Attempting to Revive a Barn Find Willys Jeep

Sometimes when you hear "ran wheel parked 15 years ago" just run away. In this video, a 2-hour job quickly turns into a month of never ending surprises. Unfortunately the engine was more tired than I anticipated.
Instagram: / noxender
Email for inquiries: [e-mail]

[@TurnNBurn]

Thanks for all the views! I sold this Jeep months before uploading this video. It was just a side project for entertainment during winter months. If you want more content like this, I have plenty of "revival" videos on the channel along with a detailed build series of The Submarine Jeep.

[@muhammadshoaib5755]

Yes we love to watch and learn from it

[@glenroseboro3292]

Please do a video on how to wire a cj3a with a 6 volt system. Ignition, headlights,horn and two tailights. Also gauges in dash.

[@cainonconnell9218]

CZ

[@charlesnichols3204]

6

[@tomcooper920]

Good to see a kid working on stuff and he's pretty good at it. Keep it up.

[@mikezeestraten7000]

Everything I look for in a classically perfect YT vid is here. lots of doing and the talking is all content. editing is good. more importantly no stupid music, which ruins most vids . Nice.

[@bcgrittner]

My fire department has a 1954 CJ-3B. That was the first year of the overhead valve engine. It carries a 100 gallon tank and a small gas driven centrifugal pump. Mileage unknown - speedo hasn't worked in years. I'm retired now, but I used to take that Jeep where angels feared to tread. The Jeep is retired, but we have it on standby/parade duty. We replaced the Jeep with a modern pickup which is much safer and more comfortable. Good luck on your CJ-2A.

[@jamessmith7691]

The old one my dad had used to break the valve springs like clockwork every Spring. He got quite good at servicing it despite no u-tube. Good video.

[@Heeman5]

Corn on the carb!😂😂 🌽

[@justinscherrman]

Heeman5 came here to make the exact same comment 🤣

[@Murphyslawfarm]

😂🤣

[@avenger1888]

The jeep is running on pure CORN based ethanol...

[@badapple65]

Ha! It’s the obvious jokes that can be the funniest. Cracked me up. Cracked Corn. Corn on the Carb 😆

[@brettlwillis]

Thanks for sharing! I feel your pain, but also the joy of getting an old Willy's Running.

[@PacoOtis]

Greetings! I was three years old and with my parents (I'm told) when they bought our CJ-2A and I still have it and drive it during the summer out here in Idaho. I drove it in high school and college and it is completely original with no upgrades of any kind. It even has the front bumper weight and the original screen over the radiator. Best of luck with your project and it is a delight to see your hard work.

[@robertbone3064]

Thanks for posting, this brings back nice memories. My dad had one many years ago.

[@fff-cf4fx]

Corn on the carb made it worth it...someone beat me to it haha

[@roadmasterz]

Great video! You make it look so easy. Makes me wanna go out and get one and take it to Moab!

[@natureview2891]

I enjoyed your video, your knowledge, and how well you explained everything. Kudos to you.

[@hilldwler420]

Any time u can put a gen 1 civy back on the trail is a damn good day,sir!

[@briangantert6927]

Nice job young man. You have a great deal of knowledge

[@michaelmacek9433]

I have a 1948 Willeys CJ2A. Mine has the same colors of paint but retains more of it than yours. It was previously used by a SUNOCO service station. Flat fenders are cool vehicles. I own 2 CJ2 models,1953 CJ3A, a1947 2WD wagon and drive train from a 1957 4WD wagon. These are my projects for my retirement.

[@donaldmaclean1872]

Nice find,that's definitely a survivor jeep. It's getting hard to find survivor vehicles that are still in relatively good condition and are pretty close to being in stock form. It's getting hard to find any classic vehicles that haven't been hot rodded or been completely altered to build something that it was never intended to be.

[@frankdavidson9675]

i have a m37 dodge 3/4 ton truck 1953 i have added 50 more yrs with all i have done to it ------ from gd up i found it in 2011 in G a junk yard was looking for a jeep body was in very good shape little rust it needed sanding and paint job no dents i have pulled the eng twice new rings ground valves always have to rewire these old trucks

[@minskmade]

what a great video. nice job. fun to watch the progress. nice job

[@fernandochavez4312]

You can’t kill these little guys! My cousin bought one for 800$ that had been in a barn for 18 years. New gas tank and a 6volt motorcycle battery later and off we went! Thanks

[@germanvalleymetaldetecting2252]

So nice to see this old girl going again keep ip the good work

[@roblenzz7966]

Nice find! Just drug home a M38 in about the same condition, doing the same things!

