1949 Willys Overland
I purchased this car in about 1991 from Keith Crawford. At the time the car was fairly straight but needed everything. I decided against a total restoration, instead just opting to get it presentable. By the time I was done with it I had gone through just about everything, except the underside.
1949 Willys Overland 4-63 Station Wagon serial number 101630
The engine was all there, but needed attention. It was rebuilt by Rod Furtado of San Jose an is all stock. The transmission was left untouched except for a thorough cleaning and painting. Paul Reisentz helped me with the wiring and electronics of the overdrive. The 5.38 rear end was rebuilt by Rear End Specialties of San Jose. Starter and generator were redone by Autolectrics of Campbell. The car maintains it's 6 volt battery system.
When I started by stripping the car down to bare metal. I was surprised to find that under the cars yellow paint was an original olive drab paint job. As I sanded off the paint It read "property of U.S. Marine Corp." Turns out it was an old Marine vehicle. The body needed a little rust repair in the driver door, but that was the only place. It seems the Marines did a good job of weatherproofing and undercoating so the body was really solid. All paint was done by myself and wild man Plynn Doss. I was lucky enough to find an original NOS basket weave headliner from Ratner the Jeepsterman. Seats were done by Martha Wheat/Christensen of Pro Prep interiors. The car still has it's original wood slats inside. I just refinished them and they look good as new. I recently found and installed an original radio and front grill trim. All chrome was done by Faith Bumper Service of Santa Clara.
Future projects included replacing the windshield, rebuilding the front end, and adding wide whitewalls.
Future projects included replacing the windshield, rebuilding the front end, and adding wide whitewalls.