Time Capsule Navy CJ3A by Valentine APU |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Posted: 23 Feb. 2016 at 6:17am |
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This is the wild story of an unheard of Jeep.
It all started around November 2015 when I had a Craigslist ad for the HoosierWillys club, simply looking for members. One day a guy emailed me and asked if I was interested in buying some old Jeeps. Sure! I went to his house and checked out a nice MB, and the remains of a CJ2A. We made a deal. I ended up buying the 2A for the PTO system; I gave to my grandpa for Christmas, and Hugh Hedrick bought the MB to restore. A month later I get a text picture of some WWII paint that was for the MB. The brother found it in his basement. So I called him and he asked me if I wanted to take his Jeep off his hands too, which I knew about but couldn’t get any details on before. Later that I week I drove up to Indy to check out this paint and some Jeep that was the remains of a Navy jet starter.
Huh? What? Check out this information on APU Jeeps: http://warjeeps.com/articles/APUnavyJeeps/apu-jeeps.html Essentially there were 3 & 4
wheeled variants. The 3 wheelers were 2WD and slung low for ships, while the 4
wheelers had standard tires, windshield, and 4x4 for ground jets. All Jeeps had
a PTO-driven generator that hooked into early jets to start the engines. The
model/engine correlation is still unknown as is much of the APU information
since there aren’t many to base research off of, but we know for sure O.E.
Szekely converted CJ3A’s with the l-head, and later pictures show inconsistently
modified hoods for f-heads. Just last weekend I had a chance to get
home and clean her all up. The military repainted the Jeep once which isn’t bad
for about 10 years of service. As a whole the condition is fantastic with the
only serious rust being the hat channels in the front floor. It’s all straight,
frame is solid, and just preserved. My plan is to find a CJ2A with an f-head so
I can use it as a donor for the engine, tranny, radiator, battery, etc. The
only thing “wrong” with this Jeep is the shifter tower is missing, thus a good
amount of dust has gathered for 50 years. One of the cool factors is that this is
the only known Valentine-converted 3A APU to exist. Only 4-wheeled APU to have this style equipment. This one is an NA-4. Out of both brands this is the only 4-wheeled
to wear its original paint and have documentation. It’s a double edged sword
because there aren’t any other Jeeps to use as reference. This one will be the
basis for historical research.
Lastly is my estimation where the Jeep served during its time. All of this is
going off research and is non definite. The Jeep entered the service in ’53 and
left in ’62. So I did some searching on the Norfolk base and the aircraft
carriers that stationed there. Here’s some intriguing information: -It was involved in the Lebanon Crisis, part of the Arab Cold War July 15th-October 25th 1958 (pictured below with an APU)
-After loading food, clothing, and equipment, Wasp spent the period 11-18 January 1962 conducting antisubmarine warfare
exercises and submarine surveillance off the east coast. -After a brief stop at Norfolk, the ship steamed onto further training exercises and anchored off Bermuda January 24-31. Wasp then returned to her home port.
The timeline matches up perfectly with this Jeep and could very well be the
answer of her military service. It was
stationed when the Jeep entered service, and returned with enough time to
unload the Jeep and send it off to surplus by March 26, 1962.
I have been fortunate enough to rescue
the Navy APU from its resting place in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is an all
original, “one-owner” Jeep that has become a time capsule for 54 years. All
those neat things like the RPM tach, hour meter, data tags, power system, paint
and more are still present. This Jeep is unbelievable. The only known picture of a Valentine CJ3A, and this picture was taken in Korea. If you want to see more pictures and
read more info I’ve uploaded some great information. Original APU order: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6edWObkSS3OcW9xRjJJU1J2Nnc/view Edited by Nick_ - 25 Feb. 2016 at 3:10am |
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rocnroll
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 20 July 2005 Location: Tuscumbia, AL Status: Offline Points: 13584 |
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Cool project
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'47 CJ2A PU
'48 CJ2A Lefty "Common sense is not that common" |
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Bill Norris
Member Joined: 01 May 2006 Location: MI Status: Offline Points: 1839 |
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That is very cool!!!
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Holy Toledo! Jeep Calendars and the Dispatcher Jeep magazine
http://dispatchermagazine.com |
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67charger
Member Joined: 27 Sep. 2011 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 1272 |
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Are you sure that jeep didn't come from East L.A.? The little tires kinda give it the low rider look, they probably sold the chain steering wheel and hydraulics before you got it.
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mbullism
Member Sponsor Member x 4 Joined: 29 May 2015 Location: MA Status: Offline Points: 4783 |
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I gotta tell ya, I'm duly impressed with the level of leg work you've done to this point
If that was on the flight deck for 9 or so years, given the number of folks that went through that ship over that time...somewhere in a shoebox are pictures of that APU doing what it does...
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Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it... Welcome to 1930's Germany
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rocnroll
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 20 July 2005 Location: Tuscumbia, AL Status: Offline Points: 13584 |
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Wallace Wade Specialty Tires in Dallas could probably fix you up with some tires. Better to call though, searching the myriad of websites (mentioning his business) is somewhat inconclusive and really hard to accomplish anything.
LOVE that tachometer too! Edited by rocnroll - 23 Feb. 2016 at 4:42pm |
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'47 CJ2A PU
'48 CJ2A Lefty "Common sense is not that common" |
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rocketeer
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 26 June 2008 Location: Lehighton, PA Status: Offline Points: 3473 |
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That is truly an historic find and should be preserved/restored as such. Congratulations!
