Features | eWillys | Page 407 (2024)

With my Dana 44 all taken apart (See article below), it was time to put everything back together. One aspect I have left out of the rebuild process is the importance I placed on using the appropriate language to assemble and disassemble the R&P properly; lets just say I'm glad my children weren't about.

Gathering tools and parts

In terms of parts, I needed to gather a rebuild kit, a locker, and axle kits. Using Craigslist, I found a locker for 3:73 gearing locally for $325. The rebuild kit I got at half price from a jeeper in Bend, Oregon. The axle bearings, cones, and outer seals were purchased online through Tellico4x4.com. The inner axle seals I purchased at Schucks. At first, when I realized I had forgotten to order these (oops), I went to tellico's website. The seals themselves were around $5 a piece, but the cost for shipping was going to more than double the price. I thought that was ridiculous. So, I dropped by the local Schucks to see what it would cost to get the seals (I figured they would have to order them). Well, to my surprise, they had them in stock! $10 later, I was out the door with them.

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The Goal .. take apart my Dana 44 housing and install a Detroit Locker along with new bearings and seals. Sounds easy enough, right?

When building my last jeep, I did not have to rebuild either of the axle housings. In the rear I had a Dana 44 from a mail jeep. Mail jeeps come with detroit lockers: note that the housing is a little narrower than a standard jeep by approx 2". To fix this, you can have some shims machined that will allow you to use standard flanged jeep axles.

Fast forward to the new jeep. I had a Dana 44 I knew nothing about and a detroit locker I wanted to install inside it. I figured this would be a good opportunity to learn about ring and pinions; and, learn a thing or two I did!

The First Issue – Broken teeth

Naturally, the first step was to pull off the housing cover and examine the condition of the gears. Unfortunately, the news was not good. I quickly discovered that I had a very broken tooth on the ring gear.

Interestingly, there was no evidence of broken pieces in the oil. This lead me to suspect that the previous owner may have discovered the damage while changing the gear oil and 'forgotten' to mention it to me. Also, once I pulled everything apart, I would also find the pinion gear broken as well.

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At left is a pretty stock CJ-5 frame. There were some cracks where the front crossmember attached to the passenger side frame rail. Because of this, I felt the crossmember had to go so I could box in the front of the frame.

At the back of the frame, the driver’s side was slightly lower than the passenger side. Also, because I wanted to outboard the back springs, I needed to add a bracket onto the side of the frame to help support both the front and the back of the springs.

To make all these changes meant a great deal of work .. welding, grinding (and welding and grinding again) and painting. I am pleased with the results.

Click here to see many more pics of the frame transformation.

I've heard rumors that a TV show in the 1960s did an episode on the Naches Trail. Good News! I finally found the episode, which was created by Exploration Northwest. The best news is you can buy a copy of it and some other early jeep videos on DVD from the Don McCune Library.

Jeeping 1 (Click link and scroll down to Jeeping 1)

This DVD features 3 episodes:

1. The Meeker Trail: "Join this spine-rattling trip with the Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club as they retrace the oldest route across the Cascades: Naches Pass. Filmed in black-and-white in 1965, it is based on Ezra Meeker's book "Pioneer Reminiscences of Puget Sound", which recounts traversing this old Indian trail with the first immigrant wagon train of 148 people in 1853."

2. The Doe Run: "The female members of the Seattle Jeep Club leave their families at home and enjoy a weekend 'Doe Run' on the rugged backcountry roads of the Cle Elum and Salmon La Sac area in the Cascade Mountains." (The WWJC club did something similar about this time – my mom and grandma went)

3. The Mud Race: " Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club race their specially-equipped jeeps through a mud-hole track in central Washington."

The Desert Races DVD (Click link and scroll down to Desert Races)

This DVD features 3 episodes

1. Mattawa 100: "The 1975 Mattawa 100 features 750 dirt bikes racing across 100 miles of sand and sagebrush near the eastern Washington town of Mattawa.Aerial and slow-motion photography offers an exciting view along with comments by contestants.The Everett Highriders Jeep Club and the Stump Jumpers Motorcycle Club assisted in the event". (I think I was at this race. Our jeep club was helping run a checkpoint. Guys were coming to the checkpoint bloody from falling. Very memorable).

2. The Sunfair 300: "Sponsored by the Washington Off-Road Racing Association, the Sunfair 300 is a desert race with 4-wheel-drive vehicles and rails (dune buggies) on a 225-mile course near Yakima that ranks as one of the toughest in the nation!Members of the Yakima Ridge Runners staff the race course check points." (I believe this was what my original racing jeep — that I purchased for $600 — was built to compete in).

3. A retrospective of the life of the host, Don McCune.

I purchased this jeep CJ-3A body and parts for $450. It came without running gear, but with a recently rebuilt engine and transmission. I just happened to have a rolling frame without a body, so I put all the parts I didn't want on the rolling frame and sold that. I ended up making all my money back from this purchase and was left with the fenders, hood, windshield and the data plate that goes on the dashboard 🙂

I decided to purchase a CJ-5 to get a better frame and running gear. Here's some pics of it. It's a 1973 CJ-5 with a Chev 350, a sm420 tranny, center rear differential with the dana 20. I ended up parting out most of it.

