You’ve got a good eye. I bought it from a gentleman in his 70s who restored it in the mid 2000s. He believes it’s a ‘52. Unfortunately, no data plate behind the passenger seat. It has the hinged grill, no radiator support bars, and has threaded holes around the battery box. Someone changed it to a later cover with footman loops. The original fenders were cut to accommodate large civilian tires so the current fenders were sourced for the resto (one is a cj5 fender).
One way to tell if it had an early frame is to look at the front between the bumper and grill. The boxing has an oval cut out if it's an early frame. I think for the body, you can look at where the dirt drains are. Early ones are centered in the footwell near back. Later ones are more centered but next to the rocker. Unfortunately the Data Plate and the Body IID plate are the only places where the number would be. Looks like the state gave it a new number.
I’ll take a look at the frame when I get home. As for the drains, the previous owner replaced the entire pan during the resto. I believe they are centered in the back.
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u/-DWNSHFT- 14d ago
You’ve got a good eye. I bought it from a gentleman in his 70s who restored it in the mid 2000s. He believes it’s a ‘52. Unfortunately, no data plate behind the passenger seat. It has the hinged grill, no radiator support bars, and has threaded holes around the battery box. Someone changed it to a later cover with footman loops. The original fenders were cut to accommodate large civilian tires so the current fenders were sourced for the resto (one is a cj5 fender).