Brett,
Thanks for looking in. My OD Willys is happy to have a friend.  As you have spotted, this 3A is for my wife...and will be...her words..."a thrasher".  A Willys that she won't worry about scratching, denting etc...

Between you and me, I'm having a hard time putting a Bubba Willys together.  I'm telling her it will be her thrasher, but I am trying to be respectful to the Willys brand.

You see where I'm at with this.  My wife keeps asking me when I'm going to paint it ...and when am I going to get her 'yellow smiley face tire cover'     Those seem to be the only things she is concerned with.  If she only knew how far we still have to go.

Tim

[F Bill]

"Yellow Smiley face tire cover...."  ahhh. the IMPORTANT  parts..

c'mon, quit your slackin' and go get it.. 

[athawk11]

I'm tellin ya Bill, she asks me if I got that cover at least 3 times a week.  She's driving me crazy. 

I'm buying sector shafts, bell cranks, brake cylinders...you know, stuff that will help make it safe to drive.

Maybe if I get to figuring out what size tires I'll be using, I can get the darn tire cover and STOP the constant harassments!!

Tim

[garage gnome]

Tim, sounds like you have a wonderful wife who will drive one of these old jeeps! Does she help you at all with it?

[athawk11]

Nate,

My wife is terrific. She helps a little here and there.  Her greatest attribute is that she allows me this freedom to enjoy a very cool, and kind of pricey hobby.  That she loves these little wonders makes it even more special.  She is really excited about having her own Willys.  How cool is that??   

Tim

[garage gnome]

If I ever get a girlfriend, she is either going to have to like old Willys or greasy old engine for the reason that you said, she won't care how much money I spend!  At least you'll have his and her jeeps!

[athawk11]

Work and Honey-Do lists have been a little demanding, but I have made some progress.

With the help from Lee(MN), I was able to put together a decent tool box.  It will drive the future Willys historians CRAZY!  A pretty early '49 3A with a 2A style tool box.  I would love to be there as they try to figure that one out.

All the final top side welding is done.  I have a couple minor adds to the underside, but I will do those once I take the tub off to do final body work.

I know what you're thinking... "NO WAY is that the same tub!! He went out and bought a MD Juan, and slipped it in on us!!"   

[1955CJ-5]

Doesn't look like it needs any body work! Just a little paint....

Looks great.....will it be yellow?

[Ryan_M]

I am in awe. "Juan Hawkridge" does it again. Makes me want to rip my tub off and send it to you.

[Haines Garage]

Sir Hawkridge is the Schiz..nit no doubt. His love for these old Jeeps sure shines in his work.  [smiley=thumbsup.gif] 5xer on that one!

[Bedrock]

Tim:  Your work is simply amazing.  I will never cease to be impressed with your patience, skill, and attention to detail. That is truly a remarkable transformation.  Thanks for sharing the photos.  I can't wait for the next updates.

George

[athawk11]

I�ve made some progress on Whitey.� Sorry fellas, there is going to be some body filler.� There won�t be much.� The hours of hammer/dolly work were well worth the effort�





It gets too hot outside to do body filler.� I removed the tub and brought it indoors.� I don�t know about you guys, but I can only endure so much body filler work.� It�s my least favorite thing to do.

With the tub removed, I can do a bit of body work, then mess with other items in need of some TLC.


Here is a close up on the Spicer 18 tag.� Another small tag says it�s a 1948 case�





Somewhere along the line, a PO removed the original park brake assembly and installed the inner drum from an early war Willys.� It�s taken a lot of legwork, and friends with spare parts, but this will be converted back to the original set up�



I have an early 3A frame and grill with a jury rigged side mount radiator.� I�m not happy about this�



If someone is looking for a nice side mount, I would trade for a decent frame mounted radiator.� I know this is a �Thrasher�, and I know I can make this work, but there are certain things I have a have a hard time with, and this misplaced radiator is one of them.


Time to pull the power train.� I used my little tractor for this before, but I had already removed the transmission, TC and bell housing.� This package pressed the tractors limits�� �




I set the drive train on some small carts and rolled it into a nook in the garage.� I�m looking forward to the cleaning, inspection, sealing, and painting of the drive train.� I was a rookie on the first go round.� This time, I know what to look for.




And here we are today.� A chassis.� The frame is a little tortured and will require some welding and straightening repairs.� I�ve sandblasted a frame before, but I am considering taking this one to a blaster.� It took forever to clean the first one.


�


Side note:� The PTO currently installed on this Willys is not staying.� If anyone has interest in it, PM me.� I don�t know the value, but would consider trading it for a few things.� I�ll post this in the FS or Trade section in a few days.

Thank you for taking a gander!

Tim�

[1955CJ-5]

I'm not so sure why it took me so long to discover the local sandblaster...I spent so many hours cleaning and scraping...

Looks great, and it's good to see the progress....!

Randy

[athawk11]

Okay, I�m back in the game and ready to offer a short update.� It�s been a while. With preparation for out of town guests�(see Haines Garage) and the Fall Colors Tour, my days have been pretty full.�

Once back from the FCT, I needed to clean ODie, and fix a bad scratch along the entire length of the driver side.� It was damage I just wasn�t going to be able to live with.� The paint is curing, so I had some time to move back over to Whitey.

In my last post, I had taken Whitey down to the frame.� This is when I discovered this Willys must have had a run in with a much larger object.� At the front end, the two long frame rails looked like someone just knocked over a set of dominos.� It looked something like this�� \___\.�

� The PO had done a very sloppy repair, essentially locking the frame into this position.� The front tube shaped cross member was welded back in with the bell crank mount and radiator mounting tabs pointing down hill.� Again, I�m not going for a show winner here, but this is for my wife.� She deserves to have decent steering and a Willys that will not experience Death Wobble.

To make the repair, I had to cut out the front cross member.� This is not an easy task if you were going to pull it out of a perfect frame.� Imagine how hard it would be to pull it out of a frame with a horrible welding repair job.� It took all weekend for me to get to this point.







Giving up on this frame had crossed my mind a half dozen times, but everything rear of the engine mounts is in such good condition.� I just couldn�t let this beat me.� While I have this out, I will be able to clean up the area, prime inside the tube and patch up some bad spots.� All in all, I think it will turn out fine.� These are just the frustrating things that turn a one year build into two.

Tim