Patrick recently purchased this flattie. It’s now road ready and a great deal of fun.
He writes, I have always had a passion for old military jeeps, even as a young kid. Can’t explain other than I think they are just cool. When I was 16, I lived in Iowa and purchased my first vehicle (I’m almost 50 now): a 1947 willys cj2a, that the previous owner had done some updating to with a 327 chevy Engine/headers/big tires. I bought it for a $1500 and thought it was THE coolest thing ever. Ever. I promptly spent the rest of my wealth (about $500) painting it. Bad ass brown.
I got about 500 miles of the hottest, ragin-est, death-defying days of my life racing and 4-wheeling that thing (invincible at 16, right?) before the natural laws of having to pay for and fix the things that gave out (plus I’m non mechanical) set in and I couldn’t afford to do that. And had to pay for it by selling it for $500 in non working order. That was 1980.
I’ve owned various newer jeeps (last was an 89 wrangler), and cars since then, but I always knew someday that I’d go back to my first love and fix one of these bad boys up hot rod style.
Last year was that year. In August, I stumbled onto eWillys from a random google search. It set off the bell in my head that it was possible to find and own one of these jeeps again, so after about a month of searching every day on your site, one struck my fancy and I set out to buy it.
The previous owners are a family of professional desert racing enthusiasts who had a family friend (also professional racer) that built this Jeep from the ground up as a labor of love in the late 90’s/early 2000 with the intention of using the best pieces/parts for desert 4-wheelin/rock climbing.
The friend had to sell, and sold to the family who basically have every toy under the sun (it was being stored in an airport hangar),
never used, and they finally decided to sell just to make room for something else They decided to sell as a whole because they wanted to pass it on to someone who would love it as much as their friend had before he had to sell.
For whatever reason, I was in the right place at the right time and purchased this vehicle on the spot for cash.
Because it was setup for off-roading, I’ve spent the better part of 7 months and $$$ to get the thing street worthy and safe enough to drive on the freeway. Now it stops like a normal car (Hydroboost!).
The particulars:
REGISTERED AS 1957 CJ5, COLOR IS CHAMPAGNE BEIGE 1996 TOYOTA CAMRY With 2-tone brown highlights. Funny, I don’t know why it’s registered as 1957.
FRAME IS 1978 JEEP CJ5
POWER STEERING AND STEERING COLUMN ARE CHEVROLET
4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES – FRONTS ARE AMERICAN MOTORS 1978
REAR BRAKES ARE 4 WHEEL PARTS WHOLESALE AFTERMARKET
HYDRATECH HYDROBOOST BRAKING SYSTEM ( http://www.hydratechbraking.com ) 2011
CUSTOM BRAKE PEDAL ASSEMBLY 2011
PARKING BRAKE IS MICRO LOCK TO THE REAR BRAKES (LEVER TYPE)
JEEP BODY IS FIBERGLASS (CJ2A) BY MALOTTE IN N.CAL.
http://www.malotmfg.com/
FRONT WINCH IS MILE MARKER HYDRAULIC TYPE RUNS OFF POWER STEERING (DISCONNECTED)
ENGINE:
351 FORD WINDSOR SMALL BLOCK OUT OF 1969 FORD MUSTANG. APPROX 400 HP
EDELBROCK CARB (4 BARREL) W/SPACER 2012
OIL PAN HAS 2 DRAIN PLUGS
CAPACITY IS 6 QTS, PLUS FILTER
CAMSHAFT IS HYDRAULIC (NOT MILD) OUT OF 302 C.I. SMALL BLOCK FORD
POWER STEERING PUMP IS G.M. NOT FORD
CUSTOM FUEL CELL
Video 1: Engine Running
Video 2: Engine Running
RADIATOR HOSES ARE CUSTOM. As are most plumbing hoses/cables
TRANSMISSION IS FORD C5 AUTO OUT OF AN EARLY 70’s FORD BRONCO. REBUILT IN 2011
Flushed, cleaned re-gasketed IN 2012
New kick-down cable.
LOKAR SHIFTER AND DIGITAL INDICATOR 2011
TRANSFER CASE IS DANA 300 OUT OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCOUT
(SAME PATTERN AS DANA 18 AND 20 TO THE TRANSMISSION)
CUSTOM REWARDER HEADERS (CERAMIC COATED) and MUFFLER SYSTEM 2012 http://www.rewarderheaders.com/
DRIVE TRAIN IS DANA 44S FRONT AND REAR WITH 4.27 TO 1 GEARING
FRONT HUBS ARE SUPERWINCH 30 SPLINE
REAR DRIVE SHAFT IS CV WITH OPEN KNUCKLE BY TRI COUNTRY GEAR
FRONT DRIVE SHAFT IS CUSTOM AFTERMARKET BY REEL IN UPLAND CA
RANCHO RS5000 Series Shocks AND STABILIZER SHOCK (5) 2011
NEW FRONT SHOCK TOWERS AND REINFORCED FRONT FENDERS 2011
(4) 35X12.50R-15LT, Baja Claw TTC Mickey Thompson Radials 2012
New Windshield rear view mirror, 2012
The engine is a horse, but required a bit of transformation from an initial fuel injected system (variable H.P.up to 500 H.P. but didn’t idle at low rpm’s so well with the big cam and hard on transmission) to a traditional carb system. Some $$$ went into this process (pumps/distributor/wiring/tuning etc.).
2 different shops have worked on it and contributed to the point that it is now, which is, happily, fully operational and most awesome.
I have had it out of the shop for 2 weeks now and have already been able to enjoy this thing immeasurably. I envision having it the rest of my life.
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FEATURED IN MAY 2009
FROM DAVID BROOKS WEBSITE: “Ben Carlin (1912 – 1981) was born and attended school in Western Australia. While awaiting demobilisation after service in India in World War II, Ben noticed a US amphibious jeep among other war debris, and remarked “You know, Mac, with a bit of titivation you could go around the world in one of these things”. For some never-explained reason, Ben was not certified insane on the spot, and eventually fulfilled his dream ….”
