1948 Willy's CJ2a Build

[DanStew]

Well after the sickness i got from Vegas I really didnt have any ambition to work on the Flatty. I would come out and clean around it, and sometimes just scrape off some undercoating. Finally i went out and did some work.
The original owner did some body work and not that well, i cut it out and added new rockers, there is some batch patching still in front of it, but it is solid and i will probably try to sand and level it out with filler unfortuantely, but it is not a show jeep.

So rockers are liberated.




Patched spotted in





The original owner put some plate for the rockers with no bend on the bottom like the original panels, I added metal with a bend so it will not slice your hand if you grab it. I need to cut out a drain hole on the passenger side to match the driver side.
Next on the plate is repair the center hump and then put the floors back in.

 

[DanStew]

Hoping to get the floor pans installed this weekend. Tonight i did the driver side


The passenger side has a bit more work because i have to rebuild the center hump, but the tool box will cover it up anyway.

 

[DanStew]

Passenger side and center hump rebuild. I had to piece together the hump, but it will clean up after i hit it with a flapper disc


I still have a patch to go at the angled portion of the floor board. Took a while today to repair the previous owners attempt at repair, by just placing a 1/8 piece of plate over the original metal... and leaving a 1/2 void between the two piece of metal. I had to use the plasma to get by the side panel welds because the cutoff wheel wont get that close.

 

[DanStew]

Well floors are all in, next to work on the floor braces.





I put in the gas tank and tool box to see how it looks.

 

[Steve97tj]

Looks good man.


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[97TJGUZZY]

That's a boatload it body work, looks great. Wish the gpw we worked on could have gone like this


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[DanStew]

Yeah this was a bit better shape than that one HAHAHA

 

[LBarr2002]

Yeah this was a bit better shape than that one HAHAHA

And you separated the tub and frame so you could actually work on it.

 

[DanStew]

I got a little garage time between doing repairs to subfloor in house and laying vinyl flooring.
Nothing special, but added my floor supports to the new floor pans. I had a bunch of 1x2 rectangular tubing laying around and it worked great for the supports. i also sleeved the body mount holes so nothing will collapse if the mount bolts are tightened down a bit too hard

 

[DanStew]

Well now that the floors are done I am able to work on the Jeep again. I decided on my body color and wanted to get the bottom painted so that I can mount the tub back on the frame to get some room in the garage and to actually have it look like a Jeep again.




I decided to go the cheap route and got the Tractor Supply paint in Massey Ferguson Grey. I am not totally done with the rust repair, i need to do the tail light sections and two other small sections. I brushed on the bottom paint, but will spray the sides. I got lazy and did not feel like setting my guns up to spray. It isnt a show rig anyway.

 

[DanStew]

I got pretty much all my welding done. I do need to order some body brackets for the rear corners, i did not want to make them since they are pretty cheap to buy the correct ones.
Welded a side patch


Biggest project was the rear tailight panels and seem. I was able to just recreate it. First i had to uncover the driver side seems, the previous owner did the usual bondo over the seem. Weird is they did not do the passenger side seem.








Getting close. I am actually getting pretty excited to get the body back on the frame

 

[DanStew]

Well The tub were reunited today.



Now it will be a bit easier to roll around and i can sand it outside. Spent most of the day cleaning little parts and painting.

I also had to replace the MC. When bleeding the brakes i messed up the original MC by bending the washer inside bore and it made the piston stick. FUDGE!!!!!

 

[97TJGUZZY]

this one going to be patina or schoolbus yellow?

 

[DanStew]

It is going to be Grey. I am going to spray it Massy Fergusen Grey

 

[97TJGUZZY]

It is going to be Grey. I am going to spray it Massy Fergusen Grey

nice, also a good color option.

 

[DanStew]

Finally began the body work today, I HATE BODY WORK!!!! I knew i had bondo on one corner real thick so i used a large wire brush on a grinder and ate through it and pretty much ran around the body stripping what i could before i started using the sander.






I found a section of sculptured bondo at least 1/4 thick



It was hiding a spot of repair work. Sad that a previous owner did not use flap disc or sanders to knock it smooth, rather lets cover it up with bondo GGGRRR


I am at the point to say screw it and sand it and spray with clear coat so i do not have to bother with any smoothing or filler. Leave it with the patches exposed like Frankenstein.

 

[DanStew]

Interior of the tub has been primed and painted. I brushed it by hand.





I will tell you, i am sooooo close to just brush painting the outside of the tubb. Been there, done that many years ago, but i just hate having to tape everything off to paint. So much easier to brush it on. Oh well. I will primer the outside and then start smoothing out the spots i patched.

 

[DanStew]

So i got to cleaning up the other body parts. i wire brushed down the tailgate to clean off multiple layers of paint





And now i am in a bit of change of heart. After cleaning off the tailgate i like how the metal looks with the metal stained by the paint and the patina. Heck even the wife likes it. And i when i spray on some of that rust converter spray it looks even better. I am back to thinking about leaving it patina'd and spray some clear on it, allowing the the patches and everything to be seen. BUT my big problem is i have already painted the inside and bottom of the tub. I could go back and wire brush it off but man i just got it done. And it will not look right with the outside raw metal and the inside painted. Oh the decisions.

 

[DanStew]

I cleaned up the rest of the body parts this weekend, I decided to loosely assemble the jeep to see if i like the patina look, or to paint the rest grey.

 

[DanStew]

The plan has changed again. I am back to primer then paint. I am not spraying it. I decided that i would get my kids to help me hand paint the Jeep. This way they have a vested interest in the Jeep My daughter was up to help me, my son not so much yet. We got the jeep all primered up. Hopefully start on final color tomorrow. After it is dont I am going to have my kids sign the tailgate like a painting







Also got a sweet deal on some 31x10.50 BFG mud terrains for it. Now the hard part is to go white letter out or in. I am a big fan of white letter out but i think it may be too much