That was damn near 30 years ago. Time sure flies. Anyway, the Jeep started as a CJ3B that my dad built. He knew I wanted a Jeep for my first vehicle. He definitely took this into consideration when he decided on using an "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder and TH350 with 5.38 gears. It was quick but topped out at 60 going down hill.
Well, I made my payments and it was all mine before I turned 16.
I rebuilt and re-powered it a few times over the years, but you know how it goes. It was time to do it all again. The plan this time was to update everything and make it more capable and a little more comfortable. Those old Willy's are pretty cramped.
Here is a pile of parts I am starting with. It made my dad sad to see the old Jeep in this condition. The only thing left from the old 3B is the cowl section. I was never really a fan of the 3B, so I decided it will be a low hood this time around.
Originally, I had big plans to build a tube chassis. That changed after a lot of consideration. I decided to get two wrecked LJ frames from Daveys Jeeps. Why two? One was smashed on the driver side and the other on the passenger side. My goal was to make one from two.
I cut them both down and straightened them.
Once I had it all welded together, we had to do a little more tweaking.
I thought about putting it there. I kind of thought since Willy's parts are probably the smallest percentage of parts on this, it may not fit the forum. Should I move it?
From the side view, you can see how far back the engine is sitting. This is going to make the interior sheetmetal a little different. As long as it doesn't look like a van "doghouse" I will be happy.
I ended up cutting 6" off the rear of the frame and about 4" off the front. I also had to "pinch" the front frame rails in a few inches to get full steering.
I would have given you one to cut up to keep a rust free one intact.
I need to get over your way and get schooled, you're only an hour from me.
edit:
since that one's cut up, my 88 restoration project needs a lower bed corner. That radius right below the drivers tail light. Do you still have that parts bed?
How does space look for the drivers right foot? gas pedal and all that?
I used some DEI 'heat screen' material under the floor/tunnel near the exhaust. It really helped cut down on what heat was coming up under my right foot and leg.
It will be tight, but it does fit. The DBW truck pedal is huge. This is one part of the tin work that I can't say I am proud of. I am definitely looking at the heat shield. Thanks for the link
Thanks, I don't know if it is a whole metric shit mile taller. I try to stay away from the metric system. The Jeep was originally a 3B. My thoughts were to have it as low as possible with the 39's. I kept the 3B cowl height and used the earlier 2a 3a style hood as kind of a Willy's "highline" conversion. At this point the only original body part is the cowl piece:shaking:
The front is narrowed 2" per side to allow full lock to lock steering. I also cut about 4" (I think) off the front of the frame.
I did not narrow the rear. I did cut at least 5" off the rear.
I think the LJ wheelbase is about perfect. Especially after driving Dustin and Becca's silver LJ and trying to follow my brother in laws LJ on the trail. Daveys had 2 wrecked LJ frames so I decided to start there. If he only had TJ frames, I would of stretched a TJ frame instead.
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