I'm Rommel Juan of MDJuan. 

FYI. Here's our latest ad for people who need Jeep tubs.

Are talking about our CJ2a tubs? We have a very original CJ2A in the plant which we use as a guide.

I'll check the windshield fit tomorrow.

Do you know what was the year of production of the tub that did not fit? We have fixed many problems in recent years.

Thanks for the comment though. We always welcome comments and suggestions that can improve our products to help the Jeep community restore their beloved Jeeps.

Best,

Rommel

We intend to :)

Rommel

Perhaps you could tell me when this one was manufactured, and how or what you have changed since this period of tubs.   Like I said, overall I was pleased with the product, but you could improve it even more if you want to!

Thanks for coming to this site and being open to read and understand the comments made.

 

Perhaps a set of jigs similar to what the Toledo guys use should be used in your factory? It seems obvious to the end user there needs to be a way of checking fit before the tub leaves your factory.

 

IF you do do the improvements needed PLEASE do something to identify those tubs as the new model. A date code stamped in somewhere and a serial number would be an ideal solution. Perhaps a bonded on ID plate on the underside of the cowl might be a good idea.

 

Real Ecoat primer or the option to get a tub in bare steel would save the expense of media blasting a new tub. Complaints about your primer quality and adhesion are common.

 

How large are your presses used to stamp tub pieces out with? Some folks have discussed your production methods as a bunch of guys swinging hammers over wooden forms, and others claim you have modern presses similar to what is used in Detroit....can you tell us about your plant?

 

Thank you for opening the discussion. It could be a turning point for your products. These civillian jeeps are no longer the stepchild of the jeep world, and Cj2A and 3A owners are every bit as fussy as the military guys when it comes to being correct and right, as well as proper fit. It is no longer Jed and Bubba just trying to keep that old jeep on the road. Now the jeep gets critiqued and shown at national shows, wher guys with tape measures crawl underneath and check obscure features. Add to that the fact that WIllys liked to change stuff without telling anyone, and we are discovering features that changed over the years previously unknown, and you may have a similar chart of body tub features to the one  WWII guys have.

 

 

sam forced me to edit. so i took the word junk out. stick to all comments and have experienced many juan tubs. thank you

 

james

 

See what I mean about the reputation your products have?  James is not the only one with opinions like this. He may be blunt,but honestly that is what many folks think of your tubs. On the other hand, a MD juan tub from today is a far cry from what we had available to us in the early 70's. I have a 3A tub in my garage right now that is an incredibly poor copy of the real thing, and thin metal has all but evaporated away in the floor pan.

 

 

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the satisfaction from getting a cheap price fades away."

 

Serial numbers are no problem, we have been putting them on our tubs. So we can just inform people what number the improvements start with.

We have various machine presses. the biggest is 1200 tons where we stamp the rims, the floorings, the hoods, fenders and other big stuff.

I'll post pictures of our plant here so you can hav an idea.

here are some pictures that our french dealer Jeep Village took last year when they visited us.

http://www.jeepvillage.com/index.php?mmond=1&contat=1&entry=205&crtcat=79&crtcur=0&SelAt=0

here are some videos that show the plant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjdUYcJvvno

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnweiJWOcPc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDRnk36S23g

Just please forgive me for the cheesy interviews )

Rommel

I think this is a great opportunity.

 

 

 

 

It was noted above about the primer used.  I can't imagine having to strip all the primer off a tub to get to the metal to do a proper job of redoing it.  Some have called it modern day cosmoline.  Of the small parts I have used, I try to get it sanded off and re-primer.

 

Some of your competition uses you and your companies quality, indirectly, in selling their quality. 

I for one would rather seek out a used tub and fix what is needed before going the route of of a repo tub.  Here in the USA, we have a sour taste in our mouth about buying overseas.  There is a lot of cheap labor and junk coming our way from that direction.  Thats not to say there isnt quality out there.

 

We are not here trying to attack you, just stating first hand experiences.  I sincerely thanks you for coming and visiting this site.  I'm sure I speak for all in saying we hope our feed back helps in your QC.

