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Welcome to eWillys.com, a website for vintage jeep enthusiasts. I update this website nearly every day with jeep deals, jeep history, interesting reader projects, jeep related info, and more.
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Importantly, the allure of buying a project jeep can be romantic. The reality of restoring a jeep can be quite different, expensive and overwhelming without the right tools and resources. So, tread carefully when purchasing a "project". If you have any concerns about buying a vintage jeep, or run across a scam, feel free to contact me for help, comments or concerns .
Rahadian Dhian of Badung, Indonesia, shared on Facebook this custom jeep made from a GPW and a 1950’s Truck. The top really finishes it off nicely.
This article in the Chanhassen Villager, out of Minnesota, highlights Steve Knigge’s rebuild of a 1947 CJ-2A.
Paul ceremonially rolled Knardly Rolls out of the garage on Monday.
Knardly Rolls seen peeking out of the garage, wondering if it’s safe.
He writes, “Today (May 7th) I opened the garage door and then removed two of the four insulated panels positioned against the outer surface of the garage door so there would be enough room to move the little Willys from the dark garage and into the May sunshine. I quickly learned I need sun glasses. Most of the body has a brushed pattern on the stainless steel but even brushed stainless is rather reflective when the sun is shining. I’m real glad I didn’t polish the body, that would have been blinding on a sunny day.
The little Willys has been moved into the connex where I’ll fuel it up, check for leaks and see if the engine will start. Once the engine runs well I’ll support the Willys with jack stands and begin testing the operation of the transmission and axles.
However, before I begin any ground running I’m going to repaint the interior of the garage. The last time I painted the garage was 30 years ago so new paint is long overdue.
Anyway, here’s a photo of the little Willys escaping from the garage. It was a whole different perspective for me since the small garage only allowed me close up views but once it was outdoors I was able to back away and get a view of the entire Jeep. Quite different from what I’m used to.
I’m still having a hard time believing the little Willys is finally done but seeing it outdoors makes it seem more real.”
Matt shared a feature story about his rebuild of a 1952 CJ-3A. Looks great!
http://blog.kaiserwillys.com/the-restoration-of-ruby-the-1952-willys-cj-3a
Well, he did it. A big CONGRATULATIONS TO ALASKA Paul. He installed the final part onto his stainless 1952 M-38 Knardly Rolls on May 2nd, 2018. I, for one, look forward to hearing about the inaugural run!
From: 
To this 32 years and 5 months later: 
Here’s what Paul wrote,
“Somehow, despite my best efforts, I finally managed to complete the never ending rebuild of the little stainless steel Willys. The last part (the rear driveshaft) was bolted to the axle at 12:30 pm today, May 2nd 2018 ending a multi decade effort that began when I dropped the engine off at the rebuilders on December 2nd 1985. Over the years I’ve used the date the stainless steel body was ordered as the project start date but that happened over a month after the engine went to the rebuilders.
From the starting date to the completion date this project took 32 years and 5 months of time. I realize I’m slow but I never expected I’d take over three decades to rebuild one Willys Jeep …… it’s good I don’t do this for a living. I’m glad I finished it while I’m still flexible enough to climb into the driver’s seat, the Goddess suggested I make a stainless steel walker because I might need one before I finished the little Willys. She’s helpful that way.
The backyard is quite soggy so I’ll have to wait a week or so before I can reposition the Willys from the garage to the connex for leak checks and static runs. If things go well I hope to be cruising thru the neighborhood by late May.
Naturally, the garage must be filled with a project before winter so this fall I’ll move the remains of the 1951 M100 trailer inside where I’ll begin to fabricate a stainless steel box on the original frame.
Other than that the Goddess and I are having fun under the midnight sun here in the northland. By mid May the trees should have leaves, the night time temperature should stay above freezing and we shouldn’t have anymore snowfall until late September.”
Danny recently finished the restoration of his jeep (MB?). It only took him two years (“that’s 2 years of hard graft,” he wrote). A recent, unusual storm, in the United Kingdom gave him a chance to snow-test it. Looks like he had fun!
Before:
After:
Nate’s at it again. He got to thinking about upgrading his steering on Ted, his CJ-3A. One thing led to another and soon he was developing a fairly non-invasive (no saginaw-like alterations) way of improving his steering. He’s spent the past month and a half writing it up on the earlyCJ-5 page.
http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/teds-steering-upgrade-with-a-twist.128518/
Here are a few pics.
