Jungle’s 46: A Frame-Up CJ-2A Restoration in Memory of Dad

By Kaiser Willys January 23, 2026 #willys blog members, #willys community, #willys jeep restoration

I’d like to introduce Jungle’s 46. This was my Dad (Jungle Jim King’s) early 46′ 2A that he daily drove in the 70s for about a decade before the motor failed. Over the last 40 years it never did run again, but I always heard stories of off-roading and how he was driving it when he met my Mom with a half cab and a sleeping bag! The pic with the dog was in 74′ shortly after he purchased it with his dog Buck, and the pic with 2 people in it is myself and Dad’s old friend, Teri, that road in the Willy’s back in the day! In 2022, Dad sadly passed away and I started a frame-up restoration in his memory that just recently wrapped up!

Throughout the restoration, the Kaiser Willys catalog was a game-changer. It was the first parts resource that I came across and all of the part details, images, and diagrams immensely helped to learn about a vehicle that I had no prior technical knowledge of. Many of the parts on this build came from K.W., including the battery tray and rear v-support seen in the frame repair pic.

Regarding the build, the Willys is named Jungle’s 46 because it’s not just any 46′. I tried to restore as much as I could back to the original specs, but also kept many of the modifications Dad had made early on. This was an early 46′ with a column shift, but he had already converted it to a floor shift. He had also stripped an M38 at some point which is why it ended up with some military elements blended into the build. The hand winch was replaced by my old M8000 from the 80s that I’ve had on 6 Jeep builds over the last 20 years, and is mounted to resemble a PTO winch. I also made several reinforcement upgrades to handle offroad use as Dad would have intended! I refer to the color as Jungle Green, and is inspired from the darker green that was on the interior when it last ran.

Finally, after 3 years of wrenching and learning all about the Willys Jeep, I got it on the road. In 3 short months I have put 1,000 miles on it, both on and off road and loving every minute of it! Throughout the process I’ve met so many wonderful people at the Willys Reunions in this amazing community and I look forward to many more flat fender years to come!