Today I decided to do a bit of tinkering on my 1954 Willys CJ-3B, a vehicle I got for what I thought was a smokin’ hot price ($5,900), and that I had planned to use as part of my upcoming wedding (in less than two months). But today I noticed a few bubbles in the paint, and — keen to prevent rust from spreading too far — I hit those bubbles with a flathead screwdriver. What that revealed was devastating.
To be clear, I’m using “devastating” quite loosely here, because this qualifies squarely as a First World Problem, but you wrenchers know what I mean. To learn that what they thought was a rock-solid vehicle is actually someone’s pottery project — more of a mobile sculpture than an actual automobile — is rough.
It all started when I noticed some paint bubbling on the driver’s side footrest. As an automotive rust expert, I know all too well that ignoring such a thing only leads to more trouble, so I picked at the bubble:
And I picked a little more:
And some more:
Oh boy what is all this?!
Oh no!
And now I have this big chunk missing from my front fender:
What’s worse is that I saw another bubble in the rear, on the top of one of the wheel wells:
I picked a bit, and it got pretty big:
And there was more in the corner: Notice how that big chunk on the bottom left of this image revealed rust below:
Speaking of rust, you see the painted rear valence panel to the left and right of this pintle hitch?
Let’s look at it from behind:
Look at those huge rust holes, just filled with Bondo!
Oh no.
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So I grabbed a magnet and did what I should have done in the seller’s driveway, and you can see the results above. In some areas — particularly over pretty much the entire rear quarter panels —the Bondo is almost an inch thick.
Oddly, the insides of these panels — which I inspected prior to purchase — look OK, so I expected the outsides of the thin sheetmetal to also be fine. At most, I’d have expected a skim coat to fix any minor imperfections. And yet, this thing is more of a Jeep-shaped sculpture than it is a Jeep itself.
And I know, some may say “Don’t worry about it,” but it’s impossible. My friend Brandon bought a WWII Jeep that had been slathered in Bondo, and he, too, could not resist picking away at it, ultimately deciding to replace the entire body due to the horrible shape of the metal below. There’s just something about a Bondo-covered car that, at least to me, really detracts from the vehicle. It feels, to me, like a big fraud.
It’s not rational, I know. The Jeep still looks good, and it will likely drive totally fine. But it’s a psychological thing; I want my Jeep to be made of steel like the Jeep gods intended.
Now it’s time to decide what to do next. Ignoring the issue isn’t going to happen, so should I start repairing panels? I could buy new side panels, front panels, and a rear valence for about $1,250 total:
Or should I buy a whole body tub for double that ($2,500 shipped) and then just the whole Jeep… The vehicle would no longer be totally original, and the whole shebang would end up costing me at least $6000 after paint, but it’d also be in mint condition, with an extremely low likelihood of rusting in the future here in California.
Or do I just let the Willys go to someone who couldn’t care less about the bondo, and just buy a nice CJ-3B for $12,000 to save me some time, since I’m getting married soon?
Or do I just say goodbye to CJ-3Bs in general and roll with the trusty YJ as my wedding mobile? It’s maybe not as elegant, per se, but it sure does shine:
Anyway, this was a rookie move on my part. I should have brought a magnet to the initial inspection. California may be the land that rust forgot, but Willys Jeeps are an exception.
D’oh!
Images of repair panels/tub: Kaiser Willys
“Money in a bucket”. That was my old shop boss’s name for bondo. Being a rural Midwest body-shop, our bread and butter was builders and rust-work. We did a few full frame-off restorations as well. One rule he had was No Jeeps. His thoughts, gleaned from experience, was that if the Jeep had lots of visible rust, it was rusting from the inside out and was already too far gone. And if it looked pretty good, it probably looked like yours does underneath the paint. I’m with the get-rid-of-it crowd here.
Unless… you do something fun with it and incorporate it into your wedding. Go buy a fresh bucket of bondo, re-patch what you’ve scrapped off, and paint the whole thing white. Spray cans if you have to – have an Autopian parking lot paint party. Get it nice and wedding-white. Then have all of the guests sign it on their way in. Finally, after you’ve made your way back to the Jeep at the end of the wedding and all of the guests have showered you with big handfuls of spaghetti, drive off into the sunset.
