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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.
There are plenty of interesting, unusual, historic and surprising stories related to Jeeps and their owners. In addition, some of these features have nothing to do with jeeps. This link will display all featured stories starting from the latest.
Looking for parts and not sure where to go? There are a variety of large and small new and used parts sellers both online and offline.
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 .
It was a beautiful morning in southwestern Ohio, so Roger took his wife’s grandkids to some breakfast this morning in his 1947 CJ-2A. it was was painted Jade Green in 1967.
His jeep still looks as good as it did when I drove it in 2013…
UPDATE: This is not for sale.
Roger shared these pics of an air-cooled engine he has. He showed it off at this year’s Willys Rally. It’s an air-cooled engine with “WILLYS” cast on the valve cover and intended for use as a generator, though he was told it was the same engine used in the M-274 Mule.
UPDATE: This updated post from 2012 now includes photos taken by David Carr at LA County’s Cabrillo Beach. The three photos below are on a wall as part of a “wall-of-fame”.
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From June 28, 2012: Over the past 100 years Los Angeles County has used a variety of vehicles to manage their beaches. As part of a retrospective, the article below shows a few of them, along with welcoming some new hybrids into the County system. All photos belong to LA County’s Life Guard Association.
Here are two GPWs (the pics were from a now defunct blog):
Bathing beauties were still posing on county lifeguard trucks in 1959.
Buz unearthed this CJ-2A Life Guard Jeep used by the city of Los Angeles (vs. the county). Though the caption accompanying the jeep suggests this was war surplus, it’s clear this is a civilian rig. The rear extension is interesting, though doesn’t look neatly done.
The Estate Sale: This past weekend’s estate sale kept us busy! Overall, it was success, but exhausting. Most importantly, we found homes for all kinds of stuff. Still, there are some dump runs and donation runs in our future, but not nearly as much as it could have been.
We have not yet sold the motorhome (my mother-in-law’s), though there was plenty of interest at the estate sale. We haven’t used it in a year and a half and don’t have plans for it, so we figured we’d sell it. We paid off the loan, so we own it free and clear.
2014 Sun Seeker 32800 miles, winter package, built on an E450 Ford Chassis. It runs great, has lots of storage and sleeps six. It has auto-leveling, a slide out, two awnings, gas/electric fridge, and more. NADA average retail is $63,300. We are priced at $65,000.
Perhaps the next best outcome of the event was meeting neighbors who had known the builder of our place. Many had known “Merl”, some fondly and some less so, as he was “a character”. His wife must have been a patient woman!
Miraculously, the pouring rain stopped on Saturday morning at 4am, giving us a little time to remove tarps and pop-up tents. The crowds were even and steady, likely a result of it being graduation weekend (we didn’t know that). The rain stayed away until Sunday around 3pm, when it began pouring to the point of causing some flooding in places across southeastern Washington.
As for Mom’s place:
Last pic from Mom’s place … the garage where several jeeps were built and rebuilt.
On Tuesday, we drove to mom’s place, probably for the last time, so it was a little bitter-sweet. After nearly 60 years in family hands, the property has sold. We met the buyers, who signed the papers Tuesday morning. They were a nice couple who are excited to be get the place, as it is unique. I walked them through the property, sharing stories and pointing out things they should know, which reminded me just how much work the place needs. But, that’s no longer my problem (thankfully).
The DJ-3A: After we get the shop cleared of the remain estate items, I will install Patterson’s new fuel pump, double check a few things, then he’ll be ready for sale.
Bob Smith assembled these pics into a video fo the 2022 Great Willys Picnic.
A big thanks to Tom for sending me some Willys Rally swag. He reports that he had another great time at this year’s Willys Rally! The pic below includes there printed posters from previous years that he sent me last month. The shirt fits great (I’m wearing it as I type this).
On Sunday I turned 57. The years seem to be churning by all too quickly! To celebrate my aging, I spent more time removing parts off both the green chassis and the black chassis (no updated pics of that). While spending time thinking and measuring how to use as much of the existing green chassis and black chassis parts as I can, I made an unexpected discovery.
