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Reader’s Builds — Jeff’s Jewel’s Flat Fender

• CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-3A, stainless/jewels This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

After seeing all the interest in stainless on the website, Jeff has kindly provided us with a couple of looks at his all Jewels Flattie.  It’s not just the stainless that makes this look nice, but also the accents, such as the execution of the rear bumper design. With a full cage on the inside and a winch, this jeep is quite capable of playing in the sand, the trail or wherever he wants to take it.

Jeff notes below:

“This is my Semi stainless / galvanized jewels body kit mounted on a 1952 cj3a chassis. Currently powered by a chev 153 4cyl. I also own another complete kit that I have been collecting for the last 15 years. It appears there is a lot of interest in these stainless jeeps these days.”

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22 Comments on “Reader’s Builds — Jeff’s Jewel’s Flat Fender

  1. Oside Dave

    Nice ride. This is exactly the styling of Willys I like and would like to buy. Building a early Bronco now.

  2. Billy

    Dont look wright with the stainless hood .too much for me also i agree it needs a bad ass v8 to complete jeep.

  3. mmdeilers Post author

    I was 16 when my dad swapped the v-8 in his CJ-5 for a ford pinto motor. At the time, there was a trend towards using and buiding 4 cyl racing motors as well. I remember a number of people who had modified their 4cyls to see what they could get out of them. One of the most successful 4cyls I ever saw was in Rapid Transit (which I thought I had profiled, but I guess I haven’t .. yet), which had an aluminum 4cyl that made it one of fastest drag jeeps out there.

    But me, I was left with a stock pinto engine that I drove to school everyday. However, it didn’t take me long to start appreciating the engine. A) it always started B) easier to maintain C) way better on gas and D) was way more dependable on the trails and plenty powerful enough. No, it didn’t go as fast as the V-8, but in the end the trade offs were worth it on a vehicle I drove everyday.

    In fact, if I had the machine shop resources, I would have put a modified 4cyl into my jeep (instead I went with a v-6), because I love how different the sound is. If you ever heard Rapid Transit wind it’s engine prior to leaving the drag race starting line, you never forgot it. Also, with the 4 cyl, you end up with more room in the engine compartment and the chances are less that you’ll have to cut the fenders, which is an especially nice thing if you have purchased stainless fenders.

    – Dave

  4. Brian

    I like to think balance,
    My 85 Cj7 weighs in at approximately 3400 lb. and with the 115 hp AMC I6 that’s 1hp to 29.56lb. The stock horse power ratio for my 58 3b is 74hp to 2132 that’s 1hp to 28.81 lb. This seams to be a fairly common stock ratio for two jeeps I own.
    A stock 58 Cj3b weighs approximately 2132 my engine swap to a 200hp 92 Vortec v6 is approximately the same as the I4 that came with the jeep. That said my weight to horse power is 1hp to 10.66lb (a little less because I have added to the frame)
    Going to a V8 with frame modifications and the heaver engine I would think you would increase the weight of the jeep to 2500lb. That being said a 350hp v8 in a 2500lb jeep is 1hp to 7.14lb
    This is where the rubber hits the road. At what point will the v8 float the jeep in any part of the torque curve? With problems of heat, drive lines and axles is extra increase of 1lb to 3.52hp worth it? At what point will the short wheel base of the jeep ~vs~ horse power and control decrease the use of the extra horse power of the engine? At 1hp to 10.66 (call me a pussy) I know I will be wearing a diaper…..

  5. deilers

    Brian, I gotta say that I love the methodical approach 🙂 .. I’m gonna guess my jeep is likely in the 2500 lb range and the modified v6 I have should kick out roughly 250hp, if it performs at the level that the former engine’s owner says it should do. That would give me roughly a 1hp to 10lb ratio.

    To roughly calculate your engine’s weight, I found this list of engine weights a couple years ago complied by Dave Williams. I don’t know how accurate it is, but it is interesting.

    http://fixrambler.com/engineweightchart.txt

    – Dave

  6. Joe

    Hey Dave you need to put the picture of the silver semi stainless jeep next to this posting that would be a cool picture.Joe

  7. deilers

    Yes, there’s a large number of people with flat fenders located along the Seattle to Portland corridor that know each other through clubs associated with the PNW4WDA (http://www.pnw4wda.org). Also, a number of the people that specialize in the stainless parts know each other well and appear to be good friends (and I’ve found them to be very friendly and helpful with me as well).

    – Dave

  8. Sam Bradford

    It’s nice to see REALLY Jewels stainless on these jeeps! Too much of that crap from the Portland area is floating around. To make it worse, you have idiots trying to pass it off as the real thing. I feel bad for the people who really don’t know any better – they travel all day to get what is advertised as “Jewels” stainless flat fender body parts, pay a premium price and drag home crap.

    On both the Jewels jeep you have listed on the page – if you look close you’ll see similarities that set the Jewels apart from the cheap junk. The design in the hoods, the fender steps, the wider windshield frame arms, the seat kits (it’s not real easy to see, but the look to have the proper seat kits), No shovel or gas tank markings on the body. And I can’t see on the silver jeep, but I’m sure it has five inches of stainless around the tail gate like the black one.

    Would like to see more pictures if possible.

    Nice job boy’s – Thanks for being honest!

  9. mmdeilers Post author

    I appreciate everyone’s comments. I just want to make sure we keep the focus on stainless parts and not on each other.

    I gather that one of the key reasons this subject has drawn so much interest is that many people have not seen jewels stainless next to poorer quality stainless, so don’t know what to look for in terms of differences between the stainless products.

    Thanks

    – Dave

  10. Bob Dean

    Hi sam can you tell us what the difference of the fender steps are? And what about the design on the hoods?what is the proper seat kits? your info would be a great help to me cause i dont know.

  11. deilers

    Randy had brought up some interesting issues regarding the points that are reiterated by Bob. I too would be interested in any information about this.

    Thanks,

    – Dave

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