Maury share how he tackled making his new-style battery look old school. you can follow the thread at earlyCJ5.com.
http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/new-battery-topper.128802/
Paul shared a couple of other recent milestones on his Willys journey.
1. The Throttle Spring:
After hooking up the throttle linkage to the carb (a cable system) I realized not only was I missing a throttle return spring but I was also missing a throttle return spring attach point. A trip to the local auto parts store provided me with a selection of different throttle return springs but I was on my own when it came to the spring attach point. More poster paper was sacrificed to make three patterns before I came up with a return spring attach bracket I liked and that would fit without getting in the way of the distributer cap. I made the return spring attach bracket from stainless steel and incorporated a fastener to allow a coil wire clamp to be bolted to the bracket.
Here’s the cable throttle linkage, the throttle return spring, the return spring attach bracket and the clamp for the coil wires. The red on the return spring is dried blood …. I managed to poke myself quite a few times while attempting to curl the spring ends to match the attach brackets and those springs are sharp. Oh well, some folks pay people to poke them with needles and call it acupuncture. All I have to do is go out to the garage and work on the little Willys, there’s always some sharp edged stainless part waiting to cut me before I even realize it. That metal can be mean sometimes.
2. The Front Drive Shaft:
The position of the V6 engine made the original front driveshaft too long and the rear driveshaft too short but right now I’m concentrating on the front driveshaft only. I bead blasted the front driveshaft, took the necessary measurements between the transfer case outlet and the front axle attach point and it was time to visit with the local driveshaft guys. After cutting the driveshaft to the correct length it was welded back together, new universal joints installed and then balanced before returning to me. I removed the new u joints, did a quick bead blast cleanup (after removing all traces of the really sticky grease on the splines) and dropped it off to have it powder coated.
The next day the driveshaft was ready to come home so I could reinstall the new universal joints and then bolt this thing on the little Willys. The last time this driveshaft was installed on the little Willys was when it did it’s major meltdown in October of 1985. Wow, I’ve been waiting over 32 years to reinstall this driveshaft. It doesn’t seem it’s been that long but the color (or lack of it) or my hair tells me more than a few decades have gone by. I remember when I was still in my 30’s my hair was brown, not Arctic Blonde (White) like it is now.
Oh well, as much as I tried to take my time installing the driveshaft the four u bolts were quickly tightened and torqued and it was time to find the next to do item on the little Willys.
The front driveshaft is installed on the little Willys for the first time in over 32 years. WOW!
Paul shared this update on some custom heat shields for Knardly Rolls.
Paul writes, “The exhaust manifold is closer to the steering linkage than I’d originally intended but there isn’t any easy way to increase the distance between these two systems so I decided the best solution to this problem was to make some stainless steel heat shields that would bolt to the fender and fit between the exhaust manifold and the steering linkage.
First I quickly made a test shield from some leftover poster board so I could check how this paper part would fit before I cut any stainless sheet. Once I had the shape of the heat shield figured out I made a test piece from thin gauge aluminum.”
“First I made a test heat shield from poster board to check for the correct shape. Once I was satisfied with the shape of the heat shield I made one from thin aluminum to double check any clearance issues. After the aluminum shield was modified I made a third shield from thin stainless sheet but I saw a need to fit the fourth and final heat shield a little closer to the manifold and also use a thicker gauge of stainless to prevent unwanted flexing during use. Once the fourth shield was fitted I drilled the attach holes and bolted the shield to the front fender.”
“Here’s the final heat shield temporarily attached to the front fender using Clecos so I could drill the fender and the heat shield at the same time.”
“As you can see, the double U joint between the lower end of the steering column and the first steering shaft is still exposed to heat from the exhaust manifold so another heat shield was necessary. This smaller heat shield will be attached to the steering column by adel clamps so it’s easily removed for maintenance. The two adel clamps are bolted to the column with enough threads exposed on the fasteners to attach the aft end of the second heat shield while the forward end of the second shield attaches to the aft end of the first heat shield where the two empty holes can be seen. If you read that last sentence fast it sounds like a square dance call.”
“Here’s the paper pattern and the finished stainless steel second heat shield ready for installation.”
“With the second heat shield installed I think most of the exhaust manifold heat will be deflected away from the steering linkage thus preventing damage to the U joints and shafts.”
