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Icon 4×4 Rebuilt 1965 Jeep Wagoneer

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Maury shared this video and article about Robert Wood and Icon 4×4’s rebuild of a 1965 Jeep Wagoneer into a more modern driver: https://www.automobilemag.com/news/icon-1965-kaiser-jeep-wagoneer-reformer/

Also, if anyone has a circa 1965 Wagoneer steering wheel, Robert Wood might be interested buying it. They are looking for one for their Cherokee. Email me at d @ deilers.com (no spaces around the @) for Robert’s contact info.

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Javier’s Restored M-38

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Javier rebuilt this nice looking M-38, thanks it part to finding parts through eWillys and readers comments. During the rebuild, he added a few additional safety features such as Herm’s dual reservoir setup. He notes that M-38 does have a few CJ parts on it as well. The unique frame for the winch was something he and a friend built after testing out different scenarios with cardboard. The winch cover is a nice touch, too. Thanks for sharing Javier!

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1949 Directions For Building Toy Willys Wagon

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, Models This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

On August 04, 1949, the Wolcott Beacon out of Wolcott, Indiana, published directions on how to build a toy Willys Wagon for kids. The length of this toy is about 7″.

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Headlight Bezels Over the Years

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

The other day someone asked me about headlight bezels (or if you prefer, headlight ‘heads’) and how they changed through the years. I did not have a good answer to that reader’s question, so this working thread about bezels is the result. Along the way, I learned that some folks call these parts “heads”, but perhaps that is more military related?

1. 1945-1946 Early Painted Bezels on CJ-2As
Early CJ-2A bezels were painted, not chromed, until approximately #38687, according to the CJ-2A page. As far as my research indicates, only Walcks carries new, unpainted bezels. This is the flatter style of bezel without the tab.

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2. 1946-1953 Later CJ-2As, CJ-3As and 1956-1959 DJ-3As
After roughly CJ-2A #38687 the bezels were chromed, but their shape was the same. They lasted through the end of the CJ-3A production run and into the early DJ-3A production run (1956-1959). These example images are from Kaiser Willys.

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3. 1950-1952 M-38s, 1953-1971 M-38A1s, and M-170s:
I didn’t realize that M-38 and M-38A1 bezels were the same. It’s on the M-38a1 site that I encountered the alternative term “head” for the bezel. Peter Debella has NOS rings.

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4. 1950 USMC CJ-V35 Blackout Lights ‘bezels’
Thanks to Mike Wixom for helping me out with these rare blackout lights.

This type of headlight bezel, or more correctly blackout ring (although not that effective), was used only on Marine Corps Radio Jeeps as far as I know. Specifically on the CJV35/U and possibly on the MZ-2 and MZ-3 Radio Jeeps from Late WW2. They were installed at the factory on all 1000 CJV35/U Jeeps built in May of 1950. These were eventually replaced by the actual blackout lights found on the M-38.

Because these aren’t readily available, someone posted this writeup on how to inexpensively recreate them:

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Here is a different, larger version of a CJ-V35 bezel. Mike believes the ones shown below may have been fabricated and not original, but perhaps the owner can offer input on this.

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A Slat Grille Rebuild

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Kees’ nearly restored Slat Grille MB.

There was some debate on G503 back in 2016 about whether a modified jeep for sale was a slat grille MB or not. After seeing the jeep for sale in October of 2016 on eWillys, Kees took a chance that it was a slat grille and bought it.

He had it shipped to Rotterdam, only to learn it was in worse shape than he’d hoped. What happened next was several years of hard work to bring it back into drivable condition. Here’s his story:

Hi Jeepers,

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In October 2016, I bought a Jeep that I saw for sale on Ewillys. I had hoped it the Slat Grille I had been seeking, but was it really a Slat Grille?? A lot of folks on G503 were not convinced. Nonetheless, I took the risk.

When it arrived in Rotterdam I was shocked. It was in VERY bad shape. The body was covered in a layer of bondo, up to one inch in places. The sidepanels were almost gone. The gas tank was a drum bolted onto the cargo bed and the body was bolted to the frame with pieces of scrapmetal. There was a giant dent in the dashboard and the front of the jeep was a mess, replaced by bubba modifications. No effort had been made to clean the jeep, so it was covered with rust and dirt.

