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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.
These quick searches can help you find things on eBay. People list in the wrong categories all the time, so don't be surprised to see brochures in the parts area for example. This section used to be split into jeeps, parts and other categories, but recent changes to eBay will require this information to be recoded.
The links to posts below show jeeps grouped by models, condition, and other ways. Some of these jeeps are for sale and others have been sold. If you are unsure whether a vehicle is still for sale or not, email me at d [at] ewillys.com for more info.
There are plenty of interesting, unusual, historic and surprising stories related to Jeeps and their owners. In addition, some of these features have nothing to do with jeeps. This link will display all featured stories starting from the latest.
Looking for parts and not sure where to go? There are a variety of large and small new and used parts sellers both online and offline.
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 .
DC bought this jeep back in November. He’s spent sometime doing some updates and just got done taking some pictures. It looks like a great little ride. Enjoy it this summer DC!
UPDATE: Paul just forwarded me a new video of his nicely modified flattie. He first sent me pictures of his jeep back in 2008. Below is the original post.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgJPOX1QIoM
Published November 14th, 2008
Paul wrote to me the other day, professing he’s stricken with the dreaded flatfender disease. I told him to take two pills and send me more pics in the morning. Fortunately for all of us, he followed my advice and has sent me a variety of images of his labor of love for the past 3 decades.
Back in August of 1979, he innocently purchased a 1944 MB for only $800. It was pretty much all original, worn out, but in running condition.
It didn’t take long for Paul to decide to make a few upgrades, changing the engine to a V-6, purchasing a new body, and more. Then, at some point he decided the drive train needed updating, the tranny and transfercase should be swapped out, a bigger engine was needed, and the dreaded flatfender sickness had overtaken Paul.
The good news is that I believe the sickness has run it’s course, as he’s ended up with a beautiful jeep that will serve him well for years to come. Also, fortunately for Paul, he seems to encountered a disciplined form of the illness, as I don’t see 7 or 8 other flatfenders in various stages of disrepair out on the lawn :-).
You can view some additional pics of the tilting hood in this post.
Here are the specs:
Body: Acme all steel, replaced in 1980
Tilt front end: all steel, tilts on a roll cage fabricated from ½” pipe
Frame: From a 2 wheel drive Jeep Dispatcher. Frame is boxed, has dual shock mounts up front. This is a much stronger frame than the original.
Roll cage: custom made, mounts to frame in 6 places. Seats mount to cage along with spare tire.
Engine: I started with the original 4 cylinder flat head, then an odd fire 225 V6, finally the Chevy V8Chevy 350, 4 bolt main, bored .030 to make 355 cubic inches. Has all Eldelbrock aftermarket equipment including internals, aluminum heads and intake, along withdual quad carbs. The combination of 400 horsepower, short headers, and small glass pack mufflers, makes the thing sounds like a demon.
Transmission: Turbo 350 with B&M shift kit and converter
Transfer Case: Dana 20, Novak brand adapter
Differentials: Early 70’s Jeep, 3:73 gears.
Steering: Chevy column out of a Chevy Caprice along with Chevy manual box. The crazy thing is that the two bolt hole spacing that held the column in the Chevy was the exact spacing needed in the Willys
Brakes: Chevy master cylinder along with swing pedal (out of a Chevy Vega), has updated 11” drums along with emergency brakes.
Seats: The tilt column makes it easier to get into the high sided bucket seats. I lowered the seats down about 4″, and about 4″ to the rear by notching the body without making it look too butchered.
Some pics of the build process:
Jeri Norris contacted me today wondering if I could help her track down a jeep she and her husband sold in the early 1990s.
She writes, “I’m looking for a jeep we sold over 20 yrs ago. It’s a 1948 Willys flat finder. At the time it was sold it was blue with white top. On the driver’s side we had the name Bill and on the passenger side the name Jeri. We called it Whiplash. It was powered by a V-8. I believe she was sold to someone in silverdale WA. I’ve been trying to find her for over 15 yrs. Any help would be great. Thanks.”
