Features Research Archives

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Automatic Transmission in DJ-3As, DJs and Others(?)

April 7, 2022 • CATEGORIES: DJ-3A, Features, FJ This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Dave asked me about the type of adapter used on DJ-3As and FJs to connect an automatic transmission (which may have been the Borg Warner model 12 according to David Sapp mentioned in his comment to this post, though I have no documented evidence of this, but it should be out there somewhere). Essentially, a adapter plate is bolted to the back of an L-head/F-head engine, to which the transmission bell housing attaches.

After some searching, Dave spotted the adapter in an FJ supplement book. Here are the pics.

fj-auto-transmission-plate2-lores fj-auto-transmission-plate1-lores

Meanwhile, a discussion from 2012 on the topic of DJ-3A automatic transmissions yielded these pics showing a BW transmission connected to an L-head with a similar looking plate.

automatic-transmission-dj3a-1

automatic-transmission-dj3a-2

As for the rare shifter that’s been captured in some pics, this pic is the best I have (from a DJ-3A automatic). It confirms Barry Goodwin’s comment on another post that the transmission lacked a “Park” feature. Instead, the driver would put it in neutral when parking (and I assume pull the parking brake).

dj3a-automatic-transmission-shifter

If anyone has a document that confirms it was the M-12 BW transmission that was used, or has more pics or is aware of other useful discussions on this topic, please let me know. There isn’t much info about these setups on the web.

FYI: Based on my research, it appears the Willys Aero cars of the 1950s used a GM Hydramatic rather than a BW transmission.

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MD Juan Virtual Tour

April 4, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Mike shared this video of a brief MD Juan factory tour. The video, in part, demonstrates the scope of equipment necessary to make some of the parts. It’s not a trivial investment in stamps and computer equipment.

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Kurland Hubs and Kurland Histories

April 3, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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One of the rarest type of jeeps hubs are the Kurland hubs. I’ve only had one pic of these hubs (thanks to Ted Jordan) until yesterday when Richard Darr forwarded me a photo of a set of hubs he acquired. This led me to a quick dive into the internet, which yielded the following.

A variety of searches related to “Kurland” and “Kurland Motors” yielded results in both Los Angeles (a city whose name appears on the hub) and Denver. In fact, there were Kurland Motor companies in Los Angeles, Denver, and Grand Junction, Colorado (also known as Kurland Junction Motors).

The Denver location was opened as early as August 1946, as an ad in the Windsor Beacon out of Windsor, Colorado, mentioned the new Universal Jeep arriving for delivery (soon).

1946-08-29-windsor-beacon-kurland-motors-ad

I couldn’t location much information about this Denver Willys distributor, other than Kurland Motors was instrumental in the launch of the Mile High Jeep Club in 1956 and that Kurland Motors, at least for a short time, marketed Kurland-branded bumpers about that same time.

Regarding Kurland Junction Motors, I was able to locate this ad from February 22, 1948, (The Daily Sentinel, GC, CO):

1948-02-22-daily-sentinel-gc-colo-kurland-junction-motors

Now, were the Denver/Grand Junction Kurland dealers connected to the Kurland Motors of Los Angeles that also sold Willys-Overland vehicles? If they were related, I have yet to find a connection. But, at least I was able to unearth more information about the LA Kurland.

1948-12-05-los-angeles-times-kurland-opens

CREDIT: December 05, 1948, issue of the Los Angeles Times

As the article suggests, the Transport Motor Company lost some key personnel. Perhaps Transport Motors had decided to exit its Willys-Overland relationship?

At some juncture, it appears Kurland launched a line of free-wheeling hubs. These hubs were stamped with 1) KURLAND, 2) Los Angeles and 3) Patent Pending. Unfortunately, I could find no patents related to the hubs. In fact, the only information I could find related to the hubs was a reference to a CJ-2A being sold with a set of the hubs.

1955-11-10-independent-long-beach-cal-kurland-hubs-ad

November 10, 1955, Independent News, Long Beach, CA.

Here are the only pics I have of the hubs:

KURLAND-HUBS-RICHARD

CREDIT: Richard Darr

ted-jordan-kurland-hubs-backs-lores1

CREDIT: Ted Jordan

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1951 Wagon and Trailer Trip to Ensenada, Mexico

April 3, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images Jeeping, Old News Articles • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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In 1951, Kurland Motors provided the Los Angeles Times automobile editor, Lynn Rogers, a wagon for a journey down to Ensenada, Mexico. A description of the trip was printed in the October 21, 1951, issue of the Los Angeles Times.

1951-10-21-los-angeles-times-wagon-camper-trip1

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Overdrive Differences

March 31, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Features, OD Other, OD Saturn/Warn This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Will shared pics that show some of the differences between a Warn overdrive with a Husky overdrive. Regarding finding Husky parts, my best guess for parts would be Herm Tilford.

Will writes, “A little while back there was a discussion on the different overdrive units. There where several different units produced and maybe others but the ones I’ve seen are Warn, Dualmatic, Saturn, Husky and ATV overdrives that all looked similar. Saturn is a direct decedent of the Warn as Advance Adapters purchased the tooling from Warn to make the Saturn. I don’t know much about the Dualmatic or ATV except ATV is still produced as is Saturn.

Anyway I had mentioned that the Husky had a different angle to the planetary gears, Sun gear and bowl gear than Warn. These pictures show how the Warn had much more tooth angle than Husky and as such these parts do not interchange and Husky parts are near impossible to find.”

IMG_8652 IMG_8651 IMG_8650

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In 1957-58 4 Italians Drove to Toledo the Long Way

March 30, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Features, International, Old News Articles • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: This was first posted in August of 2016.

This September 13, 1958, article from the Toledo Blade told the story of four italians who drove what appears to be a WWII jeep a distance of 80,000 miles from Italy to Toledo. The men, all newspapermen, planned to drive another 15,000 miles back to Italy. What a trip! I wonder if their counterparts in 2013 knew of their countrymen’s adventure?

1958-09-13-toledo-blade-italians-world-adventure1 1958-09-13-toledo-blade-italians-world-adventure2

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Re-Grading the Little House Lawn

March 27, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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In another of the series of why-I-am-not-working-on-jeeps-right-now posts, the warm weather has allow me to get busy the last couple of days regrading the lawn next to the guest house. The previous owner had put a garden next to the shop. We wanted that to go, because it was in the shade most of the time and because it didn’t make sense for us in that location. In addition, there was a negative slop into the south side of the guest house. Finally, we want to add a walking path along the lawn side of the shop and install some new sprinklers (line were laid for this area, but, we have discovered, the growth of the lean-to-structure (at back) and the construction of the guest house a few years ago appear to have been built, in some cases, over the original lines. So, we are having to locate this sprinkler line as we go.

Here’s what it looked like when we bought the place:

little-house-south-lawn2
 2804-s-wilgus-prosser-26 copy

All those issues led me to regrade the area this weekend. Pulling up the grass turned out to be the most difficult part. So, I used my fork-lift forks to stab, then lift the grass. The result was this jumbled mess.

2022-03-26-grading-little-house-lawn1

Eventually, I got all the area roughed out, with the sod and dirt piled in one big pile.

little-house-south-lawn-dug

With the roughing-out completed, today I will spend some time using a level to see what other work needs to be done, mark the future walk-way path, and layout some additional lines and sprinklers.

Now I just have to find a place for all that dirt!

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