Forest Service 3A

Decided to post a build thread here of my '49.

This jeep wasn't originally a U.S. Forest Service jeep, but after doing a camping trip to the Keystone arches, I decided that this jeep would be sweet as a Forest Service jeep. Not something you see everyday. This picture really did it in for me.



All forest service vehicles had Indian back pack fire extinguishers, and thanks to craigslist, I found a very nice complete one for $40... Then I made a modified Jerry can mount for it.



And of course, the spare had to move to the back also... I made a mount that bolts to the draw bar. This is early August.



And then off comes the body in mid Sept.



Which goes on the rotisserie.



After pressure washing the frame, it got a good coating of Rustoleum flat black. I didn't want to go all out with sandblasting and everything since I still want to use it off road. Before painting, I rebuilt the transmission, added a couple funky levers :? replaced brake hoses, and replace engine/ tranny mounts. I also installed R&Ps dual MC kit. I will say, it is much easier to install than Herms.





It also got a vintage Smokey the Bear sticker!



I also modified the PTO so it runs up the passenger side. The driver's side is a little tight with the dual MC... The body will have to be modified to fit the PTO like this. Not a problem since it will be hidden by the toolbox and I have to do floors anyways.





I took the winch apart and I was able to reverse everything around so it could take the passenger PTO. It still spins the correct direction.



I went with Rustoleum hunter green for the color. Easy to touch up and looks good from 10ft away. It got the tires (16 x 7.50) off my beater K20 and I repainted the original 16" wheels. The old Firestones in the previous pics had 90% tread but bad dry rot.



And this is where I'm at now, rust repair on the tub.



And after a week of cutting out rust, it has new floors! Note the hole near the earmuffs, that is the area that will have to be modified. I have to still cut some metal out of the original floor still.

 

NICE! Very, very nice.

 

Thanks Chris!

I also got some neat dash plaques for it too. A 50th Willys reunion one and a reproduce nomenclature tag. I'll also be putting an M38 top on this jeep too. I like the look of them with no doors or side curtains. Plus, they are a little cheaper than the 7 piece style like I have on my '53.





And here's a little flat fender education, this "dent" is a factory leftover from the MBs and early 2As when they had the exhaust on the passenger side. It where a mount for the exhaust was. This is the biggest give away to an original floor.

 

Cool project. I really like the idea of the Forest Service themed jeep. Carry on!

 

Right on bro.. You always come up with the coolest stuff!

 

Thanks guys! I think it will be a fun build once I get past the body work.

 

can't wait to see the lettering Looks great Nate

 

The lettering you sent me Steve looks like it is the same as in these original pics. Looking at these 3 original pics, it appears that there wasn't much consistency in the way the lettering is. The first pic has some lettering above the logo and the second pic has a bigger logo.









The green I picked looks pretty close to this power wagon. One guy on the 2A page has a jeep used by the forest service and that one was originally red. I guess they had green and red vehicles.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8588198094/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8587098495/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8587097413/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8587099037/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8587096963/in/photostream/

 

Some more helpful stuff. It seems that the lettering on these was pretty plan Jane. Only a little on the side of the cowl.


http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/fire/Oregon.html

 

I wonder if those stickers are out there anywhere for you Nate.

 

They look pretty easy to have made. I know a good sign smith that I was going to bring my jeep to.


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nice project

 

Haven't done too much to this lately. Been busy with getting back to school and settling in with the routine.

Anywho, I repaired the last structural section of the body, the area where the tailgate hinges bolt to. I still have some minor rust to repair, but all the structural stuff is fixed. Then I wanted to set the body back on the frame to make sure it didn't get tweaked and to see what I have to do for the PTO.


My friend posing for the camera...





Plenty of room for the PTO!








And the toe gusset does clear R&Ps dual MC kit fine.

 

Nice looking 3A you have there, I love the old black and white photos.

 

Great work, don't know how I missed this one

 

Good project.

I spent much of my working life with the good ol Forest Circus. If you want to get as close as possible to what this thing would have looked like, consider:

1. using the real Forest Service green. It was nothing like hunter or forest green. If you google it, it should come up and you'll see that it was pretty different. It's a unique color that the civvy market never used. You won't be able to buy it already made but you can go to a paint shop and have it made up and put into spray cans or by the quart

2. Nowhere on a FS rig will it just say Forest Service. It will also say Department of Agriculture on it and For Official Use Only. Dream up some ID numbers for it as well

3. the shield (also called badge, sometimes) changed over the years. I know of at least 3 different designs. Google that as well. I'll bet you can get ready made decals of the later ones. Though they may have to come from overseas as the .gov doesn't like impersonators.

4. google the Pulaski firefighting tool. We don't use axes in firefighting; we use pulaskis. Swing one of those babies on a hot shot crew for 18 hours and you'll know the meaning of an aching back. Oh, and you'll do it with 35 lbs on your back as well, in addition to the smoke and all. Life doesn't get any better than that

4.5 We never used a shovel with the handle in the end. Nor was the shovel a real long handled, round nosed type that you might see in construction. It was a mid-length slim handle with a somewhat pointed blade (metal portion) the cutting edge was sharpened at a 45 degree angle. Should be able to google that as well

5. The metal Indian water can is probably period correct

6. Get yourself a tin hardhat (aluminum). The plastic ones only came out in the late 60s or 70s. You could still wear a metal hardhat in the biz with certain outfits and I did in '85. That's all gone now and it's all plastic. But if you want to be period correct, get an aluminum one. Keep it bare metal and put a few dents in it. Try to get the old shield in decal form maybe 2" high and place it on the front of the helmet just above the brim. They never went anywhere else (officially) on the hat.

Many FS firefighting jeeps were red and that would be correct as well. I think the green would be much better as it identifies it as a FS jeep whereas a red one could have come from any volunteer dept, or the military. And it wasn't a "fire engine red" like you see in the city depts. I never saw a fire jeep in the FS- they had all been surlpused out by then probably as simply impractical. Also, some FS jeeps were actually military surplus, so finding an M38 or M38A1 in red would have been possible as well. The surplus was first offered to other military outfits like the Nat Guard, then fed agencies, then state agencies, then state institutions such as universities, then maybe to the civilian world. My A1 was US Army, then Oregon Nat Guard, then U of Idaho at Moscow, then to the private sector.

 

Thanks gunner for the insight. I already know the correct badge for the period and they did say forest service below the badge along with department of agriculture. I haven't seen any numbers on the vintage pics I've looked at either. But I do like the Pulaski....

 

The Pulaski was named after Ranger Pulaski- a FS employee who held 20 guys at gunpoint inside a cave during a burnover at the time of the great Idaho fires of 1910 (this was to keep them from leaving the misery of the cave for certain death outside of it. Pulaski had experience whereas the guys were just men off the streets dragooned into firefighting). Not sure how much is myth and lore and how much is truth, but he is immortalized within the outfit. Different world back then.

Not too tough to find one- sure to have someone selling one on ebay.

 

Pulaskis can be had at OSH, baileys, and others. I liked swinging the super-P, a custom tool - we cut the end off of one, the torched and bent the uncut over then welded the tail (grubbing end) and the rehandled them.

Price for US made is about 2x the others.

IMHO, keep away from plastic handles. Nothing feels like a good piece of hickory.

I haven't swung a super since 96. I do have a couple standard versions in the shed. They are great around the place. Digging and choping roots. Great camping tools too.

X2 on the shovel. If you sharpen them, you should use fiber tape or similar to protect the edges and yourself.

I missed the aluminum hats...I did rehab a cache of homelite XLs one summer.

Agree on the original paint. It's almost a faded mint green.


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