My CJ3a story and restoration

[mstokes]

This is how it started. My move from WWII vehicles to a Cj3a. This Picture was taken in June of 2009 and I was a couple months in to starting the restoration when this picture was taken. At the time I was not in to taking pictures. Probably because I had a flip phone and was using a coolpics camera to photograph things. So not a hole lot. Smart phones where in their infancy at the time. Heck I’m setting here typing this on an iPad and the auto correct is awesome  ;. Wish I had this machine back then. Makes finding parts and spending money easy . As I find pictures on old hard drives I’ll post them. Well 10 -11 years latter the kids are growing up off and running career is moving along and I can get back to making the old new again. See my introduction for the short story. This CJ was purchased out of the love of saving flat fenders and the history of the Jeep as I was only restoring WWII vehicles at the time and had no intention of owning a CJ. WWII history is my thing. Find it fascinating and vehicles are a tangible connection to it. A friend of mine had to move and was desperate to sell this CJ3a. The last thing I wanted to see was such a nice Jeep sold to someone and turned in to a rock crawler. As I live at the base of the Sierra’s in Northern California and the rubicon trail is in my proverbial back yard. Most local Jeeps get striped, cut and modified around here. So I bought it to preserve it. My plan ended up being to get it running and use it for running around on my days off. My WWII Jeeps are or will be more of parade and show queens. (Secret) so will my CJ with one exception me and this Jeep will go on a lot more dates. Refer to my Wife’s Quote...  I wanted a flatty I could actually use and have some recreational fun in. Then come home and turn some more wrenches. So why not a CJ. Perfect! Shortly after buying it a friend of mine that loves Cj’s was over for a beer and pointed out that the dash hade some extra holes in it that where perfect not drilled by a weekend warrior. Right next to the information plate on the passenger side just to the left of it. Then he looked at the frame and told me that CJ3a’s didn’t have radiator mounts on the front frame cross member in 53. We stripped some paint off the bottom of the tub and found gray original paint. Then he said I think you have a Navy CJ here. Personally I didn’t know they existed as I was only focused on WWII vehicles at the time. I did a little research and the vin lined up with others out there and the indicators where there. Thought to myself, I just cant break away from the military stuff if I try. Here I was thinking I’m venturing in to a new challenge and this special Jeep found me as if it was fait to show up on a military vehicle restorer’s door. So sleeping dogs lay from that point. Well Just in the last month or two my oldest son asked me if we could pull the Jeep in Grandma’s & Grandpa’s shop out and start working on it. That’s where it has lived half restored for the last 10 years. Shocked , I said hell yes lets do this. Computer tech kid wants to get greasy turn some wrenches? Game on!! I was ready and to be honest getting back to all my Jeeps had been on my mind for awhile. So you could say that was the spark the relit the fire. Wife’s quote “ Well there go’s my husband again had him back for 10 years to myself and now I have to share him with his four wheeled girlfriends again. Thanks son!”. Ah well I cant be pined down. Right? ?  . So back at it and loving it. Older and wiser but still learning everyday. Thanks to this site and all the wonderful information I found my Navy registration numbers on the tail gate the other night. Me a razor blade, three or four layers of paint and many hours. 2:30 in the morning was finaly lights out bed time. (Wife pist) yep. But Victory!!! Confirmed! It’s a Navy CJ. Pictures will be posted. My data plate is long since missing but I’ve located a reproduction maker in Europe. Ordered! Imagine the surprise of the previous owner my friend that moved away. I called him after all these years to ask him about the back history of his old jeep. A humble attempt to see if he knew of the where a-bouts of the data plate. That’s another story. Spoiler alert! He was the third owner. No dice. Trail runs cold after that. I do however have some pictures of the progression in the begging stages of restoration from all those years ago and some form the last few months. Ill post them in the next post.

[mstokes]

In the beginning. June 2009

[mstokes]

Ok figured out the multiple picture thing. The kid, my oldest, in the last picture is 18 now. He’s the one that ask to help with restarting and finishing the restoration up. Please kick the tires and point out what you see. I know the windshield is 2a and so are the finders. The engine was a Willys MB and is now a CJ. I swapped them out. Not sure of the CJ engines year. I put a supersonic head I had on it because I thought it was neat. You know supersonic the 50’s and the jet age. I still have the original head for the CJ engine. The hood was one of the first things I tackled weeks before these pictures. No rime or reason.

[mstokes]

More. I think the rims are M38.

[mstokes]

A few more of the current state of restoration.

[Bob W]

Very nice!

