Rides — Jeepers! Many special finds at museum

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This article was published 29/12/2017 (3002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s “nothing fancy” about the 1947 Willys Jeep CJ2A that Grant Shaw has been restoring, but it has a rugged quality that resonates with the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum volunteer.

Shaw took the vehicle out of storage a few months ago, where it had been parked for several years, with the hopes of getting it running again.

As soon as gasoline makes its way from its new gas tank into the inner workings of its engine, he’s confident it’ll be in running order, again.

The vehicle was donated to the museum several years ago, around which time volunteers of the day fixed up its exterior cosmetic qualities, including a shiny new paint job, and then left it parked in the museum’s expansive hangar space.

There it remained until Shaw, a retired diesel mechanic, got to it.

A barebones vehicle with “no bells or whistles to go wrong,” he said that the vehicle’s mechanical renewal is one of the easier projects he’s taken on.

Shaw is one of a handful of volunteers who spend their spare time tinkering with vintage automobiles and airplanes at the Second World War airplane hangar that comprises much of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum.

Built of thick Douglas fir, the hangar is billed as the museum’s “largest artifact,” and like the smaller artifacts within, Shaw said that everything is worth preserving for future generations.

It’s a means of honouring our shared history and those who fought for the betterment of future generations, Shaw said, adding that historical accuracy is central to everything he does at the museum.

Centred on Second World War history, he admitted that the 1947 Willys Jeep CJ2A isn’t entirely in keeping with the museum’s mandate.

Although few people are likely to differentiate the civilian vehicle from the military models that came only a couple years previous, Shaw said that he and fellow volunteers know.

The ’47 will be put on display as a stop-gap until such time as they line up a genuine Second World War model.

Shaw has been volunteering his time with the museum since his retirement in 2012.

“A lot of people seem to talk about retirement as though it’s to do nothing,” he said. “That was never my plan, and I’m sure you’ll find the same thing with the other volunteers around here.”

Between the vehicles he helps maintain at the museum and the classics he keeps at his Carberry home, he said, “I often don’t have enough hours in the day.”

His first big project at the museum was the restoration of a 1940 Chevrolet to running order, which was quickly followed by several other projects that are presently on display throughout the hangar.

There are plenty of projects for volunteers to pick up, he said, from maintaining or restoring aircraft, other vintage vehicles or woodworking and building maintenance efforts.

In addition to a call-out for volunteers, Shaw said that it’d also be nice for more people to visit the museum in order to experience what they’ve worked so hard to preserve.

Located just east of the Brandon Municipal Airport, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is open every day of the year except for Christmas Day, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB