1948 CJ2A Willys Jeep tub and floor restoration

One bad thing about the willys when I got it were the holes in the floorpan and the frame pieces under the floor and tub were crushed, missing or rusted out. I bought a ’48 tub from a local guy who gave up on his project and only the ends of the frame pieces were bad. I figured I would swap out the tubs and rattle can some green on it and call it good.

Then a miracle happened: The local classifieds listed a BRAND NEW OLD STOCK Willys floor. For $200. I called him and raced over and got the story: He bought this in the 80s and never got around to working with it. Aside from some surface rust from sitting unprotected, it was still strapped onto the shipping frame with the original packing slip! Everything was rock solid and we made the deal for $120 and two boxes of .22 ammo.

It took about 6 months of evenings and day offs to get it done but it looks good underneath!

Slideshow has lots of before-during-and-after pics along with some good tips on restoring a tub.

: Brand new floor ( from the 80s) with a fine patina of surface rust.

: Solid, and waiting for a new home!

: All the welds drilled and old floor removed. Look at all those holes in the firewall and the cut cowl to fix!

: Under the toolbox lid, rust was converted and painted.

: Fred Flinstone owuld love this body.

: driver’s side wheel well looks OK.

: right wheel well with spoare tire carrier support.

: Passenger firewall was ruind with a ton hof holes. I just made a template and cut some sheet steel to weld over it all.

: Driver’s side firewall area also a mess, jsut made another template and cut a piece of sheet steel for that too.

: Had to make a piece from another firewall section to fill here after cutting it square.

: Floor seems to fit OK but there’s some overhang.

: Once all the repairs are made, you can’t jut go welding the frame pieces onto the tub bottom where you think they go….

: You have to line the body loose onto the new frame pieces and then line them all up with the body holes and frame holes, then tack them into place….