The CJ2A

It was a surprise to me, but one of my friends told me they would be interested in hearing about all the projects we are working on.. from wood working projects to the CJ2A project(s) and the barns/ buildings we are taking down.

To that end, I decided to write up something about each project and post it here on my blog, once a week (what day each week yet to be decided). This week I think I’ll cover the CJ2A project(s) and give everyone a bit of an idea where we are and where we hope to be in the not too distant future.

The CJ2A

Last September I told Lynn about an estate sale in Wallowa that had 5 CJ2As for sale. Figuring that there was no way we could afford even one, I sent the guy a message… and got back that he would take $400 for the 3 Jeeps he had left. One rolling chassis and two tubs… We have looked at and talked about these flat fenders for long enough to know that one of the “tubs” (the body of the Jeep) was worth that much… Yep, we scrounged and came up with the $400.

Since we didn’t get the reply back until late on a Sunday, we asked if he would hold them until the next weekend.. and he agreed. We headed over with Robert and his small trailer to get them, figuring we would have to make more than one trip.

Once there we were busy loading the Jeeps (the rolling chassis fit Perfectly in his trailer) when the guy came by and offered to throw in another trailer ( mid 50s Jeep pickup box trailer) to hold the extra tub. With one tub on the pickup and one on the other trailer we towed Roberts trailer down the road to a spot we could leave it and hooked up to the 2^nd trailer that we took to dad’s place in Imbler.

After returning for Robert’s trailer and making 2 trips to home we had all the parts and pieces (plus extra stuff we had bought from the guy) at home.

Fast forward a couple months and an add on Craig’s list came from a guy in Burns that had another frame (the one on the rolling chassis needed work) that had just been rebuilt. Yep, off to Burns to get just the frame and some misc parts for $320…. But while there we learned that he had 3 other tubs, a couple transmissions, more fenders, etc… left overs from when he and his son were building a CJ2A each, a project that ended up being 1 Jeep after the engine for his was toast. He said he was interested in selling all of the stuff, but we were tapped out on funds and had to pass…

I waited a few months and our son James offered us some money for many things that we had done for him in the past, etc… Yep, you guessed it, I offered the guy a lowball price for the whole lot of parts he had, and he agreed. By not though, its mid winter and Burns had gotten hammered with snow.

Fast forward again to late March, and we are again headed for burns with Robert and a different trailer of his… Just the axles alone were enough to convince Robert we had made a Great deal!

Now we have 6 tubs, 3 frames, 4 sets of fenders, 4 hoods, well, you get the idea. Between all the dealing I was talking to a guy back east that sometimes makes trips out to visit his wife’s family near Spokane and he expressed interest in buying all the parts we didn’t want to keep. I’m pretty sure there are enough parts to make two running Jeeps (minus one engine). With the other parts being sold or traded to the guy from back east to get us the other parts we need I hope to have at least 1 of them running by this fall!