[@WantCoffee99]

Very fun to watch. Keep the videos coming. I have a '48 CJ2a. Great rigs.

[@edivonelopes116]

I have a CJ2A 48 too here in Brasil. Nice Jeep.

[@bitsnpieces11]

The starter wire is from house wiring, probably 12 or 14 gauge. The fact it is a solid wire instead of stranded is the reason it is stiff, not age. It is a 'quick' way to make it function until you can get to an auto parts store to get a proper stranded wire.

[@slateslavens]

Nice find and an excellent video! sounds like the timing is still off a bit. One thing to check when you go after the valves: pull the timing cover and put a paint mark across the cam gear. It's fiber and they can fail in a way where the gear can slip relative to the cam. This will let the timing wander. If this is an issue, just replace the cam gear.

[@ervingoertzen7233]

Nice to see a young guy working on a project , you’re doing great !

[@scottgm321]

I used to be in a car club and one of the members restored everything on his classic car except the wiring. $4,000 paint job and $2,500 new interior and everything else up in smoke due to 50 year old wiring. Car was a total loss. Keep up the great work, thanks for the video.

[@tinesdof5837]

Willys jeep are plenty in the Philippines they are all over the country, you can buy stainless body as well, all you need is a nice engine.

[@donaldmaclean1872]

TinEs Dof Are they vehicles left behind from US military or something,why so many around?

[@kyleh3615]

Getting a 42 MB running right now Great vid

[@speedfreak8200]

Instant like for "corn on the carb" I've been into sammys since early 90's but owned several jeeps before ... 57' FC150 & 53' CJ3A 225 buick top loader car 4 speed ... jeep wrote the book !

[@oncewaslost1982]

Can't wait for the next update on this little jeep. Subbed

[@doncahala7326]

ALternator is an update from one time, I see. Looks like a '67 chevy horned exhaust manifold, (but I'm sure it's not). I learned to drive a '48 when I was 11 in a hayfield back in '62 and it too was already rusted out. I've had my '56 since I was 16 and now I'm 68.

[@vancemacd6315]

Nice work on the revival.

[@johnqpublic9074]

So a few things... the pipe for the radiator is stock for the MB/GPW. Check your ignition timing, plus if its sat that long there is a pickup in the tank that rusts... with new rings etc, check your valve lash. Pull the fender, makes it easier...

[@paultrimble9390]

This young man is the Willy’s whisperer good stuff keep the video’s rolling

[@welltonstationmwr6278]

Great job editing the video. You could have made 3 long ones but that was perfect. So much time spent on your side working let alone editing.

[@TurnNBurn]

Thanks!!

[@joemattes8389]

Man such cool old Jeep, I should have bought it.

[@tendertwix1029]

These revivals are awesome

[@tendertwix1029]

I’ve got a couple of them and just revived one in similar condition I wish I would of recorded more of it so I could of put it in here

[@kb5hxt]

no matter how honest they appear, the sitting can really change a motor and other parts of a vehicle. nice vid.

[@kiethwester1563]

Great Video Showing what issue you can have and how to fix them . Keep up putting out the Video's and explain all the little details they are great video parts are out there and you can have so much fun fixing them up . I got three in varied state's like to get one running for now the either two they been messed with a lot out vary basic like you said a few chance here and they mostly from people doing a Hatch up job on them . 😁

[@TurnNBurn]

Thanks! Good luck with your projects.

[@ronaldharris6569]

That's a good survivor don't chop it up into another rock crawler

[@Happy357mag]

Was that a joke? The body's trash. Looking at How Rusty the body is I'm sure the frame is Rusty too Only thing good is the drivetrain and it still needs to be rebuilt.

[@markcollins5026]

@@Happy357mag argo !

[@flick22601]

@@Happy357mag - You can buy entire new bodies from the Philippines.

[@rexjolles]

@@Happy357mag no it's not it's actual really hard to find them in this good of condition

[@Happy357mag]

@@rexjolles 80-90% of the sheet metal needs to be replaced. I understand they're hard to find but it's still in rough shape. It is a Jeep so you can buy all the stuff you need to rebuild it.

[@DEJARONGSSangPenemu]

Nice video..thanks for sharing...Congrats ! Regards from Indonesia

[@mostlyterrible9841]

Corn on the carb had me laughing, ultimate dad joke 🤣 Great video!

[@vicious0005]

I like what your about. Make it clean and drive it. I hope you jeep it as is!

[@noname-lv6oy]

Nice video, good work.👌👍❤️

[@solomonlynn7456]

Typically, when you get compression intermittently, you got one or more valves sticking. Especially on old flat heads... I see this video is almost a year old now, so I reckon ya figured that out by now... Neat project. I daily a 47cj2a with F head conversion and Warn OD... 😀

[@BB-kr1pq]

If your still having a problem with the rings seating, you might have done to good of a job honing the cylinders. When I was a kid, I rebuilt a chevy 350 for my 64 Chevelle SS and I had a problem with the rings seating. An old timer that was helping me out, used a half of a teaspoon of Bon Ami into each cylinder. Bon Ami is basically Comet or an abrasive cleaner. It's pretty mellow, but put just enough scratches on the cylinder walls for the rings to seat. Worked like a champ!

[@ariennelandry9207]

Nice Jeep, good work.

[@peterdurnien9084]

My first engine rebore was on an Austin Mini that I bought less than a year old second hand for £500. Eventually after about 5 years it needed new valves and pistons. My dad and I worked at Rolls Royce Aero Engines and my dad made a ring compressor that worked just great. It was a tube with a tapered bore inside so the rings got gradually compressed. As it was a shade under the bore size the rings never got caught on the edge of the bore. A simple device and much better than the ring compressor with those bands on. Though I guess that type will do several different sizes.

[@detroitbluesguy]

Great Job!! Fine young man!!

[@kingmanaz1488]

I love those old half cabs.

[@markletts2000]

Great video ...thought it was going to be another,throw petrol in an old motor and she starts video..this is actually useful 👏😊🇬🇧

[@NoknOnDors]

A man after my own heart, "nothing a little beating back and forth cant fix"

[@josephmurolo5656]

Corn on the carb! Very good job!!!

[@allenshirley4293]

Considering the life it had it’s not to bad , very cool old jeep

[@gerin1946]

VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR Be good and with moderation young man..... Take good care of the jeep CJ 2 A and put a nice "khaki green" paint !

[@modoc852]

You young man are the true representative of the old adage you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Warms my heart to see a piece of this younger generation not setting around the house playing viddia games. “Ambition is the force which drives desire that fuels curiosity and equals results.” -- me --

[@brentmoreland2623]

Great video. Been looking at some project 2A’s… have some better ideas and what to look for and how to do it. Thanks!

[@rogermontee8264]

Cool rebuild!!!!!

[@thirdcargarage2951]

Two gaskets is an old school trick to reduce the amount of heat transfer from the intake to the carb. These were prone to vapor lock because the exhaust is on the same side as the intake. Your gonna want that back on. Trust me.

[@michaelwier1222]

Nice project! You've got a lot of work ahead of you. Would like to see the finished product.

[@TurnNBurn]

I actually sold it months ago.

[@michaelwier1222]

@@TurnNBurn I hope it went to a good home where it will be taken care of....restored.

[@jamesheath9385]

Mix som atf with the fuel. It will really help clean the crud off the valves, both front and back. Low compression on that means a new valve job and probably shave the head.

[@waveranger4974]

Enjoyed this vid very much

[@abelvillarreal6488]

Your optimism seems to be boundless. Great video 👍

[@geeper2142]

Good luck with this one. I just started a 64 CJ3B and someone did the rear in galvanized sh#t, which has to go!

[@MimicoBungalow]

...cool! At the end of the video, when backing it into the garage...the squealing tells me that those brake shoes are not freed up...if you drive only a little, you won't notice much - just perhaps a 'lack of power' due to the drag...but, any extended driving will give you the 'flaming brakes' disease...woo-hoo...Congrats in getting 'er running, though...and as others have commented THANK YOU for NOT putting this on two or three videos!!! - J in Toronto

[@edogden2214]

I would have used marvel mystery oil in the cylinders. nice job on the wiring. with the amp meter wired in series you can add a shunt wire

[@bcouri1]

low compression after replacing rings? VALVES

[@pauldelaney9488]

Your a good lad stay at it 🇳🇿👍

[@jamesheath9385]

That cylinder reamer is much better than honing the entire cylinder. Thanks.

[@aaronhellhake9964]

We used a surgeons pliers to keep the coil wire connected on our old ford 300 six for years

[@brsrc759]

I love the patina on that thing

[@dougeubank]

Awesome video, I'm redoing a 1946 CJ2A, frame off restoration, dealing with a lot of rust in the body as well. I was wondering if you could do a video on timing the oil pump to the distributor, I am having trouble and have never seen or done one before. Thanks and your knowledge of these jeeps are outstanding, really enjoy your videos. Douglas

[@TurnNBurn]

Thanks Douglas! Unfortunately I've never timed the oil pump. If you post on thecj2apage, guys will be happy to help.

