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Keeping the 1949 CJ3a in the family

gr8dain

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So my wife’s BFF has an uncle who has had this CJ3a for a long time. They used to ride in it on his farm in PA and she has some good memories in it.

Well, he finally decided ot sell it as he and his wife are getting older. They are trying to clear out their PA property and settle in their CA home permanently. And he wanted to keep this Willys in “the family”. He offered it to us (after a few years of us letting him know we wanted it).

Drove up from VA on Friday night. Checked it out myself Saturday. Drove it a bit. Then loaded it up on the trailer. We will be trailering it back to VA today. A long drive in the rain. Fun times.

It comes with a lot of parts some of which will go on it, like the wipers, vent flap, hood blocks, spare tire, etc. I will also need to work on some of the electronics to get all of the lights working again. But it should be fun.

Just what I need. Another “project”. At least this is one my wife wanted. And there is no need to hurry and get it “on the road”. This is obvioisly a toy.

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gr8dain

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It comes with a white soft top. With the doors. It also cames with 4 other doors that are black. I will need to sort through all of the extra bits and organize/research what I have. I do not know what is trash vs valuable.

I do know that there is a dash/gauge cluster from something else in one of the boxes. And it is super clean and the odometer reads super low miles. I can’t wait to find out what that belonged to.
 

HighSierra CJ

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Wow! What a nice jeep. Sounds like it will be a fun family project.
Congratulations!.....and great story.
 

gr8dain

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Wow! What a nice jeep. Sounds like it will be a fun family project.
Congratulations!.....and great story.

Thanks. There are definitely things to do. And I hope to get my wife involved in those projects. We will see what she wants done with it. Seatbelts? Roll cage? I know she wants it to stay close to how it is. I onow I want to put the spare tire mount back on it and put the mirrors on, etc.
 

sdsupilot

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OKC
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OK
Sweet! I have a 53cj3a my grandpa bought new and used in the farm.

Most parts are pretty easy to come by, Kaiser Willys is a good source. The steering isn’t the best design, brakes are marginal. But, you will never have more fun with 60 hp.
 

gr8dain

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Glad to hear that parts are available. I have not driven it far (or fast) yet. Need to see how much fiel is in it and see about the oil etc.

We have a long time to play with it so I am not in a rush.
 

sdsupilot

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OKC
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Speaking of speed. Mine was placarded as 60 mph top speed. It also has 5.38 gearing, plan on a comfortable cruising rpm around 45 unless you get a pto overdrive. Herm the overdrive guy sells those. The little L head engine doesn’t much care for high rpms.
 

HighSierra CJ

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Thanks. There are definitely things to do. And I hope to get my wife involved in those projects. We will see what she wants done with it. Seatbelts? Roll cage? I know she wants it to stay close to how it is. I onow I want to put the spare tire mount back on it and put the mirrors on, etc.

As I read your story, I hoped it would be a project you would work on togeather. My wife and I just finished cleaning up a 74 FJ40 that she really loves. We created some great memories, and some really fun bickering over what i call her "asian fettish". Hope you have as much fun as we did.
 

gr8dain

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Speaking of speed. Mine was placarded as 60 mph top speed. It also has 5.38 gearing, plan on a comfortable cruising rpm around 45 unless you get a pto overdrive. Herm the overdrive guy sells those. The little L head engine doesn’t much care for high rpms.

I am hearing about overdrive options. May look into that if I plan to take it places (not trailered).
 

gr8dain

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As I read your story, I hoped it would be a project you would work on togeather. My wife and I just finished cleaning up a 74 FJ40 that she really loves. We created some great memories, and some really fun bickering over what i call her "asian fettish". Hope you have as much fun as we did.

I hope she gets involved. I think it would be fun for us.
 

gr8dain

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Some parts

The top plus 4 extra black doors
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This dash from an m151?
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Oh and this little peteified mouse that got stuck in the heater box
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gr8dain

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Went out to tinker on the 3a this morning. Found out that the only reason one of the brake lights was not working was because the bulb had burned out. Nice to have a simple fix. The filament did not look broken, but putting a new bulb in fixed it. Next up will be the front maker lights. Oh, I also finally got tags on it this past Friday. Spent 3 hours in the DMV. I hate that place.

But I took my wife for a drive around the neighborhood in it today. This is a fun little Jeep.

I am itching to go online and start buying some parts that are needed to finish it up. It needs a side mirror, a rearview mirror, a spare tire mount, windshield strap, air filter unit …....
 

gr8dain

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I think the tires need to be replaced.

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gr8dain

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Recently I have done a few things like adding mirrors to help me see behind me while driving. And today I added a spare tire mount to the side.
Oh and I added an air filter. PO had removed the oild bath air cleaner. I did not want to deal with that so i added a regular air cleaner with a washable element.

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Kane

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ct
That is a very pretty piece of history. I am glad you are enjoying her.
 

gr8dain

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So I have done some little things but mainly ordered new tires and tubes. The tubes came in and the tires are back ordered until mid march. Super Traxiaon 6.5 16s. I also ordered a new fuel sending unit and fuel gauge. I want to know when the tank is empty.

I try to take it out at least weekly. Here are pics from a recent outing.

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