51 Willys Overland Wagon

[MrBeast]

Well this afternoon I bit the bullet, I picked up a 51 Willys wagon that is in pretty deacent shape for being this close to the coast.

I drug it home and stuffed a battery in it.

It turns out the starter is shot, it is locked up solid, going to have to find out how bad it is going to be to get one, suposedly it has the original engine and it still ran when it was parked. I will mess with it more tomorrow.

The exciting thing though is I went after 1 Willys and came back with 2!

The green one is a lot rougher than the brown, it is going to need a lot more massaging to ever get it looking good again, it has some pretty bad cancer but it is fixable.

The greater plan is I am going to see if I can get the Brown one running for the time being so I can put put around in it some, and I am going to yank the body off the green one and use its frame as a pattern to build a brand spankin new frame out of box tubing.

I have yet to decide what I am going to run for suspension, I do however have a 327 that will be getting Vortec Heads and TBI setup running a big block throttle body and a turned up pressure regulator so it will squirt enough fuel.

Behind it I have a NV4500 that will be mated to a NP205, and I have a pair of Dana 60 8 Lugs that will be going under it as well, along with the steering box and hydraboost out of a 78 1 ton Chevy. Once the frame is all assembeled and it has the drivetrain all installed and ready to go, I will pull the body off of the brown one, finish any rust repairs it needs, strip it paint it cinamon brown then mount it up on the new frame and get everything hooked up and the interior finished out.

Then it will be time to decide what to do with the green one, I could just stuff the motor out of the brown willys in it and get it running and sell it, or I could build another frame, mount it up with a Dana 44 and 12 or 14 bolt I have, if I do that I will probably give it to my dad or little brother to finish.

The ultimate goal is once I am done with the Willys buildup I am going to buy and refurbish an old airstream trailer and take a little road trip I have been wanting to take. It will be hopefully taking place in 2012.

The trip will take me from Texas to Prudhoe Bay Alaska and many places inbetween. Going to do some offroading and hiking along the way, I expect the trip will take 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 months. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be ready in time.

 

[nbleak21]

Outstanding! I had at one point considered such a build if I could find the right candidate, but now that I've got a wee one on the way (due Jul 21!) I've got my eye on something a little more accomodating (read: 4 doors!)

I like the idea of Chevy axles and powerplant... good reliability, easy to find parts in the US, and that Vortec/BB TBI 327 sounds like it'll be a great combo. Looking forward to the build!!!

 

[MrBeast]

Outstanding! I had at one point considered such a build if I could find the right candidate, but now that I've got a wee one on the way (due Jul 21!) I've got my eye on something a little more accomodating (read: 4 doors!)

I like the idea of Chevy axles and powerplant... good reliability, easy to find parts in the US, and that Vortec/BB TBI 327 sounds like it'll be a great combo. Looking forward to the build!!!

So what about a custom crew cab willys pickup? :victory:

I am looking forward to see how the modernized 327 does, they really were a great engine in the day, im pretty excited to see what one will do with modern heads and a fuel injection system. I am also planning on running a hydraulic roller cam and a set of roller 1.65:1 rockers.

I put all the data for the engine build into desktop dyno and this is what it tells me.

It is telling me 437 FT/lbs of torque peak @ 2500 RPM, and 349 HP @ 5000 RPM Which is nothing to turn a 327 that fast. The thing I like the most though is how the power band for the torque stays above 400 ft/lbs from 2000-4300 rpm!

With the NV4500 having a granny gear and overdrive, I think this motor should be able to really put it to use. I am really looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

I also did the math on how it will pull in the gears, in hi and 4 Low just for comparison.

Kind of funny that it "says" that it will go 200 mph. Personally I think maybe 85 or 90 in the passing lane for a few seconds will be the fastest it goes but it is still kind of funny seeing that number.

 

[Desert Dan]

It looks like a great project!!

 

[Street Wolf]

About how much are these worth just sitting around? I know where at least three of them are around here.

 

[MrBeast]

Took some more pics, I think my girlfriend likes it.

