The Dave Whitcomb 1948 Willys Jeep

[mikec4193]

So I bought a second house out in Wetmore KS and it is very rural out there and I started seeing on my last visit there a bunch of side by sides running around town...so I thought why not find a cool old Willys Jeep...I am normally reside in upstate NY so I started looking for one again and don't you know this thing fell into my lap...the former owner was Dave Whitcomb who owned in and it has been in the same family since 1957...so the current owner (Dave's grandson) was down sizing and no one in his family wanted so I stepped up to the plate...the Willys has been in the Syracuse New York area since at least 1957 when they started the service station business...
It has been basically been a piece of yard art for years now...but it ran a couple years back I jumped at it...


An older picture of the Jeep when it was in its prime...


At the station back in the day...


A nice plywood floor...so you know there is nothing under it and there is not floor left inside the cab...

My goal is something that looks old and that I can take to church on Sunday morning or out for ice cream on a hot summer night...I don't want to change much...keep it as crusty as I can and still have it run down the road like 1948 Willys Jeep should run down the road...old and slow...


Willys tin worm farm shown here....


A cool round ash tray...


A neat Firestone heater...


Super stoked...tub number matches the serial number...


Number on the front of the block...look like "J165039"...maybe not sure...



Engine block number shown here...



Not sure what this is supposed to do for a plow Jeep...but it is what is...just gotta figure out if it works or not...

I am giving myself this spring / summer to do the floor pan replacement and then this fall to get it to stop again...right now it has typical Willys yard art brakes...None

ordered patch panels today...a alternator kit for it...and body mount rubber and hardware too...

the list is long....

Let the games begin...

 

[timd32]

Very cool, enjoy the CJ!

 

[Willys49Willys]

Nice find. Enjoy the new project. I love it! Wish I could find an old hard top around my neck of the woods.
Love that it comes with the history and old photos. That's really cool!

 

[mikec4193]

So we got right at it...you know you are welding rust when the only piece on the Jeep that is shiny enough to put a ground clamp on is the new patch panel you just made for it...

Had some tin worm issues with the top of the riser so we had some 18/16 gauge steel kicking around...so cut up a piece and made this new little support...show here



the right wheel house had some issues too...



So we did my favorite thing...cut cut cut...tac tac tac....grind grind grind



Oh yeah...I think a ran thru a quart of WD40...the old guy needs some face cream...needs some moisture on his old dry skin....



check out this crusty shine....

oh yeah we also had little old time grind and stress crack thing going on...this is on the old steel top

nothing that little grind grind grind...tac tac tac...repeat....can't fix....




Looks cherry from here...lots more of this as time permits...

 

[Willys49Willys]

At least it still exists. A little worn and ok some rot but it's still so cool!!
Have fun with it.

 

[Bubblehead617]

Great CJ! MUCH better than the new go-karts!

 

[vintagetrk]

With a jeep in this condition you can have a little freedom in getting her back together. Whatever you do it's only going to help.

 

[rocket]

Enjoy the project. Great history.

 

[mikec4193]

So we got 18" of snow this past weekend...I hate snow...

Today was sunny and melting...so we did the ole grind and cut and fit rusty metal to a really crusty tub...


this is the inner seam support piece...the bottom was non existent..


So stoked...now we have a new place to hang the welder ground clamp...


This was the area where stake pocket was...it was beyond saving...and there was huge hole...now there it this new metal...


Hoping tomorrow to be able to weld this patch up on the drivers side....

I wont be making this thing shine at all....it is a smelly old Jeep and I want to keep it like that...

It appears as tho this old Jeep has been taken care of over its life time...still has the original leaf springs on it too...bottom side does not look too bad...this will save me tons too...

I plan on getting it to run and stop and then probably will be selling it...

One bite at a time...

MikeC

 

[mikec4193]

Still digging on the old man...


look mom...all new metal now..



been buying a lot of stuff from these fine folks too...


look we have hat channels in the house...


almost cherry again...



Fred Flintstone would be proud of this...


Still waiting on the transmission tunnel support to call it good...


Had to do a thing in the back..no real metal left but we found something shiny to light the MIG welder on...


We have the famous gangster lean going on here...hoping in the next week I will have the drivers side cab mounts mounted...

Shooting for summer time to be yard driving it...then I gotta figure out if I want to sell it or not...probably sell...

MikeC

 

[mikec4193]

Still digging away on this ole heap...



Floor pans are tacked in place...

Which means I got the hat channels tacked in place too...a big relief for me...


A litte corrosion explosion going on in the back 40...


Thankful for old shelving...with nice crisp 90 bend too...tacked in place and waiting for more welding gas to arrive...the outer frame is all cut and ready to installed as well...


Got a tub support cobbled into place as well...


A little more tin worm action going on here...today we will be cleaning it up and wait for more welding gas to fasten it...

Corrosion explosion...I kinda like that saying...

 

[rocket]

I've got to hand it to you Mike. Your CJ is even worse than mine when I started. A candidate for the rusted to the ground thread.
Good work and "Keep Moving Forward"
Before

https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/index.php?threads/and-so-it-begins-1956-cj5-total-basketcase-rebuild.19603/post-223363

After.

 

[JABJEEP]

I gotta hand it you! I do all that on a rotisserie, and then wonder why it doesn't fit the frame (warpage, shrinkage) and then fit-adjust-fit-adjust-repeat until I get it right enough. Doing it "in-situ" was not what I wanted to do after I made the rotisserie, but maybe I should re-think this a bit.

 

[mikec4193]

I love the look of rusty metal...the right rear corner...sorta kinda done...took two tries to fill it....


Drivers side front fender...


Underside of said front fender...snapped one of the frame bolts off a week or so ago...not really worried about yet...If I still have this ole heap in a year...maybe I will drill it out and tap it...I just dont want this to turn into a major project...



Had time the other day...a fresh coat of vinegar on it...it almost looks old already...


Not sure what this part is called but I cobbled up another one out of shelving scraps...


I learned a couple things here...a drip edge that is bolted to a cowl panel and also needs to have the hood bolt thru the same holes...it will be bent when it is finally installed...


Self drilling screws work as good as a second set of hands....

The old man is coming back to life...can't wait to hear it run...

Hopefully someone will appreciate it once I get it to move on its own....

MikeC

 

[mikec4193]

Had some clear weather again...so we were cuttin and fittin again...


Corrosion explosion again...



Gotta love old metal shelving to make holes disappear...



Almost time to go back up one of the sides on this old heap...grinding and cutting and fitting....Mr. Dave Whitcomb will run again...hopefully...

 

[rocket]

Cut, grind, weld, Repete I remember it well.

 

[Bitzf4]

Nice job. I was going to suggest the sheet metal from classic. They seem to have gotten it right

 

[Seabee]

Damn!! Hope you're good at metal work! Have fun!!

Seabee

 

[airportops]

The part you were wondering about is just a splash shield that non Willys people mistake for a step! Maybe it's just me but I have never seen an ash tray like yours. Got my 48 from the original owner in 1965 and thought I had seen everything but that's new. Your fun has just begun - stay at it.

 

[airportops]

Oops, I forgot to mention - Willys are supposed to lean like that, don't fix it