Poll -- The Best Use of an FJ-3, Fleetvan

[Inspector-Gadget]

OK -- So you have all figured out that Inspector-G has wwwwaaayyy to much free time on his hands...right? Well, you are all correct: I do, and this post will confirm your opinion.

Now that we have that out of the way, I want to share my latest junkyard discovery. I found a fully intact Jeep Fleetvan, an FJ-3. The FJ-3 was manufactured from 1961 through 1965, and it was built on the venerable CJ-3 chassis. For comparison of the two models, here is a drawing of a CJ-3 superimposed on a Fleetvan.

I did not have a camera with me during my junkyard expedition, but I found a few pictures on the web of an identical model Jeep Fleetvan.

A front quarter-view:

A side view:

That phone number is absolutely inspired!.

A rear quarter-view:

Lots of glass for good interior illumination.

So I am looking at this junkyard FJ-3, and my mind begins to whir. "HHhhhhhmmmmm -- This hulk, if restored, could be a great Jeep club support vehicle." You know...a Jeep club mother-ship.

The FJ-3 could carry the spare parts and extraction gear: towing straps, hi-lift jacks, snatch blocks, shovels, portable generator, welder, air compressor. I would think that a Fleetvan could be modified, within the limitations imposed by the body style, for at least mild off-road use.

Another idea: A Jeep club chuck-wagon. Jeepers need a hearty breakfast to begin a hard day of off-roading and breaking their Jeeps. Afterwards, a nourishing brunch of suicide level high cholesterol and comfort foods would be in order.

New and Improved Menu:

(Breakfast)

Scrambler Eggs with Ru-Bacon
Gadget Grits
A Hi-Lift Stack of Blueberry Pancakes
Paragon Egg McMuffin
Moab Sausage Sandwich

(Brunch)

Jeep Shakes
Wrangler BBQ-Burgers, with choice of Rubicondiments
Commando Coney's
Sully's Scrumptious Sufferin Succotash (you have to say it like Sylvester the Cat)
Wagoneer Cheese Steak Sandwich (for the big appetite)
The Jeepz.com Offroad Club Sandwich
Inspector G's Patented Bubbacon Chicken Wings -- Mild, Medium and Bellybutton Lint Spontaneous Combustion Hot!
LauraBoston Baked-Beans (tasty, but wicked gassy!)
PASmokeater Chili
Baked Laredo Potato
Sahara Fries
Roundeye's Curley, Larry and Moe Fries
LadyJeepFreak Phins-Up Phinny Phish Sandwich, with Phries
Pineaplebob's Corn On the Cob
Renegade Pizza
Joopin's Jumbalaya (northern version -- contains no alligator)
Tug-N-Pull Salt-Water Taffy
Kiddie Jeeper Happy Meal (A box of miscellaneous model Jeep parts which the kiddies can spend countless hours trying to assemble into a working model Jeep -- just like Dad!)

(All of the above served off the FJ-3 rear step-bumper, buffet style...Jimmy Buffet style)

As if those ideas were not enough, I had a third idea: the Fleetvan could be restored and turned into an off-road mini camper. It would be great for extended stay deep woods fishing and hunting trips. Picture the Fleetvan with a travel trailer galley, fold-up bunks, a head and other creature-comforts installed.

Yes, folks -- a Jeepabago!

So there you have it.

Since the "Bubbacon" is more-or-less finished to the extent that I had envisioned, I am looking for a new project.

So...what do you think? Please post your votes.

Inspector-G should buy the FJ-3 and turn it into a:

(1) Jeep Club Mother-Ship?
(2) Jeep Club Chuck Wagon?
(3) Jeepabago?
(4) Inspector-G should forget the whole idea, come out of retirement and GET A JOB!!!

:mrgreen:

Regards,

Gadget

PS: For the amateur Jeep historians out there, here is a link to the web page from which the above pictures were lifted:

http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Siblings/Fleetvan.html

A very nice web page which is worth the reading time for those interested in the history and production variations of our treasured toys.

 

[Sully]

I like idea (2)

Tasty foods named after jeepz.com members and jeeps.
Sully

 

[mingez]

I say: #2, the chuck wagon i believe. Food is good. Lack of food...Bad. We can haul our own gear, bring the eats!

