When Earl Pamperin shows up at a car show in his rare 1937 Willys sedan, he can be pretty sure it will be the only one there.

When the Juneau, Wis., resident decided he needed another unique orphan vehicle in his life, he wanted it to be as rare as his ’37. His shiny 1957 Willys FC-150 pickup definitely fills the bill. And not only are car and truck from the same Willys bloodline, they share a similar restoration story.

Both were a lot of work to bring back to their current condition. Pamperin has a huge and impressively equipped metal shop next door to his house, and years of experience under his belt after learning the metal-working trade in the U.S. Navy. He put all his know-how to good use in his restoration work, and the results have been impressive, to say the least.

“I liked them because they are rare, and they’re ugly,” chuckles Pamperin of his FC-150. “And ugly is beautiful!”

Pamperin said he had been looking for an FC-150 for a year before he found an ad for a 1957 model in a storage building in Montana. He visited with the seller on the phone and agreed to buy the truck before he ever saw it in the tin. He figured he could eventually fix whatever was wrong with it, and after his ’37 Willys project, he wasn’t afraid of a big challenge.

“I went out to Montana in February! We had already agreed on a price on the phone. They thought that it came out of an estate in Washington state … The guy that had it had cancer and was selling it. He had about eight storage units and it had been sitting in one of them at least three years… He hadn’t done anything with it. And he rolled it out and the back was all full of stuff, of course. He had his neighbors come over and help get it up on my trailer.”

Pamperin said he called the seller a few months later, only to learn that, sadly, he had passed away. He never got to show the seller any of the time and effort he had invested in the truck, but the man would no doubt have been impressed.

Pamperin jokes that he’s only had the ’57 Jeep to one car show since he got it on the road last summer, but he’s still certain that he won’t run into many others in the future.

“My friend Dan has one. He bought it from a guy in Rochester [Minn.] and it’s as rough as mine was,” he laughs. “That’s, I guess, the only other one that I know of. Mostly people, when they see it, say something like, ‘I didn’t know Jeep made anything like this.’ But the guys that know them, they ask you, ‘Have you driven it much?’ meaning they know the problems with it!”

Forward Thinking

The major news at Willys in 1957 was the introduction of the Forward Control (FC) Jeep. It had a cab that resembled a van with a pickup or stake body behind it. It was a cab-over-engine design that resulted from several passenger-van prototypes done by famed designer Brooks Stevens. One of these is said to survive on the island estate of Henry Kaiser in upper Michigan. The production versions came as the FC-150, a 1/2-ton on an 81-inch wheelbase, and the FC-170, a one-ton with a 103-1/2-inch wheelbase. Willy’s L-head engines were used as power plants, with the 72-hp four used in the FC-150 and the 115-hp six for the FC-170.

The FC-150 debuted in dealer showrooms on Dec. 12, 1956, and although sales figures were modest — 6,637 examples sold the first year — the trucks generally received favorable reviews. They were unique, easy to maneuver and could handle a lot of different jobs. The 78-inch cargo box was very large for its time, and the FCs could climb like billy goats — Mechanix Illustrated found that they could handle 60-percent grades and still keep grinding. They used the same axles, transmission, transfer case and many other mechanical components as the CJ5, along with the F4 Hurricane engine, but the frame was different, as was the steering column and design.

Willys offered the FC-150 in several configurations and with plenty of optional equipment for farm and construction duty. The pickup version weighed in at 3,020 lbs. and carried a base price of $2,320. A stake-bed model was available and often had a heavy counterweight added between the rear frame members to increase traction when empty and descending a steep hill. With a gear ratio of 5.38:1, they were limited to about 50 mph and were definitely not four-lane-highway vehicles. But they were great for light construction work and farm chores. Some FC-150s found work as miniature fire or airport crash trucks. Plenty found employment plowing snow in the winter.

The FC-150 didn’t change much during its three-year run, which ended with 16,241 trucks built. In 1958, the trucks received a new, wider chassis with a stance of 48 inches. In the end, perhaps it was because the trucks didn’t evolve enough to last.

The FC-150s and their big brother FC-170s were built in such low numbers that it has helped their collector status, however. They are certainly scarce today, and nice examples such as Pamperin’s red ’57 are attention getters at any car show.

