I was searching for more extended CJ-2As and came across Bennett’s CJ-2A Project pages.  The Serial Number is 71781.  It appears he’s owned the jeep for quite some time and over the last few years has been slowly working on it.

Jim and I had a few email exchanges about the extended flatties.  After a little searching, he came up with these pics of a 1942 GPW that someone expanded and that Jim owned for a short time.  It appears the builder was going to extend the front, though that looks pretty scary!

More discussion on extended jeeps tomorrow or friday.

Gerald recently purchased some tires.  They are Goodyear casings P 235 /75/15 with V-Grip Hot Cap retreads from Import Export Tire in Latrobe, PA.  This is a different seller than the Stone Tire Company I highlighted a few months ago.

Gerald writes, “The Rims are Appliance brand 13 spoke Manufactured by the W.R. Grace Co. in 1976, Max Wheel Load 1580 lbs.  Model 1058V5 15 x 8.5 wide.  The are 5 x 51/2 Bolt circe with a 3 1/2 inch offset.  Lug nuts are a special washer and nut deal.  Gorilla still makes them.”

Here’s a look at the casting

The Tires are Goodyear casings P 235 /75/15 with V-Grip Hot Cap retreads from Import Export Tire in Latrobe, PA. We always called the Mini Terra’s.

Here’s my 1963 3B Sporting the set-up.

We raced with these back in the 70’s and 80’s and finally found a place that would still do these.

Oh, I’m positive Brian is feeling good today!  I can hear the relief a 1000 + miles away!

Brian reports: “At last, after 2 years of work, I powered up my CJ-3B project and drove it down the driveway, around the yard and over a rock, putting 4 miles on it. More than likely, I was also driving everyone in the neighborhood nuts with the 3b’s untamed exhaust manifolds pattering away.

The beginning of the powering up process began Sunday.  I spent the day going over the jeep with wrenches, sockets and a torque wench, checking everything I thought vital. While it took most of my time on Sunday I had available, it turned out to be a smart move, because I found a few items I hadn’t tightened.

During my investigation, I found a small oil leak on the SM420 transmission from a bolt on the PTO cover. To fix it I will drop the oil level and use some RTV on it (OF ALL PLACES). About a week previously, I found the rear output shaft leaking. I ordered a new seal thinking I botched the seal job.  However, after inspecting the situation more closely, I realized the oil was coming down the spines and leaking under the washer. I reviewed the rebuild procedure and found I did not RTV the washer when it was installed. Oil leaks drive me nuts! Fortunately, I have found my leak has slowed down to the point it might not exist.

Back to Sunday, after filling the radiator I found water on the floor. I thought it was coming from the upper hose connection on the block, but then determined it was coming from the intake manifold right behind the hose. Not good! With some effort, I was able to get a wrench on the two bolts that hold down the lifting bracket and re-torque them.  It appears to have stopped. At worst, I will have to pull the intake and reinstall it this winter when the tub is off.

Yesterday, Monday, I sat the 3b on jack stands in the garage.  I thought to do this because all of the parts and assembly’s are engineered well, but not necessarily designed to be used with each other.

With the Jeep on jack stands, I climbed in and started it up.  Nothing.  A quick review revealed a loose coil wire.  I quickly reattached it.  So, I climbed back in and tried again.  Within seconds it fired off and ran cold. At that point, I let the clutch out and the tires spun with no gut wrenching crunching sounds.

Whew! What a relief ALL THE PARTS WORKED!

I let the jeep warm up, then started running though the gears. I tested HI-low and then the overdrive in all gears. The only problem I found is that it pops out of third gear. I did take the transmission apart and thought all the synchronizers were in good shape but maybe they weren’t. One thing I did do was instal a top cover from a much later transmission with the backup switch in it. Possibly, this could have some effect on it. I will call Novak to see if there could be an issue with doing the top cover swap. I hope the problem is simply that the tower isn’t letting the gear shift all the way to it’s proper position.

