Saving a Willys CJ2A

[Tommy R]

A couple months ago a good friend approached me to do some work on his boss' Willys CJ2A. He's not particularly a knowledgeable car guy, but he saw the Jeep 10 years ago and thought it looked awesome so he bought it. He's got the budget to make such decisions. Well, the CJ was in such bad shape that he could never drive it. It would crab one way, then the other, totally unpredictable, etc... Several people tried to drive it and quickly refused to do so. It was just plain scary.

Here's some pics I took of it the first time I saw it. From a distance and covered in dust, it doesn't look all that bad, does it?


But then I started looking at some more of the details, particularly in the suspension! Here's a bastardized version of a buggy spring setup that failed miserably. The buggy spring is in the wrong direction, it's too short, it drilled instead of clamped, and the hardware was TINY!


Crazy overkill t-case/trans mount.


Dainty heim joint up front.


Similar buggy spring setup in the rear. The springs are oriented in the right direction this time, but can you see something even worse than the front? Yep, the shackle is bottomed out against the rear bumper.....at ride height!


Yeah, that damper separation will provide a lot of roll stability.


Ever sit inside a Willys? They're IMPOSSIBLY small to sit in and drive. Seriously. I'm 6' or so and I looked like I was violating the steering wheel sitting in it!


Rear springs are starting to deform.




Custom built frame. Hmm...

[Tommy R]

So it appears once upon a time someone spent a pretty considerable amount of money building this Willys....or having it built. The reason I say that is because of these things:

- Custom built frame
- Custom built Dana 44 front axle (high pinion, passenger side drop??)
- Detroits front and rear
- Chevy 350 (TBI)
- Dana 300 twin stick t-case
- SM420 4 speed trans (7:1 granny low)
- "Trick" suspension ideas (in theory anyway)
- Nice Warn 9000 lb. winch
- Custom cage

I estimate the work was done in the early to mid '90s. Here's the problem. The fabrication work is pretty respectable. However, there was little to no understanding of suspension design or basic engineering. For example, stainless steel hardware was used to mount the winch, not Grade 8 hardware.

The owner wanted something to use on his ranch, which has rocks and sand dunes. It may also see some street time. It'll also be a rescue rig for his other toys (UTVs and sand rails).

So I decided to take on the project. The plan?
- Rework/rebuild the suspension to make it perform better, but safely....and make it road worthy!
- Replace the gas tank with a fuel cell (ditching the back seat)
- New seats/harnesses and modify the tub to gain more legroom
- Onboard air setup
- New top
- Remove the spare tire carrier (too much weight too high)
- And fix anything we find along the way

Here it is arriving to my house.


Notice the old pitman arm. Re-welded and loose heims.


Started the teardown...


Here's what needed to be cut out of the tub in order to get acceptable legroom for the new Corbeau JP seats. Jaz 14 gallon fuel cell also shown.


Sad Jeep....but about to get a lot happier!


New synthetic winch line. I also replaced all the hardware (including the D-ring mounts) with Gr 8 stuff.


I decided to buy brand new Jeep YJ springs, but had an extra leaf added to help with strength in the spring-over-axle configuration. New shackle mounts welded in the rear.


Similar treatment for the rear.


But the rear needed boomerang shackles to clear the bumper. Hadn't installed them on the passenger side yet.

[Tommy R]

Fuel pump died so that a new filter were added to the "to do" list. Hard lines would've been preferred, but had no time for it. Deadline got moved up!


Sand tires and the compressor for the OBA arrived!


Starting to patch up the gaping hole in the fenderwell.


Fuel cell setup taking shape. It was heavily grommeted through the tub, then I sprayed bedliner over it before routing the lines: Fuel feed, fuel return, and a breather.


Time to measure for the new shocks!




Boomerang shackles doing their thing!


Bumpstop mount it hitting the u-bolt. An easy fix.


Pass. seat installed.


New air filter, fuel lines, and fixed PCV hose.

[Tommy R]

Fenderwell patched and started to bedliner it.


Shit just got real!! 15x8 Raceline beadlocks and 33x12.50 Toyo MTs. A set of 5.


Soooo good lookin'! Now time for the sand wheels/tires!


15x10 OMF beadlocks with 32" Desert Master tires. Another set of 5!




Lower shock mounts installed on the rear.


Had to do a test fit...


Upper shock mount build/installed and sexy Bilstein 5165's installed in the rear.


Harness bar bent up and welded into place.


Driver seat installed and shown all the way back. Plenty of room now!


And just enough clearance between the seat and new fenderwell.

[Tommy R]

Back on the ground. Let's go fill it up and go for a test drive!


Conveniently enough, we found a spot to flex it out.




Bumpstop contacting just before the shock bottoms. Perfect!




Needs a bath!


Doesn't even need any fender flare trimming.


Finished interior showing seats, harnesses (with inertia reels), harness bar, onboard air (Puma), new battery/box, and fuel cell.


And enough room for the ARB recovery bag, too.




And on the last day, the front Bilsteins finally showed up!

[spankbomb]

Where on earth does he plan to use the sand tires?

BTW, looks badass!

[Tommy R]

Now to go clean this thing up.


Much better....


Loaded up and heading to its new home on the range...




Front view showing the new drag link, pitman arm, and heims that I just realized I don't have better pics of!


And a final pic with my smilin' face.

[Tommy R]

So final thoughts...

This thing was SCARY to drive down my street at 10 mph. I now have taken it up to 60 mph comfortably and safely. It's geared 5.38 with no O/D so you really wouldn't want to go any faster. There's still a bit of play in the steering, but that's internal to the steering box (Saginaw). It doesn't even have a steering stabilizer, but doesn't need one, either.

I hated this thing at first and while if it were mine, I would've done some things differently....I can say I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. Especially when considering the timeframe we had to work within!

Lastly, I did a video walkaround of the Jeep before we loaded it. Here you go. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olZr...uSHByWUvBjNK8w

[MountainStorm]

That looks so good someone on RCC will probably use it as a model for a scaler project.

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by spankbomb

Where on earth does he plan to use the sand tires?

BTW, looks badass!

Thanks! The owner has property in the midwest with sand dunes on it.

Originally Posted by MountainStorm

That looks so good someone on RCC will probably use it as a model for a scaler project.

Thanks! Yeah, it'd be a great candidate for a 1/6 build!!

[BigSki]

Congrats to you for applying some common sense repairs to the abortion of a suspension that was previously on the Jerp. I'm just not sold on the "custom" chassis that some hack put together. The miter joints don't even match, the entire tubing looks under sized and poorly assembled.

I know that you didn't do it, I'm not venting on you. I just hope it all stays together.

[chino63]

Looks great Tommy, nice job, thanks or sharing!

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by BigSki

Congrats to you for applying some common sense repairs to the abortion of a suspension that was previously on the Jerp. I'm just not sold on the "custom" chassis that some hack put together. The miter joints don't even match, the entire tubing looks under sized and poorly assembled.

I know that you didn't do it, I'm not venting on you. I just hope it all stays together.

Oh, I hear ya! Time being on our side, I would've wanted to do something MUCH different. But the frame does appear to be pretty solid, although (like you said) some of the miters don't match, fish plates are too small, etc. In the main areas of the frame, it's actually double wall! Yep, two 2x4 framerails welded to one another. I guess if you don't trust your fab skillz, you overbuild it. But as best we could tell, it's solid and we didn't see any cracking welds or joints. While not pretty (or all that square to be honest), I'm confident it'll hold together okay.

Originally Posted by chino63

Looks great Tommy, nice job, thanks or sharing!

Thanks, Dean!

[STANG KILLA SS]

awesome project! and a lot more progress than the ford!
how long did you spend start to finish?
raceline wheels are awesome.
sand tires where cool to see too. not something you see much in our parts.

how hard was it to let it leave lol?

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

awesome project! and a lot more progress than the ford!
how long did you spend start to finish?
raceline wheels are awesome.
sand tires where cool to see too. not something you see much in our parts.

how hard was it to let it leave lol?

LOL, well, part of the payment for this thing is going to help fund chassis work on the Model A. Taking it all to Dallas SOON to have lots of work done.

Before buying those sand tires I had to do a TON of research 'cause I'd never looked into them, either. Turns out some things I'd always ASSumed about sand tires was wrong so I'm glad I talked to some experts before blindly buying!

Y'know, I really didn't like this project for a long time. It fought me every step of the way. I constantly found new problems that weren't part of the gameplan, but I had to address in good conscience. My social life basically died because this thing was occupying all of my time. I'd say it was about a month and a half of solid work/research in the pics you see.

But near the end, I think I was coming down with a case of Stockholm Syndrome, where I began to fall in love with my captor! I really began to like this little rig. But I'm glad it's done. I'm glad it's gone back to its owner. I'm glad to have MY Jeep back in the garage. And I'm really happy that I'll soon have a rolling chassis for the "A"!

[Wraith913]

Wow! That's an awesome jeep. What did you think of the seats? I plan on ordering a pair for my 85 cj7.

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by Wraith913

Wow! That's an awesome jeep. What did you think of the seats? I plan on ordering a pair for my 85 cj7.

They're pretty darned nice. Lightweight, too. I'd prefer a reclining seat just for the adjustability, but other than that, I'd recommend them!

[chino63]

I see you have MTR's on your Jeep, how are they working out for you?

[BigSki]

I got to say it's impressive how much flex you got from brand new springs ( with an extra leaf added) it looked stable in the pics.

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by chino63

I see you have MTR's on your Jeep, how are they working out for you?

I like 'em a lot! The rode ride is good and they're fairly quiet. Offroad performance is fantastic in the rocks and they're wearing pretty well, too. When I step up to some Dana 60s in the future and move to a much larger tire, I'll likely get them again.

Originally Posted by BigSki

I got to say it's impressive how much flex you got from brand new springs ( with an extra leaf added) it looked stable in the pics.

Honestly, I was surprised by that, too! And it was remarkably stable when we flexed it out. I felt it had more twist in it, but we didn't have the opportunity to test it out anywhere before it had to go.