Slapping a clean, straight body tub on our junky hot rod would have made as much sense as a boob job on an 80-year-old woman. So we put the telekinetic online search powers of staffer Trasborg to work. In no time he found us a $100 CJ-3A tub that came complete with a bunch of other worthless junk we had to give away. He even paid for it and picked it up for us! Then we pilfered our MB grille, CJ-3A tailgate, and a few other parts from a long-since-dead yard Jeep. After adding a few of Hazel's Willys truck remnants, we had a driver.
Bolting our flatfender body to our M38A1 frame isn't rocket science. The flattie body actually bolts to the beefier M38A1/early CJ-5 frame much easier than you might think. Most of the body mounts line up. We did have to lop a couple of inches off of the back of the frame, build new mounts for the grille, and add two body mounts to the rear, but it's probably the easiest body swap you'll ever make to gain frame strength. It's a good upgrade for any early flatfender in the middle of a frame-off resto. Stay tuned for next time, where we'll tie up some loose ends, work out a few bugs, and call the flat rod finished.
Our MB grille already had...
Our MB grille already had the shroud removed. We welded together some strap steel and angle iron to create a bracket that would bolt to the grille and to our mystery Dodge radiator that came from Hazel's Willys truck. We needed to switch to a smaller 15-inch, vintage-looking mechanical fan (PN 9101515) from Speedway Motors to clear everything.
With the $100 CJ-3A tub in...
With the $100 CJ-3A tub in place, we went to work on the freebie Willy's truck seats. We chopped 8 inches out of the backrests and threw away the rat-nested padding and rusty springs. Then we switched 'em (driver seat on the passenger side, passenger seat on the driver side) so we could still access the factory toolbox underneath. We covered the seats with 3/8-inch plywood and a Mexican blanket for padding. You'll notice we also had to cut a hole in the bed of the tub for axle clearance.
Hazel's Willys truck steering...
Hazel's Willys truck steering assembly found a home in Sloppy Seconds after we chopped 4 inches out of the column and bolted it to the body with a reader-supplied CJ-2A column bracket. The box is bolted to the frame using the original Willys truck brackets, some 3/4-inch plate steel, and a pair of Grade 8 bolts. The pitman arm is a modified Willys truck part, the draglink is a lengthened early CJ part, and the stubby open exhaust is made from all leftover remnants.
We wanted to hide a lot of...
We wanted to hide a lot of things on the Jeep to keep the overall look uncluttered and, well, to get people scratching their heads wondering if our Jeep actually ran and drove. We built a tray and hid our Yellow Top Optima battery inside the rear wheelwell tub. We didn't have to mount it sideways, but Optima batteries are no-spill and can be mounted on their side if need be.
We added a rear crossmember...
We added a rear crossmember to the lopped-off M38A1 frame. The beat-up old gas can is actually the fuel tank. It's held in place with a gas-can mount stolen from Hazel's M-715. The strap steel that keeps the can in the mount is some rusty shipping strap that we found in the fields while walking the dog. A scrap sheet of aluminum bent in a buddy's brake along with some angle iron and a few rivets cover the axlehousing that was poking into the bed.
We couldn't stand spending...
We couldn't stand spending nearly half the Sloppy Seconds budget on a windshield frame and glass that we were only going to chop up. So we built a windshield frame out of 1-inch copper pipe and some Lexan. We sweated most of the frame together. We then used an angle grinder to cut a notch around the inside perimeter of the pipe for the Lexan to slide into. The top of the frame was glued together with silicone to avoid melting the Lexan. Is it street legal? Don't ask. But we think the copper sure looks cool.