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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 .
Mike emailed me pics of his beautiful custom build this morning. He’s taken his time over the past few decades to build something nice. I especially like the heated seats :-). But, this build isn’t just pretty; Mike takes it out on some ‘severe’ trails in the Northwest with his friend Phil, whose CJ-3A you can see here.
“Here are some photos of a CJ3B that I have worked on over the years. I have had this jeep for over 20 years. The frame started life as a 1950 CJ3A but the body was shot and I really like the 3B style. I purchased a new steel body kit from 4 wheel parts wholesalers and at the time it was on sale and cost $900 complete.
The way it is now is the final version. The color is Impact orange, The motor is an all aluminum 5.3 L33 engine that only had 6 miles on it. The transmission is a turbo 350 mated to a Dana 300. The rear end is a 1975 CJ5 Dana 44 with full floating axles and disc brakes with 4:56 gears. The front end is a dana 30 with the same gears and disc brakes. It has power steering and an aluminum radiator .
The interior is 2008 Corvette buckets with power and they are heated (great in colder weather) Lokar shifter, autometer gauges, Flaming river column plus a lot of other things.”
Paul wanted to wish everyone a happy ‘stainless’ new year and to tell you to remember to play with your Willys!
Paul writes, “By 7:30 this morning (Jan 1st) I was back in the garage working on the Willys (fitting the door seal upper attach flanges) and starting my twentyfifth year on this rebuild. I hope to have the stainless Willys fully finished and on the road within the next two years where folks seeing it for the first time and unaware of the time I spent on this project will deem it an overnight success! We do have long winter nights and the winter’s are kind of long but not THAT long. Anyway, after the Jeep is done I have a 1951 military 1/4 ton trailer I plan on rebuilding out of stainless steel to match the Jeep. This will be an easy job and shouldn’t take all that much time.
After all I’ve learned while fabricating the various stainless parts over the years I figure I could crank out another stainless Willys in fifteen years or so but I have other projects waiting for attention so I believe I’ll stop after completing this one.”
These wooden Jeeps and Broncos were built by a craftsman named Jack who posted these photos to a website called Cherry Bronco.com (site was live in 2010, but has been down for years). He made wooden vehicles and furniture as a hobby in his spare time.
In the case of the 1977 Cherry Ford Bronco below, as you can see in the before and after pics, the body was pretty trashed and in need of something new. The pieces are all 7/8″ to 1″ pieces glued and screwed together. The bumpers and trim are done in Oak and Ash. A single coat of linseed Oil and three coats of Marine Varnish protect the finish and the owners clean it with furniture polish. Surprisingly, the new wooden body is actually 300lbs lighter than the original metal.
On New Year’s weekend last year, Gerald and his brother towed home a Craigslist find. One year later, they are almost done with a great looking budget build. Gerald tooks some pics and tells the story. Thanks guys — and I agree with you on those tires. They look great!
Gerald writes, This started as a Craigslist ad for a 1948 Willys CJ-2A basket case. He wanted alot more, but after a month of trades and low balls he took the 1000 dollars offer for the lot. Much of the dirty work was done and lots of parts were included. The jeep finally arrived home over new years weekend, January 2009.
Because we didn’t trust any of the work done thus far, our first task was to take it apart the rest of the way. Once apart, we first focused on fitting the body correctly, which was a 10 + year old MD Juan generic (m-38 / mb) body, along with the stock hood and grill. We also fabbed up a rear crossmember and hitch.
As we examined some of the running gear parts, we discovered the rear axle was shot (which we replaced from a spare beater jeep out back) and decided to add new 11 inch brakes for the front (from craigslist). The springs were new, so that saved time and money. We tore down the motor, transmission and transfer case to make sure they were in good shape, and then refit them properly to the frame, including fabbing up some motor mounts.
Then, we went to work on the roll cage, which was partially built out of some bar from our old family jeep along with some new tube. After we got everything mocked up, we tore it back apart to get ready for painting.
There was stripping and sanding, more stripping and sanding, and then, finally, we sprayed it a deep blue. We took the time to paint the underside of the body first, along with many of the parts. Then, we assembles the body to the frame and gave it a final coat.
Next came the small stuff such as gauges, wiring, linkages, fuel system, windshield and exhaust. BTW, I have never seen a head with a fixed rear outlet. Does anyone know if this could be from a truck?
One of the most critical steps occurred this week, almost one year from the start date of the project: The Jeep gets the right set of wheels and tires. As you could see in the earlier pics, the jeep came with some new tires, but we felt they weren’t right (700 15), so my brother sold them on Craigslist.
