Jeep? What is it, Whats it worth?

[citizensoldier]

Found this for sale close to me. The guy says its a 1945 Ford? Is this true? I dont know anything about them? Just wondered what you guys thought it might be worth?
Has a rebuilt engine and trailer to go with it. Needs brake work, says it shifts good and has the combat rims for it in the barn..
Has rust issues but cant you buy a whole tub for one? Or any other part you need?
missing back seat but has new seat covers for it..

 

[poppop]

Lane, I don't know what it is but it looks good to me. Although the underside is very rusty I don't see much eaten through. My M151 was much worse than this. That rust can be wire brushed and treated well with rust converter and stopped. It looks like road salt damage and I have a two ton farm truck that looked like that. It came from up North. I wire brushed it and sprayed rust converter on it and it stopped the damage where it was. I see very little serious damage on the exterior. If it were down here and the price was right I would have no problem snapping it up.

 

[citizensoldier]

Whats a right price to you poppop? Kicking around making a offer but am not really a jeep guy. My wife loves them and rants about a M38 all the time. She is the one that found this to tell the truth. It might be a fun project for me and her to work on together.. I help her she pays.. lol
I have never really given a jeep two looks.. they are just to small for most the things I do but if momma is happy I am happy..

 

[pfarber]

From the pics it IS NOT a FORD. Its a Willys MB. See the tool box lids and key locks? The lids are flat and the indets around the locks are round = WILLYS MB. So if you are looking to collect you got a mix-master.

Couple of warnings: Several pics show rust UNDER the paint. Plus the rear floor is SHOT. Missing the back seat and back seat hinges.

BIG RED FLAG: Wrong Rims!!! Those are CJ rims.

Small bits: wrong front bumber.. possibly CJ or made up.

The engine is the big mystery.. could be anything under that hood.

If you like it and feel up to replacing the rusted panels (not hard, but will cost you iin shipping for new panels) its a nice green, jeep like vehicle.

I would pay no more that $2500 for a toy. Probably $1750 as a collector.

If you wanted to be a jeep guy here are some costs:

Rims: $150 each
Rear floor: $200
Front floor: $300
Rear seat: $300-$500 for all the parts
Wheel wells: $120 each side
Labor: you do it Free!!!! Pay?/ $60/hr is the going rate in my neck of the woods for fab work

SO you are in for about $2500 in panels/big parts. God only know what the engine/drivetrain/axels/steering need. All the parts are out there... do you want to buy them????

 

[citizensoldier]

Thank you! This is the type of stuff I was needing to hear. Glad you chimed in and seem to have the professional eye on these little buggers. I will try to get a photo of under the hood for further diagnosis of this. I had a feeling it was mix matched a bit. I have heard many stories of people doing this type of thing. To a untrained eye they all look the same. Keep it coming guys and I will try for more photos..

 

[citizensoldier]

jeep diagnosis

Wife had a picture of the motor.

 

[pfarber]

RE: jeep diagnosis

Motor looks good... right air filter, regulator, oil filter, carb looks wrong (might be a Solex, popular replacement to the origial carb).

You are missing a piece that goes from the air filter (big black thing on the firewall) to the carb. Thats bad... engine using unfiltered air. Chap to fix, about $15.

Starter look ok, it should have a generator.. cannot see it, but many ppl replace it with a single wire alternator. Original jeeps were 6v.. many ppl use an alternator and change it to 12V for lights and starting power.

The wiring in the back right corner is majorly hacked up. But if it runs now converting it back to original is not hard.. places sell full wire looms for $500.

I cannot tell if that is a Ford or Willys Motor. Look at the motor. By the oil filter (big black thing by the front of the motor) there is an oval boss that they stamp the engine serial number onto. Its not cast into the metal, but stamped. GPW (ie Ford) motors start with GPW, MB motors start with MB. If it is not the original motor or if it was replaced by the service it may have other numbers stamped on it.

If it runs the engine looks like a sold 7 out of 10. Lots of parts are there.. correct carb = $150 correct generator - $175 Wiring - $500 to start.

I'd offer $2k due to the body work. There might be other surprises (does it work in 4x4?) that only putting your hands on the vehicle will uncover.

BTW: I am NOT a jeep expert... I just got burned by my first jeep purchase.. never again!!!

