Builds Research Archives

To Top

Reader’s Builds — Don Giovanini’s CJ-3B

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

Don’s got a beautiful CJ-3B that he’s clearly spent a great deal of time building.  Only a labor of love would produce details as unique as ‘a 4 barrel with a holley from a scout’.  If you don’t see this weekly driver around town, then he’s likely in the the hills of Colorado.

Some stats:

  • A 1954 CJ-3B that has the nomenclature plate for government service.
  • 231 buick bored .030 balanced
  • Eldebrock performer 4 barrel with a holley from a scout with a small venturi
  • Continue reading
[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds — James’ Jeep is Painted

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

James sent me a pic of his recently painted flattie.  It looks great and, he write, he didn’t have to bondo it.

As I started looking a the image more closely, I realized that his jeep has reversed shackles on the front and outboarded 2 1/2 inch springs on the back.  Nice ….

You can see what it used to look like here.

[fb_button]
 
To Top

One owner, 5 mechanics & 45 flatfenders …

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

A gentleman named Vivek contacted me last night.  He ran across ewillys while searching for some jeep parts.  He’s from India and owns a CJ-3B that he restored.  He’s currently working in California for a few months, before heading back to India, so he’s looking to locate a few parts he can take back with him (there’s enough jeeping in India that maybe I ought to head there and work for a few months — can I get a job with my MBA Vivek?).  I’ll be highlighting him and his efforts in a post I’ll write in the next few days.

For now, I want to thank Vivek for opening up the interesting world of jeeping in India to me.  After a few email exchanges, he pointed me to a gentleman named Mr. Uday Bhan Singh.  Mr. Uday, it turns out, owns 45 flatfenders that he has collected over the span of 40 years.  This month, autocarindia did an article on him, which has been copied and posted to the Jeep Thrills website, which is also Vivek’s jeep club.

Here are links to the article pages which is worth reading (once open, click on the page to zoom into it):

Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

To say Mr. Uday is passionate about jeeps likely understates things; The article’s description of him as a Jeep Junkie is likely more accurate.  One look at the images of his “great arc” jeep and you’ll see he not only knows jeeps, but uses and jeeps with them.  Last year in his MB he navigated the length of the great arc, the 78th meridian that bisects India.  The meridian itself stretches about 583 miles as the crow flies, however the actual driving mileage was just under 1200 miles.

To complete this drive, Mr. Uday went prepared.  This jeep carries a few extra parts, such as 2 sets of springs mounted to the underside and a special contraption made of poles for helping winch out of difficult places that are strapped to the driver’s side.  I highly recommend reviewing the pictures.  Even the paint job is nicely unique (reminds me a bit of the follow-me jeep paint jobs).

thegreatarc

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Reader’s Builds — Brian’s new bumper for his CJ-3B

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

Brian's been busy creating a new bumper for his CJ-3B build. He's says it's nothing fancy, but I think it's pretty nice.  Here's a start-to-finish explanation of the work it took to make his bumper.  Thanks for sharing Brian!

"Because the springs are longer than stock, I had to come up with a way to lengthen the frame a little in the rear. So, I fabricated  a new rear bumper and incorporated a swing out spare tire mount.  In addition, rather than cut holes into the body, I decided to put the tail lights in the bumper. To make the bumper, I only need to use a grinder, drill press, and a Mig welder — it's nothing fancy."

Continue reading

[fb_button]
 
To Top

The Former Pittle Power

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

I just got some pics from the owner (who shall remain nameless until he sends me his name 🙂 ) of the jeep formerly known as Pittle Power (I remember it as Piddle Power though).   I don't remember the history of the Jeep prior to Jim and Patty Carter purchasing it, but I believe they purchased it so their growing boys, Tim and Steve, wouldn't have to squish themselves into the back of Otis.  They purchased a stock CJ-3A, installed a chev 4cyl and attached desert dogs.   Otherwise (I'm told) they left everything else stock.  Pittle might not have had much power (hence the name), but it could go 99% of the places the modified WWJC jeeps could go.

The Carter's had a habit of naming all their vehicles.  There was Otis (the jeep), tote-us (the jeep trailer), Brutus (their first motorhome) and more.

Our To-Be-Named contributor writes:

"The Jeep I bought was owned by Jim Carter(original member of the WWJC). The race name was Pittle Power. Skip Baird helped me with my first swap with a V-6 and a top loader. Al Hamilton and I became very close infact I still have one of his pups Mandy she is a very stubborn German Shorthair."

Editor's note:  To the right is the only picture I have of Pittle Power from 1983 (and it's only the hind quarter) hidden behind Danny's CJ-5.  While the Pittle Power was never actually raced, I do remember a club trip to Liberty Trail one weekend.  After we made camp, Tim Carter decided he wanted to head down to the store and asked me to ride shotgun (somehow he knew there was a remote store at the bottom of the hill we were camped on). So, he drove me down that hill in Pittle Power, a ride I remember vividly because we were travelling sideways down the constantly turning gravel road for a good portion of it.    Come to think of it, one time Tim took me for a ride in his late 60's camaro and we travelled sideways heading onto the cloverleaf on ramp to I-405.  Maybe Tim always travelled sideways or I just brought it out of him.

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds — Brian’s working furiously on his CJ-3B

• CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-3B, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Brian sent me some updated pictures of his CJ-3B project.  He just finished reversing the springs in the front.  As a part of that reversal, he had to replace the front of the frame.  After conquering this task, he turned his attention to the rear differential, only to discover a big problem (which he'll update all of us about as he progresses through the issue).  

