click on any picture for a larger view
This is the story of our 1951 Willys CJ3A. When I bought it I thought
I would just use it to move other vehicles and trailers around. I
welded a receiver on the front and used it to steer boats and trailers
around the warehouse, but I just couldn't resist driving it on the street
and when the snow came about a week later I discovered that it actually
had a working heater...sort of. Anyhow, My son and I decided to use
the little jeep to get our Christmas tree. We learned that there
is a big difference between four wheeling in a 3/4 ton Suburban and a little
flat fender. At the end of the day we had a tree and a growing affection
for the little 51.
Click for a bigger picture
I
was planning on calling the Jeep "old rust bucket" or some other
fitting name but my son said, "It won't be rusted after we fix it up, I
want to call it Little Willy." and so we got the new name and a whole
new project.
I was just going to fix the body and brush on some new paint, but as usual
I started listening to the sage advise of well meaning friends. In
this case it was Todd. "Lets do this right!" he said, and so started
our frame off rebuild.
Here is what we started with
- 1951 Willys CJ3A
- 231 Buick V6 engine
- Warner T90 transmission
- Spicer 18 transfer case
- Ford 9 inch rear end with Posi
- Dana 44 front end with power steering
- Tilt steering with modern turn signals
First
we stripped the front end
Then
the body
To
expose the frame.