Nope
Got all the way to Toledo from Akron with no rain, got everything loaded up and it started pouring.had the hood,fenders,windshield frame and tailgate in the bed of my truck covered with the cap but the tub was on my trailer and got soaked.
Thank God for a 2 hour turnpike ride back at 80, it was like a blow dryer once we got out of the rain!!!
Just had to keep ahead of it and we did.
Keep us up to date on your progress. As a suggestion, keep a tab on all the likes and dislikes of the body kit. I've read a lot of propaganda on the Willy's Overland Replitub, but would like to read an honest opinion on the quality of the whole thing.
I havent really got into it much, but just like Jay from "Willys Overland" said you cant expect a whole heck of a lot from something that a bunch of 10-12 year old kids threw together in the Phillipines.
All and all it doesnt look to bad, one thing is for sure it's a heck of a lot better than what I started with.
It for sure is going to take a lot of putty ( skim coating wise ) to cover up the spot weld marks. They are everywhere, but I am building something that I'm going to take to car shows so I guess if your just going to build a trail rider it would be perfect, or maybe in my older age I just am getting a little more anal about it being done right instead of half fast
I'll keep you updated on the fitment once I get the motor done and stuffed in it and start to set the body on her.
Sounds like a plan. I wish I could get my 13 year old out to the garage and do some welding. She struck one arc some years back, and she got the whiff of burnt hair.... That was the end of that. Maybe in a year or few she will come around.
I bought a tub through Kaiser for my CJ2a. I was pretty pleased with it. I'm not sure if it is the same source as Willys Overlander. It was made in Asia somewhere. Fit was generally very good. Only issues I remember were alignment of the pedal holes was a little off and the dash guage holes were just a little undersized for the guages. Both were fairly easy to resolve. I used the original fenders and hood and they fit up just fine. Mine tub didn't have the Jeep script stamped into the tool box - but I think that was not on all cj2as?
The remanufactured body kits are all made by MD Juan in the Philippines. Willys Overland purchases the body kit and applies the correct fixtures to locate everything for proper fitment, (per their web sight). You can purchase a Willys stamped body kit, but you have to pay a bit extra for the name through Fiat/Chrysler, who own the Copy rights. The military bodies from the factory didn't have the Willys stamped hoods or tailgates, nor the Jeep stamped tool box. This was a Government standard, until Ford had its
My source of wonderment comes from a prior experience with a Juan body. We had a M38/CJ3A bodied Heep that the fitment of every panel was horrendous. The fenders didn't line up with the grill, the hood was too long, the windshield was alright, and the body mounts were not close. The clutch and brake reliefs were also off as SteveBonny has stated. The body was not that old, and had been professionally painted inside and out, but it still was rusting out on the floor boards at the hat channels. The Heep was produced some time in the early eighties, so I'm curious to see if the quality control has improved.
Well i got back to my project and all i have to say is the steel they use to make these Repli-tubs is like paper, I dont think it has anything to do with "Willys Overland" it has everything to do with the company MD Juan that mass produces them.As far as fitment it did what Jay said it would do and that was bolt up in less than an hour!!
My first little project was to make some seat brackets for the bucket seats I ordered from Jegs, then I moved to cutting the original dash out and I'm welding a solid piece of sheet metal in place of the original due to I am putting my emergency brake handle on the floor, changing the steering to a tilt column with a key in the column and I want to put the gauge holes and speedo hole in different spots than what comes on the original dash configuration.
This is when I figured out the gauge of the steel (especially in the areas where it is bent) is like paper, other than that (and doing a lot of building up and filling in burnt through holes) everything is going good SLOW but good.image3.jpgIMG_4538.jpgIMG_4532 - Copy.jpgimage1.jpgimage2.jpg
Looking good. Are you going to run the fuel tank in the stock location, or run a cell, or a CJ5 style? I'm curious to how the seat brackets will look. Your selection of seats look comfortable.
Thank you for keeping us up to date!
From my experience with an early MD Juan body, it was thin just as you said.
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