Man, has anyone ever told you that you have WAY too much time on your hands??!! :lol: Just Kidding buddy.

 

[jps4jeep]

I am down for #1 But that thing would e way too top heavy for any type of serious wheelin, so I must re-neg my vote and re-enter #2, now I am hungry.

 

[LadyJeepFreak]

OMG inspector, that thing rocks like nothing I've seen before!

I'd have to vote for the Jeep Chuckwagon too. How can you not with foods named after you? LOL

What else does a hard rode Jeeper need after a long day of play? FOOD!

What a cool vehicle, way too cool. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Lady, Phins UP!

P.S. I hear tell of a buffet ville coming into VA?? Fredricksburg I think. Man would that be sweet or what?

:lol: :lol:

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Is it 4wd or did that get ditched during the vanversion?

 

[avyoung]

I would say #2 but how are you going to get it and your jeep to the trail? I don't think that thing will pull your CJ so you would have to tow it with the CJ that would be bretty interesting. Or I guess you could have 2 drivers but that would not be as interesting.

 

[pinaplebob]

I to, would like to know if it is a 4wd still?

I would have to say #3.

Bringing the camper with you would be sweet.

thats my two cents.

#1 isn't bad either.

 

[Inspector-Gadget]

Bounty__Hunter and pinaplebob,

From what I can gather on the web page listed in my starting post, a Fleetvan would have been equipped with an F-head, four cylinder "Hurricane" (How's that for creative naming?) engine and a T-90 manual or unspecified model of automatic transmission.

The Fleetvan engine-drivetrain was apparently modeled on the two-wheel drive postal/delivery Jeeps of the same era. The Fleetvans were two-wheel drive vehicles. That sort of makes sense to me. A four-wheel drive urban package delivery vehicle???

The Fleetvan was based on the four-wheel drive Jeep CJ-3 frame-chassis, however. Therefore, it would seem to be within the realm of the possible to retrofit a CJ-3 Jeep 4-wheel drive system.

I am going to have to start reading through the websites that cater to the postal and delivery Jeep people to learn more about what can and cannot be done with a CJ-3/CJ-3B chassis.

Stay tuned...details at eleven...someday.

Regards,

Gadget

 

[Roundeye]

Wow, I do remember seeing those years ago, but did not know that they were a Jeep. Looks like a short ice cream truck. I like the roach coach idea too....damn.....now I'm hungry.

You need to add Gadget Grits to the breakfast menu and Ru-bacon to go with the Scrambler eggs. And for brunch: Sully's Saucy Spaghetti, Baked Laredo Potato, Pineaplebob's corn on the cob and a Roundeye's curley fries! :mrgreen:

 

[Joopin]

I would vote for #2 but I don't see any of "Joopin's Jumbellia" or am I the only one that knows what that is... actually if you have a location to seriously sell food, those guys make TONS of money. My uncle has a couple carts in NYC and he rakes it in.
But my vote is for #3 since it isn't really capable of going offroad and I proabably would use it myself if I was much of an advid camper as I used to be. I'm sure it would look great with a canoe strapped to the top too!

 

[Tug-n-pull]

He heheehehehh ehehehehhehe hehhhehe Now that is funny stuff! tug

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I would go for the 4wd conversion and adding a few bunks, making it an RV that many would be proud to own.

 

[brian4.2]

My room mate had one in Massachuesetts in the 70s. We used it to haul our hi tech CZ Jawa and Rokon dirtbikes to the powerlines to offroad.

 

[Inspector-Gadget]

Hi-Ya Everybody!

Let's see if I can ketchup (bbaaddd pun intended) on the replies to this thread.

==================================

Hi, Sully!

I am glad you liked the Fleetvan Cafe idea. Also, you are always so pleasant to everyone that I have named a new Fleetvan menu item after you!

See the recently updated lunch menu, above.

What an honor, huh? :wink:

===================================

Hey minqez!

Actually, I am often told that I have WAY too much time on my hands -- almost everyday, in fact! It goes with the territory of being a slightly eccentric old guy with an ersatz sense of humor.