It is pretty clean for being 59 years old.

It does have some cancer though...

It is turning out to be a pretty solid foundation though, I am pretty excited. I need to get in and get my shop cleaned up and oranized, once I do I will be able to get it in and get the body seperated from the frame and then get to cracking on getting the new frame designed, and getting all the cancer cut out.

I figure in a few weeks will get the parts ordered up to rebuild the NV4500 and to install the NP205 behind it. As well I am going to have to get the parts ordered to convert my front Dana 60 to a SRW setup and narrow it, then I need to follow suit with the rear. I am not going to worry about regearing them right now or getting the shafts cut down because they will both need to be regeared with 4.10's and I am putting an ARB in both seeing as how it is going to be a daily driver I want it to be as streetable as possible.

I am also going to need to get the input bearing on the 205 bored out to the TH400 diameter, and my NV4500 is a 2wd so I have to swap the output shaft.

For right now im going to install the 350 that I have out of the 90 burb I parted, Once the truck is built I will get the 327 built and installed.

I am also going to have to get a new bellhousing and slave cylinder setup so as that I can run the hydraulic clutch pedal. I think instead of trying to make a set of pedals out of something fit, I am just going to build a set from scratch.

I have a steering box out of a 94 1/2 ton I parted out, and I have the hydraboost out of a 79 I parted. As well I have the resivor and power steering pump for the remote mount power steering setup which is way nicer than trying to check the level on the motor.

Its all coming togeather pretty fast, im sure excited.

 

[MrBeast]

I downloaded Autocad 2011 tonight and started practicing with it, here is a little sneek peak of what is to come.

Normally I just draw everything in a 3 view Orthographic, I am doing that again, but this time I am also going to be including a 3D rendering of the frame before I cut a single piece of steel.

I will have all the body mounts, and the new floor pan and firewall pieces included in this design as well. I am hoping that this will make it much faster to build everything.

I am also looking at a new printer that takes 17x22" sheets of paper, thus I will be able to print out full scale templates making fabrication much faster.

 

[MrBeast]

About how much are these worth just sitting around? I know where at least three of them are around here.

It really depends. It would be nice to find them homes though, I know people love em when they find em. You might be able to flip em and make a few bucks but it is tough because not everyone has money right now.

 

[LeadDoggy]

"SubScribed"

Going to keep on eye on this one.

Did you ever see the Willys Wagon that David Stacey did before his Gears show?

 

[MrBeast]

"SubScribed"

Going to keep on eye on this one.

Did you ever see the Willys Wagon that David Stacey did before his Gears show?

No I didnt, I will have to see if I can find it on youtube, I dont watch a lot of tv

 

[r_unda]

Great project! My dad loves the Willys Wagon, he wants one but he can’t find one in my home country. Let me know if you need some help, I am in Corpus Christi too and I also know a few guys from the Jeep Nation CC Chapter that I am sure would love to help you out if you need a few extra hands.

 

[MrBeast]

A little Teaser

BTW, the tank is 44 gallons useable.

 

[MrBeast]

Getting a little further

 

[colter]

lookin good. I had a 56 back in high school I put one tons under. it was a fun project. kickin myself for selling it now.

looks like you're going a little different direction than I did, but if you want I still have all the cardboard templates I used to make the hangers and brackets for the one ton swap. I used leaves on the original frame (that was heavily reinforced) though.

 

[MrBeast]

I appriciate the offer, however I have already bought the steel for the new frame, and actually the reason I am going this route is that there is less welding. A lot more math and measureing, but a lot less welding.

I have been trying to decide which route I want to go and I think I have settled on using a set of Old Man Emu heavy load leafs for a YJ.

I might even order then later today, we will see. :smiley_drive:

I can understand kicking yourself for selling it, they are really a different kind of rig, not everyone has one, not everyone can restore one, and they arent the type of truck that you can just go out and buy a bunch of bolt ons for.

That is what I think helps make them so cool, they are definatley unique yet rugged and utilitarian, and well just very usefull.