Military battery box delete on cj5. Info

Hey guys, I've been wondering and hope to learn something. What do you all know about cj5's having the plate on the cowl where the battery box would be on the m38a1
I read somewhere that Cjs had this in 55 because they were using military tubs until they changed tooling. But I've seen many jeeps that are 1958, 61, 57 etc with the block off for the bat box. My 56 has a smooth cowl. But my heep o rust. That I believe to be 59 has the cover welded on to fill where the bat. box would be. Was there any rhyme or reason for Cj5s having the military style cowl? Or is it just random? I just think this is an interesting topic and want to further my jeep knowledge.

You have a good question there. I think we have found out anything is possible on a Jeep. The late 40's through the 1960's were some very lean times for Willys. They used all their inventory, old or new. There are many Jeeps running around from that era that aren't quite right as far as year and components. gmwillys might jump in here. He has the military history down pat.

Okay, I figured there wouldnt be much info about this. Since they didnt keep records. Maybe it was just random. Whatever came down the line got assembled and shipped out. Also i guess there aren't many jeeps left original, and who knows whats been done to them in the past 60+ years.

There is no real rime or reason to what Willys did. The "official" ruling is that the same dies were used for the M38A1 on the CJ5s until somewhere around '63. That was from the early CJ5 guys, but as we have seen, it's not written in stone.

Rules of Jeep

1. Believe nothing you read or what people tell you until you verify it for yourself on your Jeep.

2. What you see is what you have. It can well be one of a kind.

3. Never say "Willys would never have _____________________." The could have, would have if they needed to and probably did.

Okay thanks guys. How true you are about willys doing things randomly. I just wanted to see if there was any info for this. Like gm said until 63. That at least narrows it down. So I guess my 56 got a smooth cowl. And somebody else's 56 got the battery box. Whatever you see is what you get.

Wouldn't it be something, you go to the dealer and buy a brand new jeep. Two months later your neighbor brings a new jeep home of the same model. And there both different! Man I love old jeeps!!

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Originally Posted by 56willys

Wouldn't it be something, you go to the dealer and buy a brand new jeep. Two months later your neighbor brings a new jeep home of the same model. And there both different! Man I love old jeeps!!

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That definitely happened! Full disclosure, you cant just pick on Willys. There were a few companies scrambling to stay alive in the 50's and 60's. More than one owner of a Studebaker or Nash Rambler or some others, might have had that discussion.

Even in the modern era, you run into issues with 1/2 model years when new models come out. I had a 2000 Chevrolet 2500 that was a half year, or a late 2000 vehicle. I grooved up the rear rotors while playing in some sandy mud. I went to the dealer to get GM replacement rotors. They looked the same, but the original rotors were an 1/8" shorter on the hat. When the new rotors were installed, everything was good until the wheel was torqued down. The new rotors contacted the dust shield. It took a call to corporate to figure out the issue, and a couple of weeks for the right and proper rotors to be delivered.