New to Early CJs

I'm going to take a look at a 1946 CJ2a this weekend and I know little to nothing about them (other than that I want one and what I've been able to find here R)), so I'd like to get a little info about what to look for and what to avoid. From what the owner tells me, his father-in-law (deceased) was the original owner and he had two of them. He gave one to his son and parked this one in the garage around 30 years ago and it hasn't moved since. He said it ran when it was parked (I know, likely story). It appears from pics to be pretty much original and the interior appears to be all there and original. I would like to try to get this thing started when I'm there, but from what I understand it likely still has the 6v system and I don't have a 6v battery. I was going to bring some fresh gas, some starter fluid, maybe new plugs and a batt to jump it, but was not sure how to jump it without a 6v battery (or what else I may need to do). From what I understand, jumping with a 12v can be done, but is not recommended. I would obviously have to turn off/remove any 6v accessories like lights, guages, etc. so I don't fry them, but not sure I even want to mess around with a 12v battery in there. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

First, good luck on the prospective new Jeep!

Others will know way more about this, but my 2 cents-worth is that I've been using a 6V starter hooked up to a 12V battery for several years on a Farmall tractor, and it's never given me any trouble because of excess voltage - and it does crank nice and fast. I'm not sure about the ignition system, though - the coil and other components might not like it too much. (Not sure about that, though.)

It seems to me that it might be easier to buy a 6V battery (depending on how much it costs) than try to hook up a 12V. If you're going to leave it 6V or want to drive it for any amount of time while it's still that way, it might be as broad as it is long to buy one now?

Sitting in a garage for 30 years - sounds like a good candidate to have very little rust! Good luck.

 

The first thing I would do is pull the plugs and give each cylinder a good shot of PB blaster followed by Lynn's suggestion to me a while back, Marvel Mystery oil. Leave the plugs out when trying to initially crank-until the oil is cleared. When initially pulling the plugs, shine a light in the cylinders-if there is notable rust, I would let it sit a couple weeks after the PBB/MMO treatment before attempting to crank it.

I have several old Farmalls converted to 12V and am using the original starters. It will work (at least for a short time), but only if you keep the cranking time short as nearly twice the amperage will be used-things will get very warm very quickly.

The Willys has a few more things to look at than an old Farmall. You will need to disconnect the fuel sender or you may fry it. If the oil pressure/temp gages have been converted to electrical, those too should be disconnected. You should also add a ballast resistor in front of the coil-but just to start it that may be not be necessary. If you try to run it on 12V without the resistor, the points will have a short life. And don't use the lights/horn/heater blower while hooked to 12V.

 

if the charging system looks intact you can just un wire the starter from the system and jump straight to that with the jumpers. Then the rest of the system will still operate on its own with 6v.

 

Sounds like it could be a great find, what is he asking? and pics would help. You want to look for cracks in the frame, rusty hat channels in the floor and rust out on pass. side rear are common, if these are not rusted then I'd grab it, it's probably a great project that really has been sitting for many years. Also check for cracks in the block under the distributor. The great thing about these little Jeeps are there are plenty of parts out there and there simple to work on. If it's in original shape really consider keeping it that way and get it running and working, then use it as is. I've built some over the years but have come round to really loving an original one more in most cases. They are such a hoot to drive and really pretty capable little vehicles in stock form. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

Thanks for all the great advice. The guy is asking too much if you ask me, but I think I can talk some sense into him. We'll see how it looks when we get there. Still havn't figured out how to post picks, but its local and on craigslist. Will keep you posted. Thanks again...

 

I found it, and the price doesn't seem too bad, as long as it's complete and rust free. The half cab is an added bonus. I won't post where I found it, and I'm on the west coast, so you don't have to worry bout me

I'll post a couple pics for you:

 

Actually Steve ... both the voltage and the current doubles.

What stays the same is the impedance of the starter. You can think of this as the dynamic resistance, so Ohm's law still applies. The voltage doubles and so does the current.

The important parameter is the power dissipation. P=IV or equivalently, P=V^2/R ... so the voltage doubles and the resistive heating quadruples.

Regardless, there's plenty of history of running these 6V starters on 12V. Fortunately, at 12V, the starter will spin much faster and the engine should start up right away. You could have a problem though if you, say, rebuilt the engine. A new rebuild typically needs a lot of cranking - so just be aware of the starter heating issue.

 

Yep. Walmart should have one.

Although ...

I think your only alternative is to disconnect the starter from its wiring entirely, and run the starter with jumper cables at 12V. You could also hot-wire a 12V coil to the engine if you want to try and start it.

I would not try to start the engine in the field. Instead, I would check that the engine is free by turning the crank with a wrench. If I decided to buy, I'd take the Jeep home and start it with a 6V battery.

 

Wow - nice looking Jeep!

If it's in as good a shape as its history would suggest, I'd go for it.

 

i agree. getting it running would only give the seller an excuse to charge more.

 

Very true...but I don't know if I can resist (i.e., take the plunge) without knowing if she'll kick over. Not looking to drop a ton of cash into it as I would like to enjoy it sooner rather than later. I do understand it'll need some love and attention, but I'm only looking to drop maybe a grand or two (after purchase) if it looks worth it. Planning to keep it as stock as possible, just like my cj5... Definitely pumped to check it out tomorrow. Not many "barn finds" where I live. I'll keep you all posted.
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well if you do get it going make sure and check for bubbles in the rad and coolant in the oil because cracks in the block are common. Not that its the end of the world craks can be fixed but still thats a rebuild

 

If it was "running when parked" and was only parked because the owner didn't want to/couldn't use it anymore, especially having been in a garage, I'd say there's a pretty small chance anything major is wrong with it. Even if it does have problems, good Go-Devils can be found for reasonable money. I just got one for my DJ3A for what I think was a very good price - I haven't heard it run yet, but I'm pretty confident the seller was honest with me and his description sounded promising. My planned budget for the DJ's "budget restoration" to nice daily driver condition is about $2500, total, and I'm already at a little under half that between the purchase price and engine - and mine's rusted out and sat outside for 15 years!

Have fun examining it!

 

Is it home yet ?

 

Were it me, I'd not rush starting it. If you think it's what the seller says it is, I'd go ahead and get it and use the not running as a bargining chip. Then I'd get ti home and very, very carefully go though it before i tried to get it running.........

 

X2, soak it for a few days then get it turning over by hand prime the oil pump etc. Get your 6 volt battery then start it.

 

Unfortunately, the seller really misrepresented the thing. It was a complete rust bucket POS and, as you can imagine, I was not too happy about it when I got there. The only thing nice on it were the seats. Well, thanks to all of you that put in your 2 cents...it will be helpful for the next one. Wish I had better news...Thanks again
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