[mstokes]

From a few weeks ago. Found this starter and 12volt generator in the shed with all the old jeep parts I’ve acquired over the years. Glad I saved all those parts. It’s really cool digging through the archive and remembering all the other restorations. Finding it to be a treasure trove now! The Delco generator didn’t end up working out. The mounting lobes are to short and the body of the generator was resting on the front engine plate. Besides, we had to really modify the mounting to get it to line up with the other pulleys. I wasn’t happy with it.  I’ll go do more digging in the shed. There was a few more generators in there.

[mstokes]

The next generator I found needing a home was this Autolite 12 volt as well. It needed a full rebuild however it was working fine when I found it. My kid was amazed theses old parts still worked all crusty and rusty. I showed him how to check old generators and starters before restoring them. Need to know its a viable candidate first. I know theses parts may not be correct for the jeep but they will get it back on the road and their all I have currently. It helps keep the cost down and its fun bring them back to life. This generator fit perfect and lined up great. I plane to acquire the correct components over time as they come along. Then find the proper vehicle’s theses fit and move them along helping someone els complete there restoration of what ever it my be. If anyone has extra correct 3A parts feel free to contact me. Condition doesn’t scare me.

[mstokes]

Next came tackling the drive lines. The wire wheel ended up being no match for the drive lines. I had to blast them before painting. Can you see what’s going on here? Using my time stuck at home to get all the parts done ahead of time so I can do a mass assembly. That’s the pay off. That’s the fun part for me. Seeing it all come together. 

[mstokes]

So I mentioned in my OP that I found my Navy registration numbers on the tailgate the other night. In between the generator and drive lines I was researching the forums on Navy Jeeps and came across some really interesting reading. One post was finding registration numbers on the tail gate. So I figured it’s worth a shot. I missed my shot on the hood because I was ignorant at the time to the fact that it also was marked but back 10 years ago I wasn’t looking for them or for that matter cared. This was my CJ after all. Bad on me. I wire wiped the hood with out regard for history. Your probably thinking (and this guy restored WWII vehicle’s) Ya that’s a no brainer before restoring WWII stuff. Gather pertinent historical information and research. Number one thing. I should have known better. You live and you learn what more can I say. Sorry it wouldn’t photograph well so look close. My current dilemma at this point is do I get a replacement tail gate and hang this one on the wall for show and preservation or blast it, restore it and run it. I will be restoring the jeep back to a Navy CJ3a. Proper color and markings. The registration numbers turned out to be 9402441. “US” was under the Willys logo to the left and “NAVY” was to the right separated by the strength pressing. With the registration numbers under them centered. Here you go the tail gate pictures.

[Squishymonster]

Hey, my 53 cj3a project is a navy jeep as well. Check out some of the hood and tailgate numbers in the project "crunchy roll" thread.

I have not looked the numbers up yet. I'd love to figure out what base the Jeep was commissioned to.

I'm wanting to keep the vinyl numbers and I'm trying to decide on a tasteful way to do it. I've considered masking off the original numbers and painting around them, leaving the current numbers in their patina state. I'm not quite sure yet.

I'm doing a restomod I guess. But I'm interested in keeping everything able to be fully restored to original at some point. Ie, dont do anything that cant be undone.

[mstokes]

Hi! Thanks for chiming in. Yes I’ve been following your posts on your jeep. I’m very envious of your jeep and restoration. I wish I still had my Navy data plate like you. I ordered a couple from a reproduction manufacturer in Poland. Couple months till they get here but no worries I’ve used him in the past for data plates on other restorations. Top quality and exact to a “T” even the relief of the pressing.  I also ordered Bob’s book last week for more information about our 3a’s. If you find away to use your registration numbers to get some history on your jeep please share! I’ve tried that with the WWII stuff and hit dead ends. Probably due to the time that has past. Might be different for the 50’s era stuff. My numbers on my tail gate are painted on witch actually helped in their recovery. The past owners paint didn’t stick well to them. I suspect that my jeep came from one of the Navy stations in the Bay Area of California. All those bases down there Navy and Army are responsible for a wealth of historic jeeps and equipment in my area. Most of the big farmers in my area would by jeeps and other vehicles at the auctions they regularly had for use on the farms. They where cheep for them. There are two WWII half tracks 2 miles from me in a barn still sitting and rotting away. The farmer wont sell them. Guessed they used them in the orchards back then. They have flat beds on them currently the way they sit. That’s the same farmer I got my 1941 MB slat grill from. Tomorrow is a big day for me. The kid and I are firing off the engine for the first time. Then back to the body work. Keep in touch and I’ll be following your progress. If I come across parts or information I’ll send you a PM.

[mstokes]

Didn’t get to fire off the engine today but still made progress. Cleaned up the shop in prep for bringing the tub back from storage. Can’t wait to see the tub next to the frame after all this time. Tomorrow should be a good day. With any luck I’ll get it fired up for the first time. Always a nerve racking moment. Something I did take notice of today was my rear crossmember. I replace it years ago when restoring the frame. #1. The method I used to retain the factory look as far as the rivets are concerned. #2 the holes that are now missing. So for the rivets I ground the heads off leavening the back side of the original rivet in place in the frame. Instead of knocking them out I pried the old crossmember away from them leaving a nub the thickness of the old crossmember existing. Then when reinstalling the new crossmember I spread it slightly over the nubs witch filled the holes in the mounting locations on the new crossmember and it kinda snapped in to place. From that point I welded washers over the old locations of the original rivets ground the welds down with a #60 flap disk and boom! Looks pretty close to factory. Probably not the first guy to figure this out but i thought i would share it. Might help someone down the road. Maybe I’ll go check the tech section to see if its been posted before. Might be more appropriate. #2 the missing holes. Since my Jeep spent some time in the Navy it had bumperetts. I didn’t know this until recently and it just dawned on me when starring at the project today in deep thought about my next move. Guess i have some drilling to do. Got to put those holes back. I can see them in some old pictures before the swap. Good news is i have a few bumperetts extra laying around here somewhere. Here’s some pictures for your viewing.

[mstokes]

Well the next day was uneventful, finished hooking up all the pertinent infrastructure to fire off the engine for the first time and what do you know? No spark to the plugs. Suspect the distributor rebuild quality. I rebuilt the dizy myself way back when. So put her away for the night. It was late by the time we actually got to fire it off. Went to work for the last few days and when I got off work straight back to the shop to figure it out. Got the good old test light out and started looking for a short at the distributor. Nope all good. No grounding out. Baffled put the cap back on and gave it turn over and BOOM! Fired up and idled beautiful. Timing a little off on the negative side. Fixed with a 1/8th inch turn. Ghosts I tell you! The only thing i did differently was add a ground wire to the body of the ignition switch. So good to go . I do have a knock and yes its a clear knock.  . Very loud in the bell housing. Fingers crossed I screwed something up installing the clutch. I’ll be pulling the clutch tomorrow and then run it with out the clutch to hear what I hear at that point. Yes I shut it off quickly but fired it up a couple more times for 60 seconds or so to try to diagnose. If it turns out to be a rod bearing issue or something major I'll move to sourcing a actual 3A engine to have rebuilt and have my current engine rebuilt latter. When I say have done I use a local machine shop to do my short blocks. Fascinating trade and disappearing skill set. True artist of their craft. Wish they would let me spend a few weeks helping in their shop. Oh what I could learn. The old man repeatedly told me “Knowledge is power kid”. True statement. Who knew?  Wonder if my indestructible, knows more  than me kid feels the same when I’m talking? So you might be thinking, ok so he has a local machine shop do his engines for him then why is it knocking. Full disclosure, I didn’t with this engine. This is for myself so I cleaned it, Valve job, resealed it and rebuilt the bolt on’s. Simple overhaul. Was running great when pulled (eye witness to it). Like I said it sounds like it’s coming from the clutch. Let’s hope. The positive. We moved to the body in the meantime and started marking the repairs needed and met with the media blaster to set up the blasting. I decided to use my original tailgate instead of save it for the wall in the shop. It’s been with the jeep all this time so it will continue to be. I'll put all the numbers back on just the way I documented them. Keep on rolling. Here’s the pictures from today.

[mstokes]

Well the pulling of the transmission went well. Pretty simple without the tub on. Got to the clutch and inspected it for any signs of abnormal wear marks. Nope all good. Reinstalled the transmission assembly and fired it up. No more knock. Sounds like a sowing machine as it should. I can’t explained it other than maybe it needed time to circulate oil to all parts of the engine. It has sat for the last decade. I did manage to forget the reinstall my clutch cable and my clutch fork got chewed up when it fell in to the spinning clutch. Got wear marks now. All over the inside of the bell housing. Beautiful paint job in there DESTROYED!!! Wow!!! What a show of sparks . So ill be ordering a new clutch fork and pulling the trans assembly to repaint inside the bell housing. Wife says no one is going to see it leave it. Get over it. Can’t do it. It will drive me nuts. Never a dull moment in my shop. Good news is I’m on to the body work. Probably be a couple weeks now till I have anymore progress updates for the group. Take care and send me your comments. Constructive criticism is well received and will save me time and money.