Monthly Archives: April 2014

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1947 CJ-2A Gunnison, CO $11,500

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Still Available

(03/31/2014) Nice rear PTO on the back.

“My Dad bought this Jeep in Colorado in 1947. It has been totally restored to near original condition. Original 4 cyl. flathead engine has been overhauled. Approx 45,000 original miles. Body has been totally (removed from frame) restored and painted. No Rust! No Bondo! Factory installed governor. PTO with belt pulley attachment. Bed and floorboards have been coated with “Rhino-liner” type rubber coating. Frame and underbody have been coated with rust inhibiting paint. Seats reupholstered, no top. Original title and owners manual in hand.”

http://eastco.craigslist.org/cto/4399723645.html

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Day 18 – Apr. 6th: Wurlitzer to Wigwam

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

<– Day 17 – Apr. 5th: Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor | OVERVIEW | Day 19 Apr. 7th: From McDonald’s to Ruby’s –>

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Our wigwam for the evening . . .

We began the morning driving the I-10 to the El Capitan theatre (owned by Disney) at the heart of Hollywood. It wasn’t all clear to me how this would play out, but somehow we were going to hear Rob Richards play on one of the last five remaining “Fox Specials”, of which Farny Wurlitzer, a relative of mine, once said were his masterpieces.

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Today we travelled from Ontario to Hollywood, then back out to San Bernardino.

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Not enough smog in LA to block out the Hollywood sign on Sunday!

Rob was kind enough to email me back in December to tell me he’d welcome our presence at the theatre so we could meet and he could play for us. How could I pass that up? So we agreed to meet on Sunday for a 12:40pm show. I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but Rob would play music on the organ as people streamed into the theatre prior to the movie (which today was the Muppets).

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At the agreed upon time, Rob whisked us inside (comped tickets no less — how do these things happen to me?) and began playing for just Ann and I. He bounced between various disney songs as the pipes and bells and whistles bellowed from the right and left of the front row.

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Blurry, but you get the point. We have the theatre to ourselves for a short time. We even scored some free popcorn and a drink!

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Jim’s DJ-3A Restoration

• CATEGORIES: DJ-3A, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Colin shared these photos of Jim’s restoration. Looks great!

Colin writes, “Here are a few of photos of Jim Sullivan’s 1961 DJ3A Dispatcher.  The restoration on this little Jeep is fresh, like a month old now!   I will include a couple of photos of it when Jim bought it from Bob Tomson about 5 years ago and then a few that I took yesterday morning in front of an Ice Cream shoppe and antique store in Glendale AZ.

The engine and transmission were both rebuilt, all new wiring, upgraded upholstery, floor mats, carpet in the rear compartment, and a 1950s Willys Jeepster/station wagon steering wheel were added.  It has 15 inch powder coated wheels, but small VW size tires.  The paint is 1959 Ford truck blue, which is the same as Pepsi Cola blue.  It has the stock small hubcaps with the raised “W” in the middle.

It has what appears to all of us familiar with it, a reinforcing metal channel on top of the hood, right down over the center seam , which looks like it might have been a factory approved or even a factory installed item (See last photo).  It looks too good to be an aftermarket or homemade deal.  There weren’t any modifications showing to the underside of the hood and it appears to have been spot welded to the hood.  A professional looking addition, regardless of how it came to be there.”

Pics of Jim’s DJ-3A before the restoration:

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After restoration (Note Colin’s Surrey in the background):Jim's-dj3a-3 Jim's-dj3a-2 Jim's-dj3a-1

 
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Day 17 – Apr. 5th: Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor

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

<– Day 16 – Apr. 4th: The Borrego Springs Jeep | OVERVIEW | Day 18 Apr. 6th: Wurlitzer to Wigwam –>

We didn’t do a lot today. I got caught up on emails and ewillys, worked out (trying to do a better job of that this trip), and relaxed. We also slept. A lot.

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Oh yeah, we also ate some ice cream, too. At a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor no less (Ed Note, as of Dec 2020, the site is no longer live).

When Ann and I were kids Farrell’s was the place to go for birthday parties (Me in Renton, She in Pasco). Farrell’s was loud, crazy and sugarlicious. Then in the mid-1980s Farrell’s closed quickly. The reasons for the closures are hinted at in this history of Farrells: http://www.farrellsusa.com/history-of-fun.php

So, when Ann found a brochure for Farrell’s in the lobby of our hotel, she got very excited. After unsuccessfully trying to convince me that we should have Farrell’s ice cream for breakfast, we agreed to go yesterday afternoon. Even better, it was located on old Route 66 (not that there’s anything left over from the original Route 66).

