The replacement steering box is in and the Jeep is almost ready to come home.The multicolored column is the perfect visual history.
Paul enlisted the help of some of his vintage car buddies (the cars, not the buddies). Here you see them working on the box after pulling the fender.
Too cold for much of a test drive but Paul took us for a quick spin around his property. Couple of minor tweaks and then we bring it home (on the first warm day). Looks so much better than that first day.
Paul hit a snag on replacing the broken steering box. Something about bearings and it means what he expected to be an easy job… won’t be. So no idea when I’ll finally get behind the wheel.
But it was a nice day so I put a fresh coat of paint on the roll bar and the tub. There are some brackets in the tub that I think will be perfect for safety anchors for the dogs’ harnesses. Not much left (that I can help with). I’ll paint the seats this week and finally say so long to the camo.
I put the jerry can in its mount, just to see how it looks. Very Jeepish but if it starts feeling like a big ass IED, I’ll leave it at home. AAA is my friend.
24 Hours Later: After thinking about it overnight, I decided to remove the jerrycan from the back of the Jeep. One, there was the Exploding Pinto consideration. Two, it is unlikely I’ll ever drive so far I need more fuel than the Jeep’s tank holds. And three, with the spare tire and the jerrycan the back of the Jeep would be too crowded. The vehicle just isn’t wide enough for all that stuff.
While I’m grateful to the previous owners of the Jeep for all the good things they did for her, the camo paint job cannot be forgiven. But I’m fixing that, little by little.
Today I painted the dash (does a Jeep have a dash?). Not sure why anyone thought the inside of the Jeep needed to be camouflaged. Probably just liked the camo look as much as I hate it.
The dark spots in the photo above are where the spray paint hasn’t completely dried. Only remaining camo is the cover of the seats and that will be taking care of next week. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we’ll give the roll bar a fresh coat leaving only the inside of the tub.
All of this will get much easier when we can drive/steer the Jeep. Next day or so?
We’ve grown accustomed to seeing old cars in period movies and vintage car shows but they never look real to me in those settings. This video (mute the awful music!) shows them as they were. These are images from my youth and –for me– it was a wonderful time.
Sort of. I used the Shop-Vac to suck out the dust and gunk that had accumulated under the carpeting that lined the tub. Sponged it out in preparation for a coat of paint. Before that, however, Paul recommends going over the metal with Scotch-Brite pads (arrow).
The tailgate has been bolted closed because a) it’s pretty much useless and b) to accommodate a mounting bracket for the spare (arrow). Paul is very particular about wheels and tires and has located a rim that matches the ones on the vehicle. Still need to paint the jerry can mount and I think I might keep a few gallons strapped to the back of the Jeep. Took the top off again because I plan to paint the roll bar at the first opportunity.
The remaining photos are just for fun. The iconic Jeep grill; the tidy little engine; and a nice 3/4 view. The steering box scheduled for deliver by end-of-day tomorrow so I might a wheel to get behind in the next week.
Steve Hoefer, an online acquaintance, shares his family’s Jeep story:
Ours is a 1946 Willy’s CJ-2A. Originally I believe it was Normandy Blue with yellow rims. I don’t think Dad bought it new, he’d have been a bit young in ’46, but he bought it for farming.
They stopped driving it before I was born, though apparently all of my siblings bounced out of it at some point or other. I’d always known it as a busted thing parked in an outbuilding, home to generations of raccoons. Around 1990 my dad decided to drag it out so he and a buddy could fix it up. He wasn’t interested in making it look new, I don’t even know how we’d have addressed the rust. It took quite a few parts and rebuilding the engine. When it works it sounds just like on MASH and handles like an unruly toddler. I’ve never had it above 30 mph because I don’t think I’d keep it on the road or me in the seat. Both dad and his buddy have passed now and none of the rest of us know engines enough to keep it in good repair. We do have the full service manual. If someone was motivated enough they could get it back into shape without too much trouble.
At one point my nephews made a potato cannon and we mounted it on top and pretended we were in Rat Patrol. (We put the windshield frame on, but never felt safe putting the glass in. Also we never found the front bumper so I bolted a piece of 4×4 to the front.)
Perhaps the better question is, do vehicles have an essence.
“the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.”
I put this question to a handful of people I know who might have given some thought to such a question.
I’ve been watching lots of videos about the history of the Jeep as well restoration projects. Seems there’s as much mystique and passion surrounding the Jeep as Land Rover.
The historical videos started with the initial development during WWII; then the transition to Jeeps made for the agricultural market; and on to the more mainstream civilian models.
The Jeeps I see on the road (and there seems to be a LOT) bear little resemblance to those early Jeeps. Looks like the name and the grill (maybe) is all that’s left. Which got me wondering… when did these models cease to be a “true Jeep?” If Mitsubishi purchased the brand and putting the Jeep name on one of their models, nobody would consider it a Jeep.
We saw this mindset at work with the Land Rover “Santana.” The forums were full of guys who insisted that is not a “real” Land Rover. I suspect no two Jeep owners could agree on this question. And I don’t particularly care, except from a philosophical standpoint.
If I get any takers on this question, I’ll share them in comments below.
YouTube: Willys, the “World’s Largest Manufacturer of Utility Vehicles,” presents the “Jeep Family of 4-Wheel Drive Vehicles and Special Equipment,” a circa 1954 black-and-white film promoting Jeeps produced for civilian use. (“One man with a Jeep can do the work of 100 men with shovels”)
Because this video runs a tad over 20 minutes, I’m guessing it ran in theaters before feature films. I recall seeing newsreels like this as a child in the 1950s. Jeeps like mine (CJ2A) were aimed at the agriculture market and this video show one handy attachment after another.
The narrator pronounces Willys: WILL us … rather than WILL eez so I’m confident that is the correct way to say it.
YouTube titles the video below: Autobiography of a Jeep and the narrator is the “voice” of a Jeep during its development and the early years of WWII. The delivery is that Pete Smith Specialty style from the 40s and early 50s (you had to be there). A little corny but some excellent Jeep footage.
YouTube description: “A small company in Pennsylvania, Bantam, invented the Jeep, but the military needed more than Bantam could produce. So they turned to Willys and Ford and had these auto titans build Jeeps. Edsel Ford joins other Ford Motor Company officials as they demonstrate their vehicles for the military.” (this video has no sound)
Okay, one more. 1940 Ford Pilot Model GP-No. 1 Pygmy
I’ve been collecting these for a while. The last two (sand color) are the same Jeep. The first Jeep on the bottom row was on Paul Bandelier’s lot. Will ask him what happened it and update here.
“A look at vintage Willys Jeeps hidden away from the world in junkyards and barns across the United States. It’s amazing how much vintage iron out there needs rescuing. The Jeeps in this video range from pre-mass production WWII Jeep such as the 1941 Ford GP, to the standardized Willys MB, and of course post-war Jeeps such as the CJ2A, CJ5, and even a Korean-War era M38. They range from the 1940’s to the 1960’s.”
My friend John Middleton pointed me to a terrific YouTube channel called Turn N Burn. This young man has been restoring Jeeps since he was 17 and I’m finding his videos fascinating. The video below features a 1940’s Willys Jeep that as in a home garage when the place went up in flames and the Jeep burnt to the ground.”
After reviving the fire-surviving CJ2A, they take it to an off-road park for a proper break-in. I’ve yet to drive my new toy but watching these videos makes me think I might be a little more adventurous with the Jeep than I’ve been with the Land Rover.
