- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Just for discussion...
So when I was out at Rabbit Valley cruising around in my 70 year old 1948 Willys CJ2a, my mind started thinking about the idea of building a Willys that looked pretty close to a factory original from the 40's and 50's with new parts, but with some big improvements that would make it more driveable and capable. It's hard to find a clean Willys these days, most of the bodies are rotting away, frames are in rough shape, etc.
There is a company by the name of MDJuan out of the Philippines that is making reproduction parts, they say their parts are exact copies of the originals but in the past, people that have bought them have found certain parts to be off just enough to cause problems. Others have said that the aftermarket parts and original parts don't quite work well together.... so take that for what it is. That said.... you can get a reproduction frame and body kit with free shipping for a very reasonable price. Sounds like if you use all reproduction parts, they should work well together. The basic body kit doesn't include a lot of the small parts you'll need, also missing the grill. The master body kit seems to contain just about everything you need to assemble the body, but it's not cheap. Still, the master kit + a frame is just over $6k and that's not bad for a 'new' CJ2a.
Frame is $1350 - https://www.quadratec.com/p/md-juan/chassis-assembly-45-49-jeep-willys-cj-2a
Body kit is $3000 - https://www.quadratec.com/products/42500_15D_T.htm
Master Body Kit is $5000- https://www.quadratec.com/products/42500_1000_07.htm
So here's my thought.... set up the 'new' Willys with a GM Vortec (or TBI) 4.3, TH350 and adapt it to a rebuild Dana 18/20/300. Fuel injection, V6 power and modern reliability would be great. The automatic trans would make it easy to drive. Rebuilt a set of early CJ5 axles (Dana 30 and 44), add disc brakes, you'd gain locking hubs, 1 piece axle shafts, etc. 4.10 gears would be decent offroad with the auto and still allow driving at 60+ MPH without overdrive. Add Saginaw power steering to make cruising around effortless. Get a set of custom springs built (Alcan?) with 2" of lift and make them 6" longer on the frame end and extend the spring mount, that'll ride better on road and make for more wheel-travel offroad. Extend the shock mounts on the frame for a longer shock, to match the springs. Set it up with a set of skinny 32" tires and period-correct wheels to finish it off!
Obviously there are hundereds of ways you could build a 'new' Willys... modern 4 cyl engine, mated to a rebuilt T90... small 4 cyl diesel engine, etc, etc, etc. How would you piece together a reproduction Vintage Jeep?
I would love to tackle something like this down the road, but for now I'll just have to keep tinkering with my original.
So when I was out at Rabbit Valley cruising around in my 70 year old 1948 Willys CJ2a, my mind started thinking about the idea of building a Willys that looked pretty close to a factory original from the 40's and 50's with new parts, but with some big improvements that would make it more driveable and capable. It's hard to find a clean Willys these days, most of the bodies are rotting away, frames are in rough shape, etc.
There is a company by the name of MDJuan out of the Philippines that is making reproduction parts, they say their parts are exact copies of the originals but in the past, people that have bought them have found certain parts to be off just enough to cause problems. Others have said that the aftermarket parts and original parts don't quite work well together.... so take that for what it is. That said.... you can get a reproduction frame and body kit with free shipping for a very reasonable price. Sounds like if you use all reproduction parts, they should work well together. The basic body kit doesn't include a lot of the small parts you'll need, also missing the grill. The master body kit seems to contain just about everything you need to assemble the body, but it's not cheap. Still, the master kit + a frame is just over $6k and that's not bad for a 'new' CJ2a.
Frame is $1350 - https://www.quadratec.com/p/md-juan/chassis-assembly-45-49-jeep-willys-cj-2a
Body kit is $3000 - https://www.quadratec.com/products/42500_15D_T.htm
Master Body Kit is $5000- https://www.quadratec.com/products/42500_1000_07.htm
So here's my thought.... set up the 'new' Willys with a GM Vortec (or TBI) 4.3, TH350 and adapt it to a rebuild Dana 18/20/300. Fuel injection, V6 power and modern reliability would be great. The automatic trans would make it easy to drive. Rebuilt a set of early CJ5 axles (Dana 30 and 44), add disc brakes, you'd gain locking hubs, 1 piece axle shafts, etc. 4.10 gears would be decent offroad with the auto and still allow driving at 60+ MPH without overdrive. Add Saginaw power steering to make cruising around effortless. Get a set of custom springs built (Alcan?) with 2" of lift and make them 6" longer on the frame end and extend the spring mount, that'll ride better on road and make for more wheel-travel offroad. Extend the shock mounts on the frame for a longer shock, to match the springs. Set it up with a set of skinny 32" tires and period-correct wheels to finish it off!
Obviously there are hundereds of ways you could build a 'new' Willys... modern 4 cyl engine, mated to a rebuilt T90... small 4 cyl diesel engine, etc, etc, etc. How would you piece together a reproduction Vintage Jeep?
I would love to tackle something like this down the road, but for now I'll just have to keep tinkering with my original.
