And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Imagine what you could sell these old Willys for today!
Actually, you can still get a WWII era Jeep fairly cheaply. The real expense is putting in a decent motor and other improvements. It's almost fascinating how little power the stock four cylinder motors in them have. You can put a small block Chevy in and triple the power and increase the gas mileage simultaneously, but then you gotta worry about breaking the rest of the drive train if you beat on it too hard. A set of axles out of a Chevy half ton will improve it quite a bit if you don't mind that it widens the track width. But if you do that, you might as well put the Chevy transmission and transfer case in too. You should swap out the body with and aftermarket fiberglass body so it won't rust out the first time you drive it in the winter. Finally, you might want to consider replacing the frame, (Jeep frames are pretty weak compared to full sized pickup truck frames) After all that, you will have a Jeep that's actually worth something.
Most likely they were bulldozed over or tossed into the Pacific. So-o-o-o-o-o sad!
ReplyDeleteA brand new "Oscar Mike" edition Wrangler would probably ease the pain I feel for those old Willys' being destroyed. ;)
I would love one.
ReplyDeleteJust one earmarked for my use would be sufficient.
ReplyDeleteActually, you can still get a WWII era Jeep fairly cheaply. The real expense is putting in a decent motor and other improvements. It's almost fascinating how little power the stock four cylinder motors in them have. You can put a small block Chevy in and triple the power and increase the gas mileage simultaneously, but then you gotta worry about breaking the rest of the drive train if you beat on it too hard. A set of axles out of a Chevy half ton will improve it quite a bit if you don't mind that it widens the track width. But if you do that, you might as well put the Chevy transmission and transfer case in too. You should swap out the body with and aftermarket fiberglass body so it won't rust out the first time you drive it in the winter. Finally, you might want to consider replacing the frame, (Jeep frames are pretty weak compared to full sized pickup truck frames) After all that, you will have a Jeep that's actually worth something.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing with an unjustified reputation from being wonderful. These thing probably killed more GIs in WW2 than the Luftwaffe.
ReplyDelete