UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $3000
(03/09/2010) This sports a fiberglass body.
“Fiberglass tub, hood and fenders, L-134 4 cylinder, under 1,000 miles on rebuild. 5.38 gear ratio, Atlas overdrive, 8,000lb Warn winch. Updated to 12 volt/new harness”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $3000
(03/09/2010) This sports a fiberglass body.
“Fiberglass tub, hood and fenders, L-134 4 cylinder, under 1,000 miles on rebuild. 5.38 gear ratio, Atlas overdrive, 8,000lb Warn winch. Updated to 12 volt/new harness”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $3900.
This looks pretty nice based on this one pic. The hood looks unusual with the higher than normal ‘scoop’ in the middle.
“1953 Willys Jeep. White withe black interior. Bikini top. Back seat. Rear gas tank. Rear Locker. 5:38 gears. Chevrolet 305 V8. Lots and lots of power. Runs awesome. will throw in small 2500lb winch (not hooked up but works great). 3 speed T90 tranny. Looks alot like a CJ5 but is actually a M38A1 Military Jeep. Clean Idaho title. ”
(Note, while the 252 does exist, as I discuss below, the seller was wrong on several items in another ad, so it’s possible the seller meant this was an original 225 out of a 71 CJ-5)
Dan pointed out this rarish engine. The buick 252 is a 4.1L buick v6 with a longer stroke and larger displacement than it’s kissing cousin, the buick 231.
There was a little debate about whether this was a good engine or not on the OldsPower.com site. I don’t have any experience with this engine. In fact, I didn’t know it existed until recently. I still think I would have went with the 231/e.8L simply because they are easier to find. The 3.8L was rated at 110HP while the 4.1L is rated at 125HP for a 13% increase in horsepower with no increase in weight — maybe I’ll change my mind on this
Novak indicates this was built between 1978 and 1982. On the other hand, Wikipedia & Flatlanderracing.com indicate this was built from 1980-1984. Offroaders.com also mentions the 252.
“I have a good running cj5 252 v6 jeep engine, its in my jeep at the moment and does run and start great, im swaping it for a v8, im asking $475 or best cash offer, also have many other jeep stuff im selling like dana axles t case and radiator. Please call 208-819-6407.”
http://spokane.craigslist.org/pts/1714607889.html
Here’s one for sale in St. Louis for only $100 http://stlouis.craigslist.org/pts/1708872358.html
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2100.
This needs lots of work.
“This is a Willys Jeep project. It has been in the family for a long time and use to be a fun off roading jeep. It has since been stripped down and the ford 289 engine that was in it has been rebuilt.”
UPDATE: Back on eBay
(04/07/2010) These look rough.
“I bought these Jeeps to restore however, lack of money, and other things to worry about, has forced me to sell them. The exact year of these Jeeps are unknown THEY ARE BOTH ORIGINAL FLATFENDERS. the YELLOW Jeeps motor is locked. haven’t done anything to see otherwise, it has an valve cover ( 4cyl ) know as the F-head (has valve cover ). the body of this jeep is gone. however axles, ect. are probably still useable. This would be a good parts vehicle for someone with this type of jeep already. The Red Jeep is a L-head (flathead) condition of motor unknown, I believe this engine is know as a ” Go Devil” engine. “JEEP” AND “WILLYS” ( in the pics) are stamped on top of the motor. transmission shifts and transfercase as well drum brake on the trasmission. Body is in fair and repairable condion considering the age of this vehicle.BOTH frames on these vehicles are SOLID. Yellow jeep has a towbar and can be towed, as it was to my house. The red jeep will need trailering. I believe both these vehicles together are worth well over $800.00 for parts or restoration.”
UPDATE: Price dropped to $3500. **SOLD**
(04/15/2010) This flattie has been modified quite a bit.
“1947 willys m-38 flat fender jeep, 289 ford small block, 4 speed top loader 4 speed trans., dana 44 rear axle with 4.27 gears and mini spool, dana 30 close nuckle front axle open with 4.27 gears and disc brakes, duel electric fans, patronics electric ignition, bucket seats, 6 point cage, 4 point harnesses, and 35” tires. All lights and heater work great! Has full soft top with full soft doors and spare tire carrer. $3500.00 OBO may concider part trade for four stroke dirt bike!”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2000
(04/19/2010) It’s got a rough body, but runs.
“Runs great, 4wd runs good, racing bucket seats, roll bar, bikini top, herculined interior, good toyo tires, fire extinguisher. $2000. OBO.”
Yesterday, I spent some time deciding how Lost Biscuit’s name should appear and where I might put an ewillys logo.
Building the Logo
The simpler of the two items to create was the eWillys logo ‘sticker’. I took an EPS version of the eWillys logo, increased the size in photoshop and then applied it to the jeep. You can see in the first image below, which is entirely a photoshop mockup, that it works pretty well.
However, when I increased the logo further, printed it out, and placed a paper version on the jeep, the logo appears washed out. I think I need to embolden the eWillys name to give it a darker appearance when printed. The actual sticker will be stuck to a thin plate (probably an aluminum plate made from a street sign which i can pick up cheaply at my local metal recycler). That makes attaching the logo, and getting it positioned correctly, easier.
Finally, after staring at it over the last few minutes, I have decided to put some more white space above the logo itself — it feels too crowded at the top. So, I’m going to center the logo a little more within the ellipse.
Creating Lost Biscuit’s name
Creating the Lost Biscuit name was more of a challenge, mostly because I needed to settle on a font. I knew I did not want a pure san-serif font (think arial, helvetica fonts), because I felt that would be too angular and void of personality. I didn’t want too much of a serif font (think Times or Garamond), as that would be too formal.
No, I needed something slightly modern and slightly whimsical, which is how I settled on an italicized Tekton Pro. After experimenting, I also decided to go with all capital letters (and increasing the size of the letters L and B) as it I thought it worked better visually.
In image 1, the photoshopped image, the size looks just about right. I tried it in black, but decided white worked the best. In the second image, I printed and cut out the letters, leaving small strips of paper to keep the letters connected. Unfortunately, after all the work of cutting out the letters, I decided that 4″ tall letters were too tall. So, I dropped the letters to 3 1/2″, which I think will work well (to be tested very soon). Once I finalize the design, I’ll head to a local graphics shop and have them made.
A shed of dreams? I came across the phrase while, as usual, searching for something else.
As best as I can put together, the shed was located in Greece and was full of old MBs, GPWs, Parts, and more. The Jeep Draw website has a large number of images showing rows of old jeeps. One pic shows at least 20 jeeps sitting 3 rows high.
According to Thomas Jacobson’s jeep website (which has some good jeep info), the shed of dreams existed as late as 2001, as that is when Thomas visited the shed and took a whole bunch of pictures.
According to a discussion thread on the Steel Soldier’s website, the shed no longer exists as the jeeps have been sold.
Here is an example of one of Thomas’s images:
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2500.
“Runs and Drives. Top bows and early rear 2A seat included. Some rust through in tool box. $2500.”