Next, I tested the Brakes on the stands.  They stopped the tires, so I took that as a positive.

Now, it was time to head down the driveway.

During my first drive down the driveway, I reached 10 MPH and hit the brakes. “OH Crap!!” I never have stopped so fast in a jeep. With disks in the front and 11″ in the back I nearly bounced off the steering wheel. I might even consider removing the booster, because they are touchy.

Ergonomically, I am very happy with the seating/steering wheel.  My leg angles feel good, though I am having a hard time keeping my heal on the floor when braking. This compounds the braking problem, because when the jeep stops, my size 14 foot slams into the pedal even more!

With a successful venture down the driveway and back, I decided to try playing on the garden boulders. The tires on it are a set of 20 year old 31’s from my Cj7 with little tread. My first object was a large rock and and I climbed right up on it. Next, I picked a rock 3/4 of my tire height. The front quadrant contacted the 90 degree rock face and began to climb. The motor hardly missed a beat. Wow! It really crawls! The tire had to climb 6″ of vertical face before going forward! [Editor’s note:  I can imagine this — the last tranny dad had in his CJ-5 was a one of the granny T-18s.  It was a great jeeping tranny]

While in the middle of my garden adventure, my wife appeared. I thought maybe I was in trouble for playing among the garden boulders; instead, she had the camera in her hand and shot some video and pic’s.

Overall, I am very happy with the progress. The 3rd gear skipping out is the biggest problem, but will not stop me from further testing into the late summer. My next step is to work on the exhaust and get it quiet enough so that I will better know when to shift. LOL. I also need some small parts like a windshield pivot bolt and the bottom latch/hook that mounts on the dash for the windshield. Then, I’ll be ready to drive it down the road!”

For the Beaufort, North Carolina, Fourth of July Parade, Tom decided to get out his green 1954 CJ-3B and join in the fun.  Also pictured is Tom’s tan 1961 CJ-3B.  Those are some great looking jeeps.  Tom’s got two more CJ-3Bs, but not enough hands to drive all of them at once!  Thanks for sharing!

In memory to his Uncle Bill,  a Brit named Simon, living in Colorado at the moment, has decided to paint his Willys 1943 MB in the marking of the unit his uncle commanded at the end of World War II.

His Uncle Bill, Lt. Colonel Charles William Arnot MC, OBE, TD, served in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Field Surgeon in the British 50th (Tyne Tees) Division. Uncle Bill served through the dark days of 1939/1940 through to the liberation of Germany in 1945 eventually commanding 186th Field Ambulance.

His Uncle Bill died in the 1980’s when he was still young, and didn’t leave many mementos from his time in the War. So, Simon has pieced together the correct unit markings, together with history of the regiments progress through WWII from the internet, books, talking to family members and those items left by his Great Aunt.

As a result of this search, Simon has produced a PDF that documents his Uncle’s time during the war and decided to apply markings to his jeep which represent the unit his Great Uncle commanded in WWII, 186 Field Ambulance, part of the British 50th (Tyne Tees) Division.

Below is how Simon appllied the markings and below that an image of his jeep.

Thanks for sharing Simon!

Brian had an unsavable passenger side fender, so he found a 2A fender that met his needs and shows us what he did to fix it.  Thanks Brian!

Brian writes, ” The red fender, the original driver’s side 3b fender, was just more than I wanted to tackle. The yellow 2A fender had a useable top, but an inner wall that was gone.  Since I planned to removed the battery box portion of the fender anyway, the 2A fender fit my needs perfectly.”

“After I cut away the bad metal, I used a spot weld removal bit (here’s an example bit) to separate the pieces. (See the Early Cj2a page) I used the removal bit with my hand drill when I was working on the tub, but this time I used the drill press — much easier. One tip I learned was to look for a puff of rusty dust coming off the work piece, which indicates you through the first layer of material.”

Continue reading →