“An underside view shows the clearance between the steering linkage and the heat shields”
Today’s the last day of the year, so let’s go out in style with Alaska Paul’s placard progress. Paul understands that his one-of-a-kind electrically and mechanically designed jeep will require information assistance just in case any of us lesser mortals attempt to drive it. So, he spend some time over the holidays playing with placards.
Paul writes, “It’s been a while, so I figured I’d send some Willys progress photos your way. This photo is of the fuel valves between the front seats with an engraved placard sitting on the metal cover. A local sign shop (Alaska Laminated Signs) made up some test placards so I could see how different colors would look with the stainless, gray and blue interior of the Willys. While this placard has all the necessary information and the correct shape to fit the metal cover plate I wasn’t too happy with the black background and the white lettering. I wanted something with more visual appeal so Dave (the sign shop owner) duplicated this placard using a brushed aluminum outer layer over a black base.(see next pic)”
“This aluminum/black combination looks good by itself but I didn’t feel it looked good when it was placed next to the stainless steel parts so Dave made a third placard using a dark blue upper layer and a white base (see next pic).”
“Now this is what I was looking for. While the blue on the placard isn’t a perfect match to the blue on the seats they’re close enough so they look good together and the contrast between the white letters and the blue background makes it bright and easy to see. Now that we had a color selected I gave Dave my metal full size patterns for the five placards needed for the little Willys and he began the cutting and engraving process.”
“Here’s the finished product. From left to right we have the overhead switch placard, the circuit breaker placard and below that is the fuel tank selector placard and the final two placards are for the 12 Bosch relays (two rows of six each) in the electrical bay just aft of the passenger seat.
The placards fit perfectly which made installing them a fast and simple task.”
“The electrical bay with the placards installed. It’s hard to see but just below the row of number 1 thru 6 relays is another row of 7 thru 12 relays but not all are in use right now. I wired in some extra relays and extra circuit breakers incase someone wanted to install additional electrical equipment in the future.” Continue reading
Patterson looks ready for the big tow to Eastern Washington.
Claiming that Sunday was “Tow Hell” day might be a slight exaggeration, but I wouldn’t call it a winning day either. Let’s recap the last couple days as I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to photograph some of it.
I finally got the jeep running well on Friday after determining there was an air leak in a short piece of hose (let air in, but did not let gas out). I then timed it by ear and feel, rather than diagnostics, and that seemed to do the trick. On Saturday, I built a tow setup that utilized existing holes in the front bumper. I wanted some thing strong, but didn’t want to drill into the bumper.
Once the tow setup was ready, I turned to the exhaust. I’d already had Ann go to a muffler shop to replicate the 1.5″, 7′ section of tailpipe I needed (thankfully I had an original end section leftover from one of the DJs to use as a template). I combined the tail pipe with a Walker muffler I bought off Amazon and some Oreilly’s clamps and assembled the exhaust with relative ease.
I thought we were ready to head for Pasco on Sunday morning.
The early DJ-3As has an exhaust that pretty much was straight. The only bends needed were 1) the bend on the front piece from the manifold down to the cross member, 2) the exhaust piece has to bend over the rear axle, and 3) the exhaust bends to the outside past the gas tank (not pictured). (1955 DJ-3A manual). Good luck finding a shop that had this series of bends in their shop manuals or computer!
For comparison, this is the more likely setup that you’ll find at a muffler shop (if they have anything this old). It’s a more typical setup for 2As, 3As, 3Bs, etc. This doesn’t work for the DJ, because the muffler is positioned where the rear gas tank is installed.
We spent the first part of Sunday morning cleaning up the garage. It was a bit of a mess! Once that was done, we hooked up Patterson and began slowly towing him. We didn’t make it through the first intersection of my parent’s quiet neighborhood before I realized that the jeep wasn’t tracking around the corner. When I turned slowly right, it began to turn slowly left, forcing me to hit the brakes.
What the hell? I’ve towed a number of vehicles and never, ever run into this type of trouble.
We carefully tried a couple more corners and each was the same. The jeep began to turn the opposite way. I’d have to hop out and correct Patterson’s direction. After a trip around the block, we arrived at my parent’s house once more.
Testing the tracking at a very slow pace.
