History A moment of history...Teixeira Willys

The car is looking great... one question, it looked pretty complete just wondering why you have to fabricate so many new parts for it?

 

The original frame was destroyed through the years. When Fred was updating the car he would save all the old parts. Unfortunately some of the parts were either sold or given away.

 

I have to give credit where credit is due and with all the team names I have mentioned are the ones that should get the credit and more team members on the way....please understand that this is a team effort and that I am in no means the owner of this car or the sole builder...I am the fabricator and somewhat researcher of authenticity through interview and photographs. Let me stress that the owner is a HAMB member and has kept all of us in check with his labor, love for the project and his ongoing research to make this restoration what it is. I would like to also especially thank Fred Teixeira for taking the time out with me to give this valuable piece of Drag Racing history the respect it deserves. When this car is finished we will all be very proud of what we accomplished. So lets keep going and get to the finish line. Thank you everyone that has posted with interest for this very important restoration. All comments are very welcome.

 

well said.

 

Front shock mounts are done.

 

The okie line lock or nut knocker is ready.......I truely liked making this piece because it is simple and not technical........my hat is off to Fred for keeping it real.

 

Great thread Mark! I love this stuff, the history, the resto and all the fabrication pics. Simply Awesome! Call me clueless though when it comes to the "Nut Knocker" How does that work? I imagine it mounts to the floor and the brake pedal, but what keeps it locked or engaged, is it an over the center type thing or did you hold it with your knee and then "Whack"?

 

Having a clutch flite trans he could throttle and clutch with his feet and use the okie line-lock with his right hand during staging. There is an explanation earlier in the thread for the nut knocker.

 

Thanks Mark, I must've missed the words while reading the pics

 

Amazing thread... thanks for taking the time to capture the pics and type the words so's we could benefit... very, very cool.

 

Your welcome Blake and thanks for taking care of Ladyshifter's favorite pickup.

 

Started on the floater assemblies for the rearend...finding out they are very time consuming. Old axle tubes are cut and used for flanges.

 

Test fit.

 

Welded on the rings to keep the floater in place.

 

Spring pad test fit.....I also have to weld on the tubing that the bolts go through and that ties everything together including the lower spring brackets which still need to be fabricated.

 

For the bolt assemblies I used 7/16 bolt and for the tubing it is a Ford steering box shaft tubing which is very heavy wall and fits a 7/16 bolt perfectly.

 

Next will be the spring plates for the U-bolts.

 

Man that turned out cherry. Are you going to install grease zerk liked we talked about?

 

I sure am....nothing like a greased up rearend....ha ha ha

 

Excellent job on the floaters Mark!

 

Excuse my ignorance on 60s era drag racing technology, but how does that work exactly? Is that like a sleeve around the axle tube which allows the diff to rotate? How does that help? Just curious.

 

According to Fred he had a problem with spring bind and the car would not hook up. When he floated the rearend the car would stand up and launch.

 

Cant wait to see the car excellent job . Also yesterday i was talking to painter RON SHRAMIK about the car he and his fresno buddys were in petaluma at UNCLE LARRYS RANCH LABOR DAY PARTY. Didn't see NEAL this year. Question i remember the willys had a 3-4 ton CHAMP REAR. Was V8 used in the first build ? mike.

 

What a absolute cool project....! I enjoyed seeing this car as a kid and your doing a gorgeous job bringing back a piece of history..!

Rocky

 

Sweet work Mark!

 

The Champ rear was installed on the gold 67-68 car after he exploded the Culver City and shot the gears through the fence 50 feet away....those were the days.

 

After and before spring plates.

 

I was told that industrial large tie rod ends were used on the front of the torque arms....I found a new old stock 1962 Baker forklift steering link which is solid and will have the ends cut off for front mounts so stay tuned.

 

Rear torque arm mounts...nothing fancy just all business, so the older racers tell me.