Cheers,

Brett

 

Thanks for posting that article by the jeep group, nice pictures in there.

 

 

There is already a pretty comprehensive list in the  MDJaun Faults thread  http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/md-juan-body-faults_topic26386.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/md-juan-body-faults_topic26386.html

 

so this tub:

was made in November 2006

This problem has been resolved.

and we took our reproduction hood and installed it on an original tub:

for you to see. 

 

I tlooks as if just maybe vendors are still selling old stock, hence the continued problems..What good is improving your present product when there are still unsold early and incorrect units out there. Somehow those wrong tubs need to be removed from the system when you do major improvements. It would be expensive to buy back all the older tubs from your vendors but the PR would be excellent.

 

On your shifter hole problem....it is more than just the distance to the back of the tub. The distance to the each side as well, and the  height of the hole compared to the height of he body mounts is critical. A better test of accuracy in that hole woud be to get a good rolling chassis with steering column, transmission, transfer case, and pedals. Set your tub down over it and see what lines up and what doesn't. Of course, you will have to cut the pedal holes and column hole first.

 

Your original tub appears to have had a 70's paint job applied to it......Hopefully it is an accurate representation of the 2a and hasn't been bodyworked to the point where it no longer has the right contours. Something looks different about the windshield arms, an often bent area.  You might consider acquiring another 2A or 3A and double checking the cowl and windshield area. As part of the windshield checking process you need to make certain the distance from the windshield tip to the rear edge of the tub is correct. That angle is critical for new tops fitting the jeep. Perhaps a NOS windshield needs to be obtained for some critical measuring.

We have consistently been selling cj2as and 3as over the years so I doubt if there are many old stocks with our dealers. 

We also measured the transmission hole from the side of the tub. 

I'll try to put an MDJuan tub on the running chassis of our original CJ2a and post it here by next week.

Our original Cj2a was in excellent shape when we got it. Hardly any rust. The guy who sold it to us even kept all the parts, bulbs and rubbers that he replaced over the years. I'll show pictures of that too.

But we repainted it Luzon Red (Because Luzon is an Island in the Philippines) as stated on the CJ2a color guide. But it didn't turn out so nice. I might repaint it to original beige.

Rommel

 

David in Illinois

Mostly we have fixed the major issues. What we still do not have are all the holes for the bolts and stuff.

Maybe the forum members can help me identify the right hole locations?

I will also try to come up with a graphical representation of all our hole location and maybe you guys can chime in and give your opinion.

Rommel

 

I'm sure you meant Harvest Tan

 

Don't worry - we'll get you to where you need to be...

 

I think the comment about the 1970's repaint might have been partially due to observing that the fender seam on the rear of the left front fender in your photo has been filled in with something we might refer to here as 'bondo'.

We also measured the original CJ2a that we have.

FYI :)

 

I realize wheelhouse ribs do not affect the jeep's ability to go down the road or the fit of other parts and pieces, but that is the sort of accuracy we strive for when restoring jeeps.

 

How about the top bow sockets?? Why are they left off? (Perhaps to save time for those without original top hardware and aftermarket tops?) Maybe they should be provided in a box with the tub and the tubs need to be marked somehow for accurate installation by the end user??

for the round fenders we put them on the firewall:

 

Next, I assume that the JEEP script on the front of the toolbox is not there because of royality issues with the name.  The royality is based on the price of the object it is on.  Since the grille, hood and tailgate can be bought seperate the royality issue would be based on each part and the toolbox being attached makes the royality issue on the whole tub.

 

This brings me to the issue of a grille, why don't you include the grille with Willys on it in a Mater kit?

 

Also are the fenders with the 3A/3B kit still M-38 fenders.  That is do they still have the support lip about 2 inches from the front of the fender that runs from top to bottom, also the holes to bolt the fenders to the grille are cutout(this allowed the army to fold down the grille on an M-38)  The stock 3a.3b fenders have holes to bolt to the grille like a 2a.