The Long Road Back

Pamperin took the better part of seven years to get his FC-150 back on the road and looking good. He farmed out the painting duties, seat upholstery and a lot of the wiring, but otherwise tackled all the work himself. Fortunately, he says the truck was mechanically better than it looked and he didn’t have to rebuild anything in the drivetrain. That meant he could focus most of his time on the truck’s cosmetics.

“The engine and transmission are original. I didn’t do anything with that. I didn’t even paint the engine… When I got it, there was a plastic gas jug that they had been sucking [gas] out of behind the passenger’s seat, so I knew they had it running,” he noted. “I was going to try to make it original, but I wanted to have a 6-volt alternator because I added an electric fan, and I needed the alternator because the generator wasn’t going to be able to handle that fan.”

Pamperin did plenty of messaging and fabricating to get the corners of the cab looking good. Ditto on the rear fenders, which are notorious for breaking down on the FCs. He rebuilt the tailgate and did some work straightening the driver’s side door that had bent and damaged the sheet metal ahead of the hinge area. He went with a sprayed-in bedliner in the back just in case he ever actually wants to haul anything around.

“I was going to make it my parts vehicle,” he jokes. “[The bedliner] covers up any kind of mistakes that aren‘t finished out … If you know any truck drivers, where do they put their stuff? They drop the tailgate and drop it right here!”

The checked cloth upholstery that Pamperin went with certainly adds to the truck’s personality. 

“That’s close to what was in it,” he says. “It may have been reupholstered sometime in the past, I don’t know. The pattern we used is similar to what it had, with smaller checks.”

The rearview mirrors on the doors are from “a late-’70s or early-’80s Chevy,” he says, and were added strictly for safety reasons. The 15-inch wheels are shod with slightly higher-profile tires than standard. “It helps with the gearing a little bit if you have a little higher tire, I suppose,” he says. “But again, the purists would not agree!”

Aside from a temperamental thermostat, Pamperin says the ’57 FC-150 has been a reliable runner. It starts every time and so far the gremlins have been minimal.

“These carburetors are not the greatest. The F -heads are an oddball thing. You know, if they didn’t stick around very long, they couldn’t have been that great. One guy told me, ‘I’d never have one of those engines again, I could never get it running right!’”

ATVs and mini-utility vehicles are all the rage these days, both as work and play vehicles. In that way, Pamperin figures the FC-150s were far ahead of their time.

“It’s more like what they used Gators for. That’s what I think,” he says. “You can throw a 6-foot fence post back there. They had a power take-off and a gearbox would be mounted and you could run auxiliary tools on it like a circle saw for sawing firewood and stuff like that.”

“It’s like driving a bus. You are way ahead of the steering, you know? And it’s so short, you have to be careful when you back up that you don’t get your back end in the wrong spot. … And you can’t really see that well behind you. It’s so short you don’t have much vehicle back there.”

Pamperin has a couple of other project vehicles in his pipeline now, in addition to a custom 1939 Ford one-ton truck. He knows there are plenty of collectors and Jeep enthusiasts who would be happy to talk him into selling his FC-150, but the idea of watching all those hours of hard work drive off with somebody else behind the wheel is a little hard to swallow.

“I’m thinking I’ll hang onto this one, unless someone would twist my arm really, really hard,” he says. “I’m not that crazy about getting asked if something is for sale… I’d like to tell them, if you learn the skills, do the search for one, and then do the research and restore it, then you’d have one!” 

SHOW US YOUR WHEELS!

If you’ve got an old car you love, we want to hear about it. Email us at oldcars@aimmedia.com

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Old cars was out and about in Marshfield, Wisconsin when we were lucky enough to catch up with the owner of this awesome 1953 jeep M38.

Being a Veteran, Mark the owner has always had a soft spot in his heart for jeeps. He previously sold his Willys and decided he needed another. This time around it is one from the Korean War era.

Check it out below

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Old Cars was lucky enough to get a good look at Joel Ponty’s creation. In a quintessential tale of “one thing led to another” the Pontys, together with Joel’s son-in-law Nate, cooked up a wild beast that is part 1946 Army jeep, part rat rod and part T-bucket roadster. Think Rat Fink meets Rat Patrol.

Check it out below!

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The post 1946 Jeep hot rod appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

Not unlike those swashbuckling “Top Gun” pilots Mav and Goose, Joel Ponty was feeling the “need for speed.”

