| Coverage of the PA Jeeps 11th Annual
|
2006 All Breeds Jeep Show, York PA
|
Offroaders.com's pick for "Best of Show"
It's not often that you see a Jeep restoration like this
1951 CJ-3A. Mike Hardesty of Littlestown PA spent years
on his 1951 Jeep Willys to produce not just another Jeep
restoration, but a show stopper. What makes this
restoration different than others is Mike's attention to
detail. The closer you look at this Jeep the more
amazed you become at the quality of the restoration.
Every detail, every nut and bolt of this Jeep is immaculate. The Jeep
is all original equipment aside
from the tub and the paint color, which is slightly off from the stock
color Michigan Yellow from earlier years of Willys in the
CJ-2A schemes.
|
|
 |
 |
History of the CJ-3A - The CJ-3A was
introduced in 1949, and replaced the CJ-2A by the next year.
It featured a one-piece windshield with a vent in the frame. A
bare-bones Farm Jeep version was available starting in 1951
with a power takeoff. 131,843 CJ-3A's were produced before the
series ended in 1953.
The CJ-3A used the "Go Devil" L-Head 134 I4 engine. The
transmission in the CJ-3A was the T-90 3 speed sending power
through a Dana 18 transfer case. The front axle was the Dana
25, and either the Dana 41 or the Dana 44 rear axle.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Rear Power Take Off
(PTO) designed to run farm
equipment and power tools. |
|
There's something about
the Simplicity of an old Willys. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Original Hubs |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
| The Restoration
 Mike
Hardesty acquired the 1951 CJ3A at Redding's Auction in Gettysburg, PA in May of 2004.
It came from a farm in Braddock Heights, MD (near Frederick). He's
at least the 3rd owner but couldn't find any more of the history on
the Jeep's past. It
cost him $530...
According to Mike, little did he know at the time, that
was the cheap part, but in any case a great deal on a
project vehicle. The photo to the right is from
the auction. What you really can't see is the bondo, fiberglass, and
wooden floor pans and bed.
Mike worked closely with his friend Glen Sanders (Glen's Repair
Westminster, MD) to do the restoration. Glen did the heavy mechanical
and major body work, while Mike restored the chassis, steering components,
and all of the smaller body parts (wheels, seats, brackets, clamps,
widgets etc.) Mike also took care of the detail stuff like the
lettering, lock-out hubs, and restoring the horn, starter, mounting
footman loops, and those kind of things. After the wooden bed and
floor were removed, they were not left with much (see photo below), so
they had
to look into patch panels. The cost of all of the patch panels was more
than a good repro tub, so they stripped off all of the small
attachments, hinges, footman loops, and so on, then ordered a new
tub. The original hood, grill, windshield frame, and fenders
were all salvageable and reused in this restoration. |
 |
 |
 |
Mike spent a few days in March of 2005 cleaning and restoring the
frame. It was in surprisingly good shape underneath. The only rusted
out part was the rear cross member. No breaks, bends, or previous
repairs making it an idea base for his Jeep restoration. After hours of high temp pressure washing, scraping,
wire brushing and sanding, Mike had the frame ready for the 2 step
undercoating process.
|
 |
 |
 |
 The engine, transmission, and transfercase
all had to be rebuilt and Mike
tracked down all of the parts for every aspect of this restoration
on the internet and on EBay. The engine is the 134 cubic inch
"L-head" in-line 4, also known as a "flat-head" or "go-devil"
engine. The transmission is the original T90A-1 date stamped 5-2-51. The
CJ-3A also retains the original Dana Spicer 18 twin stick transfercase,
Dana 25 front, and Dana 44 rear axles. The original springs were good, but
obviously they had to replace the shocks, brakes, wheel cylinders,
seals and all of the age sensitive stuff.
Mike recently acquired a used flat belt drive unit which
he's restoring which can be attach it to the rear mounted
PTO, a very scarce option.
Mike's resources for lots of useful and valuable historic info on CJ3A's
was found at
www.cj-3a.com "the CJ3A Page".
Mike says he went there often for help. Bob Westerman, CJ3A researcher and writer also provided
him with advice
and photos via e-mail to help keep the restoration fairly accurate.
Mike also says every person he has met associated with the old Willys Jeeps has
been awesome. They were all willing to help as if they were his
family or close friends and says "This Jeep Fraternity we are all in has deep
roots!"Mike's restoration is one of the finer examples of
preserving old Jeeps. Too often the old flat fender
Jeeps are hacked to bits and transformed into trail
machines and eventually beaters until there's little
original left of their historical significance.
Don't get use wrong, we love to see flat fenders on the
trail but it's great to see preservation of these original
Jeeps as well. Mike's Jeep was one of several great
examples of a Jeep restoration found at the All Breeds
Jeeps Show this year. We hope to see him again next
year at the show where we can find inspiration again.
Maybe with a little luck we might find a $530 dollar flat
fendered Jeep somewhere ourselves!
Visit Mikes Web Site!
If you would like to read more about Mike Hardesty's 1951
Willys Overland CJ3A Universal Jeep restoration project
including a ton of great pictures, stories and
information, Mike has put together a great web site for
the CJ3a Fans out there:
www.jeepchasm.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Material contained within this web site, www.offroaders.com, may not be reproduced, copied, re-posted or presented in any other media without the prior written approval of the author or original photographer. © 1998-2006 All Rights Reserved. |
|
