 |
 |
 |
I SOLD MY JEEP! =:^(
2005 has been a rough year for me. With
great sadness, I had to sell my wonderful, original 1946 Willys CJ2A.
I couldn't afford to keep it, and the Pacific Northwest (where I now live)
is not a kind environment for the old Jeep without a garage. Fortunately
(for the Jeep), it was bought by Tim Hunt of Chula Vista, California.
He's a reader of these pages, and a real enthusiast. He's promised
to take good care of the old fellah. I miss my -- or rather, Tim's
-- Jeep; but I'm happy that it's in the hands of someone who appreciates
it as much as I did, and that it's in the fry climate of Southern California.
I bought this 1946 CJ2A from a former Marine in February, 2001. I'd sold my '48 about ten years ago, and I finally had to replace it. Since I no longer have a garage or access to proper tools, not to mention that I have very little free time due to my job, I decided to buy the best example of a CJ2A I could find. Most of the L-134 engine CJ2As in the Los Angeles (or Los Hideous, as I like to call it) area were going for about $2,500. About half of the CJ2As did not have L-134 engines and had been converted to V6s and were selling for about $6,500. This one was advertised for $7,500, which I thought was... uh, "high". Nevertheless, I decided to look at it. The seller had turned down an offer of $5,000 from a buyer in Italy. I asked him how much he'd take for it. A couple of days later he telephoned me and said he'd take $5,500 for it. Well, it would cost three kilobucks to fix one of the cheaper ones up and put it into this condition, so I went for it.
I really don't have a use for the power take-off (PTO), but it was on the Jeep. Besides if I took it off and sold it, there would be a hole behind the transmission levers where the PTO lever was; so I kept it. You'll notice the extra set of tail lights. One pair is for towing. The former owner, who'd had this vehicle for 15 years, wired it for towing. The little rag on the front bumper is holding the towing wires inside of the bumper. Another nice thing about this Jeep is that it has, in addition to the PTO, lots of nice bits. There is a governor handle, instrument light, and switches for the instrument lights and towing lights, plus the drum for the PTO and a short flat belt.. Although it has a directional indicator selector, it is not hooked up. Still, it will be handy if I ever want blinking lights.
The engine purrs nicely. When I come to a stop, I have to listen to hear if it's still running! And it's very clean. Also under the bonnet is a fuel line that leads into the cockpit... to the heater! Yes, there is a gas-fired heater in this thing. I have no idea how it works, but I'm sure someone will see this page and e-mail me an explanation.
23 May, 2002
I've had some work done since I first posted this page.
Last year I had new brakes put on. Recently the Jeep has had the
"Willys Death Wobble". That is, whenever I'd hit a bump the front
end would come unglued and enter an uncontrollable low-speed shimmy.
I had the steering bellcrank and the non-original steering damper replaced,
as well as the shims and bearings.