Jim Sammons is a long-time contributor to the CJ-3B Bulletin Board, whose '61 Jeep is used in a way that used to be bread and butter for Willys Motors, but is pretty rare today -- as an everyday work vehicle.
Jim says, "I started building this 3B back in 1995 and gave and got many pointers from CJ3B.info. Here are a few pictures of it in the Texas oilfield at work."
"I am at least the third owner of this CJ-3B. I bought it from a man who drove it from Kentucky to Texas and sold it to me with a bad head gasket. I drove it for about a year, then shut it down for a frame-off restore. Got lucky and found a rusted out Commando to steal a Buick oddfire 225 V6 from, with associated parts needed for the conversion."
Jim continues, "As you can see, the Jeep has many modifications; Buick V6, Saginaw power steering (130K JPEG), Toyota power brakes, clutch and brake pedals out of a Ford pickup (100K JPEG) and a lot more."
See also a left side view of the engine (110K JPEG).
A CJ-3B working in the oilfield reminds us of Kaiser-Willys Brochure 1703 from the early 1950s, in which Willys was targeting this very industry. It recommends using a Jeep to do exactly what Jim is doing with his Jeep: "Take your pipe line across country 'as the crow flies'...."
But Jim's Jeep is obviously not a stock Willys: "The tub was built in my garage; only the dash, fenders, hood, grille and frame are original. I built the roll bars and bumpers also. In fact I built everything on the Jeep and it's a real workhorse. It goes in mud where the 4-wheelers won't and in water too deep for six-wheelers."
"You can't really tell it from the pictures but the right-of-way for the gas pipeline we are working on here is a muddy mess. This summer and fall we have had record rains in south Texas and this Jeep has been invaluable in my work."
Thanks to Jim for the great photos. -- Derek Redmond
Also on CJ3B.info, see Texas High-Hood History Restored.
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