Instead, he went with these Interco Super Swamper Radials 265 80 16. They are mounted on 8 inch wide alum wheels, which was another Craigslist find. I think these are perfect tires for a Willys in my estimate. He picked them up today in Wheeling, West Virginia, at National tire.
After seeing Chad’s build yesterday, Gerald sent me pics of the ‘Swamp Rat’, which also sports a flathead V8. Of course, it’s got a bit more wear and tear on it than Chad’s, but i have to say I really like the way that fits in the engine compartment. This sure has an old school feel to it.
Gerald notes, “Check out Johnny’s wood cab and side pipes. The paint chipped off the windshield, but it used to say RAT. It’s a star attraction at one of our local yards.”
One day as I was going through some old brochures, I started recording some of the slogans. Here’s just a few of them:
Jeep: The world’s most useful vehicle
The sun never sets on a jeep
Ten Billion Miles of Proof
Willys puts the F in Farm Power
Keep America on the Move
Do it quicker; do it better with 4wd
A revolutionary vehicle for a thousand jobs
There’s a Jeep vehicle for your toughest job
Willys Builds the Universal Jeep
The Worlds Hardest Workers
The Worlds’ most willing workers
Sign of the times, Willys Jeep Vehicles
You’ll be ‘busy as a bee’ in your new vehicle from Jeep
Two things Willys is known for, Beauty & Stamina (which referred to the Aero and the Jeep)
Here’s a wonderful build, an experiment by a reader named Chad. He wanted to know what a Ford Model A Roadster would look like if Willys built it. So, naturally, he built one himself!
He writes, “Did all of it myself except the upholstery, in my home garage. It’s got a flathead V8 for power and took between 6 and 8 years start to finish. The dDrivetrain is flathead V8 adapted to a C-4 automatic adapted to Dana 18. Front axle is Dana 27 w/Corvette discs….rear is Dana 44 with one piece axles and Lock-rite geared 4.27. I thought maybe it would be a four year job, but stuff happens and there was a whole lot of headscratching to make things look ‘somewhat factory’. I used as many factory parts as I could but not necessarily the way they were used ‘by the factory’…..(those are Jeepster tailights, but they aren’t mounted that way on a Jeepster, just as an example).”
Based on a reader’s inquiry, I decided to do some research regarding the Veep. I’ve seen a few of these for sale over the past couple of years, but it doesn’t happen often and I really knew nothing about them. So, here’s the little bit I learned.
According to the Dune Buggy Archives, the Veep was sold as both a completed jeep and as a kit by Hadley Engineering, which was based at 1778 Monrovia, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 (maybe they are still there). The company claimed that any Beetle or Karman Ghia could be used to build a Veep in about 40 hours.
I’ve only seen two engine sizes so far, a 1600 cc or a 1800 cc VW motor. The suspension, frame, and running gear is all VW. Most of the veeps appear to use a replacement M-38 body, though one ad below claims a ’42 body (mb or gpw) was used. The gas tank is mounted in the front, which simply looks odd when you open the hood. Below is a couple brochures and some misc Veeps. In the posts below are some additional Veeps.
I’m still hardly an expert on these, so if you have additional information, I’d love to learn more.
Gerald found these pics. If anyone has or runs across any similar pics, I’d like to see them.
1. Here’s an ad for the older Armstrong tires:
2. A vintage 1946 stamped envelope top from Willys Overland:
3. During a search for the 1960 auto show pics, Gerald found this image from the 1965 auto show. He immediately thought of the show Mad Men. The girls may be as lovely as the ones on the show, but the men are much older (compare the photos below and you decide!
I ran across this website, which shows pictures of Phil’s former 1953 CJ-3A. According to his website, he has sold this jeep. It’s solid looking, nice jeep.
What I liked about some of these pics is that they show a solution for installing a taller engine into a flattie. I figured there might be some readers out there who would find this interesting.
Here’s some pics of the transfer case/tranny undercarriage. Note how it has been dropped with some square tubing.
Now look at how the engine has been dropped. Solid plates and arms reach out from the engine to the frame and mount on top of something welded to the side of the frame. It I were doing this, I’d probably beef up the metal that spans the gap from the engine to the frame. What I can see is if there is rubber underneath the point where the engine mount meets the frame.
Note the back of the frame has been lifted by inserting a block between the shackle and the frame. Strangely, this wasn’t done in the front.
Note the hood on this CJ-3A. It appears to be a trimmed down CJ-3B Hood.