Brian explains more below about his spring reversal experience below …. 

"I wanted to do a spring reversal so I started by getting some universal after market parts to make things a little easier. Then I bought a early Cj5 frame for the front 8 inches then sold off a chrome bumper and ring and pinion at a small profit.

Here's what I did to lengthen the frame.

I cut a block to use as an template to cut off the front of the 3b frame. (Stan H. — from the Wandering Willys Jeep Club — always said to cut at a 45 degree angle though the frame.) I did the same with the pieces to be added. They lined up really nice.  

Continue reading

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds — Irwin Arnstein’s 1947 CJ-2A

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

When some one gives you a jeep for free and you have to pull the jeep out of the mud to start rebuilding it, you know you are going to have your hands full.  Irwin Arnstein nicely revives this old Jeep.

"When my brother’s neighbor T.J. generously gave me his old 1959 1-ton truck, I felt that I ought to do a good job with it and show it to him. As you could see on my Gallery page, it brought T.J. a bit of pleasure to see his truck ready for another 46 years of work. A few months later (and I think after his wife got on him to clean the place up) he gave me his 1947 CJ2A Willys Universal Jeep.

When I got the truck, I had no idea that the Jeep would soon get so lonely that it spoke to T.J. about rejoining its old compatriot. I wasn’t so keen to do the jeep but when my brother offered to help, I decided "Why not — if it wasn’t a complete junk pile."

See all the pics of Irwin's rebuild

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds — 1944 MB Build

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

This site contains information and a variety of pics about a 1944 MB Build.  It's worth a look.

"Here it is a small collection of the finished jeep throughout the summer of 2003. I logged over 2200 miles in "Phoebe" since her restoration was completed this early spring. I hope that everyone enjoys these pictures as much I do, I had a blast taking them. I had a great time and will forever remember this experience, its kinda like having a child I guess. I have one on the way so i will find out shortly what that is like. Everyone says its like owning a jeep, when you first get your jeep home everything is ah's and oo's. After a while it starts to bear down on you…. you get the picture. Enjoy the pictures and if you have any questions please feel free to email me."

http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/my44mb/index.html 

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds — Craig Ellis’ M-38

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features, M-38 This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I don’t know whether Craig is finished with his jeep or not, but he certainly had some terrible rot to deal with.  I’ve linked to the ‘Golden Triangle Jeep Club’s’ bulletin board for this Build story.  Below is the pic of Craig’s M-38 body:

you could draw a line down the middle of the body and replace all of the driver’s side floor to be safe. i’m gonna avoid catalog bought floor panels and construct my own from 16 gauge sheetmetal along with new crossmembers. i got a pair of Wagoneer Dana 44s last weekend and am working on the suspension, which will be stock waggy leafs in the front and YJ leaves out back. I picked up a Chevy 4.3 V6 to use and can’t decide on which tranny to go with, but i’m thinking SM465 b/c Novak offers a really short adapter to the Dana 18 case….”

View all the rest of Craig’s pics and related comments (10 pages) as he works through various issues.

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds – 1942 GPW

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

This 1942 GPW has been extensively rebuilt into a rock climber.  No hack job here as the builder documents his efforts through a series of words and pictures.  The builder writes that the jeep was featured in the December 2006 issue of 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine; however, I couldn't locate the article nor the builder's name.  

 "I stripped the Jeep down to the bare frame and started work. The frame was a stock GPW frame that had some previous 'fixes' done to it and it had a few cracks. I completely boxed and strapped the top and bottom of the frame. If I were to do it again I would definitely make my own frame from scratch using 2"x4" box tube. To strap the frame I used 2"x1/4" steel and stitch welded it along the length of the frame. I made cardboard templates of the sections to be boxed and then cut them out of some plate steel."

Learn more about the details of this rebuild here. He also details how he turned a Pro Tools 105 HD bender into a hydraulic bender.

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds — Chris Olson

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

This is a build done by Chris Olson that I found at the BC4x4 website.  He found a beat up '48 CJ-2A, made a variety of mods, and ended up with a highly modified, but ordinary looking, CJ-2A.

"At first glance, Chris Olson's 1948 CJ2A Willys looks rather plain next to his brother's LJ80 Suzuki. Your first impression would be that it's another flat fender Jeep with big tires and a spring-over-axle conversion. But like his brother's Suzuki, Chris' Jeep isn't what it appears to be. In fact, it is more Toyota than Jeep. This flat fender reflects Chris' pragmatic attitude toward building a 4×4. Choices were made due to cost, availability and functionality. He has no loyalty to any make or model of vehicle and because of that, he has ended up with a very unique vehicle.

When Chris first set eyes upon the Willys in 1997, it was sitting in a backyard, partially hidden by knee-height grass. It had a seized engine, the front axle housing was gutted, all four tires were useless, the interior was a rat home, and it sported a rollbar made of old driveshafts (including the yokes!). The important thing to Chris was that the body was in pretty good condition, especially for a vehicle built half a century earlier. For $400, it was his."

Read more at the BC4x4.com website

[fb_button]
 
To Top

Builds: Brian’s CJ-3B resurrection cont.

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

Brian from Michigan sent me some updated pics from his efforts to bring his CJ-3B body back from the dead. Here are several body pics (some I’ve posted before).  Below the body pics you’ll see his latest unexpected issue, the engine he’s dropped into the jeep has an oil pan that hangs too low — a problem seeking a solution (note his clever use of some plastic pipe in place of a yet to procured front drive line).  Finally, he shows a picture of his unabashed stripping of a parts Blazer.

[fb_button]