Afterwards, take lots of pics, drive it for awhile, use it as a shrimp dispenser at your next show, and then let someone else deal with the “Money in a bucket”.
+1 to all but the shrimp bucket. I’ll take my food poisoning and tetanus separately, thank you.
Everyone knows shrimp is best served in a wheelbarrow.
Priorities:
1) wedding
2) honeymoon
3) pay for 1 &2 above
4) trim the rest of the rolling stock to essentials
5) tub
YJ for a wedding
tub tub tub tub tub tub make it whole, make it pretty tub tub tub tub tub tub
*yes, easy for me, as I’m not paying for it
Use the YJ for the wedding. It’s white and already nice, just take off the doors and roof and decorate it with laurels and flowers.
The wedding will be a time sucker and you won’t have time to fool around with a bondo bucket.
Replace the tub. I had similar rust on my Del Sol and that was the solution. Also 5000
YJ is the answer. Sell the rust bucket
Let it go, keep the YJ. As for the wedding car, you know a prominent dealer and have the ability to get press cars….get something nice!
Every time you show a picture of it, it’s like it’s in a wrong aspect ratio.
Just looks so tall and narrow. Very special car indeed 🙂
I do look forward to reading an article about you replacing the entire tub…. After your wedding.
If anything goes wrong your wife will never let you forget it.
Just bondo, you’re lucky. I’ve found hvac tape, plywood, 2×4, crumpled foil, newspaper, door screen, tshirts, various types of metals, angle iron, bed frame, drywall.
I found a readable Twinkie wrapper years ago.
Mix some JBWeld in there for structural strength, and it will be ready to rumble. Maybe coat it Steelit, for super extra strength.
You could just do the Jeep of Theseus, but I’d probably go ahead and buy a nice one.
As long as he calls it Project Jeseus.
Sell the Jeep and start looking for rusted antique pedal cars/tractors that you can restore for the (potential) future Baby Tracys
Okay, now this feels like a David Tracy project.
Originality is great and all, but it’s also a burden keeping it that way. You say it won’t be totally original if you buy a new tub. I’d argue this is already past that point.
Order the new tub. Unbolt the old one ASAP so you have better access to all the mechanical bits that need fixing. Feel free to modify and improve things without the albatross of originality hanging overhead.
Buy new panels….rust never sleeps.
Bondo in the frame?
Not ideal.
Sheesh. Just buy a new tub. Wish I could buy one for my “project ” for $2500. How do you know the tub wasn’t rebuilt 60 years ago? Do you buy cars/jeeps for what they look like, or what they drive like? Maybe you should just sell everything you have and ride the bus.
“How do you know the tub wasn’t rebuilt 60 years ago?”
Exactly! If Hollywood has taught us anything its a REAL war Jeep would have been shot at and maybe blown up a few times during its service so who knows of what’s left is original. And really, who cares as long as the replacement is as least as good as the original.
Just don’t use fiberglass or plastic body panels.
Just paint he thing Terra Cotta and name it Adobe.
They’ll want a subscription.
Different Adobe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F02P2JO7yfc
That’s weirdly funny.
If you’re not willing to get the tub, just sell it. You didn’t pay much for it. Save your money for a project that’s actually worth your time. You’ll put in patch panels and then find more rot
Oh, David, that sucks. I am so sorry.
You have some tough decisions to be made with an upcoming wedding. In for a penny (sell it at move on, maybe loose a few $, but keep your sanity), or in for a pound, (buy a new tub, spend some $ at the body shop, and have a long term project on your hands), and maybe have the Jeep you always wanted, as a “keeper”. I say keeper, because of you do all of that, you will likely loose a LOT of $, if you sell it. If this isn’t the “one” that punches all of the right Jeep tickets for you, I’d say punt it, chalk it up to experience and use that knowledge for the next one, that someone else already spent the time and money on…..
Maybe buy one from all of these museums out there that keep closing down.
Grind up the CJ-3B into rust pellets for guests to toss at you during the exit. Biodegradable and unforgettable.
