Hello all, thanks for the add to the forum. I wanted to post here so you can follow along on my journey to bring a CJ-3B that's been in the family since birth back to life.
A little backstory, when my grandfather passed away in 2024 the family began figuring out what to do with his classic car collection that was housed in a car barn on a family farm we grew up visiting. Among the collection was a 64 Mustang (74,000 original miles) several oldsmobiles, 2 Model As, and this fire Jeep. My grandfather had a thing for baby blue cars, not a sought after collector color, but this bright red Jeep stood out among the rest. He collected a lot of things, unfortunately most of the cars sat unused for years and not really being enjoyed. I plan to change that with this jeep.
Growing up some of the only memories of our visits to the farm were riding around the pastures in this CJ-3B dangerously with too many of my cousins in the back. When the cars started being sold, I started prying at my dad to keep the Jeep. No one else in the family seemed to have any use for it, but it did seem to have some value money wise and some sentimental value to me. They finally landed on splitting the 2 Model As and this Jeep among my dad, Aunt, and Uncle. My dad tried to get it titled and with his lack of patience said if I could get it tagged and titled, my brother and I could keep it. He had several offers on it before I could pick it up so I wanted to get it as quickly as I could. I'm happy to say it's now parked at my house.
I've learned a lot about it already since picking it up in December 2025. The Jeep was originally purchased by my great grandfather in July of 1954 and the original invoice was stapled to the original owner's manual. I took the invoice off carefully and framed it to hopefully preserve it. From what I know, the Jeep stayed on the farm most of its life. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the PTO. It has the original engine and transmission and most all of it seems to be original. I believe it was army green when he purchased it and then painted an off green color at some point by my dad's cousins. You can see the turquoise green color on the wheels in some of the photos. At some point my grandfather decided he wanted to make it a replica "fire" jeep and painted it the red it is today. He added a working light and siren to the front that will get the neighbor's attention. It still runs and drive and seems fairly mechanically sound, the odometer reads just over 5,600 miles which is amazing for the age.
I'll try to keep posting on the updates I make but here are some of the things I've already done and plan to do. I would like to keep it as close to stock as possible and as I remove things I have kept them to the side.
Project so far:
- Wire cleanup and rewiring.
When I got the Jeep none of the lights worked so this was the biggest task. I replaced the headlight switch and tracked down every wire to see what needed to be replaced. The cloth wrapped original wiring was mostly in tact, but I replaced and recovered some of the wires as I went, eventually re wrapping the main wiring harness under the hood in heat tape. The brake wires from the master cylinder to the rear were cut at some point so I ran all new wires there. The only wiring issue I believe I have now is the aftermarket heater under the dash on the passenger side doesn't seem to have power, but I'm not too concerned about it at this time.
- New steering wheel and gear shift knob.
The original steering wheel was cracked in the center and frayed on the edges. My dad said it was that way as long as he could remember. I replaced it with a 15" steering wheel from Kaiser Willys to give a little more room when sitting in the seat. It seems to work okay for turning despite not having power steering. The shift knob was also cracked and would come lose while shifting which isn't ideal. It is non-threaded so I found a kit from Speed Dawg shift knobs to adapt a new knob too. Although it seems to be having issues so I may need to go back to a push on. We will see how the JB weld holds up. The adapter I bought allows the knob to be threaded on and off.
- New side view mirror.
- New hood rests.
- Added foam weather stripping below the windsheld.
- Added a passenger side brake light.
- New hood latches.
When the jeep was painted red they were completely painted over and I wanted the black color contrast.
- New horn button and horn wiring. The horn did not function and the wires were in rough shape. I ran new wiring and the horn works, although I'm not sure it's getting anyone's attention. I may replace this down the road but seeing as the top speed is maybe 45 mph safely, I may be the one getting honked at. The horn button is mounted to the side of the steering column. I wanted to relocate it to the center of the steering wheel but that seemed more involved than I cared to do. I was able to find an older style horn button on ebay that was almost identical to what was on there.
Future Upgrades/Items to Address:
- I am getting ready to change all of the fluids. Engine oil, transfer case, gear box, front and rear axles.
- Spark plugs.
- I have a spare tire mount to mount the spare to the rear quarter panel.
- New tires and refinish factory wheels. I am doing some heavy research on what to do here as I don't have experience with tires with tubes. Any help is appreciated. I believe I am going to go with the Deestone D503s. Sticking with tubes and the OE 15" wheels.
- Roll bar and KC Headlights. This is a down the line item but I have removed the bikini top you may see in the photos both to make it easier to work on and I like the look. I still feel like the rear needs something to it though.
- Eventually I would like to have it repainted a cherry red, but this is not in the cards at the moment.
- The passenger side seat is sitting on a block of wood to level it out. I would like to find something more permanent and possibly get the seats recovered/cushioned. Maybe add a rear seat.
- Bedliner in the floorboard to cover up some scratches and give it a cleaner look.
I'm sure I will have some questions as I work through some things and have more fun with this little beast. This is my first experience driving a 3-speed so that's a learning curve in it's own but I'm getting the hang of it. I grew up riding motorcycles so the concept of a clutch comes naturally to me, just using different body parts. I consider myself a decent shade tree mechanic and do most of the work on our modern vehicles. I've gained a workable collection of tools in the garage and I enjoy taking things apart and seeing how they go back together, often with some trial and error. These CJs are fairly easy to work on so that helps.
I've included some photos below. Thanks for reading my story and feel free to leave any tips you may have!
Thanks!
Nick
