New body from Willy's Overland

I am officially at the half was point on the Jeep. I have been mulling it over whether or not to fix my banged up body or just buy a new one.

I think I am going to buy a new one. By the time I do most of the work myself and pay a bodyshop to finish it out, I could have just gone ahead and bought a new one. (the highest quote from one bodyshop wanted $10,000 just to fix it, :evil They must have thought I was wearing a plastic bag over my head that said Blowpop.

I have done some research and this is what I found. MD Juan in the Phillipines is the only company selling repo complete bodies. The problem with these bodies is that are not exactly correct to the originals. Mounting holes are off, support channels are in the wrong spot, etc. Another problem I have been reading about is the bodies getting banged up by the time they get to the end customer.

There is a company in Toledo, Ohio called Willy's Overland, (original name, huh) that claim to sell the best bodies. I called them and talked to the owner for a while. He says he buys these MD Juan bodies, takes them in his shop and fixes all the stuff wrong with them. He also says the reason these bodies get messed up is because MD Juan puts them in cheap boxes that are not fork lift accessable and over the course of changing carriers, get messed up.

Anyway, my question is, does anyone have a body from him, and if so, what is your opinion? If you have some pics of the body when you get it or after, or both that would be great too.

 

Interesting... You learn new stuff every day.

 

Ok.....why not?

 

Here's an interesting read on the repop tubs:http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=79720 Since you're 1,000 miles away from Toledo, I assume you're gonna pay freight to get it to you. Check into a return policy with W/O if you hate what you see when you get it. I've used MD floors and sides before and they are just plain bad.

 

A couple of alternatives:

1) Figure out how much of your OEM body needs to be replaced, and buy all those panels from Classic Enterprises or Jeep Parts Plus and build up a "new" body based on what you have. Most of the panels are available, and you could wewld in the new panels yourself, or maybe get some help from a body shop, local body man, or maybe a buddy with a welder.

2) Search the western states for a donor body. Yes, easier said than done, but if you spend the time you might be able to find a donor. Sammy found one recently - http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71665

This is why there are so many Jeeps out there with fiberglass bodies.

I assume this is for an early CJ-5. Another possibility is a '76-83 body, and replace the floors and wheelhouses.

Let's see some good pics of the existing body.

 

I got my tub from a guy that ordered a WO cj6 tub.

Here is his story:
http://www.floridajeepers.net/viewtopic.php?t=40904&highlight=

I would not buy a WO tub.............

 

if you search on "repli tub" on the CJ3B website you will see a good writeup from a guy on Long Island and what he had to do to make the bolt-on kit really bolt on.

Tom

 

Ok, I read the posts from G503. I also read the stuff about 2a and M38 bodies. Most of them talk about how screwed up the stock Juan bodies are. I get that, but they didn't really say specifically how Willy's Repli tubs are. Plus, from what I have read, the 2A bodies are permanently screwed. What about the CJ5's. One guy said the M-38A1 bodies are good. A couple that said they actually used the repli tubs and said they were OK.

I read the stuff about the red CJ6, but all I saw him mention was that a couple of the mounting holes didn't line up exactly.

However, I've talked to Jay, owner of Willy's overland, and I'm starting to get the impression that when he says "bolt on", he doesn't mean its ready to be completely reassembled. In other words, he gets it far enough to line up on the frame, but thats it. I mentioned that the holes on the dash are still uncut and he said he could cut the speedo cluster for $100. $100.....seriously.....for one freakin hole.........really????

Does anyone have specific experience with a CJ5 "repli-tub" What did Jay actually do on the cj5 tubs for that extra $350? I'll probably be OK with it not being exactly "bolt on" if he fixed the mounting problems and cut most of the larger holes. If I've got to drill holes for the choke and stuff, that's Ok. If for say, the tub is wider than the original and won't bolt to the fenders, that's a BIG problem I don't think he can fix.

 

well, I can tell you Scott would never buy from them again. It was something like 6 months from when he paid them all the money to when he got a useable tub. He actually got two tubs IIRC. The first one was so damaged it was unuseable.

I don't want to talk bad about a company I personally did not use. What I would do is go back to Florida Jeepers and sign up and PM Scott (Jeepman) and get his experiences first hand. Especially when you are talking aobut this much money.

But what really turned me off to them was not their products. I, like you, would not expect a 100% bolt on tub. It was their total lack of customer service after they got their money.

As I said, I'd suggest contacting Scott and getting his experience first hand......

 

Ok here's my 2 cents just say NO to WO gee that kinda rimes.just get your tub from some one else its the same thing.That is all and good luck..

 

Hey allison, when did your buddy buy that tub?

 

Yea, he doesn't like to put prices online because the owner likes to talk to everyone personally. He sends a long email to you with a link to pics

 

I get a lot of stuff from Quadratec and have been very happy with their customer service. Same tub as the WO version. I repaired my tub, but if I was going to buy a new one, I would go fiberglass .

 

If it was me, I'd go for an Aluminum tub from Aqualu. I've heard very good things about them. They are actually stronger than stock and weigh much less, about 250# for the CJ5 tub. The one's I've seen are practically perfect, in fact an old friend from CA didn't even paint his, he just hits it w/ a buffer every now and then. They are priced around the same as WO steel tubs and there's no issues to deal with once you get it. Quadratec sells them and I think you can buy direct from the company as well.http://www.quadratec.com/products/32500_100_T.htm
http://aqualu.com/

edit: from their FAQ page, they ship out 7-10 days after order is placed.

 

I'd be willing to go with that aquala tub, but other than the basic shape, they look like aftermarket. The floor and tailgate looks totally different. I'm trying to go stock looking

 

I hear lots of bad reports about Juan stuff, but I have their fenders, MB grill and a few other parts fitted to my USA built tub, along with a french hotchkiss M201 windshield and everything fits about as good as I could have ever expected.

We have a company here called Jeep Parts UK, they ship loads of Juan stuff to england. I've looked real close at some of the MB repro stuff they sell, the last one I saw was a slat grill model with fenders, grill and windshield bolted together and placed on a Juan chassis, I just cant see what all the guys are on about:?. Everything I've ever seen by Juan is excellent value for money and well made.
Having said that, I've spoken to a few guys that have said Juan products have improved over the past couple of years, so my advice to anyone would be to look for yourself and make your own mind up before knocking their products.

You guys in the states are real lucky to have all this MB & early CJ stuff kicking around, things are not so easy to come by here and IMO Juan has been responsible for bringing back to life many old rusted away MB's that you guys left us after WW2. So WHY these so called Jeep enthusiasts have to constantly moan and cause bad vibes over MD Juan is beyond me, because without them, there would be far fewer jeeps on our roads.