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
“It’s not rational, I know.” Seems to be the plot line to most DT stories.
Take the L, put this on the back burner. Consult your bride to be what wedding cars she may enjoy, then hit up Beau to see if one of those could be an option.
Whatever you do, don’t spend pre wedding time fixing this pile. There will be enough last minute stuff to deal with. Wrenching on a project, body work nonetheless, is not a good way to spend that time. Spending time with your S.O. dealing with wedding stuff or taking a last minute fling to wine country to de-stress (hint) is a much better use of that time.
There’s a time when outsourcing is the best move. This is one of those times.
@David Tracy, ^^^THIS^^^ is the 100% correct answer.
I’m not married and even I know this is the right thing to do
You guys in the desert SW haven’t been to the road salt belt up North, where old cars don’t exist anymore because of rust, or have been brought from your ‘hood as classic weekend summer cruisers. We’ve given up on restoring local cars. It looks like you got one of ours. The misery is only beginning. Scrap it now and move on.
David lived in Detroit for 10 years. Even there he never encountered Bondo in the frame rails which is a huge red flag to my Northern New England sensibilities.
Luckily the frame is rock solid.
So, that bondo is “hard as a rock”?
I bought a 73 CJ-5 that had 1/4″ steel diamond plate for a floor that was solid enough, but the rest of the body had rotted away to the point there was a 2 inch gap between the floor and side walls. Made it easy to hose out! At least I knew what I was getting. Ended up buying a fiberglass tub for it and that was a fun project. But not before a wedding…
I feel your pain, David. Being from Rustland I wouldn’t have thought to put a magnet on a CA vehicle that looked pretty nice either
And really, it must be great for a “Rust-loving Jeep man”, that there’s more rust than anticipated. Isn’t there always?
Man moves to LA, discovers his car is full of filler. How ironic.
Beautifully Bitchy!
Hey, some of us need a little help to look as handsome as you.
Or get a welder and some sheet metal. I don’t think there’s easier car to learn how to fix rust issues than that.
I started with RRC what didn’t have much of floor left anywhere. A and b-pillars rusted off both sides and only 2 of the 8 bodymounts were actually attached. And of course sills on both sides and rear crossmember were history. Fun project!
In the spirit of the great herd culling, I say sell this one. Rust is a bitch, and hoping to deal with the tin worm in 6 weeks is a fool’s errand. Plus, that would bump thé number of projects in your 3 car fleet to 2, which isn’t sustainable.
The YJ looks good, it’s very on brand for you (a Jeep but also sort of a misfit) and will give you some peace of mind reliability wise. Just go with this one. The wedding is about the girl, not the car.
Change plans… Get married in Hawaii (Maui or the Big Island) and have the wedding at a hotel. You won’t need to drive anywhere, your friends will love you for having to make the trip to Hawaii, and the weather is great. I did back in 1988, but I still think it is a good idea. OK, so my wife is from Maui, but still… We live in northern CA.
Show Elise what’s important to you. Concentrate on her and the wedding. Rent a nice car and play with the Jeep later.
I remember an old movie about Richard Petty. His new bride was, um, waiting for him. He was in the garage tinkering with his car. He said, “Look! I got the revs up!” She replied, “Great. I can’t wait to tell people that on his wedding night Richard Petty got his revs up!” I was young, it went right over my head.
My thought as well. I imagine you can easily find a suitable Jeep on Turo if you’re set on using one
Borrow or rent a wedding car! My husband went to a local car show prior to our wedding. For the cost of a nice bottle of wine and a donation to his church, the owner of an MB 600 grosser (in champagne) served as our wedding limo. He even wore an ascot. You have plenty of access to interesting cars. (Too bad you didn’t ask Jay Leno!).
For the Jeep, new tub or sell. No way you’re going to get all of the panels to align.
Okay, old Mechanic chiming in here .
I was thinking ‘not bad rust for a Jeep’ until you got to the rear valance, that’s bad .
I know your welding skills and have faith you can whip this into shape _AFTER_ you’re married and settled down .
I can also tell you no matter what, DO NOT buy Jeep repair panels made outside of the U.S.A. ! a bodyman buddy of mine got suckered into “simply replacing the panels I already bought” and of course, they were improperly stamped and made of super low quality tin foil and he spent 3 X the time making them work .
As far as you new wife, be smart and _rent_ whatever nice vehicle you want for the wedding, my ex wife bitched endlessly about the vintage VW I had when we were married in 1976, recently she told me she has fond memories if being driven all over in that battered piece of junk .
-Nate
Dang, that’s rough. Never good to find bondo, I would also rather drive around with rust holes than bubbling bondo – def feels like a fraud.
Also, don’t start your married life like this, always tied to some derelict project. Put first what’s important, i.e. the one day, and your bride’s perception. Rent another thing or drive the YJ. There will be lots to do, focus on the rebuild later if you decide to keep it.
In my opinion, the YJ is the answer. To me it is better looking than the old CJ in that white with tan top.
Plus that rust is looking nasty.
Just let it go for the wedding.
Afterwards, once you and your new bride are settled, then if you really want to, retub it.
David, your wedding is going to be super duper stressful enough without any vehicle shenanigans. This is big moment, and guess what, IT INVOLVES SOMEONE ELSE. It’s her big day too.
Ditch this pile. Leave the YJ at home. Rent something cool and reliable. Your soon to be wife will so relieved and that will come back full circle in making your life happier.
You can fuck around with questionable 4x4s literally any other time. Well, maybe don’t take your wife to the maternity ward in one either.
Mr. ClutchAbuse is correct. Surely you can borrow something from the Galpin collection.
This times 100! In five years Mrs. Tracy won’t remember what car you two used to escape the wedding venue, but she will remember how stressed she was when she was trying to plan details and you were messing around with some stupid car again. And I know that none of your cars are stupid and that a half-done Bondo repair is super important to you, but it isn’t important to her and therefore it isn’t important to you right now.
Good advice. Even I, a serious air-cooled fan at the time, when faced with a January due-date, sold a few ounces of inherited gold an bought a 4wd GM product to insure no problems getting to the hospital (we lived on a fairly significant mountain at the time and snow was certainly possible)
YJ! YJ! It’s wedding-white, and it represents both your essential Jeepiness and your lotus-like ascent from the mud and rust into a glorious purity of purpose.
David is like a beautiful rust golem.
Sorry man, that’s a bummer. Discovering hidden rust is such a let down. I’ve been there a few times in the past with cars I really liked, (from sellers I had a positive experience with) and it’s a kick to the gut for sure.
~ Moving on~
Dude. Your wedding is two months away? Forget about the broken Jeeps. Borrow a good one, or a nice car from your boss. At most, spend an afternoon trying to sort out the YJ, and if that fails… It’s time to throw in the towel.
(The YJ is white, which makes sense for a wedding car, and it is less likely to break down, which is all that really matters. I guarantee 90% of your guests couldn’t tell the difference between it and the CJ, and your bride probably doesn’t care anyways. Sorry.)
I got married this summer, and while we tried to skip stuff, and outsource as much as we could to “keep it simple”, it was still a ton of work. There was clothing to fit, food to choose, alcohol to buy, wedding vows to write, out of town friends & family to spend time with, etc. You’ve got like 6 or 7 weekends that will quickly fill with that stuff, never mind taking the necessary time to relax from your day job. You want to leave yourself enough time and energy to actually enjoy the above, and not have it all be a big chore.
Just doing the bare minimum of the above stresses out most people before their big day. Add in rust repair? Jesus Christ, fuck no.
Ask your bride what she really wants, and do that. Even if she says she doesn’t care, she’s lying. She just wants the day to go well, and drive away with you. The car needs to look respectable and be reliable, that’s it. Anything you can do to help her feel taken care of and decrease her anxiety is the right choice. Forcing her to worry about a POS old car being ready in time is not the “cool gearhead move” you think it is.
Get rid of it ASAP. There is zero reason to clutter up your life with bs like that.
Agreed.
Sell it and keep the YJ. Don’t even think twice about it.
Just gonna leave this here: Renting Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigators. Full Size SUV Wheel Drive
Hell, lincoln, caddy, lexus, and Mercedes may lend him a nice vehicle for the cost of a unique style of car review.
You don’t have the time for any of this. Ask the bride what she would like to be driven in (or drive for that matter, who knows), and GET THAT. If you have time before the wedding, dump the rusty Jeep, it’s not what you wanted and it’ll be cheaper to find a good one rather than making this into something it isn’t and will never be (original). Otherwise dump it asap after the wedding.
As for the YJ, if it was that easy to get rid of the fuel issue/smell, you would have already done it, bringing us full circle to the first sentence of this response, i.e. you don’t have the time for any of this. You’ll get to it when you get to it (if ever) but don’t take the chance of it messing things up.
Don’t let anything f up the wedding. If it does, YOU will understand, all of US will understand, your wife MAY understand, but I guarantee most of HER friends and family will NOT understand. Don’t do it. As Joshua says “The only winning move is not to play the game”, so just ask her what she wants and get/rent/borrow that. (And a car from CoPart is not an option).
You hit the nail on the head.
Having a Jeep for the wedding is what DT thinks he should have but what he really wants is to shuttle his bride off in a BMW i3.
Do any of the actions described in this article sound like those of a man who actually wants an old Jeep involved in his wedding 2 months from now? This is clearly latent self-sabotage.
I see a couple of options here:
1) Use the YJ.
2) Maybe see if Beau has something white and absurdly cool to lend you.
3) Rent something cool.
Your wedding is NOT the time to take chances that something will go wrong. The day is about you and Elise standing up in front of those you love and saying “I want to be with you forever.”
(Unless it goes wrong in such an epic and hilarious way that you’ll both laugh about it for the rest of your days. Then it’s OK)
This. Borrow something rad from Beau or Jay (Leno, but you’re on a first name basis now, right?) You’ve got the connections, use them. ???? Maybe even a Jeep, who knows.
I was honestly thinking about the Beauberry Ford GT, but it’s not white.
And maybe something nice and reasonably upscale from the Galpin rental or service-loaner fleet for the honeymoon.
Getting in and out of a ford gt in a dress with dignity may not be possible. And making the bride look undignified is a TERRIBLE idea. Even if she is wearing pants, like my wife did, you still want to have a dignified entrance and exit.
Fair point. Also, if the dress is too pouffy, it might be hard to see out of the car.
Oh, JHFC… your stock is plummeting. If you truly want and believe that this merger is the best future for all concerned, you will walk away from whatever content this pile seems to promise and loose your Jeep goggles for the foreseeable if not the complete future. J/S
The old David Tracy would find another CJ-3B with a rusty frame but non-rusty body and merge them. Preferably halfway around the world and under time pressure.