My Dad Owned the Chevron gas station in Troy, MT from the fifties to the early nineties. A full service station till the end. He was a very hard working & beloved man of the community. He bought this Jeep pickup brand new. It was his shop rig & daily driver for many years. He would take it to rescue people broken down on the highway, Plus exchange it with customers. Drive it to there home, leave it for them, and take their vehicle to the station for whatever service he was performing. The Jeep was definitely a workhorse for many years. Smile plus it was a training vehicle for my two sisters & myself learning to drive!
It was retired from the station, sometime in the 70’s. Still used though. My young nephew, ran it pretty hard as mostly a toy for awhile. Brother in-law used it for plowing snow until it finally developed an engine knock, and was parked. About six years ago I drug it out of its dusty hiding place in a lean too.
Oh what a mess! Long story short. I wanted to keep it original. Thought about putting 4.3 liter Chevy V6 in it. But………. it went….. Rebuilt super hurricane Flathead six. Complete front axle rebuild, new frt. springs. Steering rebuilt. Hubs redone. New brake master cylinder, lines, shoes, & drums. New clutch, Rebuilt the T90 transmission. all new bushings for the pedals & shifter linkage. Rewired a bunch of it. Converted to electric windshield wipers. Floor boards had rusted out holes in them. I’m not a good welder, so I trimmed them up and used fiberglass to repair them. Worked great. Bed was a 3rd rusted out, so I trimmed it up and built a planked, wood bed in it. Used many, many wire wheels to clean up the rust. Used Eastwood’s, rust encapsulator a lot. Put Herculiner in the rest of the bed. I got a little weird & installed exhaust stacks. Ha. Thought I had most of it done, Then the rear pinion bearing went out. I was a ways from home, drove it slowly back home, but it took out the ring & pinion. So…… the rear axle got a total rebuild. New leaf spring pins, shackles, shocks. I could go on about other improvements. Still needs some things. But it is dependable again. Funny, it’s like driving a 1962 Jeep pickup!! 4:88 gears, so at 45 MPH it’s getting the engine wound up. Smile.
The station went away in the early 2000’s. Turned into a realty & rehab building. Many younger people don’t even know there was a station there. Dad had the big Chevron gas pump decals on the doors, but they had gone away. So I found some on the internet and put them back on. Then I decided to have a label made for the doors, ” Len’s Chevron Station – Troy, Mt” My thinking was for you people that remember & for you others to figure out! Smile.
A lot of love & memories! In Memory of my Dad! Thank You! “Leonard Mossey” 
I still have more things on my want list for it.
- Larry Mossey
Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – If you would like to share your Willys Jeep Story please send us a line. We’d love to meet your Jeep.
Like Us. Facebook
Looking for, Willys Jeep Parts, Willys Jeep replacement parts, Willys Jeep body parts and much more for your 1941-1971 Willys vehicle, you have come to the right place!