Australian Combat 6 Willys jeep

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by warren brown

3. Lastly - should the front suspension have the hanging c-shaped shackle at the front like a WWII jeep- or trailing. There is so much bumpf about spring shackle conversion / reversa on the net.

Warren,

Sounds like an interesting and rare Jeep - good thing it will be preserved in its original configuration.

Re. the spring shackle: civilian CJ-5's (shown below) had the pivoting one at the front, it's military cousin the M38A1 had it at the rear.



Regards,
Hanno

[warren brown]

Thanks everyone - a fascinating history - everything helps in piecing together the story of this odd Willys jeep offshoot. You're right Hanno - it is an interesting jeep - this Australian sideline in the jeep story is one of those things that could just disappear into the ether due to 50 years of indifference - and suddenly become important when they're all gone - and I'm really pleased my brother Gordon (yes, Gordon Brown and no, he wasn't Prime Minister of Great Britain - at least he didn't let on, but you never know...) is bringing it back to 'out of the box' condition.
Thanks for the sales brochure pic Mike (we'll check out the Canadian CJ3B website) and the clearing sale sure looks tempting - i remember those 4WD Falcon utes clearly, the suspension seemed monstrously jacked-up, with black steel wheels and enormous, cumbersome-looking free-wheeling hubs - and in the photo you can see the special '4 Wheel Drive' badge on the mudguard - certainly another interesting project.

[Mike K]

Warren

You might have the smaller bell housing in there . The 144 and 170 motors were 4 main bearing with mechanical valve lifters . From 1965 onwards (XM models) they went over to 7 main bearing with hydraulic lifters I think. They also changed the bell housing for the 221 motors. A 250 would really make it hoot along !

Mike

[aj.lec]

Originally Posted by warren brown

i remember those 4WD Falcon utes clearly, the suspension seemed monstrously jacked-up, with black steel wheels and enormous, cumbersome-looking free-wheeling hubs - and in the photo you can see the special '4 Wheel Drive' badge on the mudguard - certainly another interesting project.

By memory I think they used Jeep Gladiator running gear
Motor is mounted on a slant with a degree casting block on the carby
Missed out on buying one by 4 hours at $3K a few years ago
Pretty sure they came out with a 250 motor