In 2015, I found this 1955 Willys CJ-5 Jeep on a mail route in Rogers, Arkansas. I drove past this Jeep for two years and finally one day the owner’s father was outside mowing his lawn and I stopped and asked if he was interested in selling it. He said it was his son’s and he had lost interest in it (marriage, kids, etc.) and would love to get it out of his yard. He called his son and we agreed on a price. I hauled it home on a trailer. As we cleaned the leaves out of it, some friends walked by and asked us how much they paid us to haul it off (ha-ha).
My 2 grand kids came to visit us and were excited about it, so we cleaned the carb and gas tank, changed the oil, cleaned the points and plugs and it started! With parts from Kaiser Willy’s, we rebuilt the brakes and master cylinder. The clutch was froze to the flywheel so we pulled it down the street and popped the clutch and it freed up. We just wanted to drive it around where we live in the country, so we tried to buy insurance for it, but 2 company’s said it wasn’t “road worthy.”
That’s when we decided to do a frame off restoration. My grandson spent a week in the summer of 2018 taking it down to the frame. He spent 11 hrs one day sandblasting the frame. All my grand kids spent time sanding and painting at one time or another. The tub floor was too rusted for us to fix and the fenders too bent and cracked, so Kaiser provided those also. With many hrs and a lot of phone calls to Kaiser Willy’s, it was coming together. The goal my oldest grandson had was to drive it to school the first day of his senior year. We made that goal with 2 days to spare. Thanks, Kaiser, for the parts, but most of all for your patience with us as novice restorers.
Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – Don Boothe
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What a nice story! And a very nice restoration! Good
grand kids who aren’t afraid to get a little dirt under their
fingernails! What my dad used to call sweat equity! May
you have many more years with the jeep and your wonderful
grand children! —–Dave Hollingsworth New London,Ohio
What a nice story! And a very nice restoration! Good
grand kids who aren’t afraid to get a little dirt under their
fingernails! What my dad used to call sweat equity! May
you have many more years with the jeep and your wonderful
grand children! —–Dave Hollingsworth New London,Ohio
It’s great to have a family member share your interest in a project like this, and have them see it through to the end. Great job.
It’s great to have a family member share your interest in a project like this, and have them see it through to the end. Great job.
Love it, my middle son Ben and I restored a 62 cj5 for his daily driver much in the same fashion congrats on a job well done
Love it, my middle son Ben and I restored a 62 cj5 for his daily driver much in the same fashion congrats on a job well done
What a great story and legacy!
What a great story and legacy!
I have just finished restoration of a 1966 CJ-5, 225 V6 engine Took the fwith only 40k original miles. Hard finds were for gas can, clutch, transmission and other like parts, but the girl is finished and runs like a top! took the full cage roll bar out and found an old stock one. No idea of original miles, so starting over with a new speedometer from Kaiser Willys, who by the way did miracles finding some of the rarer parts!
I have just finished restoration of a 1966 CJ-5, 225 V6 engine Took the fwith only 40k original miles. Hard finds were for gas can, clutch, transmission and other like parts, but the girl is finished and runs like a top! took the full cage roll bar out and found an old stock one. No idea of original miles, so starting over with a new speedometer from Kaiser Willys, who by the way did miracles finding some of the rarer parts!
This is the best gift you could give to your grand son.
This is the best gift you could give to your grand son.
Hi, I bought a 1955 CJ 5 in March last year. Because it was my birth year???? The baby was already rebuild from a young guy but he was running out of money or time. The Jeep was running terrible so I got a great deal???? on it. The reason was that the distributor was total loose. After we make the deal I tightened up the screw and drove it home. I grow up in Germany and I always love to see the GI, s in Germany driving Jeep’s. With parts from Kaiser’s I have a lot of fun driving around in Phoenix, AZ. Happy Jeeping.
Hi, I bought a 1955 CJ 5 in March last year. Because it was my birth year???? The baby was already rebuild from a young guy but he was running out of money or time. The Jeep was running terrible so I got a great deal???? on it. The reason was that the distributor was total loose. After we make the deal I tightened up the screw and drove it home. I grow up in Germany and I always love to see the GI, s in Germany driving Jeep’s. With parts from Kaiser’s I have a lot of fun driving around in Phoenix, AZ. Happy Jeeping.
Hi, I bought a 1955 CJ 5 in March last year. Because it was my birth year The baby was already rebuild from a young guy but he was running out of money or time. The Jeep was running terrible so I got a great deal on it. The reason was that the distributor was total loose. After we make the deal I tightened up the screw and drove it home. I grow up in Germany and I always love to see the GI, s in Germany driving Jeep’s. With parts from Kaiser’s I have a lot of fun driving around in Phoenix, AZ. Happy Jeeping.
Hi, I bought a 1955 CJ 5 in March last year. Because it was my birth year The baby was already rebuild from a young guy but he was running out of money or time. The Jeep was running terrible so I got a great deal on it. The reason was that the distributor was total loose. After we make the deal I tightened up the screw and drove it home. I grow up in Germany and I always love to see the GI, s in Germany driving Jeep’s. With parts from Kaiser’s I have a lot of fun driving around in Phoenix, AZ. Happy Jeeping.