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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 .
Brian's been busy creating a new bumper for his CJ-3B build. He's says it's nothing fancy, but I think it's pretty nice. Here's a start-to-finish explanation of the work it took to make his bumper. Thanks for sharing Brian!
"Because the springs are longer than stock, I had to come up with a way to lengthen the frame a little in the rear. So, I fabricated a new rear bumper and incorporated a swing out spare tire mount. In addition, rather than cut holes into the body, I decided to put the tail lights in the bumper. To make the bumper, I only need to use a grinder, drill press, and a Mig welder — it's nothing fancy."
One of the ewillys readers asked me about jeep trailers for sale in the northwest. A quick search yielded a particularly interesting trailer from ww2 — a signal corp trailer.
" WW2 Jeep K38 trailer used by the U.S. army signal corps. This one looks like the one shown in a U.S.M.C manual from 1945."
Here's an interesting site I found. Blueprints.com claims to have over 24,000 automobile blueprints online (though they appear more like a single drawing rather than full blueprints), including a variety of jeeps. To the right is a jeep labeled CJ-4. The site manager states:
"I do not claim to have made, scanned or drawn all of the blueprints on this website. I did on the other collect, edit and host all of them, free of charge, in my spare time.
I made good progress over the weekend. As you can see, I was able to mount the fenders and take a few shots of the jeep with the fenders. It will look good.
In order to fit the fenders, I had to make cutouts in the wheel wells for the headers. But, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to fill around the headers. So, I bought a little bit of stove pipe and used that as a form to wrap fiberglass around the headers.
The last pic is the fenders with the new covers for the headers. To match the rest of the underside of the body, I'm going to paint herculiner on the wheelwell of the fenders (which saves a bunch of finish work) and fill in the gaps and paint the top and inside of the headers.
A reader named David has shared an old picture of his parents racing around the sand dunes in what looks to be a CJ-2A. This picture is a good reminder that you don't need a fancy jeep to go out and enjoy a day in the sand. David will be sending a few more pictures along with some background text soon. Thanks David!
Take one look at this photo and you can see why having a good roll cage is smart. The driver of this jeep, 63 year old Alvin Baldwin, died in the rollover after being ejected. The link to the original article no longer exists. It occurred outside Virginia City.
Well, I learned something new today: Drive Cycles ….
A couple days ago my 1997 BMW 540i failed an emissions test (for the second year in a row). Last year I had shown enough money spent on the engine to get a waiver. This year, I was a little nervous because I didn't know whether they'd give me a second waiver or not. (This vehicle is a blast to drive and a PIA to take care of or work on!!)
Well, I just got done speaking with the head of the Air Quality Testing for ADA County, my new friend Roger (I have to say that it's nice to be able to talk to the head of the department — that's one nice thing about living in a small populated state). What happened was not that I failed, but that they couldn't read my car's computer. The reason was that I have not completed a drive cycle since the last time I reset my car's computer codes (Any time I work on it, I reset the codes to see if I have fixed the problem). I figured anytime I got into the car and drove it that the computer would be on and recording normally. However, until a drive cycle is complete, none of my monitors (which are really groups of codes) are actually capable of being read. So, Roger, who said he consulted with the EPA back in 1992, said he had a good deal of insight into what constituted a drive cycle.
I made a good deal of progress with the fenders yesterday. I created a series of mini molds and fiberglassed several times in different sections to successfully capture the right angles. So, step 1 is complete.
Today I'll be drilling and mounting the fenders so that they fit correctly. One issue I have to surmount is that the slope on the fenders seems slightly different than the slope on the mount on the body, but I'm sure I can work around this issue.
Once fitted, then I'll have to create the cutouts for the headers and then create the new walls so that the headers are enclosed. Unlike metal fenders, which wouldn't lose too much strength when cutout for headers, the fiberglass will benefit from having that extra strength.
After the final modifications are made, I will be to run a second coat of resin and cloth along the entire underside of the fenders. This will create a smoother look and strengthen the fenders considerably.
The final step will be to use some filler and gel coat to smooth off the top surfaces — then I'll be ready for paint.
Have a dented header you want to fix? While combing the internet for advice on making my headers work, I came across this interesting solution for fixing dented headers. It involves water, a freezer, and some time. Note: I have not tried this, so cannot speak for its effectiveness
I've started the process of lengthening my fiberglass fenders. I've determined they need to be extended 4.5".
My first task was to clean the fenders. This yielded a surprise: Business cards from the builder of the body were embeded into both fenders. To the right a shot of one of them. The information suggests the seller was H.C. "Van" Wagner out of Puyallup, Washington. He sold Custom fiberglass products including Bobcat products. The name of the company has faded, but I have the address and phone info.
Once the fenders were cleaned, I cut them in half and I cut out the indent (traditionally for the battery) out of the passenger side. Once they were cut, I tapered down the cut pieces. To the left are the cut fenders.
The next step is to fiberglass them. I'm going to try laying down a layer of gelcoat and then lay the fiberglass over the top of it. I' haven't used gelcoat in my previous patching jobs, but am trying to gain experience so that I can use it when I do my custom hood project.
As a number of readers can attest, I've done a variety of craigslist deals (probably close to 40). This time, I had a '73 CJ-5 radiator I wanted to sell, so naturally I listed it on Craiglist. A potential buyer contacted me and said he was very interested, but couldn't come look at the radiator until after I had left for Seattle. So, I told him I would put the radiator outside and if he wanted it, to put the money into an envelope I pinned to the house.
Sure enough, two days later the radiator was gone and the money was inside the envelope. I was happier about the honesty than about the money 🙂
In fact, I've only had one deal where I didn't get all my money. I swapped a dirty 350 Cadillac motor I really didn't want for some guages, competition coil and a few other parts. The kids I swapped with was maybe 18 and didn't have a way to pickup the engine, so I said I'd charge him gas money to deliver it. When I got there he said he didn't have the money yet, but would mail it. Unfortunately, despite a couple reminders, I still haven't gotten the money. I plan to stop by his house next time I'm driving by (he's over an hour away) and remind him in person again.