Randy's 1948 CJ-3A

The following article appeared February, 1994 in Off-Road Magazine and the article was written by J.M. Smith and the first photo was taken by Ken Brubaker.

The other photos were taken by Sandy Lawson

It is not that uncommon in the world of four-wheel drive to hear of a buildup project that takes a few years, but randy Lawson's 15 year fine-tuning is more on the order of evolution than customization.

The dedicated Colorado Springs, Colorado, resident tore apart his 1948 Willys CJ-3A the first time when he was just 15 years old. He dove that incarnation for two years, then decided his Flat fender rebuild needed a Phase Two.

The second segment began with the acquisition of a frame from a

1972 CJ-5, which was shortened, boxed, and enhanced with a 15 gallon aluminum fuel tank.

Next, a 225cid Buick engine with a .30 overbore and 9,5:1 compression was stuffed under the hood. Randy hot-rodded the power plant a bit by adding match ported heads, a Competition Cam, shotpeened rods, Clevite Michigan 77 bearings, TRW pistons, and Kenne-Bell roller rockers. A600 cfm carb, Advanced Adapters headers, Offenhauser manifold, and Kenne-Bell high volume oil pump round out the list of engine ancillaries.

Randy, a mechanic by trade, mated a GM Turbo 350 transmission to the mill and worked in custom drive shafts by Driveline Service to spin the 4.27:1 geared axels.

On the ride side, the owner opted for Rancho 2-1/2 inch lift leaf springs and single Rancho Shocks at all corners, as well as front and rear anti-Sway bars. The CJ sits on BFGoodrich All-Terrains and Keystone wheels.

Inside the Yellow imron-painted Jeep, Randy swapped in brown and tan velour Camero seats covered by Rocky Mountain Upholstery and added a few Stewart-Warner gauges. The interior also sports a custom overhead console to encase the Jeep's stereo,

clock, dome lights and head-phone jacks for undistorted tunes when the tops off. Randy made the sporty half-doors himself.

It's said that anything worth doing is worth doing right. Randy just took a little more time than most to make  sure that was the case on his Flat fender