The Madison, Wis., military vehicle lover wasn’t looking to break the sound barrier or do any high-speed tower buzzing, but he was hoping for something more exhilarating than the glacial pace he was accustomed to in his favorite military rigs. He was dreaming of something painted Olive Drab that could both turn heads and keep up on the highway — and then some.

“My dad [Mike Ponty] and I restored three other World War II jeeps: a ’42 Ford Script jeep, and that was from the ground up, every nut and bolt on it. That took us a quite a while,” says Ponty. “We did a ’43 Ford GPW, in the OD green, for my uncle’s 100th Infantry Division; then we did a ’44 GPW in the Desert Rat version — the 8th Army Desert Rats. We needed another project, and Dad said, ‘Well, what do you have in mind?’ And I had seen something similar on Facebook, and I showed him a picture and I told him, ‘Dad, I want a jeep that goes faster than 45 mph.’”

In a quintessential tale of “one thing led to another” the Pontys, together with Joel’s son-in-law Nate, cooked up a wild beast that is part 1946 Army jeep, part rat rod and part T-bucket roadster. Think Rat Fink meets Rat Patrol.

“My favorite car growing up was ‘The Munsters’,” Ponty laughs. “Many people have said at car shows that this is a cross between the military and The Munsters. And you know what, if that’s the impression they get, then I win. I absolutely win!”

Ponty admits he only had some vague, fuzzy ideas of what he wanted to accomplish when he first started his hot rod project. He wanted something that melded a military jeep with a T-bucket roadster. He didn’t have a final product in mind; he started with an old CJ body and just assumed he’d figure it out along the way.

“A friend of mine said, ‘I think a T-bucket frame would be perfect. I did some measuring, and yup, a T- bucket frame was going to be perfect, so we ordered a frame from Ron Pope Motorsports [in Tennessee],” he says. “We lengthened that frame out a little ways. I wanted the wheels out in front of the grille. So we started with the T-bucket frame and the motor. It was originally going to be a Rat Jeep, with the old CJ body, but as it progressed, my dad said, ‘There is absolutely no way we are putting a ratty old tub on this. Let’s buy an old World War II reproduction body.’ So we got the reproduction body on the frame and it just started morphing into this.”

Ponty is quick to point out that no actual jeeps were harmed as his mayhem machine came to life. He started with a ’46 CJ body, but only used a small part of it. Everything else on the original body went to friends or other hobbyists who could use parts for something. 

“The only part of the original CJ that we used were the two pieces of the hood,” Ponty says. “For jeeps, you can buy reproduction everything now. Through the magazines and everything … you can buy all the parts for a jeep.”

“A lot of the stuff on it is anything we could round up from all our other jeeps, we polished up and put in there. Just military stuff we head laying around. [laughs]. My dad and I are extremely adamant about preserving the history of jeeps. Big time.”

Ponty jokes that he started with the battery box and built the hot rod around that.

 “I knew some of the features. I wanted the military can for the battery box. I didn’t know where we were going to put it … We kind of started to see where everything needed to go, and [it took] a lot of fabricating.”

The jeep rod is outfitted with a .30 cal. reproduction gun mount on the passenger side with another mount in the backseat for either a .30 or .50 caliber. But to have the gun installed in back, Ponty has to ditch the canvas top, which he doesn’t really like to do.

 “If you put the .50 on there, it actually looks kind of mean, with the .50 and the .30 on the side. But as soon as we put the top on, there was something about it. I haven’t taken the top off yet. People like it with the top on!”

The jeep is fully outfitted for almost any assignment — weapons, bags, radios, tools — you name it. If Ponty could find a place to store it or hang it, it’s on there. Probably his favorite touch is the aluminum grenade shifter handle. 

“I got that from a collector one time, and as soon as I got it in my hand, I said, ‘This has got to be a on a shifter someday. It’s gotta be!’”

Ponty said one of the biggest early challenges in the build turned out to be a big blessing in disguise. He hadn’t thought much about raising the back and/or adding a lot of rake to the car’s profile, but some logistics made it turn out that way. 

“The ladder bars, when we first put them on with the flat CJ tub, we had no issues. Well, on the WWII jeep, there is a fuel sump, because it’s a 15-gallon tank, so we ran into some issues with clearance. So we had to raise the body up a little bit. The body is higher than it was originally gonna be. It’s got coil-over adjustable shocks … We raised the body and gave it some rake — higher in the back, lower in the front. And it just worked. Nate said, ‘I like that. We couldn’t have planned that any better!’”

