David Eilers

Video of Bruce Agan's Former DJ-3A Surrey

While looking for something else, I was pleasantly surprised with this video of Bruce Agan's former 1964 DJ-3A Surrey. The video was posted in 2012, prior to his passing. He was the guru of Surreys and Galas for a time and his restoration (including all the interior fabric) is a testament to that fact. There are various photos of his Surrey, Surrey advertising, and other jeeps on Flickr.

9 Comments

  1. SteveK
    Thanks for posting. I had never seen that video before. Bruce was my first contact about DJs, and I learned a lot from him. RIP Bruce.
  2. colin peabody
    Thanks for posting this video Dave. I have seen all of the ones Bruce did on his Surrey and his DJ3A Dispatcher. I think this one was done sometime around 2009. I got acquainted with Bruce in 2010 and we maintained a fairly steady conversation over the years until he became so sick he was unable to do anything. The DJ3A folks suffered a great loss with his passing, but some of his recorded stuff is still available through the media. Rest in Peace my friend!
  3. Mike
    Just a curious question, I notice the color of the steering wheel matches the color of the Jeep ONLY on the DJ3A Surrey Jeeps, as in the above. Would anyone know if this was painted or actual molded in color of the steering wheel. Not that it matters, just something I noticed.
  4. David Eilers
    Mike, Good question. I always imagined it was a molded color; I can't imagine a painted one could look good for very long. But, I'm sure Colin or Steve knows the answer. - Dave
  5. SteveK
    I'm not qualified to answer, but my observations were that the white ones seemed to be "molded" as used in Trucks and Jeepsters, but I'll have to look thru some Surrey pics to see if thee are "wear indicators to core color". That's the best I can offer. Maybe Colin or others with real time Surrey experience can answer for sure.
  6. SteveK
    OK, my follow up, and I now realize I may not have been the "Steve" Dave referenced, but I found this evidence on my favorite and most complete DJ3A source... eWillys.com... http://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/uploads2/2020/02/1963-dj3a-surrey-ca3.jpg It appears that there that the wear factor indicates pink on black. Here's another pink Surrey but with a white wheel, and wear factor there shows white on black... http://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/uploads2/2018/06/1961-dj3a-saltlakecity-ut4.jpg I also found a shot of a Foam Green Surrey, but I couldn't distinguish if it was wear or shadows in 10&2 positions, but it also was green on black in appearance. I'm "guessing", the wheels were black and painted. BTW, Dave, when I looked for "DJ3A research", this video wasn't on that page. Could you add it there please for easy reference in the future. Thanks.
    1. David Eilers
      Steve, you were indeed the Steve I was meaning :-) ... thanks for doing the leg work. I guess I shouldn't be surprised it is paint over a black steering wheel; I'd hoped for molded! I've added this page to the DJ-3A category. That should do it. Happy New Year!
  7. Mike
    Thank you all for the insight, my initial thought was that it was painted, I based this on my previous experience of being asked to paint a 1964 Ford Falcon Steering wheel WHITE, surprised to see that it WAS INDEED painted from the factory White with down to black wear marks. I guess it was just the way things were done back then, keep it simple, more to my liking.

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