I pulled out my googler, but couldn’t find anyone having a similar problem. I concluded the drag link/ross box was somehow interfering with the jeep from tracking properly. I did read were “Dr. Verne” (aka Verne Simmons) would remove his drag link to tow it, but my custom radiator made that strategy near impossible without disassembly of multiple items. I was just about ready to remove the drag link when I decided, on a lark, to unscrew the control screw(could be the wrong name for this) on the Ross box. My assumption was that this would loosen the Ross mechanism, freeing the drag link to spin the steering wheel more easily.
Me trying to work through the steering problem.
This photo provides a good look at how frayed some of the wire was behind the speedometer. Worse, this wiring was sitting on the metal brace!! in the background is the volt-a-drop which provides stepped down voltage to the King Seeley speedometer).
Electrical Mess:
We’ve been working hard on Patterson the last couple of days. Most of our time has been consumed with checking wiring and rewiring stuff. Between frayed wires and mis-wired stuff, it’s filled our time. Apart from the types of frayed wire seen in the pic above, I discovered 1) the wires to the amp gauge and light were wired into the oil light (fortunately, all I had to do was pop out the light and plug it into the amp light), 2) the amp light was missing altogether (thankfully I could steal one off of Rusty’s speedometer), 3) the ignition jumper that screws to the back of the speedometer was laying on the metal brace (must have caused some shorting), 4) the oil light wire was wired to the fuel gauge (which explains in part why the fuel gauge didn’t work … well that and there was no wire connected to the fuel tank wire.
Dimmer Switch:
No more red paint on this dimmer switch.
The dimmer switch has been lubed, reassembled, de-painted, and installed.
The Horn Wire
Patterson came with a button attached to the side of the steering column that was used as a horn, but it didn’t work. Since we were already changing some of the wiring around, we decided to steal the column shift button wiring from Rusty’s steering column I wired last month and use it on Patterson.
To start, I knew we had to run some non-electric wire (similar to bailing wiring) through the length of the column in order to pull the horn button’s electric wire down the shaft. That sounded like a good idea, but several attempts at pushing the wire up the column were a failure: the wire kept getting snagged as I pushed it up the column. I was getting frustrated.
But then, my genius wife had an idea. Why not blow some thread down the column using an air compressor nozzle. Once the thread came out the bottom, we could pull the bailing-like wire back through. I admit, at first I thought it sounded a little crazy. After all, near the bottom of the column shaft it narrows, so I thought for sure the thread would be stopped by it. But, then I took a breath and thought …. hmmm … what could it hurt to try?
Sure enough, she produced some thread, dropped a little down the column, then stuck the air nozzle into the hole. That thread blew threw the bottom of the column in a couple seconds. It was genius! Well, almost genius, as we had to upgrade our thread to thicker thread. Other than that, we had the column horn working in no time!
This is the thin thread we tried. It didn’t she enough tensile strength to pull up the wire. She just dropped some thread in and the air blew the rest of the thread down through that small hole at the bottom.
Once we shifted to the thicker, black thread it worked perfectly.
Last week when we were in Renton, we tested Patterson’s headlights and discovered the foot-based dimmer switch wasn’t always working correctly. After a little research, I discovered the CJ-3A page had a useful thread on the topic, but naturally the switch demonstrated wasn’t exactly like the DJ-3A switch. The one shown on the CJ-3A page had a square end, while the DJ (and I’m assuming others of the same vintage?) have a rounded end. In fact, It isn’t clear to me which models use which dimmer switches?
Example dimmer switch from the CJ-3A page forum.
So, here’s a look at Patterson’s switch. The first obvious difference is that the housing doesn’t have tabs. Instead, it has crimps and, let me tell you, those crimps wouldn’t bend easily outward.
Using a small screwdriver, I eventually got the crimps straightened. As soon as I tugged at the top part to remove it, everything kind of tumbled onto the table (oops).
On Tuesday afternoon, Patterson sprang to life with it’s new transplant!
We started Tuesday morning working through the wiring. I asked Ann to rewire the low-beam/high-beam floor switch, since much of the fabric had fallen away. That led to rewiring more of the harness than expected, which in turn delayed messing with the engine.