 

I am looking forward to seeing more of your product.

 

Mike

 

This has turned out to be a really good thread.  I can't wait to see the end result of these discussions  I'd love to see some photos and/or videos of your operation.

BTW.  do you have a jeep?  If so, let's see.

This is our operation at MDJuan:

Our french dealer took these pictures when he visited last year:

 

http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/repairing-bed-and-wheel-housing-tops_topic27224_page2.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/repairing-bed-and-wheel-housing-tops_topic27224_page2.html

 

Note that your 2A wheelhouses are not correct, the ribs, besides being the wrong shape, do not extend all the way to the front of the panel.  They are quite functional and an excellent replacement for the part, just not right on a show jeep. Again, what we are trying to acheive is a tub that looks like and interchanges completely with an original.  And original parts fit it well with minimal adjustment. Every change you make gets us closer to that ideal.

You like the pictures of the plant huh? I'll take pictures of the loading section and the finished goods section. That's cool to see too :)

dennisanvil

But we are now in the forefront of pushing for the Ejeepney, the electric version of the Jeepney.

We want to have cleaner and pollution free roads :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAKOKxAbSJU

Please check the body number to find out the production date of your tub. The way to figure out the serial number as well as where to find it is discussed earlier in this thread.

Now let's try to figure out if it's the tub or the seat which has a problem. Is the seat a repro as well?

Rommel

 

Mike

 

Also the holes are not open to the fron but are oblong .

 

Your 2a fenders are correct for the 3a and 3b in the front area.

 

Mike

             Thanks for the reply.the serial #on my tub is 111009925E means according to your earlier post on serial # means mine was made january 2011. It's not a pre 2002.the problem is not the tub or the seat. The problem was me . I Thought the seat rested on the bracket on the wheel house when actually it does not there needs to be ahole drilled in the wheel house to bolt the seat to it . I have the original seat and discoverd theres a 5/16-24 mounting hole in the bottom roud tube of the seat back on the left side. My CJ2A is a 1946 serial # 25665.I look at my original and found a 7/16 hole above the bracket for bolting the seat. My appologies.Now I notcied your floor braces are narrower than the originals the one furthist forward to the front measures 1.400 inches the original measures 1.625 inches and the next one back measures 1.400 inches and the original measures 2.130inches.I think the transfer case cut-out should be moved forward 1.500inches to 2.00inches my shift levers hit the cut-out in the floor.The windshield to cowl is not a good fit the raddi's are not a match.

                                                                                                                                  Richard

Hi Mike,

Let me get back to you about this one :) I'll check with the plant on Monday.

Rommel

Thanks for the detailed information complete with measurements.

I will go back to the plant on Monday and have our guys measure the floor braces and the transfer case cut out. And I will have a full report by next week.

Happy weekend!

Rommel

Richard J wrote: Rommel,              Thanks for the reply.the serial #on my tub is 111009925E means according to your earlier post on serial # means mine was made january 2011. It's not a pre 2002.the problem is not the tub or the seat. The problem was me . I Thought the seat rested on the bracket on the wheel house when actually it does not there needs to be ahole drilled in the wheel house to bolt the seat to it . I have the original seat and discoverd theres a 5/16-24 mounting hole in the bottom roud tube of the seat back on the left side. My CJ2A is a 1946 serial # 25665.I look at my original and found a 7/16 hole above the bracket for bolting the seat. My appologies.Now I notcied your floor braces are narrower than the originals the one furthist forward to the front measures 1.400 inches the original measures 1.625 inches and the next one back measures 1.400 inches and the original measures 2.130inches.I think the transfer case cut-out should be moved forward 1.500inches to 2.00inches my shift levers hit the cut-out in the floor.The windshield to cowl is not a good fit the raddi's are not a match.                                                                                                                                   Richard

Thanks for the kind words Dunc 

 

We found several things on the MD JUAN body that were off but none of them were real critical. We had to raise the front of body up about 1" to get the fenders to fit properly. We did this with extra body mount rubbers under the front tub mounts. We also had to modify the fenders slightly to get them to fit up against the frame properly. This required cutting part of the flange and welding a small spacer. The Seats did not fit quite right either due to the distance from the resting bracket on the rear wheel well to the front step down being slightly different. The other thing was that the front ears that stick out of the body tub and suppose to rest on the frame (right around the master cylinder for example) were pigeoned towed in a bit and not lined up. We kinda left them and worked around that..

