1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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Cullen
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1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Cullen » Tue Oct 26, 2021 2:08 pm

Hey Guys. I am currently in the process of organising to bring my 1943 Willys MB to Brisbane QLD to start its full restoration.

This Jeep was purchased by my Dad in 1980, and has been in the family ever since. It was running up until around 1995, but was put into storage due to being unable to afford the running costs at the time.

At the moment, the Jeep is complete with all original parts. The front guards, grill and bonnet had been removed to inspect the engine and see if we could get it going again. I am in the process at the moment of saving for a car trailer to be able to move it all down to Brisbane and starting getting it moving again.

Apart from the engine, its going to need new tyres; brakes; seals; wiring; etc etc etc and be converted back from right to left hand drive. It was put into right hand drive in the 80's because of the flaming hoops that you had to try and jump through with Queensland Transport to have a registered left hand drive vehicle. It was less painful at the time to just run it right hand drive. The times have changed however, and its simply a drop down box option on their computer application system to pick which side drive you want it to be.

I also have an original trailer, but it will be restored later down the track at this stage.

So.... I will keep you updated with the progress and I'm sure I will have many questions to ask the forum along the way.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

(I've included two photos of the Jeep in its current state, as well as a photo back in the day of my first driving lesson with my Dad)
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Chris Cullen
1943 Willys MB
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Gary C V
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Gary C V » Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:29 pm

Hi Chris,
Mate by the look on dad's face your riding the clutch !.

Cheers
Gary

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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:08 am

:wink:
Gary C V wrote:
Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:29 pm
Hi Chris,
Mate by the look on dad's face your riding the clutch !.

Cheers
Gary
:lol: :lol: :lol: Yeah I was a bit slow on the corners as well, but I just wanted to keep going and going. When I was old enough to touch the pedals, I used to drive it around and around the yard until I learn to reverse back, and drive around the opposite direction. :wink:
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1943 Willys MB
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by bazza46 » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:05 am

Hi Chris,
Good to see you're going to restore it to LHD. I hope they didn't cut the dash around too much In the conversion.Also the frame. I heard somewhere (don't know if it's true) but they used the RHD parts from the Australian assembled Willys in the time thy were making them here. So maybe they fitted without any horrendous "Bubba"-type modifications. Does the inside look anything like this one? (picture)
Good luck with your quest.

Bazza
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:33 am

bazza46 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:05 am
Hi Chris,
Good to see you're going to restore it to LHD. I hope they didn't cut the dash around too much In the conversion.Also the frame. I heard somewhere (don't know if it's true) but they used the RHD parts from the Australian assembled Willys in the time thy were making them here. So maybe they fitted without any horrendous "Bubba"-type modifications. Does the inside look anything like this one? (picture)
Good luck with your quest.

Bazza
Hey mate. No, it was my dad that did the conversion and from what I can see; the dash wasn’t cut out. I’m not sure about what parts may have been used, as I’m about 4 hours drive away at the moment. Next time I’m up there, I’ll check with him what he did. Here’s a photo I took which does show that the dash wasn’t cut away like your example.
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by bazza46 » Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:50 pm

Great! You won't have any problems there. Just move the steering column back, weld up a couple of holes in the floor and Bob's your uncle.
Bazza
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:31 pm

bazza46 wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:50 pm
Great! You won't have any problems there. Just move the steering column back, weld up a couple of holes in the floor and Bob's your uncle.
Bazza
Yeah that’s the plan. I’m really excited to get a start on it as soon as I get it down here. It’s going to be a long process, but I’m just glad that I’ve got it and it’s still got all its original parts.
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by 70th Division » Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:31 pm

Hello Chris,

Congratulations on your Jeep getting underway
for its restoration !!
This looks like a very
exciting project !
I am looking forward to watching your progress on your jeep here on the G503 😄😄😄
A great piece of Family history as well !!!
Outstanding !
👍👍👍

Best Regards,
Ray
Last edited by 70th Division on Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:09 pm

70th Division wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:31 pm
Hello Chris,

Congratulations on your Jeep getting underway
for its restoration !!
This looks like a very
exciting project !
I am looking forward to watching your progress on on your jeep here in the G503 😄😄😄
A great piece of Family history as well !!!
Outstanding !
👍👍👍

Best Regards,
Ray


Thanks very much Ray! It will definately be worth every minute of time spent on it. I will be documenting my way through it along with photographs, and can’t wait to get it down here so I can start seeing what needs to be done, and looking at a shopping list to get it running again.

Im very lucky to have such a large support network in the club and on here so help me along the way!

Chris
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1943 Willys MB
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by OldGPW » Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:53 pm

Love it, it's getting to the point we see the diamond in the rough less frequently. A lot of the fun for me, was restoring. Can't wait to see your progress! Enjoy it!
Old GPW.

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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Sat Nov 06, 2021 11:49 pm

OldGPW wrote:
Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:53 pm
Love it, it's getting to the point we see the diamond in the rough less frequently. A lot of the fun for me, was restoring. Can't wait to see your progress! Enjoy it!
Thanks mate. Won’t be too much longer before I get it home and will send some photos through of what it looks like at the moment.
I think the first step is to work on the wheels and tyres so I can at least move it around.

Chris
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1943 Willys MB
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:22 am

Just an update - The '43 Willys is coming to Brisbane on 3rd December 2021!

I will be heading up to my parents place at the end of November to make the important preparations to move the Jeep 4 hours down south.

Exciting times!
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Chris Cullen
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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by 70th Division » Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:03 am

Hello Chris ,


That is great !!!
Like an early Christmas present
🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 !!

The picture you posted, the jeep looks like she is yearning to be ridden again !!!


Keep us posted, you have many great Jeep people in Australia to help you along on your journey !!


Best Regards,
Ray

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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Mon Nov 22, 2021 11:23 am

70th Division wrote:
Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:03 am
Hello Chris ,


That is great !!!
Like an early Christmas present
🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 !!

The picture you posted, the jeep looks like she is yearning to be ridden again !!!


Keep us posted, you have many great Jeep people in Australia to help you along on your journey !!


Best Regards,
Ray
Thanks Ray! Definately a late birthday/early Christmas present.
I will keep everyone posted as it’s going to be an exciting time to get it all going again. I’ve already received so much support and encouragement from the MJCQ, so it’s been great to meet so many new likeminded people.

Chris
Chris Cullen
1943 Willys MB
MJCQ Member C205
Brisbane QLD Australia

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Re: 1943 Willys MB Restoration, Brisbane Australia.

Post by Chris Cullen » Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:32 pm

Just an update.... The Willys is now in Brisbane and Restoration to commence soon!

There's a few things that are going to need to happen. Its going to be converted back to Left Hand Drive (which will leave some unsightly holes in the right hand side), and there is some rust in the foot wells and under the fuel tank; so I'm most likely going to replace the whole front floor section.
Its actually not looking too bad for sitting still for 30+ years.

Below is a photo taken of Dad and I in 1980, and then again some 40 years later in the same Jeep :D
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Chris Cullen
1943 Willys MB
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Brisbane QLD Australia


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