New Jeep

[mcveighr]

Brought my jeep home from the place we were storing it a few hours away, its registered as a 1942 Willys MB. Unfortunatly the body seems and windsheild seem to be from a later model, while the frame, drivetrain and grill are from the '42 MB. As I live in Cape Breton and its over 60 years its in pretty bad shape, the fuel pump was dead and I replaced it, changed some fluilds and tried boosting it. The engine cranked well and fuel pumped but no spark was going to the plugs, I'm thinking about trying a new distibutor cap and battery, and also check the wiring as its wired quite poorly and they are very rotted. I'd like to restore it to close to its original shape but the body makes it pretty hard, the guy we bought it off 20 years ago made his own fuel tank and roll cage and also welded some things on that dont belong there and welded things that shouldnt be welded. On top of all that the body is almost entirely rotted and composed of some pieces of sheet metal riveted on by the past owner, and I have no experience with metal working.

What do you think? Stick to a toy offroader or try to restore it?

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

Resortation would look nice but you could make it in to bad *** rock crawler/off-road vehicle. Those little willy's really don't die that easy. It's got potenial considering if you are are going to deck it out for off road then some of the parts would need to be replaced and it seems like your half way there.

check out www.jcwhitney.com jeep section

[neppo1345]

4 Wheel Drive Hardware

They have forums that are VERY much like AO...One of the greatest groups of people I've ever dealt with. Whichever route you choose to go, they have what you need.

Or you could go with Qudratech great company as well, jsut not as personal as 4wd.com... If you can't find it at 4wd,
Q-Tech will have it, and if neither has it, then chances are it's not made.

Welcome to the club...

[mcveighr]

That site is great man, thanks.

[Muzikman]

very cool piece of history, but damn do you have a lot of work ahead of you. If you want to restore it, you might want to actually look for a few more for parts.

If you decide to off-road it, you might be better off starting with something a tad newer.

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

not really that little bugger has a lot more power and less weight.

[Cow hunter]

go for it, ive seen worse at my aunts shop......
it would make a neat vechile to drive, restore the old paint job, maybe learn some metalworking.....

[Muzikman]

not really that little bugger has a lot more power and less weight.

Well, the problem is, how reliable is it going to be after sitting so long and being so old? It would require a complete rebuild of engine, tranny, transfer case, front and rear diffs. Plus the replacement of springs and bushings and any other rubber parts on the thing.

I would be afraid to take it off-roading in that kind of condition.

[RapidTransit]

Brought my jeep home from the place we were storing it a few hours away, its registered as a 1942 Willys MB. Unfortunatly the body seems and windsheild seem to be from a later model, while the frame, drivetrain and grill are from the '42 MB. As I live in Cape Breton and its over 60 years its in pretty bad shape, the fuel pump was dead and I replaced it, changed some fluilds and tried boosting it. The engine cranked well and fuel pumped but no spark was going to the plugs, I'm thinking about trying a new distibutor cap and battery, and also check the wiring as its wired quite poorly and they are very rotted. I'd like to restore it to close to its original shape but the body makes it pretty hard, the guy we bought it off 20 years ago made his own fuel tank and roll cage and also welded some things on that dont belong there and welded things that shouldnt be welded. On top of all that the body is almost entirely rotted and composed of some pieces of sheet metal riveted on by the past owner, and I have no experience with metal working.

What do you think? Stick to a toy offroader or try to restore it?

It ain't all that bad condition. Put a 360 in it. Or an older carbed 340, better yet a stroked 400. DANA 60 front and rear end.

About the spark, have you changed the points? Good sites = www.moparts.org and www.moparchat.com Not sure but maybe www.4secondsflat.com Don at FBO systems may have an ignition system for it.

[mcveighr]

I'm not swapping the engine, its a big job not sure on it.

[skife]

It ain't all that bad condition. Put a 360 in it. Or an older carbed 340, better yet a stroked 400. DANA 60 front and rear end.

About the spark, have you changed the points? Good sites = www.moparts.org and www.moparchat.com Not sure but maybe www.4secondsflat.com Don at FBO systems may have an ignition system for it.

there is a complete dana 60 front end in the michigan auto & Rv going for like $1100 or so....
60 fronts are expensive and probably a bit overkill for somthing like that.