Hazel's new Flattie: $300 CJ-2A

Technically it aint mine yet. I'm hooking up the trailer to go grab it now. Check back later today since I have absolutely no idea what I'm in for on this thing.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/3432764079.html

 

I am Jealous!! I want an early CJ2 or 3. For $300, get their quick. Want to see the picts when you get her home.

 

I think the engine is actually gone - not just out of the vehicle. A buddy of mine was trying to get this yesterday, but couldn't get the arrangements together.

 

Well, to those of you who said I couldn't go wrong at $300 - incorrect.

The seller was only 10 minutes down the street from me, so I hooked up my trailer and grabbed my "non-running Willys recovery gear" and headed out. The seller had another dude who wanted to come get it, but the other dude didn't have a winch on his trailer and I did, so I got preference. There was no engine and no paperwork, but he said the rest was there. I figured I'd be able to drop an L-head in it, get a VIN assigned from the CHP and make it an all-stock fun trail rig.

The seller rented his cousin's trailer yesterday for $100 and went out to grab the flattie (crappy cousin if you ask me). Seller didn't know anything about trailers or driving them and had to borrow his cousin's truck 'cause he only has a couple import cars. No tow rig. Needless to say, when I showed up the trailer was backed up to the guy's garage and not hooked to anything. His cousin needed the trailer back this morning, which is why the seller was so desperate to get the Willys off the trailer.

I looked it over and decided it wasn't even worth the $300 to me. He offered it to me for $100 if I'd just get it off the trailer, but I declined. Guy was honest and seemed like a good dude, so I dropped my trailer and hooked up to his cousin's. I repositioned his trailer, aired up the old NDT tires on M-151 wheels for him with my Power Tank, and helped the guy push it into his side yard. I dropped the cousin's trailer in the street for him where he could come pick it up and then shot the breeze with the seller and his wife for a while. He was totally stoked I got the Jeep off the trailer for him and I was glad I could help out without actually having to take the Willys home. Nice people, but I think they bit off a little more than they could chew with this thing. They're not car-stupid, but they don't really know Jeeps.


Here's the CJ-2A after I got it off the seller's cousin's trailer. The tub has some filler and rot, but it's honestly not too bad. I just don't have the time or space for something like this even at this price. The engine was missing and the block was in the back of the tub. The Dana 25 front and Dana 41 rear were there and seemed to spin fine. The front axle had some really cool Selectro hubs on it the guy tried to give me in thanks but I didn't bring the right tool to get the dial cap off, so the Jeep is still wearing them.

 

The frame had some issues, but overall looked like it could be retained. The body too if you just didn't care. The tranny and T-case felt like they may be locked up, so they probably got water in 'em sitting outside. The entier floor of the Jeep was covered in big rat turds, so I'm betting it sat with a cover or something on it. The steering was complete and seemed like it worked okay.


The windshield frame was rotten and the arms had broken off. It'd need a new windshield frame. The fuel tank was there and looked like it didn't leak. The cap was pretty stuck so I couldn't look inside to check for rust. Who knows what the seats are out of. The rear of the tub floor and the tailgate were hand-fabbed from galvanized steel. Whoever did it did a pretty good job. Not super-butch. I woulda kept it as-is.


Neat mix of stock and older replacement gauges.


I didn't check the brake or clutch pedals, but the T-90 and Spicer 18 looked complete. No PTO or Overdrive score.

The dude was talking to a scrapper who was gonna give him $200 when I left, so if anybody in So Cal wants a project, I think if you had an engine, tranny, and T-case laying around it has most everything else there for ya. Even a horn and old-school truckstop turn signal!

 

Yeah, sometimes even a free Jeep is not a good deal. I'll froward this info to my buddy. He was leaning towards passing on it as well.

 

Oh yeah, sorry mods. I really thought this was gonna be the start of a new project for me. If you wanna move this to Off-Topic or eBay/craigslist sale forum or something - my apologies.

 

I saw that on Craigslist this morning too. I would love a flatty but that's more project than I need right now.

 

See, now this is where I have problems. I'd have rolled it up on my trailer. If nothing else, it would have made a great rat rod. Build a custom frame, drop in a small block, narrowed rear end with a spool etc. And with the shape it is in, I would not have felt bad about it. Heck, I might have just left the body as is and fabbed up a new set of windshield arms.

Of course I would cut off that nasty roll bar and come up with something different.