David, I don’t presume to know you beyond reading many of your articles over the years. Having said that, as someone who used to suffer from the same affliction (but mine was 60’s Darts and Valliants and also old houses) – I think you are going through the part where it stops being worth it. Focus on your wedding. Borrow from Beau if that’s an option. Afterwards, let go of fixing up pile-of-crap old cars that could be so cool if only… You’ve traveled that road back and forth several times and it was beautiful. It seems that most of your articles are now pretty much about how that doesn’t work for you any more and you’re struggling with it because part of you is still in love with it. Dude! That love will always be there. Part of why I loved all those old pieces you wrote when it was truly where you were at with your life is that it evoked nostalgia in me for when I was doing that and loving it. Now it seems to me that you are already moving on, if a bit reluctantly. If you really want an old army Jeep, get one that’s not totally hashed and blueprint the motor or something – AFTER THE WEDDING.
Well, I’m sorry DT, but you have to now realize that driving the Jeep to to your wedding is not an option.
I suggest you drive your fiance’ Lexus, it’s dependable AND it was the vehicle she was driving when you fell in love with her! ❤
You have two issues here. The first is whether or not you want rust in your wedding transportation. You can embrace the rust and possibly work it in as a metaphor about life and all of its complexities. In that case, just leave it alone and make sure that all the bits that might actually make a difference in mobility, generally the bits that are lubricated, are working and you’ll be fine.
On the other hand, perhaps rust might be symbolic of all the things that you don’t want in a marriage, in which case there are probably more important things to do before the wedding and you should just get another vehicle for that purpose.
In the long-term, you obviously don’t like Your old Jeep looking like an old Jeep so leaving the rust there is out of the question. I would advise cutting the rust out of the original panels and welding in new steel. I cannot think of a better or easier vehicle to learn to weld on, there are no compound curves and it’s pretty easy to get access to both sides of most of the steel.With the right tools, butt welding is easier than it looks. Getting an entirely new body then getting a lot of other entirely new stuff because it’s hard to justify putting old bits onto a new body, and the next thing you know, you basically have a replica Jeep not an actual original Jeep.
Myself, I would just remove the Bondo, weld or braze in new steel, get a can of the original type of paint and carefully brush and sand it in to match the age of the rest of the Jeep. I can brush in single stage enamel or lacquer and make it match much better than spraying but I have art training that helps.
Actually, now that I think of it, do the original Willy’s jeeps have a bunch of structure that is sheet metal wrapped around pieces of wood that are welded in? Or was that only the wartime production where they were designed to be disposable? Actually pre-World War II lots of automobile bodies had bits of wood, forming the structure of the bodies. Anyway, if that is the case, then the rust that you can’t see, is probably much worse than what you have found so far.
It amazes me. the shit you Americans manufacture and actually make money on. How is it possible there is a big enough market for sheet metal for WWII Jeep to have the tooling and actually make profit?
Well, I for one gave a nice chunk of cash to people making Datsun panels. And I’m French
But you drive a cool Z!
Well, it’s the same affliction as liking Jeeps!
Except Zs are cool 😉
Ooooh <3
To be fair it is one of the most produced vehicles from that era with a strong community.
Now If you can find sheet metal for a 1959 Edsel Ranger, then color me surprised.
Repro parts and entire cars in Mini, Triumph, MG, Healey, Jag et-Al from Moss Motors and others. They seem to be doing fine. If there is a market someone will step up to fill it. I’ve heard all of these referred to as shit as well. It’s a hobby, get off your ivory tower.
Any body tub for old Jeeps… sold anywhere in the world… is made by MD Juan in the Phillipines through US distributors. It’s not “sh*t you Americans manufacture and actually make money on”.
In fact, @davidtracy, this might be the spark for an investigative journalistic endeavor to the Philippines.
No, there’s a company called SGI in India that makes tubs that are MUCH higher quality. They cost a little more than the MD Juan tubs but the savings in aggravation is well worth it. MD Juan has made a bunch of changes over the years that lead to incompatibilities between your original parts like hood/windshield and the replacement tubs. The holes and hat channels are usually in the wrong spots too. You can make them work but there’s a ton of fitment (far more than you can do in an 8 week timeline). If you’re doing a replacement tub, find a donor vehicle (shouldn’t be hard to find a non-rusty one in California or an adjoining state) or get an SGI tub.
As others have said, get something unique from Beau and enjoy the day. Deal with the jeeps (all of them) after the wedding
Hell, just rent a vintage Rolls-Royce, or, failing that, an Austin Princess with a Rolls-Royce grille, and be done with it