going to look at a frankenwillys.. appreciate any insight

aekdbbop · Post by **aekdbbop** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 5:02 am

Going to look at this frankenjeep tomorrow with a buddy. I know nothing about jeeps, but my friend is really good with that kind of thing. He would be guiding me along a lot of the way if I took this on. Really wanting to see if the jeep below would be worth my time and money to work on.

I am not going to buy it on the spot, but going to get a better look at it.

Looks to be a cj5 / M38A1 mix.

He says: "This is a 1955 Willys Jeep with several other parts. There is a new front end and brake setup along with other extra's. This Jeep was said to run when I purchased it. I was intending to use it for parts but decided to sell it with all the extra parts instead."

Said parts:

He is asking 1100. Probably offer 800 and see where it goes if we decide to grab it...

any info / help would be awesome.

Post by **wesk** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 8:45 am

The rear axle, front fenders, dash and windshield are civvy CJ. The tub and hood are M38A1.

If the frame is M38A1 you would come away in good shape at $800. Check that the front frame rails are of boxed construction from the bumper to the firewall. Check under the jeep behind the seats for the machine gun support plate on that crossmember. I see the front spring pivots are to the front as with an m38A1 but the early CJ5 had it's pivots to the front also.

skyjeep50 · Post by **skyjeep50** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:01 am

Looks like a M38A1 tub on a CJ frame - battery tray in engine compartment was not found on M38A1's. CJ dash and instruments, and probably CJ engine, trans and running gear. Body seems to be in fairly good condition with some surface rust but no rust-throughs that I can see. The challenge will be to examine the engine/trans to see if there are major problems there - compression, any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, gears shift, will the engine even run? Brakes will most likely need to be overhauled. Problem with a jeep of this type is that it's a mutt - neither military or CJ. So you're going to spend a lot of cash and time fixing it up but at the end will the value be there? It's ok to have fun restoring it and enjoy it for what it is, and maybe that's enough for you, but it will never be worth what a 100% original jeep would be, either military or civilian. I started out with a CJ/M38 combo and sold it as an unfinished project because I couldn't see putting more $$ into something that would never be "military". Present value will depend on condition of the mechanicals as parts.

aekdbbop · Post by **aekdbbop** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:18 am

Thanks for the insight. If I decide to get it it will probably be somewhere in between a restore in a fun around town Jeep. If it is a cj5 engine does the system run on 12 or 24 volts, can you tell? The engine look good, there was no water in the oil and my buddy thinks you would be pretty easy to get it running. The brakes do need to be overhauled. are parts for the brakes pretty easy to find?

Post by **wesk** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:39 am

The battery tray is bolted to the fender which is a civvy CJ5 fender. Frame can still be a M38A1 frame. Just check the two items I mentioned. The tub alone is worth $400 and the running gear running or not will sell for $700 so you won't do bad paying $800 running or not.

She looks to be 12 volt looking at the small regulator on the right fender. The only difference between a CJ5 and M38A1 F134 is the serial number prefix and the mounted accessories. The air cleaner is a civvy CJ5 unit by the way.

Brake hardware, cylinders and shows are easy to find.