The 5.3-liter V-8 came from a mid-1990s Chevrolet Silverado, according to Ponty. 

“It’s nothing fancy,” he says. “Nate put a cam in it. It has about 300 hp.” The biggest challenge with the engine was finding headers and pipes that worked.”

Eventually, Ponty stumbled upon some Sanderson headers that he said looked like they were made to order.

“LS motors, most people are sticking them in cars. So [the headers] come out and go down right away. I wanted something that came out,” he pointed out. “It was like these were made for it. It was incredible how that fell into place, too.”

The five-speed manual transmission is mated to a Ford Explorer rear end. 

“Again, nothing fancy there, either,” he says. “They are fairly bullet proof.”

“We had to step back a bit a couple times. Nate was scared quite a bit of the way, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to do this, or do that.’ But each project that came along, we worked through it. With the radiator, we had to do a lot of modifying. But we got that done and that worked. We were a little worried about the driveshaft, because of how short everything is. The driveshaft is probably only about 18 inches — it’s a tiny little driveshaft, custom made by a guy near Footville, Wisconsin.”

The disc brakes and hydraulic clutch assemblies were both from Speedway Motors kits, and both are hidden underneath the vehicle, mostly out of sight. The 15-gallon fuel tank is under the seat, which was done by Beechwood Canvas in New Jersey.

Big Daddy Roth would no doubt approve of the monstrous 18.5-inch Mickey Thompsons in back. The gaudy, chrome steering wheel somehow seems at home in the cockpit as well, as do the simple LED gauges. 

“The steering wheel kit is from Speedway Motors. The steering wheel itself is just something that we found at a swap meet … I got it for 15 bucks! I wanted something small, because we don’t have a lot of room with the controls the way that they are. A jeep steering wheel is big!”

These days, Ponty laughs at the notion that he wanted something that would go fast. The T-bucket jeep, with its exposed engine, growling pipes and huge rear rubber, certainly looks the part, but it’s definitely more tortoise than hare. 

“The highest I’ve had it is 65 [mph]. And I’m like, ‘I’m old, I don’t need to go any faster!’ Nate might have had it up a little faster. With the top on, you don’t want to go very fast. If you took the top off, you could go a little faster, if you wanted to. But even at 50 mph, [the wind is] whipping around pretty good.”

“This isn’t the most comfortable vehicle, as you might guess. It’s got no padding in the seat. Because we do have the coil-overs adjusted high, it’s a little stiffer than I would like it to be. And because there is no weight, if you get on it … you gotta be careful with it. It can get out of hand, if you let it.”

For now, Ponty is having a blast with his combination rat rod/hot rod/jeep, showing it off at local car shows and chatting it up with the many folks who want to know how on earth he dreamed up such a beast. He is always quick to point out that no real jeeps were sacrificed in the project. He jokes that his son-in-law, Nate, will get to field all those questions some day.

“I have two daughters, so my wife said, ‘You know, Nate is going to get that when you’re gone.’ And I said, ‘Yup, he helped build it, so he can deal with it.’ I have no intention of ever selling it. A lot of people have asked to buy it, but I said, nope, it’s not for sale. If you want, we can make you another one, you just gotta start collecting pieces. Get your tires and your frame and motor and we can go from there!”

“I don’t know what’s next. I might retire from doing that. But we did talk about doing a mail Jeep! [laughs].” 

SHOW US YOUR WHEELS!

If you’ve got an old car you love, we want to hear about it. Email us at oldcars@aimmedia.com

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Old Cars is turning 50.  In honor of 50 years of the privilege of bringing the old cars hobby to our valued and faithful readers, Old Cars will revisit 50 of our past featured cars in 50 days, to commemorate the half-century of Old Cars. Here’s to fifty more years of Old Cars!

 DAY FOUR: 1963 Willys Jeep Surrey Gala

Bill Brown found his Surrey in his home state of Ohio, but he knew right away that it belonged in a warmer, sunnier world — like the Florida Keys, which is where Brown just happens to have his own getaway home.

“When you drive it, people just look at you and smile and give you the thumbs up. It’s just a great little vehicle. A lot of people have no idea what it is or that [Jeep] even made a Surrey,” Brown says.