 

[FrankUSMC]

RE: jeep diagnosis

I own a 1943 ford all matching jeep. That one does not look that bad. There is a couple of things that stick out, the one that looks funny to me is the fuel sump on the drivers side for the "L" shape gas tank the WWII jeeps had, it looks home made. They were very prone to rusting in that area.
pfarber is correct on the tool box lids as they are the Willys ones, but that is an easy fix. He is not correct in the tool box lock indent area. The EARLY Ford jeeps had a sqare indent, the LATE war Ford jeeps went to an composit body that was made for both Willys and Ford, and the indents were round. If the jeep is a 1945, the indents are correct.
Also, remember, at the end of the war, there was a massive rebuild program of all jeeps and rolling stock. A mismatch jeep is very common. My jeep is just about all matching ford parts, but I cut up about 5 other jeeps to get the parts to make mine correct.
That jeeps looks very good.
Go easy on the transmission, the T84 was a little weak.
One of the few, Frank USMC REt.

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: jeep diagnosis

Lane, you mentioned replacement tubs. I would use one as a last resort only. The Jeep will be worth much more with a restored original body than with a repop body.

 

[FrankUSMC]

RE: jeep diagnosis

That body on that jeep is VERY restorable! I would not get rid of it.
One of the few, Frank

 

[clinto]

RE: jeep diagnosis

Wow Pfarber, now that's an answer!

Looks like Lane is gonna' be buying a bigger mig welder

 

[AZDeuce]

I didn't read where anyone mentioned the easiest way to determine whether it's a Ford or Willys, so I will. Take a look at the front crossmember, right behind the grill if it's a U shaped stamped piece (the open end of the U facing the ground) it's a Ford frame, at the very least.

If it's a tubular piece, then it's a Willys frame. I wouldn't be afraid to pay up to $4500 for that jeep, as it is fairly complete. It basically needs to be dis-assembled, fixed and repaired as needed, sand (soda?) blasted and properly painted. A relatively simple, and cheap, restoration, as most of the little "kick-knack" parts that will nickle and dime you to death, are already there.

 

[jds15151]

If you were really interested in a jeep I would say up to 2k would be alright. Don't know if I would go more than that. What about the seat pans? It looks like welded bars instead of normal seat pans. Maybe a jeep expert can tell us if they are indeed from 1945 or are "bubba" jobs. Good luck.

 

[poppop]

Lane, I just ckecked back in since last night. I don't know enough about these older jeeps to speculate on a price. I still think it looks like a very restorable vehicle and I agree that I would keep the old tub and work on it. My 151 was much worse. I spent three days welding flat bar to the rotted out uni-body frame work and I think it is stronger today than new. But if you look under it you see all this welded on steel. You can't see it from the outside and that is all I am concerned about. I poured fiberglass in the rotted out foot wells. I thinkI took a vehicle ready for the scrap yard and extended its life by twenty years and I feel good about that.

 

[pfarber]

The seats look good. There are 4 different bodies (Ford, Willys, ACM I & II IIRC) and there is a chart that shows the characteristics of each 'model'. Depending on year you *should* have a certain one. A production 45 would have ACM II. Basically the bodies went from vendor specific to identical to reduce costs and parts.

If the motor is strong by it. Jeeps are not losing money these days. Play with it then sell it. You shouldn't lose anything. Some body work and paint you have a $7k jeep for resale. Keep the speeds under 45mph and don't do any burn outs you should have a good runner for a long time.

 

[Todd Haley]

Hi Guy's
Congrats on the find! I'd go with the 2,000 price,unless you can get it down lower because like pfarber said, there are a few issues with it that can be costly. The frame is Ford, you can tell in the pic of the underside view. Also,it has one rear Ford spring and one MB spring. Frank is correct,the fuel tank well is homemade. It also looks like the rear body has been torched(or rusted) out just behind the pass. seat and recovered.
I would repair the original tub rather than a repop,from what I've heard you'll have almost as much time in repairing the repop as you would the original.
Can you get a good pic of the data plates? There is a wealth of info there!

 

[papabear]

I have two GPWs - both 43's. They were both much worse than your prospect appears. Please take the advice of the fellers and keep her as close to original as possible. If you buy a tub etc, ya don't have a WWII vehicle - ya gotta kit army car!! It takes some time, effort, sweat and yes even some measure of bloodshed, but anything rusted through can be cut out and a new piece of metal welded in.
Trust me - it's worth it - you won't want to sell it - it would be like selling your kid or your favorite dog!

 

[citizensoldier]

I made this guy a offer.. He wants $5500 for it and would not budge so he can keep it. For that much I will buy a 5 ton tractor.. Oh well, but thanks for all the advice and info. I learned allot and will know more the next time I find a old jeep..

 

[ucfjeeper]

.... I love jeeps ....

 

[MVtrucker]

The light switch, fuel filter and spare tire mount and brace are all indications that the Jeep is pre-1945.