Ronald Reagan's classic Jeep visits Washington

A 1962 Willy’s Jeep CJ-6 once owned by President Reagan is on display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of the Cars at the Capital event organized by the Historic Vehicle Association.

The used 4x4 was a Christmas gift from his wife Nancy in 1963, and was famously driven by him around their Rancho del Cielo in California’s Santa Ynez mountains well into his presidency.

After trying my hand with asking on a couple of forums where I got vague and useless answers to an affordable aluminum radiator for my 65, it looks like I will have to bite a big bullet and buy the pricey OMIX-ADA.

Up until 64, no problem for aluminum. I guess 65 - 69 is different on the dimensions enough where nothing else will quite work. If mine was a V6, those aren’t too bad but looking they seem different enough.

I took my old one to a local radiator shop. The person called me up and quoted a very acceptable price on a compatible aftermarket one. A few days later when I went by to pay for it, the place was closed tight. I called and got an answering machine a few times.

Bummer.

My old radiator was as much rust as it was anything else so it isn’t that I’m out that much.

My CJ3B, I picked up from a co-worker’s neighbor. It was a forgotten toy from over 10 years past. It had been converted to a small block chevy. And came with dual wheel adapters with dual chains for all 4 wheels, for running in the mud. It had a Koenig PTO winch, a brush guard and teardrop headlights mounted on the fenders. And a hood scoop that over the years let the engine fill up with water. All for $300.

I picked up a 350 from a co-worker that had just upgraded the motor in his truck. And he threw in a radiator. So I stuffed it in the jeep and mounted the radiator behind the grill guard, just forward of the removed grill.
He forgot to tell me why he replaced the motor. Once I became mobile( about 2 years) and was driving the jeep to work(30 mile round trip), I was using 1 to 2 quarts of oil a day. When I tore down the engine I discovered that all the oil rings were seized in their grooves. I did a quick ring and rod bearing job and it has ran good since.

That heavy engine was killing steering boxes so I converted it to power steering. The winch was in the way so I reversed the shaft out of the pto adapter and mounted the winch in the bed.

It ran good until when I was down with the flu for a week and a hard freeze hit. Froze it up and busted the block. I welded up the cracks with nickle rod and covered it with JB Weld and even pulled a low vacuum on it to try and pull the epoxy into any remaining leaks. Worked! The freeze also busted the block in my pick-up too. I welded it up too.

I learned a hard lesson about antifreeze.

So now when my Jeep’s radiator was too far gone to patch, I just picked up a universal fit one from Summit Racing. On the old radiator, I had mounted an electric fan directly to the radiator with no shroud. It would overheat doing winch duties. So on the new radiator, I built a shroud box, and it cools good now.

That’s some 3b you have.

I have looked into making my project CJ7 a V8 when I can afford to. It has the 258.

From what I’ve read about going small block Chevy and all of changes necessary, I look like I spend about as much as forking out for an AMC reman engine. If I went that route, I would aim for 360 or 401. They’re all pricey but should bolt up without too much extra difficulty.

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