[Ravi Kapur]

I had purchased a couple of Willeys Jeeps from Govt. auction. They were petrol model with short chasiss. I converted it into a pre war FORD 1942 Jeep. Some of the related pictures are attached. Seeing is believing !

[mitrajdeep]

Wow, simply unbelievable. Very nice restoration .

How long did it take for the whole work and also did you get all the parts locally ?

[Blow Horn Ok]

This is like a magic. You turned a scrap into a masterpiece. The amount of work and patience required to restore the jeep can be judged from the original pictures. Please provide more information about the mechanicals like engine, transmission, 4WD etc.

[350biker]

Great restoration !!

Exactly what parts of the old vehicle were retained?

[Ravi Kapur]

Originally Posted by mitrajdeep

Wow, simply unbelievable. Very nice restoration .

How long did it take for the whole work and also did you get all the parts locally ?

It took me two years to complete the restoration.Except for a few parts which i brought with me from USA last year,the rest were procured from local Jaipur or even Delhi market.

And by the way this jeep has recently been purchased by members of JAIPUR Royal family,along with my other restored 1952 Willys jeep.

[Schoudhury]

OMG, this is unbelievable.
Can we have some more details about the things that were carried forward ( if any ) and the new parts that were used .

Also how old were these ?

Good Work
Cheers.

[ashphil]

Fantastic restoration job! I just cannot believe that you have transformed those pieces of junk into something so beautiful!
A writeup on the restoration process would really make very interesting reading. Could we have one please?
Regards,
Ashok

[Attari]

The jeep you picked up from the government, from the photos, appears to be a CJ3b (in fact a very nice mid production 57-60's).

Apologise for my views in advance, but what you have done is reconstructed this jeep to make it look like a WW2 jeep. Not restored!!

It makes me sad to see a perfectly nice (soon to be hard to find) jeep being lost... By the way, what engine do you have in this jeep?

[coloneljasi]

@ Ravi Kapur: I hope you know that a lot of t-bhp members are going to be after you for having made a low bonnet replica out of a Cj3B.

That aside, the work done looks absolutely brilliant. And I do appreciate the fact that you haven't gone overboard like the replica low bonnets that are churned out from places like Mayapuri every other day.

If only it was a real pre-war Jeep.

[Ravi Kapur]

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

This is like a magic. You turned a scrap into a masterpiece. The amount of work and patience required to restore the jeep can be judged from the original pictures. Please provide more information about the mechanicals like engine, transmission, 4WD etc.

Original petrol engine and gear box,4x4, were retained.All mechanical parts found
worn out were replaced with new parts.Engine and gear box was overhauled.All petrol and break lines were choked and hence replaced.Original wind shield,grill and "DALA" were retained and the rest of the body parts were just junk and hence replaced.

[Ravi Kapur]

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

This is like a magic. You turned a scrap into a masterpiece. The amount of work and patience required to restore the jeep can be judged from the original pictures. Please provide more information about the mechanicals like engine, transmission, 4WD etc.

Originally Posted by Attari

The jeep you picked up from the government, from the photos, appears to be a CJ3b (in fact a very nice mid production 57-60's).

Apologise for my views in advance, but what you have done is reconstructed this jeep to make it look like a WW2 jeep. Not restored!!

It makes me sad to see a perfectly nice (soon to be hard to find) jeep being lost... By the way, what engine do you have in this jeep?

It has the original petrol engine,of course totally overhauled.You are right its 1959 model.Your observations are correct.

[Attari]

Originally Posted by Ravi Kapur

It has the original petrol engine,of course totally overhauled.You are right its 1959 model.Your observations are correct.

The word original is a bit confusing here. Does it have the original 'hurricane' (over head valve) engine or did you install a 'go devil' (side valve) engine.

[Ravi Kapur]

I am sorry for having created some confusion so to say.The word "original" was used to convey that the original engine that came with this particular vehicle in 1959 as per R/C book was retained,and overhauled.It was not changed.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by Ravi Kapur

I am sorry for having created some confusion so to say.The word "original" was used to convey that the original engine that came with this particular vehicle in 1959 as per R/C book was retained,and overhauled.It was not changed.

Dear Ravi Kapur - first of all, congratulations for the fantastic attention to detail with which you have worked on and completed the vehicle, I am sure there will be a small but very dedicated team working with you, please convey my compliments to them also. However, it is indeed sad to see a perfectly good CJ3BLHD (my dream vehicle) look as something else now. As regards the engine, as you mentioned that the original engine is maintained, may I request you to post some underbonnet photographs, showing the bonnet clearance with the engine / carburettor air intake horn. As Attari has mentioned, the low bonnet vehicles came with the "go-devil" side valve engine for this purpose. Also, the original tail pipe of the CJ3B came out at a 45 degree angle to the vehicle center line and not perpendicular to it. The rear bumper had a vertical cut to accommodate the pipe, so an original CJ3B rear bumper will be smaller on the LH side as compared to the RH side. I salute the original designer of the CJ3B, he had the foresight to do something like this. These are the small but precious nuances due to which nothing can match a CJ3B. That's genius!

A small request - if you can still find a CJ3BLHD anywhere, you know who to send a PM to.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[Attari]

That makes this thread interesting... Could you please take some pictures of the engine bay and put them up.. How did you fit the overhead valve engine in a low bonnet? Could you briefly describe the modifications you had to make.. Thanks