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Video 2022 Namibia Flatfender Adventure

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

You may remember that in early 2020, just before the first Covid surge, I’d been invited to join Claus and several of his friends on a flat fender trip through the southwestern African country of Namibia. I missed out on that opportunity, not only due to Covid, but also a whole range of family health issues made any type of extended journey impossible.

In 2022, Claus and his friends completed a tour of Namibia, with an excellent videographer in tow. The resulting montage from that trip has been wound into an excellent video. It looks like quite an adventure over some amazing scenery! Thanks for sharing Claus!

The video is blocked from being viewed remotely, so click on the image to go to YouTube. The video is 36 minutes long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9D2ZFnWOBQ

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1950s South African Angus Fire Jeep Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features, International This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This rare brochure for an Angus “Invincible” Fire Engines was produced for South Africa. I looked for an example of an Angus Willys Fire engine jeep, but could not locate any examples. I had hoped this brochure had more images, but there’s only the one image on the cover.south-africa-angus-willys-fire-jeep-brochure1-lores

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Hawaii-Style MB/GPW Body Apache Junction, AZ $800

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

UPDATE: Price dropped to $800.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2459849277550114

Joe-in-Mesa’s friend Keith shared pics of this Hawaii-Style looking jeep. Keith is willing to sell it, but also wants to learn more about it.

To me, it looks like something someone brought to the US Mainland from Hawaii. You can compare this to the others we have documented here: http://www.ewillys.com/tag/hawaii-body/

If you have interest in it, feel free to email me and I’ll pass along Kieth’s info: d@deilers.com.

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eWillys Mobile HQ

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

On Wednesday, Ann and I returned from a very quick trip to St. George, where we purchased a 2003 Alpine 38′ Motor Coach with three slides. While I had my reservations about purchasing a vehicle like this, then driving 1000 miles in it, the rig performed flawlessly. We couldn’t have asked for more from it. Still, there’s a bunch of things we need to learn. Here are some pics.

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So, how did we arrive at choosing an Alpine? Well, that’s a bit of a story …  Continue reading

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May 1956 Willys Service and Parts News

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

After a few dud issues, this one has a few interesting items. Page two devotes almost half a page to Vacuum Power Brake Kits, like the kind that was installed on the DJ-3A when we bought it. This article shows that their installation was more common than I suspected.

On page four, there’s an article about the new “Fresh-Air” heater and cab ventilator and some of its advantages, along with a kit number. Also on page four, there’s an interesting article about the top bow rear brackets. First, their installation was cancelled in late 1955, but then Willys reversed that decision and added them again. So, there are some stock models made 1955 that didn’t have them.

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Old Photo with Jeep Pulling Floats

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

Roberto Flores shared this image from another group of an older jeep pulling floats. The hardtop is unusual and was usually seen in Europe, but it’s my guess that this was taken in California somewhere. I was able to use Google search to locate the same pic on Jalopy Journal.

https://www.facebook.com/RobertoFloresCartoonist/posts/pfbid0ZC2Nw6vQDX5Yx33kAHY8tLJ28sWcxUknxLMifPtPwWxkzGCDgu1CjKd9JiAt9onHl

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MB: From Jack’s Gov Surplus to Toledo Fest

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

Thanks to Bill for sharing this news. Back in 2013 Ann and I drove by Jack’s Government Surplus outside of Tucson. We photographed this jeep. I assumed it was junk:

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I’m sure others of you have seen the jeep as well. Well, that jeep was acquired and restored. Here it is at the 2024 Toledo Fest:

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You can watch a video (that I can’t seem to embed) and read more here: https://www.wtol.com/article/life/automotive/jeep/toledoan-restores-wwii-era-jeep-for-showcase-at-toledo-jeep-fest/

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More Progress on the FC & New Mobile eWillys HQ

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

We’ve spent the past couple of weeks researching and viewing motorhomes (so much learned). We have decided upon one we like (powerful, 10k towing, easier to maintain, strong resell market, locally made, plentiful solar power), which I’ll unveil later this week, assuming everything goes well (we have a bit of a drive to go get it). I’ll discuss this more later.

It’s first ‘event’ will be in two weeks at the PNW4WDA summer convention. Here is a sneak peak (again, if all goes well);2003-alpine-38ft-coach-1

All that time and research, plus more heat and Ann’s short vacation, definitely slowed progress on the FC. But, I was able to get most of the wires labeled using Ann’s label maker, though I didn’t realize until half-way through that I could create multiple lines (insert head exploding emoji here); so, for example, “Bat-to-Ign” on one line could be better labeled “Battery to Ignition” on three lines.

Once I complete that task, then I can bind the wires up more tightly and cleanly and begin testing systems. As you can kind of see below (not the best pic), the wiper knob, the light switch, the ignition switch, the dash-turn blinkers, and the speedometer are all connected using plugs. They all have labels, so identifying their corresponding plug should be easy. In addition, I tried to use different types of plugs so that plugging something incorrectly would be nearly impossible. The lighter is also easy to unplug. More difficult is the three gauges under the dash, as two of them are mechanical (I couldn’t find 1.5″ electric temp and oil gauges). So, the gauge panel has to be unbolted if the dash is completely removed.

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Here, most of the wires have been labeled. I can’t wait to clean up the spaghetti!

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