These are some unusual documents.

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“VINTAGE TO WORLD WAR 2 ERA
WILLY’S JEEP OVERLAND EPHEMERA
2 DUES BOOKLETS WITH STAMPS AND NOTATIONS
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

GOOD CONDITION FOR THE AGE
THESE ITEMS NOT OFTEN FOUND ANY LONGER”

Anyone recognize this body?

::ANSWERS ::

Here are the answers to the Salesman Quiz. To see or take the original quiz, click on this link.

Thanks to Colin for finding the answers.

1. There are ……….. different Willys chassis.
(1) 2
(2) 5 —2WD station wagon and panel; 2 WD Jeepster; 4WDstation wagon and panel; 4WD pickup truck; 4WD Jeep (CJ3A and M38)
(3) 6
(4) 8

2. In the Jeepster, the basic rugged frame is made …………………… to compensate for the open-type body.
(1) more flexible
(2) stronger —Jeepster frame has a huge X member in the middle for strength.
(3) more streamlined

3. Planadyne suspension provides a comfortable, big-car ride without ……………………..
(1) shock absorbers
(2) unsprung weight
(3) excessive weight and long wheelbase —Planadyne suspension provides comfort and ride without excessive weightand long wheelbase.

4. Hotchkiss drive uses the car’s ……………………………… to transmit the push of the drive wheels to the total car.
(1) drive line — Hotchkiss drive uses the driveline to get power to the drive wheels
(2) rear springs
(3) torque tube

5. A measure of long clutch-life is ……………………, and on this basis, Willys clutches are outstanding.
(1) frictional area per horse-power handled
(2) horsepower per cubic inch of piston displacement — Long clutch life attributed to frictional area per horsepower handled.
(3) area of clutch throwout bearing surface

6. The Hurricane engine’s ………………….. is in the cylinder head, resulting in better control of the temperature of the air-fuel mixture
(1) intake manifold — The Hurricane engine has the intake manifold cast into the cylinder head.
(2) carburetor
(3) exhaust manifold

7. The F-head design of the Hurricane engine permits ………………..
(1) a larger intake valve — The F-head design permits a larger intake valve.
(2) a smaller exhaust valve
(3) location of the exhaust valve in the cylinder head

8. The Hurricane engine has the high compression ratio of ………………… yet premium priced gasoline is not required.
(1) 7.2 to 1
(2) 7.4 to 1 — The Hurricane engine has the option of 7.4 to 1 compression ratio( Willysad from 1950-51)
(3) 7.8 to 1

9. In the Hurricane engine the arrangement of intake and exhaust valves is ………………..
(1) both in the cylinder head.
(2) both in the block.
(3) intake valve in head, exhaust valve in block. — Hurricane engine design has the intake valves in the head, exhaust valvesin the block.

10. On the basis of horse-power per cubic inch of piston displacement, the Hurricane engine is the ………………….full-sized American-built automobile engine.
(1) lightest-weight
(2) most efficient — Hurricane engine is the most efficient engine based on horsepower percubic inch (.53 horsepwer per cubic inch) Divide horsepower(72) by cubicinches (134) or 75hp divided by 134= .55 hp per cubic inch depending onwhich horsepower rating Willys used at the time
(3) highest compression

11. All of the Willy chassis are designed and built …………….
(1) identical in construction.
(2) to do their particular transportation jobs. — All Willys chassis are designed for the job they are intended to do.
(3) with excess weight to get comfort.

12. The Willys ………………… is universally recognized as the most dependable 4-cylinder, L-head engine in the history of American motor cars.
(1) Hurricane engine
(2) Lightning engine
(3) ‘Jeep’ “Go-Devil” Engine — The Willys “Go-Devil” is the most dependable L-head 4 cylinder engine inthe history of American cars. ( Hurricane was 4 cylinder F-head, Lightningwas an L head 6 cylinder engine)

<=======Go back to original quiz, click on this link.

Here’s a rare PTO item.

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“Cleaning up the farm. Here we have a rare, Rare Willy’s jeep P.T.O. auger post hole digger for Willy’s hitch system. I bought this to build my pole barn with but never used it. I was going to mount it as 3 point hitch. The p.t.o. shaft will need some oil on the knuckle from sitting. Gears are good. Will be perfect for your Willy’s vehicle. Note: what you see is what you are getting:Gear drive, auger, drive shaft, and long boom bar. This will require some fabrication for your application.”

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This one was priced at $350 in 2019 (not sure what the final price was):

Not sure what this will take to restore.

“Roper PTO Post Hole Digger. I bought this with the intention of modifying it to fit a Farmall with fasthitch but found a factory fasthitch digger so I have no need for this machine. I have not used it but it seems to be in working order. It has a serial number tag but it is faded and I could not get it to show up in the pictures. Take a look at the pictures and let me know if you have any questions – I am happy to help. Cash only please and sold as is.”

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Here’s another one that sold in 2016:

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Here’s an old brochure for the Roper auger (from this Roper-related post):

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UPDATE: The was first published September 23, 2015: Perhaps one of the earliest wagons used as a tour wagon?

This unique tour jeep truck was featured in the April 1955 issue of Willys News.