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Thread: Hey Folks! Carolina CJ-3A family project

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  1. #1
    Junior Member 50 Willy's Avatar
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    Hey Folks! Carolina CJ-3A family project

    Thanks for adding us!

    I am here to introduce you to (code-name) Sarge, and our family of four that are caring for him.

    Sarge, a 1950 CJ-3A, started life on a South Carolina peanut farm and served his first family well. Now he's enjoying retirement in the High Country of North Carolina.

    My father bought Sarge from the original owner's family and continued the restoration that 'the grandson' had been working on. My dad got Sarge to the start-run-stop stage with a fresh coat of paint.

    Upon return from World War II, my grandfather bought the first civilian CJ-2A in this area, and his/our family hasn't been without a Jeep ever since. There's 6 Jeeps at our house now, including Sarge, a '55 Willys truck, a '70 Gladiator 350ci short bed, '00 Cherokee, '03 Liberty and a '15 Grand Cherokee.

    My dad decided to pass down the CJ-3A to my oldest son (now 15) so he could watch him enjoy it. Once we gave it a bath and made it a place (in the basement) to rest, we came up with the name Sarge. It isn't an original military vehicle, but both our boys loved "Sarge" from the Cars movies and that name will remind us of the person that started this family's love of Jeep vehicles.

    It's very satisfying to watch a 15yr old tinker on a 70yr old vehicle and beg to get it out for a drive. I have driven it about 4 miles on the road so far. Once I get a brake light wired/installed, "L" will get to drive Sarge on the road for the first time. He's logged several miles in the yard, but he can't wait to feel the wind and fight the wheel at 35mph!

    I want my boys to continue our family's love of older vehicles. It's up to me to show them why and how to do that. I sure hope that I can lean on y'all and kaiserwillys.com to help me get these projects to a point that allows the boys to take over and run with their own restoration.

    Thank You and Speed Safely,
    50 Willy
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    Last edited by 50 Willy; 08-17-2020 at 02:03 PM. Reason: fixed picture

  2. #2
    Super Moderator bmorgil's Avatar
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    Awesome way to keep the boy's involved. A nice stable of Jeeps in the family!
    Last edited by bmorgil; 08-17-2020 at 12:14 PM.

  3. #3
    Junior Member 50 Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmorgil View Post
    Awesome way to keep the boy's involved. A nice stable of Jeeps in the family!
    Thank you Sir. I will be studying your posts and album closely. As a matter of fact, I think Sarge may have originally been the color of yours. When i was upside down under the dash yesterday, i saw what looks to be the original paint.

  4. #4
    Super Moderator bmorgil's Avatar
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    Finding the original color can be a challenge. Under the dash is the best place to look. getting the original paint color was a bit of work. I had to take some early paint codes to the library of the paint company. In my restore thread here on my Jeep, there are a few posts about what I went through. One interesting thing is the paint colors referenced by year that you find in the KW catalog and on the net, indicate that the Emerald Green was on the other 1950 Willys vehicles and it is not listed for the CJ. However mine up under the dash was clearly Emerald Green. There are a few other original Emerald green CJ's out there. Bottom line Willy's used what they had in the economy of the era!

    As Larrbeard will tell you, "never say Willys never...". Can't wait to watch your resto!

  5. #5
    Super Moderator LarrBeard's Avatar
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    Willys-Overland Paint

    "getting the original paint color was a bit of work. I had to take some early paint codes to the library of the paint company."

    As Larrbeard will tell you, "never say Willys never...". Can't wait to watch your resto!


    It has been said, almost in jest, that the WO paint shop during WWII just needed things to be OD and gone. They used buckets and barn brushes to paint the original Jeeps. Things were tight ("there was a war on") and by the end, those brushes were pretty well worn out.

    When WO shifted to civilian production in 1946, all they did was buy the paint shop new brushes... . Jeep paint jobs were not really the best of the era.

    BMorgil went over to the vintage paint archive and helped me find the real Tunisian Red for the '48 truck. He whispered in that lady's ear and she came up with what has been acknowledged by many folks as a striking color for the truck, with about three of four (maybe more) choices of base for it.

    Just about any Jeep painted with modern paint looks better that it did from the factory.

    Good luck, no matter what color Sarge ends up!

  6. #6
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Welcome 50 Willy!

    Great back story, and future endeavors with the next generation. We look forward to helping out with advice, and to see your project come along.

    I had to remove 6 layers of paint to discover that our 2A was originally Normandy Blue.
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    Last edited by gmwillys; 08-18-2020 at 11:51 AM.

  7. #7
    Junior Member 50 Willy's Avatar
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    My dad didn't go through the process of determining the original color (which was odd for him). He told me that he went with Fiesta Yellow, "cause i haven't had a yellow Jeep before and it was an period-correct color".

    Sarge will have to wait a little bit for a repaint. We want it comfortably road worthy first, and then i hope 'L' will take over the restoration himself. I am currently restoring his '00 Cherokee that needs to be finished yesterday, so he can get used to driving it before he gets his license.

    "L" = 15 year old son
    "G" = 10 year old son that's helping and getting ready to start on his '70 Kaiser-Jeep Gladiator build.
    Speed Safely!

    BP

  8. #8
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Paint is superficial.... Get it out and enjoy it, and get a couple of scrapes out of the way. Introduce L and G to block sanding, body, and paint. All the hours of sanding will be good prevention to scraping up the quarters on a trail.

  9. #9
    Junior Member 50 Willy's Avatar
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    You're exactly right! It sure made me think twice before I took off through an old road bed with my first 4x4 that I helped prep. L is getting ready to learn it on his Cherokee.

    The boys are wanting to take it to a local cruise-in this weekend. I'm trying to develop a quick "checklist" to see if Sarge is/will be ready for a 50-mile round trip. 20 up, 20 back, >10 in-town cruising.
    Speed Safely!

    BP

  10. #10
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Introduction is in order for L and G to the first line of defensive maintenance.... The trusty grease gun. It will be like an Easter egg hunt to find all the zerks, so make it a competition between the two..... Just don't over grease The axle bearings and throw out bearing. Check the differentials, and the rest and roll out. Just take it easy, and you'll be fine. You have enough experience in the Heep-domain to handle any issue.

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