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About eWillys
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.
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 .
The next time you are in Perth, Australia, make sure you stop by and see Ben Carlin’s SEEP named Half Safe. Ben Carlin and his wife navigated their SEEP around the world back in the 1950s. I found two website’s that chronicle the adventure: David Brooks shows pictures along with the story and Leisure Wheels has a large article with a single pic. Below is the beginning of the story and below that are a few pictures. Ben Carlin also wrote two books about his adventure “Half Safe” and later ““The Other Half of Half-Safe”.
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 ….”
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 $$$ to get the thing street worthy and safe enough to drive on the freeway. Now it stops like a normal car (Hydroboost!).
The particulars:
REGISTERED AS 1957 CJ5, COLOR IS CHAMPAGNE BEIGE 1996 TOYOTA CAMRY With 2-tone brown highlights. Funny, I don’t know why it’s registered as 1957.
FRAME IS 1978 JEEP CJ5
POWER STEERING AND STEERING COLUMN ARE CHEVROLET
4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES – FRONTS ARE AMERICAN MOTORS 1978
REAR BRAKES ARE 4 WHEEL PARTS WHOLESALE AFTERMARKET
HYDRATECH HYDROBOOST BRAKING SYSTEM ( http://www.hydratechbraking.com ) 2011
CUSTOM BRAKE PEDAL ASSEMBLY 2011
PARKING BRAKE IS MICRO LOCK TO THE REAR BRAKES (LEVER TYPE)
FRONT WINCH IS MILE MARKER HYDRAULIC TYPE RUNS OFF POWER STEERING (DISCONNECTED)
ENGINE:
351 FORD WINDSOR SMALL BLOCK OUT OF 1969 FORD MUSTANG. APPROX 400 HP
EDELBROCK CARB (4 BARREL) W/SPACER 2012
OIL PAN HAS 2 DRAIN PLUGS
CAPACITY IS 6 QTS, PLUS FILTER
CAMSHAFT IS HYDRAULIC (NOT MILD) OUT OF 302 C.I. SMALL BLOCK FORD
POWER STEERING PUMP IS G.M. NOT FORD
CUSTOM FUEL CELL
DRIVE TRAIN IS DANA 44S FRONT AND REAR WITH 4.27 TO 1 GEARING
FRONT HUBS ARE SUPERWINCH 30 SPLINE
REAR DRIVE SHAFT IS CV WITH OPEN KNUCKLE BY TRI COUNTRY GEAR
FRONT DRIVE SHAFT IS CUSTOM AFTERMARKET BY REEL IN UPLAND CA
RANCHO RS5000 Series Shocks AND STABILIZER SHOCK (5) 2011
NEW FRONT SHOCK TOWERS AND REINFORCED FRONT FENDERS 2011
The engine is a horse, but required a bit of transformation from an initial fuel injected system (variable H.P.up to 500 H.P. but didn’t idle at low rpm’s so well with the big cam and hard on transmission) to a traditional carb system. Some $$$ 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.
NOTE: Nate needs NOS Amp and Temp Gauge for his new CJ-3A (or ones in good shape. If you have them, you can email him at bolducn20 [at] aol.com).
You might remember Nate’s last two rebuilds. Well, he managed to find a stock, solid CJ-3A in the Northeast. Kudos to him for that find. It looks great.
(See all three of his jeeps in the bottom picture)
Nate writes, “Anyways, the one I picked up a month or so ago is truly a rare jeep for the northeast and one that I have been searching for. The body has very little rot, all the original wiring is intact and every thing works, lights, brake light, horn, and vacuum wiper. It runs great also. I had to do a little tinkering with it to get it running good, just as good as my ’53. It also has decent breaks now too. It was missing some parts that I located like a passenger hand wiper, battery hold down, matching ’49 license plates, one seat pan and a spare tire/carrier. I added the dualmatics.
Only things I need for it are two original gauges and it is back to 100% original. The ones I need are an amp and temp gauge. If anyone has both, please let me know.
We think it came from Tennesee. On the tailgate, very faintly it says “DAVIS HOLLOW SECURITY PATROL”. We researched that and there is a seasonal campground in Tennessee by that name. There were other places too, all down south. Someone at one time painted the entire thing, and I mean everything (even the grease) with the red primer. The original color was Luzon red which can be seen in many places. Makes me want to remove the primer to bring out the original paint. Even the frame is still black in a few places!”
James emailed me recently about his recently completed Recovery CJ-6. The CJ6 is set up to be used as a ATV/UTV/Jeep Recovery vehicle in the mountains of Red River and Taos, New Mexico.
It’s a 1973 CJ-6 with a stock 304 3-speed and a D20 with Terra Low. It has a 4’lift 35’s. The bed winch is a Ramsey 10,000 pounder. On the bumper is a Smitty Built 10,000# winch mounted on the ARB bumper.
