This CJ-2A belonged to my Grandpa. he passed away 12 years ago and the Jeep remained in his garage for 10 years. 2 Years ago I received it as a gift from my Uncle if I would restore it. I remember years ago going up Manti Canyon to pick out a Christmas tree in this old Jeep. I remember how it rattled and how much noise it made, but it was Grandpa and it remains a great memory that I have of him.
This Jeep is now in much better shape than he ever had it. I believe that he had the Jeep for about 20+ years, so I guess that this thing has been in the family for at least half of it’s life.
Now my kids and grandson love riding in it, my brother’s-in-law, and all of the family enjoy riding in it and remembering it and Grandpa. Restoring it took 2 years and a lot of love and money, but now is one of the sweeter Willy’s Jeep’s I have ever seen. I receive compliments on it everywhere I go in it, and make new friends every time I stop to fill it up with gas.
Thanks for having parts available to help restore this family heirloom to better than new condition!!!!! In this album are some photos from before and after restoration. Everything on the Willy’s is original except the rims and tires. No changes in the engine bay. I did add a roll bar and side-view mirrors as well as seat belts to make it more safe.
Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – Kevin Howell
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Hallo
Sehr schöne Arbeit. Ich suche auch so ein Dach für meien Willys. Wer kann mir wieterhelfen ?
MfG
Werner Zimmermann
[…] Want to see how a restoration in-progress looks? Just ask Kevin Howell; his earliest memory of his grandpa’s 1948 CJ-2A was “going up Manti Canyon to pick out a Christmas tree in his old Jeep®.” After the CJ sat in a garage for years, Howell restored it with original shine. Check out Howell’s work on the on the Kaiser Willys: Auto Supply, LLC blog, “Kevin Howell’s 1948 CJ-2A.” […]
beautiful job, my friends parents left me their 46. im restoring as well. cant wait.
I also have a 48 cj2a I got from my parents before my dad passed away. I have been working on for 2 years and only have the wiring and body to finnish, just wating on some more funds to complete. great looking willys, there is nothing like them. Thanks to kaiser willys for having the parts to do what we all love to do rebuild jeeps.
I too have a 48 cj2a, that I got from my dad before he passed away. I have restored the lower half and now waiting for more funds to finnish. All parts have came from kaiser willys. The body and wiring is all that is left to do, thats still enough. Good job on your willys it makes me want to finnish even more.
Good job, I’m doing a restoration on a 1950 Jeepster; have seen lots of them completed with power steering, power brakes and V-6 engines. Have been thinking of buying a frame with motor and putting my body on it. Mechanical brakes and steering compared to the luxury of power brakes and steering is very tempting.
My wife is about to put me and my car out to pasture as it seems I’ve worked on it forever. Perhaps I’ll leave mine to my grand son as well. Nice story, nice job.
I too Have my great uncles 1944 willys and am going to restore it here in a couple years when I retire no time now. Great job . Id love to have a top like yours on my restored 53CJ3B
Thanks for sharing! Your story parallels my own and caused me to reflect back to many happy memories in my Grand-father’s jeep in Southern Utah. At the age of 21, he gave it to me. Sadly, my story differs from yours in that I have not restored it. Though I have always meant too, the task seems too big. My jeep is a 1947 CJ2A all original. For the last 34 years I’ve kept it sheltered and protected (currently in my Tennessee shop) and it was running up until about 3 years ago. Your jeep is beautiful and is an inspiration to me that maybe I should dive in! Any words of encouragement you could send?
Very nice restoration. I also have my Grandpa’s 1943 GPW which I’ve done some work to but NOTHING like the work and love ($too) you pored into this project. Props!
Beautiful story, beautiful Jeep. I’m particularly impressed with the hard top. Do you (or anyone else reading this) know if anybody still makes a hard top for the old flatties? I’ve got an M38 which is strictly a summer vehicle at this point.. I know Bestop makes a good soft top but my 63 year old bones would prefer something more substantial. In the early ’70’s I had another M38 that had been used in Alaska and had a cab that was actually insulated with spray foam insulation (a 1950″s version of Great Stuff). Kaiser Willys sells an under-dash heater that looks intriguing, but would do no good without a cab in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. .
John Barnhart
Love that story,I have a 48 as well that I inherited from my fathers best friend that was restoring before he died that sat for 14 years just about done on my part and I will share some cool pics very soon
Great Job, Kevin. It certainly is a labor of love. You were truly fortunate to have that extra incentive to do the work with it having been your Grandfather’s jeep and childhood memories.
Regards,
Capt. Joe
Great man simply Great. Granpa is up there smiling like you remember he used too.