Indeed, many people have never seen one in the flesh, because not many were built — probably not much more than 1,000 during their entire run from 1959-’64. A more whimsical vehicle has probably never come from U.S. auto factories, and the original premise for the Surrey seems almost impossible to believe these days in the age of huge production runs, staggering tooling costs and the cold, hard bottom lines that automakers face. The Surrey Gala was a colorful option package for the Jeep DJ-3A Dispatcher intended for use at busy vacation resorts in Hawaii and the Caribbean. They were designed to be low-maintenance, cheap, fun rentals for guests who wanted to get around and do some sight seeing.

“It’s really fun to drive,” Brown noted. “I suspect it would be a lot like driving a World War II Jeep — even though I haven’t driven a World War II Jeep — but with a column shift rather than floor shift. It accelerates pretty quickly to get going and it’s just fun. My wife says it’s a ‘show-off’ car.”

 To learn more about Brown’s Surrey Gala Jeep <CLICK HERE>

CHECK OUT DAY THREE OF 50 CARS IN 50 DAYS, CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF OLD CARS HERE

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Toledo, OHIO (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — From August 6-8, 2021, the City of Toledo will welcome tens of thousands of Jeep fans as they gather to celebrate Jeep’s 80th birthday in the place where it all began.

The 2021 Toledo Jeep Fest, presented by Dana Incorporated and ProMedica, is shaping up to be the biggest and most exciting yet. Registrations for the Grogan’s Towne & Charlie’s All-Jeep Parade sold out with registrants coming from 25 states. The weekend will be filled with people celebrating their love for Jeep vehicles and an adventurous way of life – and doing it in the city where the Jeep was invented: Toledo, Ohio.

“Celebrating this milestone year here in the birthplace of the Jeep is really special,” said Jerry Huber, a former plant manager at Jeep and Toledo Jeep Fest board member. “The community has come out to support us at the Hype Bashes, and we anticipate a fantastic turnout. With the support of our community, and sponsors we are offering the community the best Toledo Jeep Fest yet.”

Community support is what fuels Toledo Jeep Fest. That starts with the title sponsors – Dana and ProMedica – and extends to more than 110 organizations that have provided funds or services to support the event.

Importantly, based on the success in 2019, this year’s event has garnered support from larger regional and national vendors. More than 50 vendors including Dana, Rancho, Omix-ADA, MoPar, and Katzkin will stock the Yark Jeep Vendor Midway in downtown Toledo. This year’s Vendor Midway showcases these brands on Summit, Adams, St. Clair and Jefferson streets.

THREE DAYS OF JEEP!

The signature event for the weekend is the Grogan’s Towne & Charlie’s All-Jeep Parade, which starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The parade will be a rolling tribute to Jeep, with over 1,300 vehicles participating.

Following the parade, Toledo’s downtown streets will be transformed into the Outdoor Park-n-Shine Show presented by Direction’s Credit Union. This all-Jeep Car Show offers a 20-block walking tour of the vehicles and people who make the Jeep experience what it is.

The SeaGate Convention Centre, sponsored by Key Bank, will again play host to a display of rare Jeeps that range from the historic to the futuristic. Together, they represent the resiliency and versatility that Jeep has shown over the last 80 years. This year, a speaker series, sponsored by Jeep Country Federal Credit Union, will welcome guest presentations that Jeepers and non-Jeepers alike will enjoy, including presentations on Jeep Overlanding with Dean Shirley; The New Electric 4xe Wrangler with Dan Fry; and, information on the past, present and future of the Jeep lifestyle from the “WagonMaster” Chip Miller.

The event will kick off on Friday with the Off-Road Course Welcome Party, hosted by the Monroe Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Superstore. The welcome party will feature 18 obstacles and live music to kick the weekend off.

MORE THAN JEEPS

While the focus of the weekend is a celebration of the Jeep, event organizers have created a family-friendly environment with the feel of a major festival. That includes a strong selection of live music taking place on three stages: one at Promenade Park, one at Hensville Park, and one at Levis Square on St. Clair Street.

The kick-off concert on Friday night will feature national country music star Josh Turner joined by Lauren Alaina. The Promenade Park Beer Garden will be sponsored by Ohio Lottery and have having exciting gaming opportunities for attendees on Saturday and Sunday of the festival.

