Hawk...CJ3A 36662

[athawk11]

If you've been following along, you may have spotted a number of 'modifications' from original in my photos.  Every single change made by prior owners would eventually come back and bite me in some way.  I also personally created one issue by purchasing a fuel pump that was not the original style.  It was cheaper.  Sometimes "cheap" works out okay.  Other times...not so much.

Other modified items include a Solex Carb, a really weird PCV valve, a distributor that is not the original design, a strange heater hose setup and 2A seat frames in a CJ3A.  There might be more, but this is what came to mind today.



So anyway, the work shifted back to the tub.

[Oilleaker1]

Looking at all your dolly work in between the floor hat channels is giving me pain.  Oilly

[Oilleaker1]

Oh, by the way Hawky, I know where there is a red mud hill I can take you to---------------------AGAIN! 

[athawk11]

Leaker,
I would join you on any muddy hill you can find.  And it doesn't even need to be red!


It's now September of 2011.  It's been just over a year since I purchased this 3A.

I had never done body work, filler work etc.  I could go on for paragraphs about this part of the refurbishment, but I won't.  Let's just say I got pretty good at it, but I hated it.





I coated the tub with the same combination of finishes that were used on the chassis.  Master Series Silver, Red Oxide then the Olive Drab.  I did this in three stages.  Bottom, interior surfaces, then exterior surfaces.  I had never painted a vehicle before.  If I had more faith in my skills, I might have tried a different approach, but I was worried I would get that dry over-spray on the finished surfaces, or accidentally brushing up against it while painting. 

I started with the underside because if I did a horrible job, it would be less noticeable.





When I got to the topside, I built a makeshift paint booth in my garage. 








I masked off areas that had already been painted.  When all said and done, it turned out nice.  Either I was a natural at painting cars or the paint I used was very forgiving.









In the last photo you see the extra seat perches I needed to make the 2A seats work with the 3A tube.

I finally got to set the tub.  I didn't get any photos of my process.  I was too focused on not scratching the paint.







I set up the gas tank and seats, then drove it around my neighborhood a half dozen times.





I got the fenders, hood and grille painted. 







I started installing some of the M38 features.

[Squishymonster]

It's looking great! I'm jealous - its going to be a good while before I'm ready to remove my top.

I like the paint booth too.

[athawk11]

Thank you Squishy!!   I appreciate it.


Things started to come together quickly.  At this stage of bolting it all together, everything was fun.
I stained, painted and mounted the tools.






I found these really cool taillights that are similar in design to the M38 blackout stuff, but these have the full lenz for better vision. They are originally from a Gamma-Goat.  I replaced the 24 volt bulbs with the 12v equivalent.

 



I fought the glass into the windshield and got it mounted, along with the fender mounted blackout light and hood blocks.





The rest of the engine bay and dash went well.  Walck's wire harnesses are terrific.








My wife got me the canvas top for Christmas.  I made the rope (loop eyes)  for the front bumper.







It is now January of 2012.

[athawk11]

One thing that was initially a little inexplicable...

 
I bought the seat covers and cushions for Beachwood Canvas.  The bottom cushion for M38 is 6" thick.  I'm not tall, (5'8") but this size cushion elevated me to a point where I had to scrunch down to see out the windshield.  I didn't know this at the time, but 2A seat frame crossmembers sit up higher than 3A and M38 seat frame crossmembers.
 
The Beachwood folks were great.  They were perfectly willing to swap out the taller cushions for some 3" versions at no cost.










I found a brand new, never issued set of 1949 Colorado license plates on Ebay.  Like many states, Colorado allows you to run with DOM plates as long as you have it licensed with real plates.  You just need to have the real plate and registration with you.







I didn't really have the room to mount them in the traditional places, so I made some custom brackets...

[athawk11]

After driving it around a bit I found the steering to be a little sloppy.  I took it apart and rebuilt the steering components...












I got some traditional stencils and added them to the Jeep.  I did a little research and found that the first military unit to arrive in Korea at the beginning of the war was the 24th Infantry Division, 11th Field Artillery Battalion, so I chose that group for my bumper lettering.







I wasn't satisfied with the 3A headlight bezels.  They didn't look right.  I found NOS M38 bezels and headlight buckets.  I installed them on the 3A grill.  It required some minor trimming on the grill.  This was well worth the effort.  The M38 bezels make the front look a little more mean and nasty...




Before and After front end comparison. . .






I had an old canvas tarp laying around, so I made bags to store my new canvas top.

 

 
The first short trip we took was to the Golden Super Cruise in Golden Colorado.  We met up with some other Flat Fender enthusiasts.  This was in early May, 2012.






This was a fun night, but it did expose one flaw that I have never quite resolved.  More to come on that later.

[athawk11]

I forgot to mention the tailgate modifications.  To support the weight of the spare tire, I bolted vertical oak blocks to the interior.  The gas can supports are old garage door opener rails.  I welded these on.  I also drove a solid steel shaft into the top tube portion of the tailgate.  I shaped it with a grinder to fit the tube profile.  I initially did this to push out the dents in the top edge of the tailgate.   I drove it in with a sledgehammer.  It worked perfectly to eliminate the dents but I was having trouble getting the shaft back out, so I cut it to length and left it in place.  This is now one badass tailgate.



