Frances the Jeep. Before starting I want to make something clear. This is not a restoration story, so fundamental purists be forewarned.
	For a long time I had wanted a WWII Jeep but was never able to find one in decent condition at a reasonable price. One day I drove by a place that had a couple of old Jeeps sitting outside so I stopped in and asked about them. As it turned out there was a 1950 CJ3A available. I checked it out and found it to be substantially sound mechanically, with the exception of the brakes, but the body tub was a complete rust bucket. As you will see, the only salvageable parts of the body were the dash, firewall, and toeboards. The price was very reasonable so I bought it and had her delivered to my home. In order to do her proper, it was evident she would need a replacement body tub but they're expensive and out of my price range, at least initially. I decided to dig into the mechanical side of the job to see just where I stood with the idea of determining if there were any hidden money pits. After a thorough examination I found she needed a complete brake system so I replaced everything including all brake lines (rubber and metal), brake cylinders, shoes, master cylinder, and all fittings. Next was the exhaust system. Again, everything from the manifold back was replaced. I also decided to replace all the driveline seals including front and rear axle seals, front and rear pinion seals, and both output seals on the transfer case. Next I changed the engine oil and filter, cleaned the air cleaner, checked the plugs, put in a new battery and fired her up. She ran like a champ so I drove her around the block (a private road in a private development) to test everything. She passed with flying colors.

		This is what she looked like when purchased. The top is made of plywood and, in order to fasten it to the body, the PO had cut away sections of the tub lip to fit 1x3 boards in to be bolted to the sides. This ruined the entire tub lip. On the plus side, the top kept the rain and snow out, for the most part.
	I now had a good running, driveable, flatfender Jeep with all new brakes, exhaust, and seals, and had less than $1,500.00 invested. If anyone can put me into a comparable WWII model for the same price, please let me know! At this point I decided that I would patch her up to get her back on the road so I could enjoy it while saving up the money for a new tub. Since basically everything I was going to do to the tub was a stopgap I certainly didn't want to spend any more than necessary. As it turned out the cheapest parts that came my way were those for military Jeeps of WWII vintage. In order to make use of those parts it was necessary for me to make one modification to the chassis. I had acquired a WWII grille and hood at a flea market (total cost $35.00). The grille would fit the CJ but since the CJ radiator fastened to the back of the CJ3A's grille it was necessary to replace the radiator with a CJ2A one. That wasn't a problem since I had decided to put in a new radiator anyway (who could trust a 55 year old radiator which, it turned out, was swiss cheese?). In order to mount the CJ2A radiator it was necessary to attach two lower radiator mounting tangs to the front crossmember. A nice lady in Carolina ground the welds off of a pair of tangs and sent them to me. I welded them to the front crossmember, bought a new radiator, and mounted it, making the upper support rod from scratch. Now before any purists have a heart attack, those tangs can be easily removed by grinding the welds off and the chassis will be none the worse for wear. On the following pages I will post pictures of the various patches I installed. I replaced the front floors from the toeboards to the rear floor including all of the highhats. I replaced the lower half of both sides from the front fenders to the rear wheel openings. I installed both front steps. On the driver's side I had to replace about eighteen inches of the tub lip directly above the gas tank filler. The sheetmetal around the fuel filler was replaced. Numerous small patches were welded into the body. Several pieces of missing tub lip had to be fabricated and welded in. I replaced the floor riser from the front to the rear floor. I made a six inch deep replacement panel for the front edge of the rear floor. The bottom six inches or so of both front inner rear wheel wells were replaced. The lower halves of both dash supports were replaced. I acquired the two rear top corners of the tub lip and fitted them in the replace the missing sections. I bought a repair panel for the right rear fender and welded it in. The tailgate was a real mess as were the two light panels. The least costly way to repair it all was to install a WWII rear panel instead. Well, there you have it, a real salad. There are parts from MB, GPW, CJ2A, and CJ3A, as well as purchased patch panels and also those I made myself from sheet steel. 34 different repair pieces/panels in all. There's a lot more to it but those are the highlights. Anyone interested can continue on to the following pages and check it out.

Frances Langford, the namesake. Main MenuSite Map