So, if anyone recognizes any of this info, let me know. Jeri and Bill jeeped in California as part of the Kangaroo 4wd Club. They moved up to the Puget Sound area, bringing the jeep with them, and then sold the jeep.
Here is one picture:
Greg has the same problem I had when I built my rollcage. I wanted to bend my cage prior to the installation of my top (at the time I didnt’ own a top). Mitch came through with some measurements that saved me. http://www.ewillys.com/2009/10/17/my-build-bending-the-rollcage/
What Greg needs are the measurements from the top of an installed kayline top to the top of the wheel wells so he can accurately bend the roll bar. If anyone could measure that distance, it would be appreciated.
UPDATE: I posted this back in 2010 prior to Hans completing the project. Well, his GPW is complete and looks great. Unfortunately, we couldn’t locate any more history about this jeep (or at least I didn’t find any). Thanks to Roberto for updating me on this.
Sometime last year Hans purchased 1944 GPW 236146 from Menno Keizer, an auto/jeep dealer in the Netherlands. As part of the restoration process, Hans has been trying to track down the US owner of the Jeep. We know the title from the US points to an owner by the name of Tom Mitchell (may be deceased) and/or Susan (mitchell?) in Guntersville, Al. If you for some reason recognize this jeep or know anyone from Guntersville, please let us know.
You can view many pictures of the rebuild at his website or
Here’s what Hans bought:
Here’s the completed jeep:
Gordon built this foldup/folddown back seat in his CJ. If someone is interested he will provide plans for $20.
Nineteen Year Old Erik and I have been tossing a few emails back and forth over the past two days. He’s another one of these young kids who has found time to rebuild multiple jeeps. He shares his story and his jeep below:
Erik writes, “I started getting interested in restoring jeeps when my neighbor got a 43 MB and convinced me to start WW2 Reenacting. I decided that I wanted to get one too and began saving to buy one, This led me to your site were I spent almost every day looking for just the right one. As I was only 17 at the time I didn’t have much of a budget to start with so I wanted to get one that wouldn’t need too much work. I ended up finding one in california and had it shipped here. When I got it I realized that the pictures didn’t reveal how much work would actually go into it.
I began going to reenactments after I got the jeep (It wasn’t restored yet so I couldn’t bring it) and saw that the majority of reenactors who had jeeps did a work as you go kind of thing, Which caused them to not look very good. This made me decide that I would do a complete frame up restoration of mine.
It took me a year to get the jeep torn down, The frame sandblasted, I Rebuilt the engine, Transmission, transfercase, and did some bodywork to the Hood, Fenders, and grill. The body ended up being replaced as I don’t have the tools to do that. It was then rebuilt, Painted the correct OD green for the time and theater of war. I ended up making the stencils by hand and painted them onto the body.
I was able to bring it to the first Reenactment in October 2011. It was an airshow in Midland TX (I live in Houston). It was there that I was asked by a fellow reenactor to help restore his GPW. He had all of the parts he needed already purchased so it was a pretty fast restore (took around 4 months) with his help. I am now working on a 43 MB for a friend.
More photos of the jeep and My reenacting unit (Able company, 502nd PIR, 101st Airborne) at our facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/#!/ablecompany502pir)”
FEATURED JUNE 2010
As promised yesterday, here are images of Claus’ Brother’s CJ-2A. Really great work!!
Claus writes, “I also promised you my brother’s nut and bolt restoration of his late 1947 CJ2a. Both of us are very fond of these vehicles – a passion that developed from a simple photograph of a CJ2a that my grandfather had on his farm in the early 1950’s (Photo attached). As we grew older our quest started and we both started searching to only find the right vehicle some 12 years later.
Parts are always a problem as they are not readily available in South Africa. The majority of parts are refurbished originals – although 60 years old, these are usually still more durable than any reproduction parts you can buy these days. When we didn’t have the right parts, we were always very happy to order from Walck’s in the US.
