"Jenifer Willys came from a ranch in Montana. My brother lived near Lewiston, and called me one day to ask if I still wanted an "old Jeep." I asked "how old?" Upon finding out that it was a 1946 CJ-2A, I bought it sight unseen for $500. I was going to go up to Montana and drive or tow her home, but my brother told me that there were a few "problems" with my prize. He surprised me in the Summer of 1985 when he delivered my Jeep to my door, having carted it in the largest 5th wheel stock trailer I have ever seen. We parked it in my driveway, and thus begin "Jerry's Jeep Project," as my wife soon dubbed the clutter in our drive- way, the garage, back yard, and nooks and crannies around the house.

"Jenifer was a sad little Jeep when she arrived here in Santa Barbara. It would take too long to tell everything that was wrong with her. Let's just say that I started at the Left font corner of the frame and worked my way around to the left front again, fixing whatever needed to be fixed, which was plenty. It took almost six years, and a bit over $5,000.00 to get everything running right again. A few highlights:"

"For sentimental reasons I wanted to keep as much of the original Jeep drive train and "ambiance" as possible, but still make some improvements. The motor was salvageable, and has been completely rebuilt using only the best available components. It has Stea- tite valve seats, and hardened valves so that it can run unleaded gas. The radiator was rebuilt, and she boasts a new distributor and carb.

"Lots of thought went into the drive train. I wrote a computer program to let me choose between axle torque, tire size, and various combinations of ratios in the axles, transmission and transfer case. I settled on using the stock T90A transmission, but it is entirely rebuilt with all new parts including the case. The transfer case is a "large pin" version of the Spicer 18 that came as original equipment. The back axle is now a Dana 44, and the front axle has been completely rebuilt. The axles are re- ratioed to 4.27:1 instead of the stock 5.38:1 gearing. The transmission has a different input shaft and cluster gear set than came in the stock version. They combine to reduce the ratios in first, second and reverse by 19.2%, which almost per- fectly offsets the loss of overall gear ratios in the lower gears due to the new axle ratios. The result allows me to cruise at 55mph on the highway without overtaxing the motor, but still has ample power for the modest off road driving that I do. I consid- ered installing a Bendix overdrive, and would still like to have one, but they were only available as rebuilt units, and cost more than my meager budget could afford. The re-ratioed axles and transmission have proven to be a good low cost alternative.

"The brake system is totally replaced, and Jenifer now has 11" X 2" drum brakes on all corners. I rebuilt the steering box, and replaced all of the tie rods, the bell crank, etc. Steering is stabilized by a hydraulic dampener between the front frame member and the right side tie rod. New springs, shackles, and shocks help a set of 235-78R15 General "Grabber AP" tires keep the body off the ground.

"The front frame horn was pretty badly bent on the driver's side. I considered buying another frame, but my father taught me the basics of welding and metal fabrication, and I found the correct dimensions, so I tackled the task of straightening it. It came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I fabricated the front and back bumpers, and a swing away mount for the spare tire, which is now in the back where it "ought" to be.

"I wanted to keep the split windshield. All of the replacements that I could find were either pretty beat up, or the one piece type. I wound up having to make a new frame from scratch, using 16 gage sheet metal bent to my specifications at a local shop, and a seemingly endless number of 6-32 stainless steel machine screws.

"Jenifer Willys now has a 12 volt system so that I can run a Ramsey REP6000 winch. (The task of mounting a 65 amp DELCOTRON alternator on the little 1946 motor was an interesting adventure that wound up involving two trips to a junk yard, and a local machine shop!) I was able to salvage the original speedometer, but all other instrumentation is electric. I wound up completely rewiring everything, connecting the various components as they were installed. Also, the gang at a local muffler shop got a kick out of creating an entire custom fit exhaust system from scratch, using only my basic instructions as to where I wanted to locate the muffler, etc. She is still a work in progress, and there is still a lot of body work to do.

"Jenifer is used to make photographic expeditions in the local back country, and spends quite a bit of time running errands around town. Because of her age, and the fact that the frame is repaired, I do not plan on taking her into any really difficult off road adventures. I am sorry to say that my mother passed away in January of 1996 from ovarian cancer. She lived in San Diego, and I took early retirement from General Motors so that I could be with her during her very long and difficult illness. Countless trips between Santa Barbara and San Diego have consumed the lion's share of my time for the past three years . Now that mother is in a much, much better place, I will have the time to take Jennifer Willys adventuring, and to finish the body work, etc. She is as much, if not more fun to drive as the MB that started the adventure!