This was my grandfather’s 1948 Willys CJ-2A. He used it on his ranch in Clyde Park, Montana. Who knows what all they did with it? I believe he had several of them at one point. I think they actually rigged it up so they could bale rake hay. I worked on his ranch for a few weeks or a month or so for a couple of summers. We put a spray tank in it and used it as a Rebuilding a CJ-2A After Decades of Ranch Dutyweed sprayer. We converted it to a fishing rig after work. We would take in 8 miles into the town of Clyde Park from time-to-time. The most interesting thing about it to me was that you could look through the floorboard and see the ground you were driving on. That was 40 years ago. After he passed in the early 1990s, it stayed mostly in a barn on his ranch.
After my grandmother passed, I ended up with it and put enough money and work into it so I could run around in it a little. However, it basically sat in my garage collecting dust for the last 20 years. Last winter, during the short days, when I was getting cabin fever, I decided to roll up my sleeves and get to work on it. It wasn’t long until I knew I was way over my head.
The local NAPA guy told me about this eccentric mechanic in Augusta, Montana, who knew everything about the Willys Jeep. He graciously answered my phone call, and we talked for a long time. I called him several more times, and he would walk me through things. Finally, I asked him if I could just bring it to his shop and let him work on it. I figured if it sat in the middle of his shop, he wouldn’t be able to help himself and would fix what he saw. It turned into a fun project. It needed so much work and parts. He would tell me what he needed, and I would try to find it.
I actually found an older gentleman who was selling a 48 Willys. He had started restoring it, but gave up. I bought it and just used it for parts. When we got everything we wanted from it, we sold the carcass. The other Jeep I bought and dismantled had a serial number less than 1,000 away from mine. The old timers and I guessed that the Jeeps were probably shipped from the Midwest by rail to Shelby, Montana, but who knows. Anyway, this thing still has the original engine, which had been rebuilt probably 45-50 years ago, same transmission, transfer case, rear end, frame, etc. After new points, a condenser, a master brake cylinder, radiator, tires, and on and on and on, it runs like a top.
– Bill Bieler
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