[@93jake81]

The reason you had good compression on the front cylinders at first then got bad compression after a retest is because on the first test it still had automatic transmission fluid in it, which created a good enough seal to give you that high compression. Then the more you cranked it, the atf blew out the cylinder so when you retested it the fluid wasn’t there to seal the piston anymore, giving you lower compression. That’s how you can test if an engine is worn out. If you put oil in a cylinder with worn out rings that had 50 psi in it before the oil and tested it after the oil, then the compression would bump up higher, to like 90 or 100 psi

[@sandrabarber5389]

nice thing about flat heads, they dont bend sticky valves lol. good luck.

[@w.c.6678]

You are a P.R.O.-Fessional... people should sponsor you. The fluids, cleaner people, etc. I especially like how you admit when you screwed up the wiring and explained what went wrong. Its what normal guys do. Except they don't admit it. Thanks for a great vid.

[@rfjohns1]

What’s to prevent shavings from falling into the crank case?

[@nicolass9165]

Making it look easy. Great video

[@mercedesbenzmaster9183]

very cool video nice jeep

[@davidknows3320]

Kept talking to the screen......valves, valves, valves! Good video, I'll sub for the Jeep content. Thanks.

[@williamdavidson9009]

Yes, I would have suspected valves were the main problem not the rings although dumping oil in the cylinder helped the compression. I know exactly how he feels, Old stuff always needs more work than anticipated. I got a '58 Case tractor 2 years ago that sat with water in 1 cylinder. I put in new rings and bearings got it running and discovered the oil pump wasn't working, fixed that and left the key on and burned up the points then the carb needed work. I'm just now getting it all together and running.

[@gbowne1]

metalshaper here on youtube makes parts for the 2A. Good place to get all the bits.. he has a great channel too.

[@victortheng6580]

I have an old jeep willy, is it possible to get doors and roof for them?

[@Shane-Singleton]

I'll bet you're right. Valves and seats probably need to be cleaned up and lapped because you should have better compression even on new rings. Could be a handful of other things too but valvetrain would be my next investigation. Who knows. could just need adjustment on the lifters.

[@schuur10]

after a fine valve job that compression must be back on the money, don,t forget to check timing. These old lead-fuel engines need some fine touch with a glove, and she will purr like a nice kitty again!

[@d.pierce.6820]

I have a battery disconnect on my CJ2A-good insurance for a rudimentary electrical system

[@dionicioramirez2858]

Jeep Willys, excelente 4x4, pero consume tanto como un 5.7 cc. Yo tuve dos de esos, muy buenos .

[@minimalistgecko4867]

One of the best troubleshooting videos I’ve seen on these so far! Thanks for this!

[@johnpaulmckee7203]

Would you mind sharing a simple wiring diagram for the ignition/alternator/starter connections. I have one with a 12v conversion, just want to make sure I have it worked correctly.

[@Ron36415]

since you have the head off, spin it over and watch the valves spray the sticky ones with Kroil or something similar and free them up with a rubber mallet. fixed a 42 dodge that sat in the woods for years this way. you might want to measure the bores while the pistons are out, if a bore has a taper, new rings and honing won't help it much.

[@peterdurnien9084]

Or if they are worn oval.

[@Speartheman]

What does reasonably priced mean?

[@nordicbastard2328]

Great video! Fun bit of trivia -- Willys was pronounced like "Willis", and not like "Willies".

[@paulsthormes251]

Nice truck

[@midlanddisplay]

Well done.

[@stoveboltlvr3798]

That thing is corn fed!

[@BoostedPastime]

You should trie running some seafoam through the engine, the oil and the gas tank then after that try out some engine restore. Project farm has a bunch of videos on things like that im sure you know of him.

[@Timman57]

Ah, the sound of my people there at the end lol

[@LoneWolf0648]

this thing needs some love, please don't hack it up, sure the body is trashed but you can get replacement bodies (or make new panels since a lot of it is flat metal with some bends) restore it a bit and that thing will make for a great little 4x4... they dont need a lift kit or any of that add on BS, stock jeeps are great off road.

[@jackedandwackedoff-road1958]

You would be a great Shop teacher , Good Job

[@chadcarter9581]

Do you flip these? If so where do you post them for sale?

[@jamesperezp]

es bueno que lo rescaten. buen video

[@bubbie3533]

LOVE IT!!!

[@remko1238]

That was a hopeful ending 👻