Builds Research Archives

To Top

Builds: Jim finds a nice old CJ-3B

October 19, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-3B • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
1

Jim, take it away and thanks for sharing!

So I got a call today, woman says she has a1953 plow jeep she wants to get rid of. She said her deceased father, a mechanic, owned it for more than 40 years and used it to plow his business etc. When I hear plow jeep, Im thinking piece of rusty crap thats been worked to death etc. I have a driveway thats 1/3 of a mile long and I will need a plow this winter so I went to take a look.

Man, was I shocked, a completely (except orange paint) original 1953 CJ3B, 6 volt, uncut, runs great, has brakes, chains on all four studded tires, nice original seats, 15″ stock wheels, no rust to speak of, super straight, soft top frame with a tarp over it, still has the snap in carpet kit. Some one had obviously loved it for many, many years. Under that layer of dust is a really nice jeep and after a long heart to heart talk, its now mine for very little money!

I brought it home and tested it out.  Everything works great, brakes, heater etc but there is a weird knocking on the engine, seems to come go at time so Im thinking someone dropped a bolt or something into the carb and it is knocking on top of a piston. I will know for sure when I pull the head in a few days but overall it is in excellent condition. I couldnt tell you the last time I bought a flat fender with a full on complete snap in carpet kit, very cool!

1953_cj3b_plow_passengerside

1953_cj3b_plow_grille

1953_cj3b_plow_front_jim2

Continue reading →

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: Electric Veep — Jazzy

October 19, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds, VEEP (VW Jeep), Scamp, Others • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
0

I ran across this electric vehicle named Jazzy owned by Jim Stack.  It appears to be an ‘VEEP’ Kit with a fiberglass body.  It is powered by an Advanced DC FB-4001 Series Wound DC 9.  It runs in 3rd gear and never needs to be shifted, according to the owner.  The top speed is 70MPH with a total range of about 50MPH.  There are 10 Trojan T-105 now SG90’s, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded very minimal battery pack for 30 mile range. All located under center of chassis for stable road handling, great G holding on corners.  View all the information here.

“1968 Volkswagen VW chassis. 50 Jeep fiberglass body with front disk brakes carries the Veepster fiberglass 1950 Jeep body.”

veep_electric_vw

Rear of jeep.  Note no Jeep rear lights (he was looking for traditional square lights).

veep_electric_vw_2

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: Randy shares his Jeeps, Family & Animals

October 14, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Reader Stories This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
0

Randy emailed me this morning with some great family pics.  Here’s a little bit about Randy and a variety of pics.  He says we can expect a few irregular reports from the Austin area as he often spots flatfenders around there.

I learned how to drive in a ’48 CJ2A when I was 12 years old and thus started my “addiction” to Willys.  I’m now 54 and still love ’em.  I moved to the Austin TX area a few years back and have a small ranch; So, of course, I knew what I needed in terms of utility vehicles.  I have a ’48 CJ2A that is all original and records for it since 1967.  The hardtop and extended bed are from a company in Houston, both are Koenig. I’ve not seen another Willys with the extended bed [ED NOTE:  Here’s some info about extended beds from the CJ-3B Page]. I use the ’48 to go to the feed store and drive around town.

My other jeep is a ’54 CJ3B which is non licensed.  It’s a bit rough, but starts and drives great.

I have attached a picture of the Eifel Tower I took a couple years ago in the Crown Room in Paris.  It’s a picture of a picture.

As I was deciding what pics to send I discovered I have MANY pics of different family members, friends, animals and more with a Willys in them.  It seems I just realized my Jeeps are indeed a part of the family. The jeeps earn their keep and are always a hit.  I’ve taught a number of young folks how to drive a standard in these, and hope in some way I have started a passion for Willys as it did for me some 42 years ago!

Here’s Randy’s pic of a pic from Paris:

randy_eifel_tower

Here’s Randy and his jeeps:

randy_both_jeeps

randy_cj3b

randy_cj2a_side

randy_cj2a_extended_bed

View more pics — click the link below —

Continue reading →

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: Jim finds a Mouse & More

October 14, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds, Reader Stories This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
2

Jim, take it away … (thanks for sharing!)

Got a call today.  Guy says,”I hear you like willys jeeps?” Yep, that sounds like me I thought. He said,”I have one here with flat fenders, all original, hasn’t been started in a while, will probably need a battery, some tires, gas.” Sounds like my kinda deal I thought, then I asked the fatal question,”when was it last run running?” “Oh, maybe 30-35 years ago when I was a kid,” he said.

Wow, it had been sitting in the same spot in a field on a fence line for so long that the diffs were touching the ground and part of all 4 rims and tires were 6-8 inches under ground. The 8000 lb warn winch on my trailer wound up pretty damn tight for a few seconds and then the whole jeep “popped” up and out of the ground as if it had sat on a tack!