The green chassis is 5 inches wider than the black chassis!. The black chassis is a standard size (29.5″ from inner side to inner side) and seems to be most likely a CJ-3A chassis. The green chassis has the side mounts for the springs and was most likely a DJ-5 chassis as some point. For whatever reason, someone decided the frame rails should be widened, so all the crossmembers were removed but one (which was simply cut and patched using angle iron). The rest of the cross members are all rectangular tubing.
Given the widening, I don’t feel the need to outboard the rear springs at this time (perhaps a winter project). Unfortunately, the wider frame rails mean that I can’t just reuse the sway bar on the back of the black chassis (though I can reuse the mounts). I just need a sway bar that is 5″ wider than the one I have.
I am awaiting the delivery of an adapter so I can try out my new YesWelder plasma cutter to clean up more of the frame and am awaiting delivery of my new MIG Hobart MVP 210 Welder (I have a very very old arc welder that’s a big workhorse on heavy metal, but I wanted something for finer work). I had considered something as cheap as the YesWelder MIG (it is well-rated, but some folks complained about support problems) and something pricier as the Miller Multimatic 215 (which came highly recommended, but may be more than I need right now), but finally decided to get something more in between.
Anyway, here are a few pics of the progress. There’s nothing particularly exciting .. just the drudgery of cutting, grinding, and smoothing areas …
The seat mounting frame (1″x1″) tubing was uneven and not the best system in my opinion, so I cut and grounded the welds flat:
With the seat mount frame gone, you can see the floor base (also 1″x1″ square tube). It’s not welded level (ugh), so it will likely go away as well.
The side rails needed to be replaced as they were built for the narrower body, so off they came. I also plan to do a side bar similar to the way the other frame is done (more on that later).
Also gone are the mud flaps on the back (racing requirement), as they were welded onto the inside of the rear tubes (ugh). I will cover the rear tube with plates to hide the parts welded inside, then will cut off and mount the flap system used on the other frame, which is a long tube welded under the rear bumper with flap mounts that are bolted onto the tube (again, more on that later).
We plan to have a garage/estate sale this weekend, so work will slow for a few days. At least I will finally be able to get rid of a bunch of junk that has filled the shop. As Ann has been finalizing stuff in the house, more items have ended up in the shop, so I will be happy to have this stuff gone and have more room to work.
Finally, I am awaiting a new fuel pump for Patterson (which has taken more than 2 weeks to get here). Once that is here, I will test things out once more, then put Patterson up for sale (essentially trading up for a different jeep, but I will announce that later).
Tom shared a pic of this cool CJ-6 with a restored willys-engine-powered compressor in the back. It was at the Willys Rally.
Here’s a second pic that Tom took of the same jeep a few years ago:
A couple days ago I took disassembled some of the black and green race jeep. The cage for the narrow body is tool small to be useful for me. So, I will bend my own cage, built for the yellow parkette body, and outboard the rear springs while I am at it. I will also swap out the current swing pedals for the ones on the yellow racer. Hopefully, I can get this project done by August, in time for Summer Convention. We will see….
Here is a comparison of the Parkette full-size body vs. the narrow body. The difference is enough to give a person more room at the feet (more room for gas, brake and clutch). The narrow body would probably work better for an auto transmission with just a gas pedal and brake (I prefer to have enough room to the left of the clutch to help brace myself.
The narrow body seems better built, perhaps a slightly thicker fiberglass job. The Parkette needs some reinforcement in my opinion (which I will do).
Her’s the narrow body racer without the body. Thankfully, unlike the other racer, this cage was bolted, rather than welded, to the frame.
Well, the seat support piece was welded to the rollcage and to the frame, but it was easy to cut. I will have a different setup for the seats. Note the broken driveline ‘safety’ loop, that wasn’t very safe. I have a much stronger one from the other chassis.
Here is a trail run of Parkette body on the racer.
Besides the new roll cage and the rear springs being out-boarded, the side bar will need replacing (it was built for the narrower body). A new firewall needs to be built (it will be wider, thanks to the wider parkette body, than the current one). The steering wheel needs to be angled differently and will have a tilt column (my preference).
Thankfully, the power train can remain in tact, as will the front spring setup. So, that saves a bunch of work.
Roger shared these pics from the Willys Rally
This scale-model toy jeep and trailer is really neat, too:
