Newbie with a 53 CJ3B in Chicago

leavundst

Knuckle Buster
Nov 14, 2017
2
Chicago
First Name
Dmitry
Willys Model
  1. CJ
Willys Year:
  1. 1953
Hi All,

New member here. I live about 30 min north of Chicago but own some land in SW Michigan and just picked up a 53 CJ3B from eBay last week. Overall she looks good. Needs a little body work and paint. What I liked is that it has a custom tub made 1/8" steel. I will be using it mostly like an ATV/UTV around my property and will also let my boys have some fun with it. I will clean it up a bit, and replace the seats. At 6'3 210 pounds it's a bit of a chore to get in with the terrible seats that are there now. Mechanically, other then soft brakes the Jeep is great. This is my 3 Jeep. I had a 84 CJ7 that I did frame a off restore on and sold :(, a ~2010 Wrangler unlimited that I hated and sold, and now this little guy. It's garage mates is a 73 Land Rover Series 3 that is at the tail end of a 3 year frame of restoration and a '54 Ford 641 Tractor. I love old cars and trucks and tinker in my spare time. Looking forward to spending time with all of you both asking questions and hopefully contributing.

A few pics attached :)
 

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Can you please post a picture of yourself in the Jeep ? It's always funny seeing a tall guy fit into one of these ! lol Are your knees by your ears ? Did you know how small they were before you bought it ? You could go back to a stock seat and there is a mod you can do to move the seat back some, it might involve cutting into the driver wheel well. BTW, welcome here !
 
Welcome from Colorado, Dmitry. The CJ-3B is my favorite. However, I don't fit in it and doubt that even with a modification, it probably wouldn't be enough to fit my carcass. Pivnic
 
Thanks All! I knew the CJ3B was going to be small but honestly never sat in one before. I did swap a tilt steering column from a YJ into my CJ7 as that was snug although compared to the CJ3B it was downright luxurious. Either way I don't care. I always wanted a CJ2/3 and now that I have it I'm not giving it up. Weather is beyond terrible here right now so no pics but one thing I don't have to worry about is being ejected from the car in the event of a sudden stop :)
 
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