Sunday, January 25, 2015

A Willys for my bird dogs

I have, for many years, been the owner of a 1947 Willys CJ2A. I bought it in the late 90s to haul dogs on bird hunts and to take with me on occasional big game hunts. 


On an elk hunt on Day Ridge, Oregon
Inevitably, one day it 'failed to proceed'. I thought it was the fuel pump, but found a new replacement didn't help. Decided it was dirt (or rust) in the fuel lines or perhaps a bad carburetor. SO pulled the fuel lines and carb and sent it to be rebuilt… parked the Jeep and covered it with a tarp and got busy with other stuff. A few years later I got back to trying to repair the old buggy. By this time there were still more problems. It wouldn't turn over.  Pulled the head… had a piston frozen in the block. 

Now the fun began. Looking it over, I decided that it needed some serious attention and I began dismantling it to find and cure all the ills. In short order I was involved in a frame up restoration. Stripped it down and examined all components to see what could be used, fixed, or needed to be replaced. That was over a year ago. Now the old Willys has a newly rebuilt engine, transmission, transfer case, axles (with a full floating rear end with locking hubs), new brake system, new suspension, tie rod ends, and a rebuilt steering box. I am toiling to get the body repairs (read fixing the rust) done. This is what I am hoping to get to - a funky, but fully functioning, flat fender Willys classic…



2 comments:

Mark Coleman said...

What's life without a major project or two?

Mike Spies said...

Indeed Mark… fun to work on, but I am getting to the point where I want it finished. Then I can figure what is the next project...