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Picture on the wall outside of Farrells in Rancho Cucamonga

Though the wait was long, we enjoyed ourselves. The place still captured the spirit and look of the original Farrell’s. There is still the famous Zoo on the menu (feeds hordes of children). The sounds of birthday songs and drum banging reverberated throughout the restaurant. The ice cream was better than dairy queen, but certainly no Zingers. But, that’s okay. It’s all about the fun and about recapturing good memories from bygone youthful days.

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A very happy wife. This was the first ice cream of the trip. No more until we hit Zingers in Oregon.

Sunday we get to hear a Mighty Wurlitzer Organ and receive a short, behind the scenes tour of it.

<– Day 16 – Apr. 4th: The Borrego Springs Jeep | OVERVIEW | Day 18 Apr. 6th: Wurlitzer to Wigwam –>

 
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Robert and His Father’s Rebuild

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

Robert sent this wonderful note to me. He asked me to share it in case it motivates others with their projects.

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My name is Robert and I am writing to thank you for hosting ewillys because it has had a great impact on my life. My father and I decided to get away from the rock crawling scene and build an old willys jeep with a small block Chevy motor because my father was a GM mechanic in the 80’s. However, being from Pennsylvania almost all old jeeps have fallen victim to the rust of the northeast, and as a result, finding a willys worth having was no easy task. After several failed trips to purchase potential projects I stumbled onto ewillys and my father and we decided to purchase a jeep from the west coast.

My father called on over 50 ads from your site and eventually got a call back from the owner of a 1942 GPW with a SBC 305 in Portland, Oregon. The seller was willing to deal with shipping the jeep! Therefore, in early December of 2010, we blindly purchased the jeep sight unseen and prayed it would eventually arrive at the house. The jeep arrived at our house in Pennsylvania a few days before Christmas! The truck driver spoke very little English, but did advise that the jeep ran very poorly and had almost no brakes at all. However, a few negatives could not overcome to excitement my father and I shared upon confirmation that we had not wired some stranger thousands of dollars for a mythical willys, and the jeep was wonderful.

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After the long awaited arrival of the GPW we decided to that even though the gas tank said “remove from boat when fueling,” and the seats were mounted on handy angle we would test the brakes and drive the jeep if at all possible. We determined that we could take a short drive down the cul-de-sac since I could not physically push the jeep when the brakes were applied. As we drove in front of the house the transmission was screaming louder than the motor and steering column was far from safe. That being said, we had to see what a barely running 305 would do in the light willys jeep. Therefore, taking the condition of the jeep into consideration it felt like we were flying when we came back past the house. We began to slow the jeep far before the stop sign and made the turn into our drive way to end our first drive. To our surprise, when my father depressed the clutch pedal to the floor the clutch did not disengage, and as you can imagine this quickly became problematic because the one brake that was sort of working could not even begin to slow the v8. This put us on a crash course with the garage door! Fortunately, my dad is quick on his feet and killed the ignition in the nick of time which allowed us to stop before hitting the house.

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Some Pics from Charles

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

Here’s a few wide ranking pics from Charles.

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This CJ-2A was part of a wedding in Leavenworth, WA. It appears a few other times in this blog: http://prranchwedding.blogspot.com/2012/01/country-chic-wedding-peacock-feather.html

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Cool junkyard photo

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From Charles: belgian air force – note the british corporal stripes (driver) on his sleeve

 
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1943 MB in Lithuanian Museum

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

Charles spotted the of photo of this jeep from Lithuania. It turns out the jeep is in the Vilnius Energy and Technology Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to the sign next to it the jeep is a 1943 MB. The facility also appears to have an interesting car collection. You might want to drop by the next time you visit Vilnius.

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1948 Photos of CJ-2As in Israel

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

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

Marc found these photos of Israeli Commandos in CJ-2As

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2.

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3. View all the information on eBay

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4 CJ-5s Sicklerville, NJ $2500

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

Seems like a good price.

“4 Willys Jeeps sold together not for parts. Asking $2500”

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4404510684.html

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1947 CJ-2A Hamburg, NY **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $11,000.

Good looking build. Has replacement body.

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“Must see in person to truly appreciate ( i know everyone says that but i serious), color is not as overwhelming, and truck really is sweet.

Up for sale a 1947 CJ2a show or go Jeep, this jeep has been in many local shows and has taken home loads of hardware for being so unique and in such great condition. Restoration completed about 3 years ago with only 500 miles since restoration. 95% of this jeep is new, from the engine and transmission to the rear axle spindles and bearings and gears of the rear end with all receipts to prove it, even minor components such as cowl weatherstripping and fuel tank neck grommets have been replaced…..outside of the dana 18 transfer case and front axle, and front drive shaft, pretty much everything else has been replaced with new upgraded components!!!

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