Here are shots of my restored 1951 CJ-3A which was completed with a whole bunch of parts from you. This is a full, frame up restoration with everything either new (from you) or rebuilt… All new brake system, running gear and suspension, exhaust system, clutch and electrical system, new seat frames, steering wheel, instruments etc., plus a new high torque starter from you and an alternator too… custom made bracket for that. The engine was also rebuilt with new parts mostly from you… new manifolds, etc.
Believe it or not, the tires were installed on the old Jeep in 1980 by me and are the same…including the tubes and most of the original 1980 air! The Jeep was only driven 3000 miles in the 31 years from 1980 until I started restoration. That was because it was, and is, the only transportation around the airport where it lives with our three airplanes…one modern and two antique. It’s street legal and licensed but it is kinda out of place on Southern California freeways and city streets! I will get around to installing new tires one of these days…:-) The windshield is from an MB…I like the looks of it better than the original.
THAT is fantastic! Glad to see your having fun!
This is our 1951 CJ3A which we have used as airport transportation since 1980: I bought it from a rancher up in our mountains near San Diego because we had a lot of parties in our hangar where there was no powder room: the girls always were looking for one but it was on the other side of the airport…thus the Jeep.
The Jeep moved with us up and down the state of California 8 times over 31 years and always lived in a hangar at the airport. It had to be hauled in a moving van because a CJ3A would be trampled on a California freeway!
Then last year it died: one cylinder dead and the old shade tree weld jobs which had repaired the right rear where the spare tire had been wiped off on ranch gates were coming apart. But there was no rust anywhere.
We disassembled it with the help of Kaiser Willys videos….down to the frame which was bead blasted and powder coated along with the axles and wheels. I bought a new steel body from the Philippines and new fenders from Kaiser Willys; the hood and grille were OK and could be de wrinkled. Mike supplied new brake drums, cylinders and pads along with brake lines and master cylinder. The old wheel bearings were perfect!..hard to believe that after 62 years they were OK.
The old engine couldn’t be rebuilt because it had been over boarded beyond limits so I bought an engine from an MB and had that rebuilt with new pistons, bearings etc. and we added new manifolds and water pump etc. The old Carter carburetor was rebuilt…everything was new. We added an alternator and built a custom bracket for it and bought a new high torque stater from Kaiser Willys. It works lots better than the original one…I would highly recommend that to anyone. I also highly recommend the Kaiser Willys complete re wire kit; it’s very complete….only some small mods required to got to 12 volts from the 6 volts it’s built for.
I liked the looks of CJ2 and MB windshields so I traded my CJ3A windshield for one from an MB.
I got lots and lots of new parts from Kaiser Willys…Mike was very helpful. The only non body old parts which were reused were the radiator and fan and the oil bath air cleaner.
We painted it red…as it has been for 31 years. Some people ask why I didn’t do a military restoration and paint it OD; the girls…some of them now pretty old…demanded that it stay red. Besides, there are two other military Jeeps in hangars close by…the red CJ3A stands out!
Now, as I hope you can see, the Jeep is pretty much brand new….probably better than it was as it left the factory. The restoration took us about 9 months…with lots of help from Mike and from other airport bums like me who crave getting their hands dirty.
We have a hangar with two potties now so people who come to our hangar parties don’t need the Jeep except for trips to the flight line where they sometimes get their first ride in an open cockpit aerobatic biplane which is in one of the pictures….it’s yellow. It belongs to our son…it’s a 1938 pre WWII German Luftwaffe fighter pilot trainer which has been restored with a modern engine etc….good ride!