All it all it does look and fit pretty good now and I had expected problems of this nature from previous posts and others who had experience with it..

Having said all of this note that we also replaced the front four feet of the frame and some of the misalignment with the frame may have been done to variations here..

On the oil pump, I had an OEM oil pump that I found new gaskets for and installed them and the clearances worked fine.. Have not run it yet but manually pumping is creating and expected good vacuum on the intake side.. !!

Because of this forum we will now be incorporating the correct top bow socket kit on ourCJ2a tubs.

Please look at the pictures and see if something doesn't look right.

mogger7

Daryl Bensinger will offer the  kits with and without the frame.  He just got the pricing sheet the other day.  

You beat me to that report :) hahaha

The master kits are available with the dealers now.

Chers,

Rommel

Rommel  What is the suggested Retail of the Master kits with frames ?  

D & L Bensinger
Military Vehicle Parts and Restoration
2442 Main Street,
Narvon, PA. 17555 U.S.A.
Tel./Fax (610) 286-9545
Email:  D&L Bensinger"  mailto:Lida@DLBensinger.com" rel="nofollow - Lida@DLBensinger.com
Website:  http://www.dlbensinger.com/" rel="nofollow - DLBensinger.com
Contact person:  Daryl and Lida Bensinger 

Ron Fitzpatrick Jeep Parts
4420 Foothills Blvd.,
Grant Pass, Oregon 97528
Tel. No. (541)582-4035
Fax No. (541)582-4037
Email:  mailto:partsdept@g503.com" rel="nofollow - partsdept@g503.com
Contact Person: Ron Fitzpatrick 

thanks! 

thanks Freddy! We appreciate all the help. And we hope more Jeepers will benefit in the long run :)

I'm glad to report that this improvement has been implemented due to this comment by Brandon  

Thanks bgirmus!!

Everything is 18 gauge (1.2mm)  Galvanealed sheetmetal. 

Keep up the improvements!  It will only help you, and all of the folks in the future.  I wish more businesses would seek out feedback from their consumers...they'd be surprised by what they might learn!   Again,  great job!

 

 

Drill and re-tap?

 

1/4" to 5/16" should be fairly easy.

 

 

 

 

so to summarize your concerns are the following:

 

 

 

One thing that makes this more of a problem than it needs to be is the lack of specific measurements for chassis straightening for those who have tweaked their frames somehow. There is a Willys manual illustration everyone refers to but unfortunately it doesn't go into enough detail in my opinion to ensure a straight and level frame for the jeeps foundation.

 

All it takes is one overenthusiastic Rat Patrol reenactment to bend a frame a bit, and then you have all the typical problems of fenders and hoods not fitting well, along with possible floor issues. The owner of the jeep may not even realize it has been bent, as the old rotted body he is replacing adjusts to fit this new frame shape without any obvious signs because of the lack of good structural rigidity. THen the new body gets bolted on and all the mis fitting gets blamed on the tub when it may be a frame issue.

 

Perhaps some research needs to be done to ascertain some key measurements of a straightened frame, and an information sheet shoudl be included with the jeep.

 

On a totally different subject the 3B guys seem to have parking brake handle issues as well, with an incorrect bracket in the wrong place and no place in the dash to put the handle that is properly shaped. Every online  review of the 3B tubs includes welding of the old dash parts into the new tub. Not good for a replacement part to require welding.

 

Is the parking brake return spring tab on the 2A tubs yet?

Yes Roc, it should be an easy fix, however...I haven't take the time to do it!  I'm just wondering how I'll keep the nut from spinning in its cage, or break out of the cage.  Not the easiest place to get to!