While the baseball team is on the road, the Mud Hens aren’t letting that stop the fun at Hensville Park. Not only are they hosting a Family Zone during the day, but they have also planned a free concert with Dueling Pianos at 8 p.m. Saturday evening.

Speaking of kids and families, Toledo Jeep Fest will feature the North Star BlueScope Steel Kid’s Zone, which is hosted by Imagination Station and will also offer activities from the Toledo Museum of Art, the Toledo Metroparks and other community partners.

The Sunday portion of the festival will be highlighted by a 4-Mile Run, sponsored by Rouen Jeep in Woodville, and 1-Mile Walk, sponsored by Mobis. Both events are hosted by Run Toledo. The Yark Jeep Vendor Midway will be open and more live music will be in both Promenade Park and Levis Square.

Learn more details at ToledoJeepFest.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

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The post Jeeps to invade streets of Toledo at 4th Toledo Jeep Fest August 6-8 appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

We’re betting this baby is going to get a lot of attention at the July 22-24 Greensboro Auto Auction (GAA): a 1979 Jeep Cherokee Chief S. It was repainted two years ago and, according to the listing, has an updated Howell fuel-injection system. With the truck and SUV market smoking hot these days, there is no way this Cherokee won’t spark a bidding war.

It looks great, has power everything, air conditioning, Alpine stereo, 4×4 Quadra-Trac, new BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A tires and the original 360-cid (5.9L) engine.

The sale also includes all the past service records, so we know the owner cared about it. We love this thing, and the next owner is sure to love it, too.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

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The post We’d Buy That: 1979 Jeep Cherokee Chief S appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

by Nathan C. Thompson

The story of my 1943 Ford GPW jeep started on April 30, 2015, when a friend delivered it to Butte, Montana. My wife, Pris, and I had come driven from Spokane, Washington, and we both arrived within ten minutes of each other. Having come up from the south, the jeep was sitting on a trailer. We were ready to take over with our car dolly.

I was very upset, however, when I first saw the jeep. It was much worse than the pictures had depicted. Later, after seeing a photo of the Jeep, a friend remarked, “I don’t see how you can make anything out of that!” What he didn’t know, however, was that parts were available to me, and I have a persistence to follow through on this project…for my wife. Yes, this was going to be a Jeep for her.

THE RESURRECTION BEGINS

That Jeep had to sit outside until I could make room in my shop. Then, the disassembly began.

Off came the fenders, hood, and tub. Once the tub was off, I could see that the hat channels were rotted out.

On the tub, I could see that cutting torch work had been done on the floor and back panel. At this point, I realized that both front and rear floor panels along with the rear panel and the left rear quarter panel would all have to be replaced.

The tub, fenders and hood all had to go into storage because the exposed frame was in very bad condition. The cutting torch had been used on the rear of the frame, as well, cutting out the V brace that helps support the trailer hitch and the back bumper, all of which was gone.

Furthermore, the front horns of the frame were both destroyed. The left front spring hanger was completely broken off. The right horn had been broken, and someone had tried to weld it (I don’t want to say any more about that!).

I ordered two replacement horns. As these (along with the cross member) were all riveted in, I had to cut the rivets before measuring and cutting off the damaged frame horns.

To replace the rivets, I used my drill press as a pseudo lathe together with my four-inch angle head grinder. With those, I fashioned the heads of the bolts to resemble rivets.

Both front springs had to be replaced. A previous owner had tried to weld the broken leaves.

While waiting for parts, I began to disassemble the engine. Even though it would turn over, I didn’t even try to start it.

Once I had the head off I realized it had been bored to the maximum. My machine shop cooked the block, and then installed sleeves back to standard size. They also planed the head and block and replaced the valves. Thankfully, the cam shaft was fine. The rods and main bearings were both ten under and in good shape. Of course, I purchased and installed new bearings, rings, and gaskets.

Meanwhile, the front and back parts of the frame had arrived. I set to work on the frame.

I rebuilt both the transmission and transfer case and front and rear differentials. Then, I replaced all of the wheel bearings, seals, the master cylinder, wheel cylinders, and brake lines. After I painted the frame, it went into storage. It was time to begin work on the tub.

WORKING ON THE EXTERIOR

I removed and replaced the rear panel first after straightening the rear supports for the panel. Body work was completely a new thing to me, but I learned quickly.

