My love for Willys started in the fifties on my grandfather’s farm in the tropics of Central America. I would start my Grandfathers CJ-3A with the foot starter, and it was part of the normal routine to drive through mud and cross rivers. At high tide the rivers would get a lot deeper, so sometimes we would have to wait for low tide to cross back over. I live in Hollywood now so I didn’t find her in a barn but in a used car lot. Mechanically she needed a whole lot of work. I found great people to help me restore her, and she’s a real beauty. She puts me right back where I was as a boy. I even put a coke bottle opener on her side like my grandfather had. He would have gotten a real kick out of that.
there is a by-pass hose that can be placed from the front of the head to the water pump. this helps prevent overheating. another thing i have found to prevent overheating is to drill a small hole in the flat metal part of the thermostat housing this helps steam to escape and let the cooling system equalize itself. hope this helps. long ago many thermostats had a small hole drilled in them at the factory.
Very nice job!!