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athawk11
Member Joined: 18 Jan. 2012 Location: Arvada,Colorado Status: Offline Points: 4151 |
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Very cool and unique Willys. Full restore? Or fix up the mechanical stuff and keep the patina? Even the hand written stuff on the hood is cool!
Note: It's not unusual to find factory installed bottom mount radiators on a CJ3A. What is the wheel diameter? Tim |
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1- 1946 CJ2A
2- 1949 CJ3A |
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athawk11
Member Joined: 18 Jan. 2012 Location: Arvada,Colorado Status: Offline Points: 4151 |
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Another question...
What do you think the advantage was for the small tires? Maybe lower to the ground for easy in-and-out access?
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1- 1946 CJ2A
2- 1949 CJ3A |
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WeeWilly
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 07 May 2009 Location: Clayton IN Status: Offline Points: 3423 |
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From the info Nick has given those are 12" wheels and it was to lower the vehicle so it could go under plane wings on aircraft carriers and that is the reason for no windshield also. Jim
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47 CJ2A (Ranch Hand) 48 CJ2A, 48 Willys truck, T3C 3782, M274 (Military Mule)
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Bruce W
Member Joined: 29 July 2005 Location: Northeast Colorado Status: Offline Points: 9651 |
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Or maybe to pass under the wings of aircraft? BW |
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It is NOT a Jeep Willys! It is a Willys jeep.
Happy Trails! Good-bye, Good Luck, and May the Good Lord Take a Likin' to You! We Have Miles to Jeep, Before We Sleep. |
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Joe Friday
Moderator Group Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 26 Dec. 2010 Location: Jeep Central Status: Offline Points: 3654 |
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Nick, If you look at your original tire there should be a 6 digit mold serial number on it in the bead area.
If you can read it, I can tell you when the mold was manufactured to determine if these were the original tires.
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ralf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 06 May 2008 Location: Fayetteville WV Status: Offline Points: 4861 |
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Nick, what a great find!
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1947 CJ2A
1948 CJ2A 1953 Ford NAA Golden Jubilee Tractor 1941 J-3 Cub 1957 Farmall Cub Low Boy tractor 1942 Clarktor WW2 tug |
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Nick_
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 05 May 2014 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 1132 |
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Thanks everyone for the kind comments! I’ve spent
a lot of time gathering information on this Jeep and it’s fun to see other
people getting excited about this.
If that was on the flight deck for 9 or so years, given the number
of folks that went through that ship over that time...somewhere in a shoebox
are pictures of that APU doing what it does... That’s a good point, I never thought about that. Jim suggested I join the MVPA and see if I can spread the word in that community. Hopefully it’ll dig up some info/find someone that has some parts.
I just called the place in Dallas and the guy asked me to email him some pictures to see what they could find. My fingers are crossed but I have a feeling I’ll have to find another similar style. The tach is super cool and I hope I can figure out how to hook it up.
I could never repaint this! One of the reasons I bought it was because the
original paint, it’s important to me and I’ll keep it stored indoors. Right now
my plan is to get it mechanically sound and find some tattered seat cushions,
to keep that worn look. If you can read it, I can tell you when the mold was manufactured
to determine if these were the original tires.
Good news good news! Bob3b reached out
and invited me to the Spring Reunion in Effingham, IL May 20-21st.
You guys can check out this relic in person, and I can’t wait to have a unique
Jeep there. My goal is to have it running by then. As a side note I asked a buddy who’s an
aeronautical electrical engineer about the big box, and he wrote: |
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jeeper50
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 01 Mar. 2008 Location: Spanish Fort AL Status: Offline Points: 2579 |
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just an idea but some small boat trailer tires are 4.80-12 if you need tires till you can find something more fitting the provenance and history of the APU jeep
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Belleview ol skool winch soon. '48 CJ2A 283 V8 sm 420 granny low, tera low D18, overdrive,lockers Texan at heart,Alabama by retirement |
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ralf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 06 May 2008 Location: Fayetteville WV Status: Offline Points: 4861 |
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Have you seen this link?
http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=659197 http://cj3b.info/Finds/FindsAirports.html http://www.cj3apage.com/index/Stories_History/gray_wolf_virtual_models.htm http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=179056 http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=63321 http://warjeeps.com/articles/APUnavyJeeps/apu-jeeps.html http://www.carrierbuilders.net/element/element.php?id=492 Edited by ralf - 24 Feb. 2016 at 12:57am |
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1947 CJ2A
1948 CJ2A 1953 Ford NAA Golden Jubilee Tractor 1941 J-3 Cub 1957 Farmall Cub Low Boy tractor 1942 Clarktor WW2 tug |
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48cj2a
Bantam Trailer Moderator Sponsor Member Joined: 22 July 2005 Location: Central, IL Status: Offline Points: 4521 |
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Here are some pics I collected off eBay a few years ago from lot of the Navy APUs they were auctioning off.
APU Jeeps in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkXHBDty91A
Edited by 48cj2a - 24 Feb. 2016 at 12:28am |
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Art C USAF (Retired)
47 CJ2A #134955 Project 48 CJ2A #206759 62 L6226 Station Wagon #58167 10900 45 T3-C #191 Project http://www.bantamt3c.com http://www.48cj2a.com |
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Bufordjeep
Member Joined: 12 Aug. 2009 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 506 |
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Perhaps you've already looked at this site? Potentially a vet may have some info or a photo...
http://www.usswaspassociation.org/ |
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