I used a small drill to weaken spot welds. It was a challenge to get the new parts to match up to the old parts. I learned to use self-drilling, self-tapping screws to pull the old and new pieces together. After removing any paint, I used my wire-feed and put small spot welds on either side of the screw. I then removed the screw and spot-welded the screw hole closed (which, ironically, looks pretty much like factory spot weld). I did this over and over and over again as I replaced the different body panels.

Finally, after painting the tub, I installed it onto the frame.

I will add, I purchased a complete new wiring kit that I installed. That’s a whole story in itself!

THE FINAL TOUCHES

I already had one restored vehicle (a WC-12) with Army markings. Having served in the Navy, I decided to finish the GPW as a Seabee Jeep.

I chose to use lusterless olive drab paint because that was what I had available. I chose to install front hooks on the front bumper and USMC-style lifting rings on the front and rear of the jeep.

Finally, I placed Navy Construction Battalion markings to the jeep. I added a replica wire cutter to the front bumper and a summer top. My son-in-law, Ramon Deslauriers, painted, “KILROY WAS HERE,” under the windshield on the driver’s side. It turned out great, and it was ready to “hand it over” to my wife.

Pris dearly loves to drive her jeep. Our plan is for Pris to drive her jeep, and I will drive the WC-12 in upcoming parades and many events. 

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The post Car of the Week: 1943 Ford GPW appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

In 1946, my dad purchased a 1944 Ford GPW jeep from government surplus for $300. That started my love affair with the GPW since it was in that vehicle — at the age of 10 — that I taught myself how to drive. Since that time, I have longed to once again own a 1944 Ford GPW. That realization came true for me in July 2017.

I was able to purchase my 1944 Ford GPW from a woman in Wilmington, N.C. Her husband’s father, a retired officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, purchased the jeep on April 7, 1948, for $600. The jeep was used on a farm in Virginia for many years. Her husband inherited the jeep upon his father’s death in 1977. The jeep brought a great deal of joy to her husband before and after the death of his father.

My wife’s dear friend lived in Wilmington, and her husband was a former Army Honor Guard. When I became serious about purchasing the jeep, my wife asked her friend if her husband would check out the jeep for me. I felt he was a knowledgeable person to perform an inspection of the jeep. The day he arrived at the residence, it happened to be raining. When he rang the door bell to announce his arrival, the owner informed him that the jeep was in the barn and could not be taken out due to the inclement weather. So, our friend had to return on a clear day in order to inspect and drive the jeep. We are forever grateful to our friend for being able to drive and inspect the jeep. He told me it needed some work, but it was otherwise in very good condition.

After we transported the jeep from North Carolina, the fun of restoration began. We had folks from north to south restore our 1944 jeep. It received a new transmission, radiator and some engine components such as a new starter, generator, fuel pump and carburetor. We painted the entire jeep the authentic color and gave it five new tires. Presently, we are revamping the braking system. Next on the agenda is replacing the steering box and tire rods. Our hope is to restore the jeep back to its original 1944 condition and someday donate it to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, La. According to our jeep’s serial number, we estimate that it was the 36,314th jeep manufactured in 1944. Its manufacturing date was August 1944.

We decided to dedicate our jeep to my wife’s deceased father, TSgt. Nicky Marzolla, a member of Company C, 397th Inf. Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, who on Nov. 21, 1944, was moving forward in the town of Moyenmoutier, France, when hostile troops within a building opened fire with machine guns and automatic weapons. TSgt. Marzolla seized an automatic rifle and by accurate fire, drove the enemy to cover. Later, he entered the building, killed 10 and cleared the approach to the objective. For the first time in history, an army crossed the Vosges mountain range. TSgt. Marzolla was seriously wounded in action. He was the recipient of two Bronze Medals, the Purple Heart and the Silver Star. We had all of his medals hand-painted under the windshield of the jeep in his honor.

We had the jeep back on the road in 2018, just in time for a Veterans Day parade. We have participated in every parade within our township since that date. This year, due to the pandemic, we held our own one-car parade and drove our restored jeep throughout our community on Memorial Day, Flag Day and July 4.

It is indeed heartwarming seeing the young and old sending admiring glances and salutes as we pass by.

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The post Jeep(ers) Keepers 1944 Ford GPW jeep appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.