Jeff has been a reader for a couple years. Recently he shared some images of his jeeps along with his story.
“In 1970 I bought a 1943 GPW and had a lot of fun rebuilding. After a few years I sold it and bought a 53 3b. Living in Denver and having the Jeeps I couldn’t wait for snow just to try out the 4 wheel drive. I sold the 53 CJ-3B in 1992 and I always regretted selling it. I bought the green 46 in 2004. but I really wanted another 3b so I bought one out of Wyoming that was disassembled in a field.
That is the turquoise 3b in the picture. Of course I had to buy a trailer to haul the 3b back to Denver. I saw a add in craigslist for an original 57 3b so when I went to look, it wasn’t 100% original but close, so I bought it as well. The blue 2a I sent you picture of I got after a friend told me he knew a guy with an old jeep. So, thats how I ended up with that one. I wanted disc brakes and gear reduction starter and electronic ignition. These parts added to the fun building the blue 46, It starts easy and stops great!”
Larry has begun doing research on his M-38 that he has begun to restore. However, the only numbers he has so far are his hood numbers. Based on my research, I couldn’t find any pattern between hood numbers as a tool for determining an exact VIN number. So, we thought we’d post what he has in case anyone has other ideas.
Larry writes, “I realize that hood numbers were put on in random lots but it is possible that they were put on sequentially. I am narrowed down to 32 serial numbers producd for 6-52 and they begin with MC71350 -MC71382 and I know four of those numbers are assigned to M38s on another website data base My hood number is 20945312. I want to find anyone with a 6-52 M38 with numbers above or below this hood number. If they will contact me by email so I can get their hood numbers and serial numbers by seeing which way the serial numbers go as compared to the hood numbers I may be able to figure out my number. yeah its a long shot and there are those that said it cant be done that way.
Now I dont know much about the way things were done by the Willys factory but I did get assigned to a military paint shop and we were tasked to take all the vehicles we had just received straight from the factory and repaint them camo with all the numbers done in subdued black. We all had to keep records of the vehicle, the serial number, unit number as assigned, etc. While doing this I noted that the serial numbers went up consecutively and the registraion numbers assigned all went down.
So, if there are any owners of Army M38s with DOD of 6-52 and hood numbers above and below and close to the hood number 20945312, please send an email to loop_m@hotmail.com and please put M38 REQUESTEDINFO in the subject line.”
Craig’s CJ-3B has been a regular visitor at Sam’s Flatfender Willys shop in Arvada, Colorado, where Craig has allowed Sam to experiment and update his jeep in a variety of ways.
Sam’s not some shade-tree jeep mechanic; instead, he brings 45 years of experience owning, running and working in hotrod shops in California. One of the early projects he worked on was the famous Munster Mobile. Sam tried retiring, but that didn’t work for him, so when he moved to Colorado years ago he started buying jeeps for himself and rebuilding others.
It doesn’t take long when talking with Sam until you realize that he has a lot of ideas, and they all seem to be good ones. So, I am not too surprised that folks in the Colorado area keep him plenty busy restoring, updating and servicing their old jeeps. If you want to contact Sam and talk with him about your jeep, you can email him at flatfenderwillys@comcast.net or call him at 720-841-0614. His shop rates are very reasonable.
In the image below the arrow points to a rubber line. Replacing that was a priority for Sam.
Front floor removed and replaced . Dark Brown is new floor and black is removable two piece front and rear panels for access to transmission. NOTE: the arrow points to the new STEEL fuel line.
A shot of the complete Mutt. When it came time to paint it, Sam was ready, but Craig wasn’t. He said he wanted it to look like a Mutt, so he is keeping the mismatched colors like they are for now.
Wade shared these two photos with me yesterday. He writes, “We were walking a site in Mission Hills of San Diego and saw this jeep at the end of a cul-du-sac in an older house’s driveway. Also is a shot of my nephew and their jeep. Thought it was just a good jeep shot.”
Here is his nephew and their nice looking flattie.
Flint got this modified wagon as part of a trade with a reader named Dan. Since that time he’s been doing some additional suspension changes and having some fun with the paint job. His faded school bus art fooled me into thinking it had been there for years. Thanks for sharing Flint.
Since sam last reported about the prototype bolt-on rack and pinion system for early jeeps, he has made a few changes to improve the ability to install the system onto jeeps that have been lifted. He reports that the system is installed on a number of jeeps without any issues. The system dramatically improves steering at low speeds and at highway speeds.
Finished Install before New Exhaust:
Here is close up view of drag link end:
Arrows point to Borgston Joint and shaft support bearing:
Upper View of Rack and Partial View of New Steering shaft and joint. Arrow indicates new steering shaft and joint:
