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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 .
Maury spotted this jeep-family ad from Kaiser-Willys of Canada.
View all the information on eBay
“1956 Canadian Kaiser Willys print ad Jeep Universal, Wagon, & Pickup. Original magazine advertisement measures 7 X 9.5 inches (approx.).”
John recently rebuilt a set of Cutlas Selective Hubs, the type with the knob that rotates to engage and disengage the hub. There appear to be at least two styles of these hubs, one with a flat top and one with a groove, so that a tool (or improvised tool) can be used to help engage, disengage the hub.
This exploded overview from 1961 shows how the parts assemble (see the full brochure below this post):
As you can kind of see from this diagram, there are two sections: 1) is the hub cap that holds the knob and the spring in place (from part 107-2 in the middle and everything to the right of it) and 2) the hub base (part 108-2 and everything to the left of it).
John wrote, “Overall I’d say these are my favorite hubs I’ve worked on so far. I have a pair of Warn hubs (with the tiny needle bearings) and a pair of Selectro hubs (big chrome knob type). The Warns seemed like a real pain to rebuild since the needle bearing were in rough shape. And the Selectro hubs, while very easy to operate, were probably the weakest design I’ve seen.”
Here’s a look at John’s finished product, as it’s the best example a complete hub next to a hub with the top separated from the base:
I went with a 2 tone paint job just for fun. If it doesn’t last for any reason I’ll end up with the whole thing gloss black and a chrome knob. The body was so badly pitted there was no saving the original finish
HUB CAP:
We’ll start with the hub’s cap first. John provided the following note: “To remove the coupling piece (part 102-2 Coupling) from the chrome cap (with the cutlas knob) you have to line it up right with the correct groove, then push down firmly against the spring inside (part 110-2 coupling spring). While pushing down spin the coupling, and then the coupling spring will pop the coupling right out and its free.”
With the inner portion of the cap apart, you can see the coupling ring, the coupling, the coupling cam spring (part 107-2) and the coupling cam pins (parts 105-2).
Maury published a forum-thread on rebuilding his Ross Steering Box. He (and I) thought you all might find it interesting, too. He also wanted to ackowledge Moses Ludel for all his help (read their exchange here).
This is the link to their subsequent installation & alignment thread: http://forums.4wdmechanix.com/topic/747-ross-tl-steering-gear-installation-and-wheel-alignment/
Here’s a note about Maury’s experience:
I suspect everyone knows who Moses Ludel is, as he has been involved with jeeps at a professional level for several decades. As you may be aware, he has written several excellent books on jeep rebuilding and maintenance, including the Jeep CJ Rebuilders Manuals and the Jeep Owner’s Bible. He is the administrator of the 4WD Mechanix website as well.
The original Ross TL steering gear in my 1967 V6 CJ5 badly needed rebuilding, and I really wanted to accomplish this with NOS parts to the greatest extent possible. Late last year, in researching possibilities for having the rebuild work done professionally, I came across a video on Moses’ website about rebuilding the Ross boxes in which he rebuilt one for a client. I contacted him to ask if he was still doing that kind of work on the side. He responded that he is not, but in short order, he got me interested in doing the rebuild myself. Moses offered to assist me through the process by helping me create a pictorial thread on his website, through which he could advise me as I worked through it one step at a time.
The resulting process of finding the parts and fully rebuilding and installing two Ross TL boxes (mine and my brother in law’s) is thoroughly documented in the two threads linked to above. The first thread is on the rebuilding process itself, and the second covers the installation and alignment of the gear. I found the DIY approach to be very rewarding, including the fact that I “had” to acquire several tools I didn’t own or know how to use before.
Moses’ help and advice were invaluable in successfully completing this project. He is a true guru of all things jeep, and I am grateful that he very generously spent so much time guiding me through this process. I hope these threads will be equally helpful to others who decide to try rebuilding their Ross gearboxes themselves.
UPDATE: Hard to believe it has been almost three years since I published this post!
I discovered these directions for the Muller Custom Top in the August 1965 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine that we’ve seen on nicely modified Fresno area Jeeps. I’m considering building one of these for Biscuit and selling my Kayline.
Page 40 (last page of article) below:
Alex offered this tip on flatfender passenger bars, aka ‘sissy’ bars.
I see on your site quite a few CJ2 or 3 A and even GPW-MBs with “sissy bars” mounted on the dashboards (see photo of red Jeep).
A few years ago, while teaching my niece how to drive, I was in the passenger seat and she drove off a bridge where we fell 9 feet into a dry creek. I got lightly wounded, no problem. The Jeep survived OK.
And here is my point : if I had installed the sissy bar on the dashboard, I today would be for the rest of my life in a wheel chair with exploded knees, because it is just the right heigth to smash them in case of accident (which is not the case in the CJ3 B or CJ5 as their dashboards are quite higher).
Thus to prevent body harm, I recommend to all those who have these grab bars mounted on above mentioned Jeep’s dashboards to move them higher, onto the windshield (see photo of my yellow CJ3 A), where they actually are much more useful.
A bar mounted to the windshield is what Alex recommends.
The way some bars are installed.
I happened upon this website while looking for some transmission information. As I scrolled through the page I was impressed with the amount and organization of information. I ended up spending time viewing a bunch of other pages. Since it is a Wiki-based website, people can make corrections and add information.
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Transmission_identification
Dan’s had some extra time lately due to a recent foot surgery. He’s used some of that time to put together a “how-to” on auxiliary gauge restoration for the 1950-56 Wagon, Delivery, and Truck and the 1950-1951 Jeepster. He notes they aren’t ‘perfect’, but are a big improvement.
Dexter spotted this 1949 issue of Popular Science at a local swap meet the other day. A reader of the magazine sent in an idea for waterproofing a jeep for only $.75. Not a bad price. Probably wouldn’t cost much more today. Note that it was in 1949 that the CJ-3A came out with a mini gutter to distribute water similar to the role the weather stripping hint accomplishes. I still have one of those gutters if anyone needs it.
And some other neat hints that aren’t jeep related
In this story from Gus and the Model Garage, Gus investigates the centrifugal-advance mechanism. “Gus and the Case of the Councilman’s Car” was published in October 1968.
http://www.gus-stories.org/html/october_1968.htm
This is another story about a jeep from the Gus and the Model Garage series published in Popular Science Monthly. This particular article was published in June of 1955. In this story Gus learns about the oil float in the old Willys motors.
http://www.gus-stories.org/june_1955.htm
