Old Willys Jeep history

[newjoekaz]

My son and I are restoring a '46 Willys, it has taken us 3 years so far.
It is dang near done, we've driven it around the 'hood, and 3 years and 10 grand is a little more fun to us than one of them 100 mile an hour side by sides seen everywhere off road in Michigan.
We threw away the old tub, well, recycled it. I got $7.43 for it at the local recycle yard. All the rebar in it added up LOL. Ya, it was one of those kinds of Willys. An old guy had it up in Alpena and just kept fixing it with whatever he had. The front frame behind the spring mounts had a lot of steel plates welded in to patch the rust. We got new front frame rails and welded them on after we cut the carcass off, then squared the frame back up with ratchet straps.
The springs were all different stacks of leaves, se those were a Christmas present one of the years, but both axles, transmission, transfer case and engine were all fine, so we swapped all that back on the frame.
Then a tub kit from Willys-Overland - they bring it to the USA and fix all the stuff MD Juan doesn't do quite right. The tub dropped on the frame with no hassles - they made all the holes line up perfectly, which hadda be a pain in the ass, because they moved some of the mounts over a half an inch from the original holes made in the Phillipines.
Then a buddy painted the whole thing grey and we re assembled it this year and then did the final assembly over the summer. That was a nickel and dime affair. All the little things need to be addressed - wires, switches, guages, nuts, bolts, brackets, you name it, it went on for a couple months.
3 sets of windshield panels (it is a split windshield) and we still ain't got that part right.....
We did get er together and driving, once we get the front end aligned, we're gonna take it to TIn Cup Trails, then Drummond Island and the Bleesing of the Jeeps next May.
We've done a lot of research, but I found this article just today and thought I'd put it up to Oppo for a little light reading.
http://www.jeepcollection.com/portfolio/1946-willys-cj-2a/

[newjoekaz]

shoot that was disorganized as all get out. Sorry bout that. I lernt tho.

[trivet]

@newjoekaz said in Old Willys Jeep history:

My son and I are restoring a '46 Willys

With that simple statement, you instantly had my interest. And respect.

[Bandit]

@newjoekaz I really like the glossy battleship grey, makes it look like it could be an old Navy jeep. Great job on the project so far!

[JeepOfTheseus]

@newjoekaz parent-child restorations are the best. Ours was a CJ5 that my dad still has. Awesome work!

[Just Jeepin']

@newjoekaz That’s awesome!

Enjoy Drummond: twice I’ve been registered for the summer Jeep Jamboree there, and twice I had to cancel, including the time I was going to take my dad there for a Fathers Day weekend. Damned front differential.

Where in Michigan are you? I really want to get up there someday when my LJ is healthy again.

[newjoekaz]

I just noticed the picture of the driver (Pepper) is a screen grab from when we went to Leinenkugel's for the tour.. "Chippewa Falls" - and his wife sent us a pic of the pupper driving...

[newjoekaz]

@just-jeepin Currently living in Grand Rapids, taking our time moving to Bear Lake in the cabin we all built. Mesick is 2o miles away so we do the Blessing every year there.
Here's the other 2 Jeeps in the family, but we've caressed about 10 of them so far. By Caressed, I mean the same thing we did to the Willys. a '65 CJ, a 99 TJ, a 97 TJ, a 87 CJ, this '46 CJ, my '12 JK, a '94 YJ, an '06 TJ amd a '98 TJ. I LOVE them '98-'04 TJ's...
and I got Super Ducked this summer..

[Vondon302]

@newjoekaz Too cool. Love the grey.
One of these days I'll get to Drummond island.

[newjoekaz]

@vondon302 you will not regret it. and you won't be younger when you wake up tomorrow...

[Shop-Teacher]

@newjoekaz This is all kinds of awesome!

[Tripper]

@newjoekaz Super cool! Adorable dog also.

[newjoekaz]

@tripper woof!

[newjoekaz]

@shop-teacher Innit tho? I wish I'da found it 3 years ago

[john norris]

@newjoekaz

So congrats on all the great work.

I read this post this morning and watching TV this evening I saw a commercial with a cute dog picture. It made me think of this post. I have to say I think that is the cutest dog picture I've ever seen.

[newjoekaz]

@john-norris haha thanks. My daughter in law took it one day when we were assembling Willys things. She has an eye for those things. Well, she must, she married my son!

[Old Busted Hotness]

This is the best kind of Jeep build. I don't see any 24" wheels or angry grille, and that's just fine. Should be a blast when it's done. Also, upvote for pupper.