Thanks for bringing up old memories, I learned to drive on a 1946 CJ2A. It was only used in the woods, and the first summer I drove it there were no brakes of any kind. Stopping proceedure was to double clutch into first gear and kill the ignition. Alternately you could run into a stump. As you said, the thing was easy to work on with minimal tools. We once tore down the starter out on an old RR grade, and made it back to camp. Another time we burned out the coil, so we borrowed the coil from a Farmall tractor. It worked but we had to kill the ignition by pulling the center lead out, amid great sparking. My current woods vehicle has power steering, AC, cruise control, tilt wheel, power windows and locks, and AM-FM/casset/CD. In short, it is no fun at all.
I would love to have a 30's or 40's pickup, but for now I have to settle for a 1952 International L185. I no longer use it as it is too big (21,000 GVW) for just running around, but it was running fine the last time I did use it. I once hauled two complete tender trucks with it, but I bypassed the scales so I don't know the weight. I think the weigh master would have been interested. Back when you could still get 4 or 5 cords of firewood in one spot I used it a lot, and every trip was an adventure. Its replacement, a 1993 Chevy K3500, has most of the goodies and is far more comfortable but has no sprit of adventure.
I also have the first car I bought with my own money; a 1965 Malibu SS. It is presently out of service. but is mechanically in good shape. The interior is completely shot though and it needs some body restoration.
I guess what all this shows is that narrow gauge railroad nuts are nuts for just about anything mechanical.