===================================

Hello jps4jeep,

Your point about the Fleetvan being a bit top-heavy for off-roading is well taken. That is a factor that I had not considered. Also, I am now wondering if the Fleetvan will go into my garage. The Bubbacon has only a few inches of vertical clearance to spare as it goes under the raised garage door lip.

I will have to make a return expedition to the junkyard to measure the height of the Fleetvan.

===================================

Hi-Ya LadyJeepFreak,

Thanks for replying. I can always count on you to see the humor in my playful postings.

What a pleasure it is to have you and your enthusiasm on Jeepz.com!

Phins up!!!

===================================

Yo avyoung!

I am sure that you are right: Neither the Bubbacon or the Fleetvan would be capable of safely towing the other. Actually, I would be surprised to see a fully loaded Fleetvan push itself up a steep hill.

===================================

Greetings Roundeye,

Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!!!! @ your post.

OK...we aim to please around here. Except for the menu item that I have newly created for Sully, I have added your list of entrees to the "Roach Coach" breakfast and lunch menus.

Funny post!

===================================

Joopin\'

Bud, you want Jambalaya, you get Jambalaya! See the "new and improved" lunch menu, above.

A little Creole ambiance, please?

(Gadget puts quarter into jukebox and pushes buttons "A" and "4.")

"Good-bye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou..."

Ya know, they don't write music like that anymore. :roll:

Joopin, you are right about the street-corner lunch carts. They are overrun at lunch time here too.

Some years ago, I often had to drive through the dormitory areas of Syracuse University. When a Roach Coach would park in front of a dormitory during the evening, it was like the ending of the "Pied Piper of Hamlin." The students would gush out of the dormitory and swamp the food coach. I swear that the kids would have chased the coach down the street if the driver tried to move the vehicle before everyone was served.

===================================

Hey Tug!

Good to hear from you again! You have been kind of quiet lately.

I agree with you about some of the posts being funny. Give some of these people half-a-chance, and they will make you smile.

What a great bunch!

===================================

Bounty__Hunter,

To be sure, a Fleetvan could never equal the off-road competence of a Jeep. Nevertheless, I think you are correct. One could turn a Fleetvan into a very cool -- unique, at the least -- lake side RV, great for a twosome. A Fleetvan would surely fit into restricted places inaccessible to a typical Winnebago land yacht. A Fleetvan would also fit into a more restricted budget than a typical Winnebago land yacht.

===================================

Hi Brian4.2!

I have less pleasant memories of the early 60's Jeep postal vehicles.

During my final two years of high school, (which years were my third and fourth freshman years :mrgreen: ) I worked in a garage-gas station during the evenings and weekends. That garage was contracted to service and wash the Jeeps and vans of the local Post Office.

Consequently, I spent many hours standing atop postal vans swabbing the roofs with a string mop. That experience led me to the following conclusions:

(1) I was not cut out for the U.S. Navy.
(2) I needed to pursue a career other than auto-mechanics.

Spotting the Fleetvan in the junkyard was for a moment, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, "Déjà van all over again." :shock:

But, I got over it.

===================================

BTW, folks...

The poll results as this post was written were:

(Drum roll)

Jeep Club Mother-Ship... 0

BA-DAH-BUMP!

Jeep Club Chuck Wagon... 6

BA-DAH-BUMP!

Jeepabago............... 2

BA-DAH-BUMP-BOOM!

Lastly, if you guys keep adding menu items, we are going to outgrow the Fleetvan.

Maybe, instead, I should look for one of these?

Now that would be a chuck wagon!!!!

Regards and as always...thanks,

Gadget

 

[mingez]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :!:

Add to the menu, Tamales (I'll supply). mmmmmmm

 

[Snitty]

how about making a camper that supplies breakfast and lunch to a campground

 

[avyoung]

Aricleaner Problems

Can you convert the Grayhound to 4wd. Lets take it and see how it mudds. Then you have your roach coach, hotel and parts wagon all in one. I have also seen someone with a school bus make the back fold down and he would drive his jeep into the back. The front was converted into a camper.