Once I could focus on the engine, the first thing I did was swap distributers, as Patterson’s engine had newer internals (and I knew for sure it worked). When installed, I tried starting the engine a few times, but didn’t have success. So, I rotated the distributor wires 90 degrees. When that didn’t work, I rotated them another 90. When that didn’t work, I rotated them another 90. That’s when I got the engine to fire, but not run. At that point I began rotating it a few degrees, then cranking the engine, then rotating again, so I could get a feel for which position seemed to fire the best. But, after trying this a few times, we still didn’t get it to run.
At that point, Ann suggested we try different spark plugs. I’d forgotten I hadn’t installed the ones that had been on Patterson (still attached to the head). So, we pulled them, checked the gaps, then installed them in the “new” engine. We got it to fire again, but then, mysteriously, it stopped firing no matter where the distributer was located. That was puzzling. About that time, ann noticed some heat at the generator. I suspect the regular got stuck, causing the battery to discharge into the generator, creating heat (at least that’s what I determined later of after doing some reading). So, I pulled the battery cable and let the system cool.
Once it was cool, I rotated the distrbutor back to teh position where it had fired the best, then climbed into Patterson to start the jeep, simultaneously working the choke and gas pedal. Sure enough, Patterson just needed some physical presence in the driver’s seat, because he started right up. At that point, I climbed out and played with the distributor to locate the sweetest sounding spot. (see the video on Facebook … I can’t seem to make it appear on eWillys … it lacks a muffler, so it’s a little noisy).
So, Patterson runs again. But, we discovered the temp gauge and oil gauges are not working, so those will need some attention. Unfortunately, we had to return to Pasco last night, because Ann has a doc appointment Wednesday. I accompanied her back to Pasco, as I have some updating to do to the website and need to organize the sale of some Alaska Or Rust t-shirts. More on that Thursday morning. We plan to be back in Renton early next week. My mother has knee surgery scheduled for the 5th, so we need to be around to help out.
Now, if only it sounded like a jeep. It seems the timing it off, so I’ll be working my way through that Tuesday morning. One fun fact I didn’t know … there’s no top center on an L-head. I wished I’d known that BEFORE I assembled everything. I didn’t check to see whether my flywheel has the flywheel marks.
Anyway, Patterson is all assembled. We only had one oil leak, but that was only because someone forgot to tighten the inlet line at the block. We also had a minor gas leak at the carb, but that was a trivial issue. Some plumbers tape solved that.
So, now I believe it’s down’ to timing. For those looking for a good resource on L-head timing strategies, this thread on the CJ-2A page is helpful: https://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/l134-ignition-timing_topic13819.html. The also may be helpful: http://www.cj-2a.com/techtips/timing/howto/l134-timing.pdf
Here are a few pics from the day:
This rewiring is Ann’s handiwork.
Ann also produced some seat covers that have pockets at the front for things like a phone or wallet.
The grille installed.
The radiator is installed. Just need the driver side fender installed.
A couple things confused me today. In this first example, we have at top the original gasket between the intake manifold and carb. On the bottom is the replacement gasket included in a rebuild kit. As you can see, it won’t work. Is the DJ-3A intake that unique? I know it uses a Carter YF 2392, so that’s unique.
Next up, the ends for the dragline. On the left is the new end and on the right the old one. The new one is taller and has shallower slots for installing it. The old end is shorter and has much deeper slots (those deeper slots are really helpful) . Anyone know why these are so different? Between the longer end and longer springs, I couldn’t put all the parts together around the bell crank arm (and I tried). In the end I was forced to use some old and some new parts.
Note the difference in the spring heights. Try as I might, I could not compress the spring enough to install an end. I changed to the old end.
Once I used some of the old parts, I was able to get the draglink installed.
I also installed the dual master cylinder. The rear brake line connected perfectly. I just had to add one bend. The front brake lines were a big problem. You’d think trying to locate an 3/16-1/4 adapter would be easy, but it turned into multiple trips to the auto store, where I hunted for the right sizes with the right threads. The staffs at two different auto stores were not useful (nice, but not helpful). So, this will work for now, but I’d like to get the proper adapter and remove the connectors and line on the right side. 
Sunday morning we’ll 1) bleed the brakes and then, if all goes well with that, 2) replace the front springs and then 3) drop in the engine.
UPDATE: More DJ-3A carb info here:
On Thursday evening I spent time moving parts from Patterson’s stock, but tired, DJ-3A engine to Rusty’s rebuilt M-38 engine so I could install it in Patterson. One item that caught my attention was Patterson’s DJ gas pedal linkage versus Rusty’s. Patterson’s appeared stock, while Rusty’s had a modified pivot point, probably the result of using the M-38 block. I decided to keep Patterson’s as it was and recreate the part for Rusty’s engine.
DJ-3A gas pedal Linkage: The linkage goes through the firewall to a pivot point on the driver’s side. When the gas pedal is depressed, a rod pushes an angle piece around a pivot, forcing a second rod upwards to a YF 2392S carb, causing the gas flow to increase.
Patterson’s real pivot piece (and it seems I misspelled carburetor in my pic).
This shows the piece after removing the parts. The pivot bolt is solid on the end with a hole for a cotter pin.
Example of what I removed from Rusty (bottom) and the bolt I will use to make a new one (top with new threads extended up it so I can add a bolt). The biggest problem with the custom piece at bottom is that it had no cotter pin. It was only held on by a bolt, which could have easily have come unscrewed as the gas pedal pivot piece moved back and forth.
Continue reading
Patterson has a Harrison Heater, common in the early DJ-3As. Attached at the bottom of the dash is an Ark-Less four position switch (Off, Low, Medium, High) that controls the fan speed. The switch wasn’t delivering current, so I spent the day figuring out how to pull it apart and clean it up in the hopes that the switch could be resurrected.
The switch is held together by a long pin in the center. The switch also rotates on this pin. To remove the pin, the rounded edges on the pin must be drilled/pressed together/or someone modified. I chose to drill out the ends.
Here’s what it looks like to begin (not my switch .. I forgot to take this pic .. thanks to the cj-2a.com page)
Note the small hole. That pin must be pushed out
Now, here’s my switch. It received some paint when Patterson was repainted (I believe the paint was touched up some at some point). Once I drilled out the end of the pin a little, I used the nail to push the pin through.
Here’s the other side of the pin. Now that it is sticking up, I can remove it.
Pin removed. I didn’t put much pressure on the pin when I first pushed it through, so I *think* the pin was already bent somehow.
In case anyone’s curious, this is how Patterson’s vacuum reservoir is setup. Based on what I’ve read, a reservoir was important if running dual wipers. The vacuum begins at the manifold, then winds down under the body.
It winds up underneath to a reservoir tucked in between the frame and the spring for the parking brake.
This is a close up look at the TRICO valve on the reservoir.
This is a not so perfect illustration of how it mounts. Because of the support channels on the floor of the body, the reservoir had to be shimmed down about an inch. The solution was a set of three nuts between the body and the reservoir. Continue reading
I pulled the head on Patterson last night. I don’t see any cracks in the block nor do I see any obvious signs of coolant, though there might be a tiny bit of residue on the tops of pistons 1 and 2. My initial reaction is that coolant is entering the oil elsewhere. The engine does appear to have a recently replaced water pump. Anyway installing that incorrectly would result in mixing coolant and oil??
The first two photos show how the pistons and head gasket looked right after pulling it.
Then after pulling off the gasket and vacuuming up the dirt:
The head gasket:
The bottom of the head:
I made an puzzling discovery about bell cranks the other day. I ordered a rebuild kit for Rusty’s bell crank. When I began assembling it, I discovered the original and new bolts were different. So, I had to use my old bolt (which fortunately was in good shape). Going back online, all the bell crank rebuild kits show the left hand bolt below (anyone need a new bolt .. I don’t). Do any other jeeps use the shorter bolt in their bell cranks?
Both of the DJ-3As have the same setup. The bolts they use lack an indent (used to secure the bolt to the bell crank mount). They are slightly shorter and 1/16th larger in diameter than the replacement crank. The DJ bolt lacks the hole at the end.
Here it is reassembled. The horizontal bolt clamps the unit together, but does not anchor the bolt.
UPDATE II: Add are some instructions (thanks Terry!) for installing DJ-3A seats:
======================
ORIGINAL POST UPDATE MAY 2017: I’ve added a couple pics at the end and included a discussion on the extra channel DJ-3As have.
Last fall, when disassembling Rusty, I thought it was odd that the 2/3 1/3 seats had been mounted on wood blocks. I assumed this had been done by the previous owner to raise the seats.
Yesterday, I discovered that Patterson’s passenger seat was loose. When I examined it more carefully, I learned that it was loose because one of the wood blocks under the seat had broken. I can only conclude that all DJ-3A’s with 2/3 1/3 seats were mounted on wood blocks? Or maybe only the early ones?