2 trash bags of old carpet, wood, leaves, clumps of moss (yes, moss) rotted tools, a rusty hunting knife, 3 hornets nest and one poor little very unhappy wet field mouse later [ed note: see last pic]  I found some very decent floor boards, perfect hat channels underneath, factory paint still on the frame, a surprisingly straight body, all stock everything and a super trashed windshield frame, but I have a spare here at the cabin.

The owner said they parked it originally cause it needed a fuel pump; so, what do you want to bet I will be driving this old rig in a few weeks? A lot of fun for an afternoon of flat fender hunting!  Cocktail time to celebrate!

PS. my sincere apologies to the owners of the carwash I spent $10 at to remove the worst of the goo; sorry bout the mess …… serial number CJ2A 211636

1948_cj2a_front

1948_cj2a_fenceline_driver_front

1948_cj2a_fenceline

1948_cj2a_driverside

Continue reading →

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: 1951 CJ-3A Off of Pirate 4×4

October 11, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
2

I found this build through Usenet of all places (long story) on Pirate 4×4.  What I liked about it was that this body was pretty much toast, but the builder has done a nice job of resurrecting it for his project.  Below is a picture of his replacement hat channels and replacement of the triangle piece at the front of the body.

There’s plenty of pics and plenty of customization. It’s definitely a project still.

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: Filandia, Columbia

October 10, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds, International This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
0

Sebastian has forwarded a couple great pics from Columbia.  I love the colorful jeeps against the colorful buildings.  Thanks!

He writes, ” I received these Pictures from a very good friend. They are from a small town called “Filandia”. This is a typical picture of these kinds of towns, many Willys (especially CJ-3Bs) group in the middle of the town, next to the stores so people use them as taxis after buying groceries. As you can see they are pretty much stock even though some modifications have been done to improve performance. Keep in mind this is not a Willys ride, a car show, or anything like that; it is just s typical day in Filandia. The pictures only show a few, but you can usually see more than 20 together. Their drivers have been doing this for so many years and usually with the same vehicles. They always tell you they will never sell their Willys since they have provided a way of living for almost 50 years. Finding a Willys in Colombia is no problem, finding someone willing to sell it is a different story. Enjoy.”

finlandia1_small

finlandia2_small

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: Collapsing Spare Tire Holder

October 8, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
4

UPDATE:  A reader would like to have one of these built for their project.  See the comment below if you think you know of someone who could do this for them.

I was checking out Four Wheeler the other day and ran across this unusual spare tire carrier.  Check out all the pics on this nice CJ-3A at Fourwheeler.com.

collapsing_sparetire_tailgate_cj3a_fourwheeler

collapsing_sparetire_tailgate_cj3a_fourwheeler2

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: The Cheap Jeep & Its Ghost Town Adventures

October 6, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds, videos, Website This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
0

cheap_jeep2While it’s not a jeep in form, it certainly captures the spirit of a jeep in function. Two alternators, three batteries, and a host of features make this an unusual vehicle.  The most recent cheap jeep was launched in 1974 for the purpose of desert and mountain travel, not unlike the way original mountain bikers back in 1976 utilized old tough schwinn bikes to tackle the mountains.  It’s singular purpose –the next ghost town or bust — was a cheap, but dependable vehicle capable of on road and off road travel for thousands of miles over the period of a week.  This vehicle is still used and images and video from 2009 can be found on the website along with links to all the places these intrepid adventurers have visited over the past years (scroll to the bottom of the homepage). View the video below to learn a little bit about the unusual features of this vehicle (or go to their video page).

cheapjeepSteve Ricketts writes on the westernghosts.com website,  In 1974, I acquired a 1966 Pontiac convertible from another customer.   This time the price was $75.00.   Like the Chrysler Imperial, the Pontiac needed a lot of work.   After extensive engine repair and a transmission rebuild and modification, it was able to be driven to my house where the first Cheap Jeep (Chrysler Imperial) was stored.  The transformation from old cheap jeep to new cheap jeep began.   The finished product is what you see today.

cheap_jeep4It is highly modified, and works better for our purposes than anything we could buy today.   It is easy to repair on the road, and parts are readily available.  It carries more than “regular” jeeps and is a lot cheaper to replace should it become necessary to abandon.   I would really hate to take a $30,000+,  four wheel drive (Blazer/Bronco, etc.) on one of these trips.   At the very least, the paint and body would be badly damaged.   It would also be next to impossible to repair in the field, and a very real possibility exists that I would someday have to abandon it.   After all these years of use and modification, I still have less than $800.00 invested in the Cheap Jeep…and that includes the original purchase price.”

Visit the Western Ghost Towns website here.

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: This is a great looking Dually

October 2, 2009 • CATEGORIES: Builds • TAGS: , , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
4

I found this dually earlier this week, but now can’t remember where. So, if anyone happens to know, send me the link and I’ll make sure the website (or jeep owner or both) gets the credit due them.

dually1

dually2

dually4

[fb_button]