Paint colors

[airforcemajor]

Hi, I�m new to this forum and hope someone can help with my questions, I�ve read several forums and google�d lots of sites but still have no answers.

Does anyone know what the original color of a �52 CJ-3A engine should be?

And, my 3A has traces of the original paint under the hood and inside the tool box.  The color is a dark-ish, metallic, green.  Is this Emerald Green? The few examples I�ve seen on the web don�t look very metallic to me.

Thanks,

[athawk11]

Major,

Welcome to the forum. �Just a heads up....we all like photos...lots of photos.

I believe the concensus will be that the original engine, drive train and chassis color were semi-gloss black. �

Factory re-built engines were often red.

Here is a photo of my original color. �I have always thought is was Emerald Green. �I guess it could also be Pine Green. �Mine is a 1949

� �

In any event, I'm fairly sure Willys wasn't offering a metalic color back then.

Here is a link that may help you.

http://www.cj-3a.com/willys_paint_chips.htm

Good luck, and again, welcome to the site.

Tim

[Bob W]

Early 1952 model year CJ-3As were probably Emerald Green. The green used for most of 1952 was Hampshire Green which is a dark bluish-green metallic paint.

[airforcemajor]

athawk11,

Thanks for the info on the engine color, semi-gloss black should be easy to do.

It looks like there are several body colors on your photo. From left to right, under the crackled green paint, there is a blue-ish color, then white, then a small patch of green that looks similar to mine.

I can't do photos right now, the jeep is in NH and I'm in Colorado.  I'll take some when I get back there.

Bob,

Thanks for the info on Hampshire Green.  I suspect that is the color my jeep came in; however, the 1952 DuPont chart lists that color for trucks, not jeeps.  Do you know if it was available as an option, or perhaps the factory just painted any vehicle with any color that struck their fancy?

I'm not going for a "restoration", rather "as close as possible without breaking the bank while making is drivable".  I always thought the original color was very close to the color of a friend's '63 Impala but I haven't gone looking for it yet....

[Bob W]

however, the 1952 DuPont chart lists that color for trucks, not jeeps.

Can you post a copy of that paint chart?

[athawk11]

Major,

Good eye.  I'm honestly not sure where that blue green color came from.  It looks like a bit of overspray.  If you look closely, you can see the cracking paint in that area...which is probably the same green as the balance of this piece of steel.

When I got this Willys, it had been painted light blue.  At some point, some features had been painted white, like the tailgate and windshield frame.  As it was stripped down, everything had this green color.  Some areas, like the underside of the drive train tunnel were still painted the original green color.

I will have to defer to Bob W on this topic.  Frankly, I have to defer to him on all topics-- CJ3A.  He wrote the book...literally.

Where in Colorado are you?

Tim

[rocketeer]

Note the only green shown to be for the Jeep is Hampshire Green Metallic.







Larry

[airforcemajor]

Bob,

I meant to say "Aero" where I said "truck"; I looked at the Sherwin-Williams paint chart for 1949 - 1952 on the CJ-3A page.  I am beginning to understand that there is much conflicting information concerning Jeeps!

I am in Arvada.

[athawk11]

Major,
I think you will find your assertion to be true.  The conflicting information is often caused by Willys Overland.  There are some pretty good historians in this hobby.  As dialed in as they may be, I imagine they are occcasionally perplexed by manual errors, omitted parts in parts blow up diagrams,  bad parts numbers, service bulletins that conflict other service bulletins.  Overall, I just don't think the 'paper work' was a high priority back then.  At least not at Willys Overland.  

I actually live in Arvada.  Are you stationed here?  On a visit?

Tim

[airforcemajor]

I'm actually retired; we're in Colorado because of my wife's job.

Are there any flatfender events around here?

[athawk11]

Flat Fender events...hmmm. �I often complain that the majority of the events are out east. �

I am fairly new to the FF club, but there are a couple things that might interest you. �Two regularly scheduled Willys events are the Northern Colorado Run and the Colorado Fall Colors Tour. �You will find the most information about these events over at the 2A forum.

There is a regular monthly event that you might enjoy. �It is not exclusive to Jeeps, but if you like cars in general, it's the place to be. �It's the Golden Super Cruise. �Every first Saturday of the summer months, 1000s of cars and spectators head to South Golden Rd. �It's a parade atmosphere. �There is no cost to the car owners or spectators. �Every conceivable car or truck you can imagine is there. �Here is a link to the web site. � �

http://www.goldensupercruise.com/

Here is a photo of a small group of Willys guys that got together at the 'Cruise' in May.