Photo Attribution: Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo is not my Jeep, but is a reasonable representation. It appears I never took any photo’s. A couple of weeks before the Dodge Rampage tried to kill me, I bought an early 1946 CJ2A off a transferring sailor that couldn’t afford to take it with him. The Navy was willing to pay to ship one car. He and his wife were going to drive another. He couldn’t afford to ship it or put it into storage. I had $77 in my pocket.
So why didn’t they just drive two cars? The short answer is that it would roll start but wouldn’t crank. It wouldn’t even jump start. The wiring was a mess and the gas tank leaked. With the clean engine that he said he’d just rebuilt it was worth more than I had. It was probably worth more than the $750 I sold it for the following June. The $77 I had was more than he was going to get if he left it in the apartment complex parking lot and the moving van was about to leave so I became the proud owner of my first Jeep.
This was a Very Early Civilian Jeep. I recall the serial number being in the low 16000’s. The body had the tool indents on the driver’s side and based on what I’ve since learned it should have had a column shift transmission. If it had its original engine it had chain driven timing just like its WWII predecessor. I do recall that it ran well and once I’d solved the starting issue it had good compression and didn’t leak (much). I’ve been told that when an old Jeep doesn’t leak oil the sump is dry. The cranking issue turned out to be embarrassingly easy to solve. The previous owner had neglected to reinstall an engine ground strap.
It took a couple of paychecks before I could afford to replace the gas tank which JC Whitney provided for $160 (including shipping and sales tax). Rebuilding the wiring harness had to wait until spring when I got the Rampage back from the body shop.
As with any open vehicle the Jeep was a blast to drive. Even during the winter months when it was my primary transportation and I was dealing with the leaking gas tank. The soft top it had did provide a full enclosure which cut down on the windchill and kept me mostly dry. The CJ2A had the T90 which was a more robust transmission then the T84 on the WWII Jeep and was geared for a 65 MPH top speed (vs the 60 MPH top speed of the WWII Jeep). Still young and a little foolish I got pulled over at 65 MPH twice. The first time was by a local police officer who had a similar Jeep and couldn’t believe that it would actually go that fast. I’d have to guess that the claimed rebuild was for real. The second time I got a speeding ticket from a State Trooper.
In June I finished my training at the Navy Prototype Training Unit and was in almost in the same boat as the guy I’d bought the CJ2A from. A high school friends parents said that I could store one car in their driveway. I listed the Rampage and the Jeep for sale in the local Pennysaver. Within hours of the paper hitting the street the Jeep was sold. By the time I came back from the Med in December I was regretting having sold the CJ2A, but I wouldn’t be without a Jeep for long.
65 mph in an early Jeep is quite an accomplishment…..The gearing was actually lower on the civilian Jeeps compared to the WWII Jeeps.
The WWII MB had 4.88-1 axle ratios whereas the CJ2’s and CJ3’s had 5.38-1 axle ratios.
On those Civilian Jeeps, 40-45 mph was their comfortable cruising speed.
Overdrive was available on the civilian Jeeps but with the 60 horsepower output, it’s primary benefit was to lower engine rpm’s rather than gain much in the way of top speed.
Lower axle ratio’s but different transmission gearing. I’m not sure how the final drive ratio works out for the two. I do know that the dash tag on the WWII Jeep indicates a top speed of 60 mph and the dash tag on the CJ2A indicates a top speed of 65 mph. They both have the 60 hp L134. My CJ2A had a fresh engine and both of the times I was stopped I was headed downhill. I’ve never exceeded 60 mph in a WWII Jeep. The one I was following this morning got to 55 mph briefly on a level highway.
Well balanced I find those early Jeeps comfortable up to about 50. Beyond that the wind and the tire vibration (when riding on NDT’s) tends to beat you up.
The transmission gearing in high gear would be 1:1 in either transmission without an overdrive so any difference in high gear would be from the axle ratios as both transmissions would be geared the same in high (3rd) gear.
Differing gear ratios in 1st and 2nd gear would not affect top speed in 3rd gear.
I have a ’54 CJ3B that my Dad bought used in 1963….He registered it for about a year and then took it off the road because 45 was about as fast as he dared drive it.
It has been used only for plowing snow on private property ever since.
I found the tags for both the MB and CJ2A online. It’s a curious thing, as all the top speeds in each gear, both in direct and low range are all the same, except for 3rd-direct, which is 60 for the MB and 65 for the CJ2A. That very much suggests that the transmission and axle gears are all the same, but for some reason Willys decided to raise the specified top speed in 3rd-direct to 65. Hmm.
In any case, that’s faster than the great majority or owners feel comfortable in them, and it’s also really pushing the engine.
There are some videos on YouTube where a fellow had a flatfender M38 military Jeep with overdrive and experimented with top speed on flat ground with the gas pedal matted to the floorboard.
He managed to get it up to 55 or 60 in direct drive, but when he tried the same in overdrive, the top speed was a bit lower because the engine did not have the oomph to overcome wind resistance and whatnot at higher speeds at a lower rpm in overdrive.
I’ll have to go look at the tags on my CJ3B….I believe 60 is the rated top speed on it as well.
I spent a few minutes behind the wheel of an MB a few years ago, and anyone who can/will drive one at 60 mph or above earns a salute from me. Maybe I would have felt comfortable at higher speeds with more wheel time, but I found that everything got real busy at around 45. That you did so even in winter is even more awe-inspiring.
With more wheel time in old Jeeps the less comfortable I am with going fast in them.
I was young, dumb and probably had a guardian angel. Definitely pushing the engine. Like I said “I’d have to guess that the claimed rebuild was for real” and the first police officer who pulled me over couldn’t believe that it would go so fast.
On a clear, straight, flat limited access highway with a broken in freshly rebuilt engine I might push an old Jeep that hard once, but what I’ve learned in the years since is that it’s not how fast you can go, but how fast you can stop !