By Jim Wilk, Licensed Auto Body Technician

Start:

This Willys Jeep was purchased new in 1957 for use on a family-owned deer hunting camp in Northern Michigan. This vehicle has been in the same family ever since, and has only left the property one other time... for the funeral of the father that originally bought this Jeep. The family felt it was important to restore this 4-wheel-drive heirloom.

Some Before Pictures:

Work performed at: R-Tech Auto Body in Traverse City, Michigan. Paint Products: Matrix System Automotive Finishes

Begin Tear Down:

I removed the headlights and running lights.

I basically stripped the front end of all accessories.

I unbolted the fenders from the cowl and lifted them off.

This section isn't too heavy... I could lift it myself.

Compare this old red Willy's Jeep to the new yellow Jeep in the background...

...that's a 2007 Jeep Wrangler, which has a longer wheelbase, wider track (distance between wheels on the same axle), and overall is a larger vehicle. The modern Jeep is suitable for driving on the highway. The old Willy's Jeeps were not meant for highway use.

I removed the steering column and steering gear.

You can see the rust on the floor. This spot is underneath the gas tank... which is underneath the driver's seat. Yikes!

There was a lot of rust on the floor on the passenger side. That red box-looking thing is a storage compartment that is accessed from beneath the passenger seat.

After I unbolted all the body mounts, I used an engine hoist to pick up the "bucket" (the old WWII term for the Jeep body).

I just slid the bucket towards the rear.

Body being removed from chassis of Willy's Jeep.

This is the chassis with the body removed.

The old bucket dangling from the engine crane.

About 8 years ago the owners had a brake job done and the mechanic pinched off the rear brake hose with a hose pinch-off tool... and left it. The owners had been wondering for years why the brakes didn't seem to work very well. No back brakes! That explains something.

A view of the bottom of the bucket.

The structural supports were badly rusted.

A New Bucket:

The owner bought a new steel bucket for $2500, including shipping. But... there was a lot of preparation work that needed to be done.

I had to transfer the radiator support rod mounting brackets (red arrows). I cut these off the old bucket and welded them on the new bucket.

I drilled holes for the wiring, parking brake cables, speedometer, and the fuel line that came from the gas tank underneath the driver's seat. I measured the hole locations on the old bucket and used these dimensions to drill the holes in the new bucket.

We set the new body on the chassis to drill the holes for mounting onto the frame.

I checked to make sure the clutch and brake pedal holes were lined up properly.

I bolted the front end back in place to make sure everything lined up.

I painted the hood and cowl under the areas where the hood hinges will go. Why? by painting these spots, the metal will be sealed and prevent rust.

Then I mounted the hinges permanently. Then I removed the entire front end and sent it out to be bead-blasted inside and out.

Once the bucket and front were aligned, we removed them from the chassis.

I prepped the chassis for painting by sanding and wire brushing.

I painted the front and back bumpers, and all 4 brake drums, with black frame paint.

The new bucket was moved into the spray booth where Bob painted the underside and firewall.

The outside surfaces will be painted after everything is assembled.

I re-installed the bucket... permanently.

I ran the electrical cables through the holes in the firewall.

I ran the wires from the engine compartment to the dashboard area.

I installed the steering column and steering gear. The column and gearbox were together in one unit.

I installed the clutch pedal through the floor of the bucket.

The metal on the sides of this bucket were not very smooth... actually the sides were kinda wavy, especially around the spot welds. So we sanded off the black seal-coat to expose the metal. We applied a thin layer of body filler to the entire side, and then we sanded it smooth.

Old Cars and Lug Nuts: Today all cars have lug nuts with normal right-hand threads. But it wasn't always that way. Into the 1950's there were many cars built where the wheel studs on the left side of the vehicle had left-hand threads. This seems crazy, but it was a throw-back to an earlier time when wheels were held on with one nut on the center of the axle, and in that case the left-hand thread was really needed.   The wheel studs on the left-hand side of the vehicle had left hand threads.   The wheel studs on the left-hand side of the vehicle had left hand threads.

Return Of The Front Clip:

When we got the front "clip" back from the bead-blaster, we set it on the Jeep frame while it waited to be painted in the spray booth.

We set the front clip on the frame to keep it off the ground. This project was done in the winter, in Northern Michigan, and there was lots of snow getting tracked into the shop, so we had to keep this bare metal off the floor to keep it dry. Note how the steel has a dull, satin appearance after being bead-blasted.

January 21, 2008:
Still In Progress

Professional auto body shops often do these restoration projects as fill-in work, so we can only work on this car one or two days a week. There will be more pictures coming soon. Next, we will be painting this clip and mounting it to the chassis, and then we will paint the outside of the bucket.