1948 Cj2a- Labor Of Love

This little Jeep joined my club sometime in the mid 80's with a member named Al Hamilton. I drove it on the trail occasionally when Ham was tired of driving it or when my dad wanted to actually drive his Jeep. When Ham passed in the early 2000's, he had sold this Jeep to another member when he realized his failing health wasn't going to let him continue to do what he loved for so many years. That member pulled the body off, did the hat channels and put it back together. He quickly realized this was not really a beginner Jeep for his 16 year old daughter and sold it to another member. That member drove it for several years on trails until a break in the frame right in front of a motor mount took it out of commission. It had languished in his field for about 5 years when I brokered a deal to sell it to a co-worker and friend of mine. CARTER and I have spent a couple of solid weekends rebuilding the frame from the motor mounts forward, fabbing about 3 feet of rail on each side, rebuilding the steering box mount, Radiator mounts, shackle hangers, crossmember, winch mount, bumper, etc. The PNW history in this old Jeep runs pretty deep, and I'm both proud and happy to be involved in giving it a new lease on life. Ham was one of my mentors from an early age, and he was well loved by many. Here are a few photos- She was a bit worse for wear up front...

 

Total cool resurrection. Glad you got that old iron breathing and beating the trails again.

 

Love this!

 

So cool to know the full story like that. Awesome!!!

 

It looks SOOO much better.

 

I wish I could stick to a single repair and not let scope creep get in the way. I can change a light bulb and wind up with the tub on the floor and the driveline in pieces.

 

As usual, CARTER gets the credit for the welding and alot of the fab work. I'm mostly the clean up crew and instigator. This took quite a bit of work and thought to get right. The initial crack that started it all (for this go around) was on the driver side just in front of the motor mount. Basically where we cut the frame on both sides. Due to sitting for so long outside, I discovered it had water in the motor when I brought it home, and obviously the fuel system and brakes needed some work as well. I pulled all the plugs, oiled it down and turned it over by hand a bunch of times. There was water in one of the cylinders too, but once it fired, all seems well. The brakes just took fluid and a good bleeding for now. The clutch slave was rusted beyond what I thought was salvageable, but I was able to clean it up with a brake hone and get it to work well enough to function on and off the trailer. The new owner will do all the little tinkering when he gets it after the frame is done. We'll re-assemble this weekend, and then I'll get some new tires on it (existing wheels are going to be powdercoated black). He's purchased 5 of the new Milestar Patagonia M/T tires for it. I think they will be a good replacement for the old bias ply swampers that are on it. The drivetrain is a 200 CID Chevy V6 mated to a T150 trans, Dana 18 with Warn OD, Dana 44 rear with a powerlock, and Dana 25 front with a Powerlok. I think gearing is 5.38, but I haven't checked.

 

Got the new tires mounted up on the old wheels. The owner wanted black, and I honestly thing that was a great choice with the white paint and black top. 31x10.50-15 Milestar Patagonia M/T's on 15x8 reverse steel wheels and an oddball Kelsey Hayes for the spare.

 

Man, I hear that. 3 Jeeps in pieces and I wish at least one of them was done.

Good job on that, it looks like one nice runner and a very capable Jeep.

Dave

 

The little white jeep went home to Utah with its new owner about a week and a half ago. He's been having alot of fun just doing the basic maintenance left to bring it fully back to road worthy. Changing fluids, greasing greasy bits, tune up, etc.

 

i like the reversed wheel look. deep dish!

 

Me too. I've always liked those. This one had 3 on it and one KH wheel. I located another matching reverse wheel and then moved the KH wheel to the spare to replace the white spoke that was on it. They turned out awesome. I have 4 of them that I think may end up on my FC when I ever get around to doing anything with it. Just not sure what color to go with since the jeep is orange....