Projects Looking for any history on this 1933 Willys Coupe.

Wondering if anyone on the HAMB might know any history on the Willys coupe. It was in Kansas for several years but the owner has since passed away. His widow said the car came from New Mexico but she wasn't sure. It looks like an old race car that was made into a streetrod in the 70's or 80's.The SBC and turbo trans it currently has probably replaced some other motor/trans as there are mounts for possible a Hemi and torqueflight trans.The lettering is recent but the yellow paint is old,checked, lacquer that has pearl in it. another detail that may identify it is that it has a fully chromed early Olds rear with 1/4 eliptical springs out back. It has old glass hood,decklid and fenders on it.it has aluminum floors and firewall that were done very nicely as were the rear wheel tubs. If anyone can shed some light on its history I'd love to know more about it.

 

Cool Willys, I hope that you find some history on it.

 

Yep, from New Mexico, least I think it was, either that or there are twins out there. My ex wifes other ex husband (yeah, really) built it around mid 80's, sold it to a buddy of mine and it went east from there several years ago. I saw a photo a couple years ago and know that it had some changes from the time I last saw it that fit here. It had the front raised, wheels changed and some fake "early" lettering done to make it look more like a vintage race car then the 80's pro street rod style it had. The aged yellow lacquer paint fits as well. You said it has some nice aluminum tubs, does it look like it had wider tires at some point?
I never heard there was any significant if any racing history to the car prior to the 80's anyone knew about or maybe they didn't care then. I can't ask the original builder about it (holds a grudge over the wife thing) but I'm still good friends with the other guy and know he will know if this is his old car or not, he's kept up with the whereabouts since he sold it and told me he knew it was for sale awhile back. I'll get ahold of him tomorrow and get more info for you.
Do you own it now or thinking about it?

 

Thanks Metalman,Thats awesome!.. All you are saying rings true with this car.. the widow said it was from Albuquerque,NM..It has tubs in it for bigger tire than it currently has and they are steel..The front end has 4" blocks added under the narrowed econoline? front axle. The lettering that was on it was totally fake and added later..

 

Bill, the guy that had it for a while just sent me a text, he's on his way over. We'll have confirmation shortly!

 

The one thing I know about the car is that if I owned it, I'd drive it to work just as it sits! What a kick ass car.
Some back dating with an old Hemi, Pontiac, Olds, etc. would be icing on the cake.

 

Thats great news!

 

You read my mind!..I'm on the hunt for an early Hemi..

 

Confirmed, it is the car from here. Unfortunately, it does not have any race history, sorry, never had a hemi or anything like that. Pat, the original builder picked up the body shell and doors in Las Vegas, NV, it was just a stocker, field find type of thing, I just confirmed that with a friend that went with Pat to get it. Pat and his buddy Max fabricated the frame out of 2x3 tube, narrowed and used the Econline front axle. Somewhere he came up with the fiberglass and the narrowed Olds and used them as well. As I said before he pro streeted it, sat low in front, Centerline wheels, ect ( it was the 80's). Bill, the guy that bought it from Pat chromed the rear, change from a 5:13 to a 3;91 gear, put the interior it has now in it and drove it for several years. He kept in contact with the guy in Kansas he sold it to, he says the 350. turbo 350 is still the ones Pat put in it although the blower is different, not the original 4-71 Pat used. None of us know why there would be signs of different motor/ tranny mounts unless sometime they changed the style of them for the same motor. Bill confirmed the Kansas guy change the wheels, added the front blocks to lift it and had it lettered over Pat's yellow pearl lacquer paint. Bill said the primer spots are where he did some repair but never painted it back in.
There you go, as they say " the rest of the story".

 

Thanks Metalman!..The car has a different tranny crossmember than a th350 would have. Its about 5 inches back further than where the turbo mounts..Also,there are some weird brackets mounted on the frame in front of the existing frame mounts. So, I figured it had something else in it for driveline. Thanks for clearing up the mystery!

 

Just spoke to Bill and got the whole story..No real history which is OK with me..Now I can build it and race it without worrying about ruining a car that had race history!

 

That would be my thoughts as well. It would be cool if it had been a real race car but then you might of felt obligated to "restore" it. Like you said, no fowl now to change it up your way!
Thinking about those mounts I think Pat might of had a turbo 400 in it, I remember he was a big fan of them. As far as the front he might of had a Hurst front saddle mount in it as well.

 

A very nice Willys you have there. I know you have to be looking forward to creating history with it.

 

Time to make a little history of your own!

 

Bill confirmed the trans mount was built rearward in the frame by Max/Pat and the large braket to the TH350...Maybe to allow for different engine/trans combinations if the reason ever arose? No matter,gives me room to use different transmissions later on..Maybe a real hydro or a clutchflight!?! The extra engine brackets are a mystery..They look to be added later and not as nicely welded as the rest of the chassis..

 

Come on Hemi! Hilborn and alcohol?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Looks a lot better now you've taken all the decals off first time I seen this Willys
It was on an episode of American Pickers back in 2011 was owned by a Couple
Called Mike & Donna they owned the Hot Rod Cafe in El Dorado you could see
your Willys and a Willys pickup in the back ground as they we're looking at all
The guys toys .

 

Thanks for the compliment 33 hemi! Yes,that is what it looked like when Mike had it. I didn't see it on the AP episode but I did see the 33 Willys Pickup in the backround..

 

the pickup is steel bodied,blown SBC..it is still for sale for 29,900.00 on Racingjunk here's the ad.

http://www.racingjunk.com/Willys/182752874/33-Willys-Pickup.html

 

This is the history of the Willys to the best of my recollection. I will also upload the few pictures I have left, to add to it.
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Willys history

Found in Las Vegas Nevada from a Street Scene ad that I placed looking for a '33 Willys body.

Paid $600 for the steel body and glass front end

Brought the entire body back in Lannie Upchurch's truck. It fit in the back of his '73 Chevy LW pickup truck with the tailgate down

Got a Cast '33 Willys grill from Tennessee

Willys pickup floor pan came from Chuck Finders out in San Bernardino. It worked out perfect as the 13-31 McCreary's didn't leave much room for rear floor anyway.

Headlight buckets are '67 VW.

Entire car was built in a SMALL single car garage with the help of some GREAT friends, Max and Gloria Mills. Gloria also painted the yellow and gold pearl paint job. We combined our tools and efforts and Max and Gloria built their 40 Willys at the same time.

No original frame rails or measurements to go by so I mocked up a frame out of wood 2x3's split from 2x4s and transferred that to 2x3 1/8th wall steel tubing.

Front axle is Econoline with 14” sectioned out of the middle mounted on original-like semi eliptic springs. The original Econoline springs became the ¼ eliptic springs for the rear. The narrowed Pontiac rear was centered on the frame by using a home-made Watts link.

The narrowed axles were originally welded but replaced with Curie axles after the first “shearing” at the drags.

Originally 4-71 blown 350 Chevy with a turbo 400 behind it. Scattered that transmission and replaced with a TCI built T350. Pretty sure that I had to move the trans mount for that. Home built headers were constructed using U-bends from Speedway Catalogue and were all oxy-acetylene and coat-hangar welded. Made 'zoomy' style to fit under the fenders and turn-ins for street exhaust system.

After a severe lean-out at the races the blower came off and the hood scoop and hole in the glass front end were plugged. The car as originally built drove to the NSRA Nationals in Tulsa Oklahoma when the Nats were there for the second time, not sure of the year.

The car was sold to Bill Varella and he completed the interior and chromed the rear-end.

 

Thanks for the info! I'm assuming you are Pat,the original builder?

 

Yes, That's me.

 

Thats great!..one question..Do you know what steering box is in it? Its got alot of slop in it and I may replace it.

 

This is cool, thanks for joining in Pat, nothing beats the information from the source!

 

My rusty memory recalls it being a Vega box.
BTW if you have any engine and Watts link pics, I lost almost all of my construction pictures in a computer crash, long ago.

 

Yes, That's me.

 

No problem Pat,i can send you all the pics you want. I recently had the rear springs out to re-arch them and added 2 leaves because the car would bottom out over a decent bump. Bill had added air shocks to keep this from happening but they are long gone.

 

Pat, can you elaborate on the rear wheel tubs? You said they came from Chuck Finders Pickup? The one he raced or one he built for a customer? Did you buy them from Chuck himself or someone else?

 

Bill Varela - That's the name I was looking for. Almost had to go to the card file to find it. Thanks for saving me the trouble. Hello to all. Rob Frazier