CJ3A restoration questions

[cnordway]

hey

my brother has been working on this project for a long time but has lost interest in it when he bought it it was a driving rotted chassis, he striped it down to the frame and pulled out all kinds of patch work... stop signs, road signs...

the engine was smoking of bad fuel probably had some water in there, and he had pulled the plugs and filled up the jugs with mistery oil before a winter to try and keep the engine from seizing up (sitting around under the tarps for a few years)

now he's more into diesel's and works full time, i work full time and leave at the end of July for marine boot camp.

should i try to keep it around and work on it.... some times? or sell it to someone here who knows what to do and would enjoy it

as it sits, the frame w/axles, steering, drive shafts & tires under the carport in the back yard for the past 2-3 years. engine, Complete. w/trans & transfer case outside of the car port as of a month ago under a few tarps

can anyone give me some in site on it? worst case or if someones interested im sure that i could get my brother to load it up on the trailer and drive it.

thanks

 

[maddawg308]

Flat fender jeeps are addictive - once you ride in one, you'll long to own one for the rest of your life.

The CJ3A is probably the easiest to work on of all the Willys Jeeps, along with it's similar brother the CJ2A. It was the last jeep with the L-134 engine, after that you had the CJ3B and CJ5 which had the F-134, still easy to play with but a little more complex. The L-134 is such a simple engine to work on, it's about as simple as you can get without owning a lawnmower. There is a tremendous amount of NOS and repro parts out there for the early CJs, you can practically build a new one out of all the repro parts that are made for them (I have even seen repro frames, so except for the engine block and tranny, I may be right).

It's worth the effort to save it, or find another good owner for it if your brother doesn't want it anymore. They are great 1st 4x4s to own, as long as you know it's limitations and don't try to beat it to ****...

 

[emr]

maddawg is correct on all fronts, i will add it is not a military vehicle though,CJ does stand for Civilian jeep. but I also am a Jeep freak , and a Willys is probably the best vehicle ever made in my eyes...

 

[gwalker]

Go to www.thecj3apage.com

 

[jimm1009]

You will never get all of your money back out of it but as said above they are addicting and there is no other sound like an old 2A or 3A going down the road.
If you are sitting in the seat behind the wheel with the top off in the summer and cruising down the road at 40 to 45 MPH you WILL think that you have died and gone staight to heaven!
They are like a Deuce, you need extra time to get there but the trip is well worth it.
Put 7:00 x 16 tires on it and it will help with the RPMs a little and you'll LOVE it.
I vote keep it, love it, and pass it down to the next generation when the time comes.
I have my '46 2A that my uncle purchased new with the original Mohawk NDT's on it (wheels have been repainted). No I don't drive those tires on the road but they are fun to keep around.
jimm1009

 

[cnordway]

You will never get all of your money back out of it but as said above they are addicting and there is no other sound like an old 2A or 3A going down the road.
If you are sitting in the seat behind the wheel with the top off in the summer and cruising down the road at 40 to 45 MPH you WILL think that you have died and gone staight to heaven!
They are like a Deuce, you need extra time to get there but the trip is well worth it.
Put 7:00 x 16 tires on it and it will help with the RPMs a little and you'll LOVE it.
I vote keep it, love it, and pass it down to the next generation when the time comes.
I have my '46 2A that my uncle purchased new with the original Mohawk NDT's on it (wheels have been repainted). No I don't drive those tires on the road but they are fun to keep around.
jimm1009

i can imagen the feeling, but one of the biggest problems is the empty feeling of the wallet.

If i were to want to sell it, being striped down to the frame, power train with some of the original pieces (gauges,dash,windshield, few odd's and ends what would it be worth?