The photo below shows the passenger seat tilted forward. The front of it is mounted in a way that allows it to pivot forward. The mounts are bolted through a piece of wood, then through a piece of cloth, through the body, and into a welded bolt. The rear of the seats rests on the two mounts at the back of the well. The long piece of wood is a well-seasoned (at least 45 years old) and stained piece of oak that will work perfect for replacement blocks.
Unlike the passenger seat, the rear of the driver’s seat rests on two posts; slide onto the ends of the posts are rubber feet. Those rubber feat sit on blocks of wood also. 
A close up of the rubber foot. The hole is 1 inch in diameter, so I ought to be able to find rubber feet to replace these tired ones.
This shows how great the floor on this DJ is.
Another angle. Blocks 1, 4, 5, and 6 were the same size. Blocks 2 and 3 were larger and screwed down to the body. The rear 2/3’s seat rested atop those blocks.
I’ve drilled cut and drilled the blocks. They are ready for installation. I plan to add a thin piece of rubber under the blocks. Once I remove the rusted end of one bolt that broke, I’ll be able to reinstall the seats.
If you take a look at wood block #1 and block #6 there’s something curious. While the body area under wood block is similar to a CJ-3A, the body area under #6 has an additional channel (btw, we’ve yet to document any under DJ-3A body channels with wood in them).
This is the passenger side with the extra channel and a welded bolt.
No channel on the driver’s side even though there is a bolt welded there. 
Finally, the DJ-3As used wood blocks between the frame and transmission crossmember.
Another thing I got accomplished recently was the rebuilding of Rusty’s T-96 transmission. It’s been a couple decades since I’ve rebuild a T-90, but I think a person could follow a T-90 side shift guide when rebuilding the T-96 (I didn’t think of this until after I was done — instead I used an old rebuild manual from the late 60’s that has rebuilds of 35 different styles of transmissions). Once again, I thought I had more pics, but I didn’t. So, this isn’t a step-by-step overview.
I took this photo at the beginning of the tear-down to remember which way the speedometer gear should face. The lack of a transfercase is part of what makes this rebuild different from most other jeep transmissions.
Here’s the transmission with the input shaft pulled forward. My first gear and second gears were a bit worn. 
Once I removed all the gears, I discovered the reverse gear had a broken tooth. 
Close up of broken tooth. Thankfully, Charles Tate had sent me a box of T-96 parts that included a reverse gear. I was also able to replace the entire bottom cluster, first gear, and second gear. That saved me some money!
To remove the side shifters, a pin has to be tapped out. I was able to remove the 2/3 gear shifter, but not the first/reverse unit. Since there was no critical reason I could see for removing the first/reverse mechanism, I left it as is and cleaned up the housing.
Normally, I’d paint the housing before assembly. However, with time being an issue and lacking enough warmth on the rebuild day to properly paint it, I will paint it at a later date. 
One other unique thing about the T-96: it requires the use of a special speedometer cable that is also used for Jeepsters and wagons.
Yesterday I assembled Rusty’s column shifter. In my head, I took all kinds of photos. One in particular I took (again in my mind) showed the layout of all the parts prior to assembly. Alas, somehow that photo never made it onto my phone!
The DJ-3A shifter is slightly different from a VEC CJ-2A shifter. I can’t say how much it differs from a Jeepster or wagon column shifter. But, i can say that following these VEC CJ-2A instructions were very helpful.
After laying out the parts (and not taking a photo) I began the assembly process by learning how to install the horn wiring. After looking up how to do it on a 3B (thanks CJ-3B Page!), it turned out to be quite easy.
Step 1) Thread some of my grandfather’s wire through steering shaft.
Step 2) Attach the wire to the horn wire end. In this case, I ran it through wire connector and then bent it so that the wire would not pull back out of the connector. 
Step 3) Pull the wiring carefully through the end of the shaft. 
With the wire installed, next on the list was assembling the shifter. The first step involved installing a washer, a spring, and a second washer onto the column shift tube Next, the interior shift lever must be screwed onto the shift housing. Then, slide the shift housing onto the column shift tube, pushing it far enough up so that a special metal pin can be inserted. Once that is done, you have to weld the end of the tube to the pin to secure it.
