Old Cars Reader Wheels: 1947 Willys jeep custom
This Willys jeep has come a long way to this impressive road-worthy creation.
By Eric Freedle
In the early 1970’s I was a lop-eared high school kid in Upland California working a part-time job at a local radiator shop when I inherited a 1947 Willys jeep from my older sister. Powered by a Studebaker flathead six-cylinder engine the jeep was made up of a mix of CJ2 and 3A parts. Despite the transplanted Studebaker engine, I thought the jeep could still use a bit more power. So with the help of the owner of the auto repair shop next door (where the jeep was originally sourced), and the judicious use of a sledge hammer on the firewall, we shoe-horned a used Quadrajet-equipped 327 Chevy with camelback heads, a 284 degree cam, and 4 to 1 headers into the engine compartment. With the transmission upgraded to a Saginaw 4-speed, and the rear axle to a Dana 44 from a CJ5, as well as the installation of a 2” lift kit and oversize wheels and tires I was the terror of Foothill Boulevard. Working at the radiator shop allowed me to build a super radiator which kept that beast cool even on the hottest days in the Inland Empire. After graduating from high school the jeep and I spent a year in the ski areas of the California Sierras where it proved very formidable in getting around in the snow and pulling out some of those less fortunate. While in college the Jeep got used less and less and eventually ending up stored at my parent’s home.
Years later after moving to Oregon and establishing an Optometric practice, I sent for the jeep. Turns out it had some shift linkage issues and letting it sit for 15 years hadn’t done it any favors. So in 1999 I asked my good friend Dave Pratt, owner of a one-man restoration shop, to take a look at the shift linkage. After I delivered the jeep to his shop Dave took one look at it and said; “This thing’s a death trap, there’s no way I’m gonna fix the linkage and send you on your way. Your home-made wiring has no fuses, the body has completely rotted away around the mounting bolts, the brakes aren’t working, and the fuel tank under the driver’s seat is leaking!” Dave was too busy to take on another job but agreed to help me restore the jeep at his shop as long as I showed up on a regular basis to help with the rebuild. Thus began “Jeep Jail”, as my fiancé called all the weekends spent at Dave’s shop for the next 3½ years.
The jeep was taken down to the bare frame which was sandblasted and repainted with black urethane.
After repositioning the rear shocks inside the frame rails (for exhaust system clearance) the rebuilt front and rear suspensions were reinstalled and a new custom fuel tank was mounted between the frame rails.
The engine was cleaned, re-sealed, and repainted light grey with ’69 Corvette finned aluminum valve covers added, the distributor blueprinted with a Pertronix ignition module installed, and the Quadrajet carb rebuilt. After re-sealing and repainting the transmission & transfer case the drive train was reinstalled in the chassis followed by the fabrication of mandrel bent 2¼” exhaust pipes with Flowmaster mufflers along each side of the frame.
Dave had suggested rather than repair the rusty body that I order a new tub. But since we would be fabricating a new firewall and transmission tunnel to properly accommodate the Chevrolet engine & transmission I figured we could just make the rust repairs as well (although I don’t know who this “we” is, as Dave was doing all the fabricating). Anyway after getting the body back from the sandblaster it looked like a big hunk’a Swiss cheese. The running joke ever after has been; “Should’a bought the tub.” Dave subsequently fabricated a proper recessed firewall, transmission tunnel, and rear tailgate replacement panel as well as replacing the front floor and body sides and fabricating a framework for support of a pair of seats from a Mazda Protégé. We painted the exterior of the restored body Ford Blue and the interior Light Grey before remounting it, and my original repainted roll bar, to the frame with all new hardware and reinforced-rubber mounting pads.
The project was finished off with the installation of an ’84 Pontiac Firebird tilt- steering column, pendulum brake pedal and booster assembly from a Jeep Cherokee, and all new Stewart Warner gages (except for my original SW tach mounted to the steering column), as well as completely new fuel, brake and clutch lines. Dave also fabricated a complete new integrated wiring harness (including fuses and relays) as well as using AutoCAD to produce an OEM style printed wiring schematic.
The resurrected Jeep looked and ran great! Completed in late 2003 I enjoyed driving the Jeep for several years until leaking metering well plugs in the Quadrajet led to hard starting resulting in the jeep becoming a garage queen.
Anyway, in early 2021 as Dave (who was retired by this time) was in for an eye exam I mentioned I was considering replacing the Quadrajet with electronic fuel injection. At first Dave was horrified as he’s an old-school carburetor kind of guy, but after thinking about it and doing some research he found that Holley offered a direct replacement EFI throttle body for Quadrajet equipped engines and he allowed as how the last thing he wanted was some wanker screwing with the tidy restoration we had done. So if I would bring the jeep to his shop he would help me do a proper installation of a Holley Sniper EFI system.
In June we ordered up the EFI system from Holley only to find the throttle body was on backorder. Well at least we could get started on the fuel system modifications which included removing the fuel tank and installing an in-tank fuel pump, a fuel pressure regulator and a return line. We also upgraded the alternator, welded a bung in the right hand header collector for the O2 sensor, and replaced the Flowmaster mufflers with Magnaflow units for a mellower sound. After receiving the throttle body (five months later!) it was installed with its wiring fully integrated into the existing harness leaving no hint of an aftermarket installation. In January of 2022 I took jeep for a 10 mile test drive. It ran very well.
After all our effort I was a very happy camper.
It now starts immediately, idles smoothly, accelerates briskly with no hesitation and pulls very strongly with the secondaries open. In other words, it runs like a modern muscle car. Which is really saying something for a 1947 jeep!
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