I started scraping away some grime from the transfer case (you should see the pile of crud on the floor underneath!), and there was a nice S/N plate in very good condition:  S/N 260420.  The transmission is casting T-90A-1, with date 2-23-49 (date applied upside down).

There are some more casting and assembly dates to look for that I haven't found yet.  So far, everything on the Jeep (other than the body and engine, which are known not to be original) is consistent with the serial number (23833) on the registration. (According to the best Jeep historian on the web.)  This number is on the registration papers from the last two owners before me, dating back to 1989, when the people I bought it from bought it from the owner before them.  The original body tag is missing (presumably it went with the original body), so this is the best we've got.

The S/N is from 1949, but the Jeep was registered as 1950.  I'm told this is not unusual; at the time, the registration date could have been the date when it was first registered/licensed.

Well I feel sheepish, or perhaps blind.  The petcock was indeed there, behind the alternator.  It was covered in grime, but I used a better light looking for it last night.  (The garage isn't exactly well lit...)

Here's a picture (of someone else's block, found online)showing where it is on this block--the casting number on this one is the same as on mine.  Look to the right of the bottom of the oil filler tube.

I had to pull the alternator to get at it.

While I was taking the radiator off, I (obviously) needed to drain the cooling system.  Unfortunately, the petcock on the engine block didn't seem to be there.  The manuals all just say it's on the lower right side of the block--that's still a large area.  Someone in the past has removed it and (presumably) plugged the hole with something else.  The actual location depends a bit on the actual casting number of the block--there were a few variations in the L-134 over the years.  I'll have to scrape grime to find the spot, and probably remove the alternator, too.

I shot a bunch of pictures last night:

I'm told this isn't a 3A radiator.

Hey, I wonder why the brakes don't work!

That bit of twisting on that rear member is the only damage visible on the frame.  Otherwise, it looks in pretty good shape!

Those springs are lacking arch--they will be replaced for sure!

And it's off!

The oil pressure line was just a wire that I had already disconnected.  I was thinking there would be a metal tube like the one on my tractor (same age as the Jeep).

Tub is in pretty rough shape:

About the only area not rotten is the dash and firewall.

I think the tub is sitting on the frame only by the virtue of gravity now.  The plan is to lift it off this evening.  Note to self:  remember to disconnect speedometer cable and check for an oil pressure line to the gauge panel.  I think everything else is disconnected already.  It should be a simple matter of lining up the shop crane over the tub and rigging some slings.  I am planning on doing another time delay video of this operation.

Last night, the fuel tank and lines came out.  The starter button came out, and I disconnected the accelerator pedal. (I'll remove the pedal from the tub *after* the tub is off.)  The only things going through the tub now are the gear shifts.   Looking at those, I either needed to pull the rings holding the boots down (8 screws), or the floor panel (I don't think that exists in an original tub) with around 20 bolts.  Unfortunately, I could only get 7 of the 8 screws out.  So I moved to the panel, and got all but one of the bolts out.  Off to Princess Auto today for some extraction tools.  (I have some--and they did help for some of the bolts, but the remaining one needs something different.)  If extraction doesn't work, I'll just grind the head off.

The more I look at this tub, the more my original idea of getting a whole new replacement tub looks like a good idea.  This thing is rotten almost everywhere!  A new tub is expensive, but it'll take probably hundreds of hours and skills I don't have (yet), not to mention patience I'm not likely to ever have, to do any kind of semi-decent restoration of the tub.  If it was original, I'd probably make the effort to at least try.  But it's not, so I probably won't.

Spent a couple hours last night disconnecting things going through the firewall in preparation for removing the main part of the body (what Jeepers call the "tub").

• Two out of three pedals
• Under-the-dash heater  (I removed the between the seats heater when I first got the Jeep)
• A bunch of wires
• E-brake cable (kinda--it's disconnected at both ends, but I haven't gotten it through the firewall yet)
• Steering column (some real contortionist moves needed to remove some of those bolts!)

 Still a few things to disconnect, though:  fuel line, gas pedal, starter push rod, finish the E-brake cable, and probably a couple other things I've forgotten.  (Actually, I'll remove the gas tank while I'm at it--one of the tub bolts is supposed to be underneath it.  And it's a newish tank, so I'll want to reuse it anyway.)

Then it's on to removing the bolts that hold the tub down.  There are supposed to be 14 of them, but this tub is not original, so I don't know if the same number were used to install it...

Spent a good chunk of Saturday removing body parts from the Jeep.  Lots of fun removing bolts that probably hadn't been removed in 25 years or more!  The ones holding the roll bar and back seat down were the worst--most of those sheared right off.

Pulling the tub will be a bigger job, as it means removing things like the pedals  and steering column, and, of course, all the wiring and hoses that go through the firewall.

On Sunday, all the parts that came off in the video went back out to the cabin (along with the trailer that brought the Jeep home).

Rebooting the blog

I've cleared out all the old posts to start this blog again from scratch.  I just brought the Jeep home from the cabin in preparation for a major overhaul.

A bit of background:  The Jeep is a Willys CJ3A, made in 1949 (although it's licensed as 1950).  I got it from friends a few years ago; they got it in the mid 1980s.  It's not exactly in original condition.  The engine is from a CJ2A.  The steering column is from a 80-ish Camaro to give it power steering.  It has been converted to 12V and the oil-bath air cleaner has been replaced with a paper filter.  The oil filter has been replaced with a spin-on type.  There's a roll bar (probably a good thing).  The body has been replaced in the past--and is very rusty.  The brakes don't work at all, except the hand brake, which is marginal.

I'll add more comments later about the plans for this overhaul, but essentially I want to get the Jeep into a street-legal condition, and restore it to the point where it can run (I hope) for another 60 years!