 


We spent most of the summer driving around town.  Ice Cream, grocery store, etc. This is when I learned about the "Jeep Wave".
 
I found this Bridge Plate and bolted it on.  I think it added a "Cool" factor.  It's the muted version.  Most of these are yellow.









These tie-down brackets are another M38 feature.  There are two on the front frame horns and another set about mid frame.






I bought this original MB rear seat.  It needed some modifications to make it work in my 3A.






I mounted an ammo can to function as a wallet and cup holder.


[/url]



These ammo cans and old tin tool box were added to store tools and extra parts.







Driving It around town was fun, but I needed a little more adventure.  The Fall Color Tour is held here in Colorado.  It looked like the fun I was hoping for.
   
My wife and I decided to attend.  We wanted to bring our dog friends, so I ditched the rear seat and made a padded box.







I added some shade for them.  Some may recognize the fellow captured in this photo.





Some FCT 2012  photos.


 
I







 A terrific time was had by all.  The FCT was dry and warm.  No mud, but plenty of dust.







I found some M38 door frames and ordered the side curtains and doors to have a full enclosure.










2012 was coming to an end.  At this point, I had mixed feelings about my 3A.  More on that in the next entry.

[aboyandhisdog]

The guy in the red shirt looks like trouble.

[Bruce_W]

The guy in the red shirt looks like trouble.

  Yeah, you watch him. I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s gotten me into trouble more than once. BW

[athawk11]

The FCT exposed a weakness.  This was the first time I really got to see how my engine performed when compared to other Willys Flat Fender Jeeps.  To get to the trails, we were occasionally on paved roads and traveling 40-45MPH.
 
My Willys 3A was a DOG compared to the others in the group.  It was hard to keep up on even the slightest inclines.   I was frankly embarrassed to the point where I didn't want to go to this event ever again.

Once home, I started in on figuring out if my engine was warn out or if there were things I could do to maximize the engine power.
The PO included a box of parts when I bought this.  Inside was a Carter WO.  Time to learn how to rebuild a carburetor.  It was a little scary, but if I screwed it up, I could always reinstall the Solex.  The Carter ran really nice, but it didn't improve my engine performance.





Don't ask me why I polished the float.  I have a slight OCD issue.





I added a fuel filter and replaced the goofy PCV valve with the traditional version.  Still no power increase.








The Chain drive engine had a noisy sloppy chain.  I upgraded to the Richard Sanders timing chain system.  Nice and quiet, but it didn't improve my power performance.








I did some reading and learned how to check and adjust the timing.  Turns out, the distributor was not the original style.  It has an adjustment slot that didn't allow me to advance the timing enough.  Add on to tha, the prior owner didn't index the oil pump correctly.
 
Once the oil pump and timing were corrected, my 3A felt like a little speed racer.  I couldn't wait to go to the next Fall Color tour.


In the meantime, my Wife found this cool 'Fire Gun' extinguisher.  I cleaned it up and bolted it on.
 









I added a reinforcing plate on the back side of the fender.






We joined the local Memorial Day parade where I was lucky enough to ride with a Korean War Veteran and a WWII Veteran.


https://youtu.be/9xig3mMIasI

https://youtu.be/5N7OToBmxyg



The performance at the 2013 Fall Color Tour was like night and day.  We had a great time that year.

[Bruce_W]

    I kept telling Tim that the Ford engine just was not happy in the Willys chassis, and that he should let me have it, but I was unable to convince him before he found the actual problem.     BW

[athawk11]

    I kept telling Tim that the Ford engine just was not happy in the Willys chassis, and that he should let me have it, but I was unable to convince him before he found the actual problem.     BW

I remember years back when you got on me for sending a newb with a "For Sale" G.P.W.  to the G503.     Never did that again.  Now I just give them your email.

[athawk11]

In 2014, my focus switched to another 3A project, but there were some things I did with this one.

It had a pretty good leak from the rear main seal.  I had a hard time accepting that a Willys Jeep inherently leaks.  I replaced the seal 4 times with both the rubber version and the rope version.  All attempts were failures with this engine.  I bought a lot of oil pan gaskets that year.  None of my attempts were successful.  It just seemed to get worse with every try.

The weirdest event from 2014 came in one of the most unlikely ways.  Just before the 2014 Fall Colors Tour, I was prepping the 3A for the trip.  Quite suddenly, the engine developed a knock.  I didn't want to cancel my trip, so I scrambled into action.  Day after day for a week, I worked toward figuring out what was happening.  I eliminated most simple possibilities, but I couldn't solve the issue.   It didn't knock on the lower side of the engine.  It was up high, so maybe a chunk of piston broke off or something.
 
I finally built up the courage to pull the head.

This is what I found. . .
















A little brass screw.  Where the %$&# did this come from?

This little brass screw was from the throttle plate on my Carter WO.  When you do a rebuild you are supposed to smash the treads on these screws so they don't back out.  I didn't know this.  Mine came loose then got sucked in through the intake and landed in combustion chamber number one.  Every up cycle of the piston would cause the thing to knock.
 
I removed it, cleaned up the top, checked the valve for damage, reset the head and all was back to normal.