Quick Tour of a Filipino "Willys" Jeep factory. Also to note parts delivery worldwide

[FilipinoWillys]

Since I am here and the Jeep (copy) scene is still fairly popular I thought I'd share this video a friend made when we went out to MD Juan (Manila) the other week.
I ordered a new set of front springs for my M38 copy.
So we turned up with a couple of WW2 re-enactor friends and some old military guys for a day at the factory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpS6E59_YR8

[gmwillys]

I just so happened to watch the video earlier today when it came across my feed. Well done video, and a good tour of the factory. The dedication that they have to keeping Jeeps on the road is admirable.

[bmorgil]

Thanks for the tour FW! Very cool to see the plant where a lot of parts come from. Thanks again, I wondered what the plant looked like.

[FilipinoWillys]

FYI The front half of the business premises now make "Japan Surplus" light trucks. Basically the hard to register 3 year old cars from Japan (due to their stringent vehicle laws) are cut up and parts sold off cheap to Philippines, so they now make light trucks with these just worn in 3 yo engine/gearbox/diff imports, they press the shells and weld their own chassis.
Very similar business model to the Jeeps.
Having said that there were still about 40 Jeeps in Crates of various makes ready to ship out and a bunch more as you see in the video ready to be assembled. Unfortunately I have to wait until after this current production run to get my new front springs, should be another week or so, looking forward to seeing the difference in handling.

[bmorgil]

Very interesting information on this stuff FW. Resourceful people to say the least. It is obvious they look at everything as an opportunity.

[FilipinoWillys]

Little update, with over 180,000 views on the video MD Juan asked us back to do a more indepth video. Not sure when we'll visit yet though, I'm just a tag along and hold the camera at times.

As to the new front springs, night and day to what I had on there before, can get up to 100 kph (62mph) before it starts getting a bit dangerous, when before the top speed I would go was 90kph for very short bursts, not bad considering the top speed of the Toyota engine in the original, more aerodynamic body was 105kph (though I have added a five speed transmission it doesn't really help top speed).
I messaged MD Juan to ask if they made sway bars to suit the M38 (replica) if so I'll get new rear springs and sway bar(s) and write a full report once done.

[bmorgil]

This is great information. It is nice to have the MD Juan inside look. A lot of parts come from there to restore these Willys around the world. They are lucky to have you posting for them.

[FilipinoWillys]

This is great information. It is nice to have the MD Juan inside look. A lot of parts come from there to restore these Willys around the world. They are lucky to have you posting for them.
I thought the information might be helpful to others, I wish I had known about them before I started my restoration.
This is how I "renewed" my springs the first time as I couldn't find them anywhere here (not many businesses were online prior to covid and those that are are not search engine optimised)


https://youtu.be/T8iV5VlH2QA?t=190

[bmorgil]

Well its better than nothing! When you have no other way you have to be resourceful. Not sure how long that "restore" would last, but under light service it may work for a while, till those work hardened springs break.

[FilipinoWillys]

Well its better than nothing! When you have no other way you have to be resourceful. Not sure how long that "restore" would last, but under light service it may work for a while, till those work hardened springs break.
To be honest my brakes worked better when the front sagged down increasing weight on the front end under hard braking, though now I can take corners without fear of rolling the car, and without the constant thought as you said how long till the springs break?

For those interested we went back to MD Juan while the owner was there to show us around the factory, it is much bigger than we originally saw, and Rommel Juan, as third generation owner is passionate about the Jeeps and very proud of his family business, he has been putting new laser cutters, etc in to get perfect parts each time. I've got nothing to do with the place besides buying new suspension but it really hit us that he really was a fan and not just a businessman. Disclosure - I got a free T-shirt and a Filipino style fried noodle lunch.

His initial main concern was that Westerners might be hesitant to purchase sight unseen from The Philippines and wanted to show everything was ISO certified, etc and previous of parts not quite fitting had been well and truly solved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IXwdrRkpJ0

[bmorgil]

Fantastic that you get these videos for us FW! I find the plant visits like this to be very informative. It is good to see the owner in action. Nice people there. I am happy with what they supply.

[51 CJ3]

He was looking at improving the products. Correcting some fitment issues. I have one of their CJ3A tubs that I bought through a business that puts the tubs in a jig and adjusts them so they simply bolt on. I was reading a thread in a forum somewhere a while back where someone at MD Jaun was building a Willys and seeking info on problems with the tubs that needed corrected. This was after I had purchased mine so I didn't know what, if any, progress has been made. In addition to mount hole locations being off, I recently discovered the hole for the CJ3A ignition is also in the wrong location. Some of it is unimportant stuff for someone building a ride for fun but critical for someone who wants the parts for a restoration. It good to hear issues have been addressed.

[FilipinoWillys]

I recently discovered the hole for the CJ3A ignition is also in the wrong location. Some of it is unimportant stuff for someone building a ride for fun but critical for someone who wants the parts for a restoration. It good to hear issues have been addressed.

Ahhh, this explains why Rommel was very proud of his new laser cutter doing the dashboard holes.