Got dads Willy’s jeep running after 53 years

[Terrierman]

I saw it running yesterday on FB.  Way too cool Bret, congratulations on a great project.

[fishinwrench]

6 hours ago, BilletHead said:

                  And we used to have a shotgun in a gun rack in the back window of our pickups at high school so we could hunt dove after school on the way home. 

Same !   Didn't even lock the truck either.  

One day, after school, we even threw clay pigeons and shot them in the school parking lot..... with our shop teacher!  

He had a sweet over/under, and had built a hand thrower that would throw doubles. 

[Quillback]

The Army was still running jeeps when I was in.  Bare boned things, no heater, lousy tires, but they could crawl up anything.

We were in the field once when I was stationed at Fort Carson CO, the battalion was camped in a ravine that had a dirt road than ran sort of a circular track through the area, they used to harass us at night, driving a jeep down that road and throwing tear gas cannisters around, you'd have to put your gas mask on because that stuff is nasty, and all of that is annoying when you're trying to sleep.  There was a little bit of a jump on that road where those guys throwing the gas around would grab some air in the jeep.  A few people got fed up with the gas throwers and rolled a couple of boulders onto the road where the jeep was going to land next time around.  Wrecked that jeep when they hit those boulders.  

The powers that be were not amused; we had to stand in formation in the middle of the night and get yelled at while they tried to get the perps to come forward.  Of course, no one admitted to it.  

[BilletHead]

26 minutes ago, Quillback said:

The Army was still running jeeps when I was in.  Bare boned things, no heater, lousy tires, but they could crawl up anything.

We were in the field once when I was stationed at Fort Carson CO, the battalion was camped in a ravine that had a dirt road than ran sort of a circular track through the area, they used to harass us at night, driving a jeep down that road and throwing tear gas cannisters around, you'd have to put your gas mask on because that stuff is nasty, and all of that is annoying when you're trying to sleep.  There was a little bit of a jump on that road where those guys throwing the gas around would grab some air in the jeep.  A few people got fed up with the gas throwers and rolled a couple of boulders onto the road where the jeep was going to land next time around.  Wrecked that jeep when they hit those boulders.  

The powers that be were not amused; we had to stand in formation in the middle of the night and get yelled at while they tried to get the perps to come forward.  Of course, no one admitted to it.  

WW 1 right? 😁 Sorry Jeff couldn't resist.

[Quillback]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

WW 1 right? 😁 Sorry Jeff couldn't resist.

Man, you're killing me, heck I was too young for Vietnam (thankfully), let alone WWI.  

[Flysmallie]

On 12/16/2025 at 7:13 PM, LittleRedFisherman said:

Been restoring dad’s childhood Willy’s jeep  today was a big step in the right direction!  Dad rode my mom in this jeep when she was 10.  She’s now 72.  Dad said first thing he’s gonna do is take her for a spin again when it’s done.   Started a year ago with a bare frame.  Making some progress 

IMG_1883.mov

Finally got somewhere where I could watch this. That's really freaking cool. What a great project with a great story. Can't wait to see it when you are done. Congrats on getting it to this point. 

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

Man, you're killing me, heck I was too young for Vietnam (thankfully), let alone WWI.  

  I just had to. I  know how old you are. I missed the draft by a couple years. 

[LittleRedFisherman]

2 hours ago, Quillback said:

The Army was still running jeeps when I was in.  Bare boned things, no heater, lousy tires, but they could crawl up anything.

We were in the field once when I was stationed at Fort Carson CO, the battalion was camped in a ravine that had a dirt road than ran sort of a circular track through the area, they used to harass us at night, driving a jeep down that road and throwing tear gas cannisters around, you'd have to put your gas mask on because that stuff is nasty, and all of that is annoying when you're trying to sleep.  There was a little bit of a jump on that road where those guys throwing the gas around would grab some air in the jeep.  A few people got fed up with the gas throwers and rolled a couple of boulders onto the road where the jeep was going to land next time around.  Wrecked that jeep when they hit those boulders.  

The powers that be were not amused; we had to stand in formation in the middle of the night and get yelled at while they tried to get the perps to come forward.  Of course, no one admitted to it.  

Wow surprised they let that one slide.   My grandfather worked in a jeep moter pool in ww2.  Soon as he got back to the farm he had to get one 

[jdmidwest]

10 hours ago, BilletHead said:

                  And we used to have a shotgun in a gun rack in the back window of our pickups at high school so we could hunt dove after school on the way home. 

And Turkey on the way to school..

[Terrierman]

And if it wasn't a shotgun for doves, it was a .22 for squirrels.  Those were the days when things were right.