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Did I feel lucky? Not at all. But, it’s not like I could send it back! So, I started forward, one step at a time.

The first thing I did was bring it to our version of the DMV for inspection. The VIN in the title was 11358, but we could not find it on the frame. Fortunately, we did find a body number of 15160. With those two ID numbers the department did some investigation with their American collegues and found out the VIN is 111358. That was great, because they were able to determine that it was an original Slat.

Once that was settled, I sent a lot of detailed photos to an friend who is an expert on Slats. It was from him I learned I had a lot of rare Slat details like axles, body, frame and some engine parts.

The first year was no fun at all. None. Zip. Nada.

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I spent month after month cleaning, sandblasting and torching bondo. Yet, under all that bondo, I found perfectly good, shiny metal in some places.
When the body was clean I brought it to a welding expert, a pensionado who liked to keep busy welding. Thankfully, he was not expensive because it took him many weeks to reshape the complete body. The only replacement he did where the 2 side panels and the fuel tank container. He was able to restore all the other parts. In the meantime I was busy cleaning the frame. Continue reading

 
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Flattening a Mitsubishi Fender

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Gary shared this Instagram post by catskill_mtn_customs that demonstrates how to alter a Mitsubishi fender into a CJ-3B style fender.

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Hudson Steering Modification Pics

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Barry Ogletree has been working on another great project, this time has installed a Hudson Steering system on a Willys frame. I’ve seen several jeeps for sale with this system over the years, but I’d never seen the parts up close. According to Barry:

I have found a unique steering conversion on the chassis of the wooden bodied Willys (Woody) that is worth a look. I have tracked down that it is a Hudson Car box. The beauty is that it sits about perfect in the Willys frame rail. 3 bolts and you are done, and it tucks perfectly against the frame for exhaust/pitman arm clearance. This is the best fit that I have seen in years of this kind of work. Regards Barry Ogletree.

Barry was awesome enough to post a bunch of pics at this location: https://texasflatfenders.smugmug.com/STEERING-BOX-HUDSON/

Below are a handful of pics: hudson-steering-mod-barry01 hudson-steering-mod-barry0 hudson-steering-mod-barry2 hudson-steering-mod-barry3 hudson-steering-mod-barry4

 
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The Swiss Knife of CJ-5s

• CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ5, Unusual • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Back in 2012 I ran across a pic of this CJ-5 on Flickr (1st one shown below). Now, thanks to rob, we have a series of photos of this North Carolina CJ-5, custom built by the owner.  Sure looks handy!

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Paul Finished His Stainless M-100 Trailer

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

As always, Paul’s detailed work has resulted in a work-of-art. Well done Paul!

Paul writes, “The earth has calmed down these last few months so I’ve made good progress on the M100 trailer rebuild. In fact, other than measuring the length necessary for the trailer safety chains and the electrical harness everything else is finished. While I still spent over 300 hours to build the stainless steel box and rebuild everything I planned on reusing it was easier than I’d anticipated. I had no idea I’d need so many 2X4’s but the local Home Depot store was happy to take my money.

This photo shows the jig I made to keep the trailer box in alignment while I fabricated the upper tube reinforcement and rolled the sheet metal before tack welding the edges.”

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The upper tube has been fitted and held in place with strips of plywood and 24 6 inch C clamps.

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I used a plastic hammer to gently form the sheet metal over the curve of the reinforcing tubing. The C clamps were repositioned often to allow hammer access to the 20 feet of 18 gauge stainless sheet metal around the upper edge of the trailer box.

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The tack welds are complete so the 2X4 jig can be removed

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The replacement box is bolted to the original trailer frame and tie down straps hold the frame to the work tables. I had to plan my work around earthquakes.

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Carl Jantz’s Super Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This article, titled SUPER JEEP: A 1942 WILLYS THAT CAN’T BE KILLED, ran a couple years ago on driving line.com, but is still an interesting look at a unique build.

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/super-jeep-a-1942-willys-that-cant-be-killed/

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