I learned how to drive in that Jeep when I was far too young for such pursuits, I recall the terrible removable hard top that we had for deer season and winter driving (which was thrown into a pit with the old shack it had been stored in sometime around 1992), and many great moments driving it in sickness and in health.
Never had a hard top for mine...again, a bit of a downer in a North Dakota winter. My first Jeep, a CJ-2A, didn't even have a heater. Usually would park the Jeep in the winter months, driving around the edge of the house and setting it on the concrete-slab patio.
Oddly enough, my second Jeep (CJ-3A) was painted an identical blue color with a nearly-identical white canvas top. Went to pick up a buddy, and he commented on how I'd added steps below the door. He sat down, noted the one-piece windshield of the CJ-3A, and said, "Hey, panoramic view." Then he got out, took a careful look, and said, "New vehicle!"
The Jeep resulted in my having what little mechanical ability I possess. Always had to work on it. My Dad was a graduate diesel mechanic, and I helped him pull the engine and rebuild the CJ-2A's engine. Reassembled it, put it back in the car...and there was a huge rattle as the engine idled. Dad cussed, and we pulled the engine again. IIRC, something hadn't been bolted tightly to the starter ring gear.
Left me to do a lot of the minor stuff. I pack the wheel bearings on my Fly Baby the same way I was taught on the Jeep, dollop of grease in the middle of the left palm, then mash the bearing into it, rotating it as I go. I had a reproduction of the WWII maintenance manual for the MB, that was a good reference. My Dad gave me a hard time about the Jeep (especially its tendency to leak oil on the driveway). The I found a picture of my grandmother (his mom) driving a Jeep in a parade in the '50s....
The local Jeep dealer still carried some parts for the CJ-2A and -3A, and, of course, there was JC Whitney.
Our CAP squadron got a group of M38A1 Jeeps (military version of the CJ-5) and I got put to work doing checkouts for my fellow cadets. Most of them could drive stick already (this WAS the '70s), but none of them had experienced foot starters before. For the young 'uns here, the Jeeps weren't started by turning a key, but by pressing a button on the floorboards (similar to the dimmer switch...oh, never mind...
. My CJ-2A had a standard modern Bendix (starter switch was just a button) but the -3A had a mechanical rig. As you pressed on the starter pedal, the pressure pushed the starter gear into place and eventually contacted the electrical switch to engage the starter. No need for a starter solenoid, just a heavy-duty switch.
Identical to what's on my Fly Baby's C-85....
Anyway, foot starters were a new thing for my fellow cadets. Easy enough to use, but I'd get them going up a steep hill, then turn the ignition off and tell them to restart the engine without rolling backwards. It required coordinating three foot pedals...the clutch, the brake, and the starter button (located to the right of the gas pedal).
Fun to coordinate, when you only have two feet.
The trick was to press the brake with the right foot, then use the left on the clutch and shift into neutral. Slide the left foot onto the brake, then use the (freed) right foot to press the starter button. Slide the right foot back into the brake, use the left foot to push the clutch, shift into gear, then blip the gas pedal with the right heel while keeping the toe on the brake, and let the clutch out slowly.
Had a couple of friends with CJ-2As, we'd go out cruising on Saturday. Hot North Dakota summer, tops down, windshields folded flat, wearing sunglasses to protect the eyes from bugs. What I remember most is the syncopated beat of three Willys Go-Devil engines as we sawed through the transmission ranges until we reached that maximum 48 MPH speed.
These vehicle were REALLY popular. I bought my CJ-2A for $650, the -3A for $850, but we all would get notes on our windshields asking if we wanted to sell. We told them what we'd paid, and were told we were crazy...they had a friend with a line on surplus Jeeps from WWII, and they were going to be importing thousands of them at dirt-cheap prices. Never happened, of course.
As the earlier picture shows, I did build a replica .50 caliber machine gun. "The Rat Patrol," of course. Even found some sand dunes near Kindred to take a good shot with some of my fellow cadets....
The driver was one my fellow cadets. He eventually went though Army ROTC and commanded a tank unit in Germany. The guy at the gun served a hitch in the Marines, and worked his later career handling security for nuclear power stations. The guy in the passenger seat retired as a two-star Army general, a couple of years back. Curiously enough, despite CAP being an Air Force auxiliary, most of my fellow cadets ended up in the other services. I was the only one that went into the Air Force.
Needless to say, the (non-firing, of course) Browning replica was NEVER set up except in very controlled conditions. Oddly enough, years later, I owned a Volkswagen Thing, the modern version of the German "Kubelwagen" from WWII. I built a replica MG-34 for it.
Ron Wanttaja