I am not going to give a description of the restoration – I believe the pictures speak for themselves. Perhaps it must just be mentioned that he is a bit of a perfectionist. As you look at the chassis note the nickel plated parts ….“bling” … they were purposely not painted. All elements that could get damaged by brake fluid or a wrench have been plated. The only other thing that is not quite standard is the positioning of the spare wheel. He liked the view of a complete wheel arch and the thought of a wheel’s weight on the body was a bit daunting to him, hence he opted for a M38 style spare wheel mount. He has gone through great efforts to save the body – again body parts are not available and having to ship these to Africa would have cost a fortune. So this is the best he could do with the limited access to parts.”
Below is the front housing assemply:
Here’s the rear assembly:
Here’s the chassis assembled:
Here’s a closeup of the front assembled:
See many more pics here by clicking the link below ….
FEATURED JUNE 2010
Claus contacted me a little while back telling me he was from South Africa and asking if I’d be interested in seeing and sharing some pics of a CJ-2A he rebuilt. Absolutely, I responded. So, yesterday I received pics and a story of both his jeep and his brother’s jeep, which you can see here. Thanks for sharing Claus!
Claus writes, “Its winter in the southern hemisphere and unfortunately this means wet weather for us folks in the Western Cape Area of South Africa. Sunny days are few in this time of year and I/we don’t plan many trips. It must be said that the nicest days are however also during the winter months – not too hot and no wind. All very positive aspects if you are day tripping with the old vehicles.
So now for the jeeps – There are not many flat fenders left in this part of the world – quite a few numbers of CJ2a were imported during the 1946-1949 for the purpose of farming. South Africa was also one of very few countries that ordered CJ2a’s in 1948 as Military vehicles. At that time the Union Defense Force (UDF) ordered 289 units, and these came in fact all standard from the factory in olive drap. Not many survived as they had to work hard on the farms or in service. Some that did continue to “exist” where built up as challenge vehicles and so the numbers decreased drastically. To date limited numbers are on the road – we don’t really have a vintage “jeep” club in the country so it is hard to tell how many are actually “alive”. It has however emerged that many people start to convert back to the original spec CJ’s which is nice.
I consider myself very lucky and after about 12 years of intensive searching, both here in South Africa as well as my home country Namibia, found a beautiful 1948 CJ2a in very good condition on a nearby farm. The Jeep stood for about 20 years on bricks in the owners shed so it has worked only for about 2/3 of its life and those must have been gentle years, because everything was still in very good condition. To top it all it had a complete PTO and monarch governor installed. The pto is currently off so I can restore it. I was also very fortunate to pick up a set of early WARN freewheel hubs (seen on the later pictures) So that in short is the story of my CJ2a. Attached are photos for reference.
Photo1: My Jeep when purchased
Photo2: My Jeep during a short day trip on a nice summer day in the Swartland district. (It just fits so perfectly into the landscape – water reservoir and windmill)
Photo3: My Jeep with new 10 piece canvas top ordered from New Life Canvas in USA
Photo4: My Jeep with original half cab installed
Photo5: My Jeep with new Half cab top installed
Photo6: My Jeep surf’ near Camps Bay
FEATURED IN FEBRUARY 2009
Matt’s provided us with a couple of projects completed by Edmund Angelus Automotive. If you are near Roanoke, Virginia and are looking for someone to handle your rebuilds, you might consider them as they have rebuilt a couple of beauties. Thanks for sharing Matt! You can contact Matt at 540-354-4321.
Matt writes: “Welcome to Edmund Angelus Automotive. Located at the foot of Bent Mountain in Roanoke Virginia. I do restorations and all kinds of custom work,heck I will paint a refridgerator if pays my rate of $38.00hr. The yellow jeep is a restoration w/a body kit installed. The Green CJ-3a is the second for the same customer, it also is a off-frame restoration with the original and complete make over with nearly 900hrs, the christmas jeep as it is called by the customers two little twin boys. These are taking an average of 18 to 20 weeks to do. I am currently doing B.J.#102, It is ’46 Willys Boyer Fire Jeep w/out the fire equipment. It found its way to me in literaly pieces and in lots of boxes. Now in week 19 I am acctually able to get in it fire it up and take it around the patch.”
Here’s a variety of pics related to these builds:
