Willys CJ-2A Restoration
Following World War II, Willys-Overland introduced the civilian jeep in 1946 with the CJ-2A (1946-1949). The CJ-2A was followed by the CJ-3A, produced from 1949-1953. They are referred to as “flatties” on account of their flat top front fenders.
Fully restored, they seem to sell in the $12-20k range, but not knowing what’s under a fresh coat of paint or finding that one still needed a lot of mechanical work, I opt’ed to search for one with a solid frame and relatively complete drivetrain, but otherwise possibly needing everything (in the $1k-$4k price range.) That also matched my intention to get acquainted with wrenching on one, more than racking up miles or “off-roading”.
Top speed on an early Willys is rumored to be about 50 mph. With their narrow track and high center-of-gravity, 30-40 mph is probably a more sensible speed (imagine driving along on your lawn tractor). The speedometer only goes to 60 mph.
Engine
When purchased, engine would knock for 1-2 seconds, then clean up. Never seriously rev’ed the engine. And once I replaced all of the inoperable gauges noted that I did have oil pressure.
Once I replaced the carburetor and choke linkage, started right up cold with choke.
A compression test showed about 50 lbs in each of 3 cylinders and zero in the 4th. Probably a stuck valve, but I planned on doing a full engine rebuilding. Interesting that with the low pressure of three firing cylinders, didn’t really notice the complete absence of 4th cylinder.