049: Keith Rofinot’s 1958 Willys CJ-5
This is my 1958 Willy’s CJ-5. It’s been in my family since at least 1960 and was primarily used as a hunting jeep in eastern oregon where we own a cabin. It had a Kronig PTO on it, which was a big deal then because most people did not have winches (still debating on whether to rebuild and reinstall). At some point my grandfather dropped a buick V6 (I believe from a 1964 car) and it has been running strong ever since. It has less than 50,000 miles on it, due to it being towed to and from where we hunted for so many years.
My father gave me the jeep a little over a year ago and ever since it has been my project. I’m keeping the stock look which has been helped by a lot of your parts so far…..and more to come I’m sure. I had a gentleman reinforce the side tire mount with 1/4″ steel plates so I could keep that look which I am surpised most jeeps on the road do not have anymore.
As you can see I’m in the final stages of getting it looking road ready, so thanks for all your guys help.
– Keith Rofinot
Reno, Nevada
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Keith
My grandson who hunts with me in my CJ2A likes to check out this website & others that have pictures & stories about Willys or hunting. I was glad to see that he pointed out to me how careless you are with your rifle (Safety on or off, gun loaded or not). During my coyote hunting days I had some hunting buddies that liked to lean their rifles against the vehicle we were in. That is until one of the rifles fell, went off & almost killed someone.
Please be careful, we don’t want to see your CJ5 left abandon in the woods
Erv