Hey, I would love to know if my 1940 Ford pickup chassis would be suitable for a 1940-41 Willys coupe body?!? I have a mild 302 windsor, disc brake front end and LSD ford 9" ready to go. Thanks
Get searching, or take a tape measur to the next car show. Willys wheelbase is 104, so you need to shorten significantly. Figgerout where! Then you need to compare treads, try to figure out where the chassis hits the floorpan and whether Ford aligns reasonably to the smaller body, and figure out from front end to back of engine whether engine sits in reasonable location without much movement of firewall or radiator... 1/2 ton pickup frame is same as passenger, so you can measure from any '40 or related info. Lube chart stolen here: http://www.westcoastwillysclub.com/tech/willys4142chassis.jpg Lots of good stuff there and elsewhere online.
Have you thought about looking for a factory Willys frame. They come up for sale from time to time and there was one for sale on here a while back. A 1937- 1940 Willys sedan frame will fit as well as a 1937-42 coupe frame and I believe that a Willys pickup frame from these years will work too. Some things to be aware of is that the wheelbase varied by a few inches on the earlier year model cars and this will cause the rear axle to not be centered in the rear fenders. I am not sure if moving the axle back will center them up. Also the frame from a 1941-1942 Willys sedan is about 2 inches wider than a coupe frame and doesn't fit a coupe correctly. Also these comments are based a steel Willys coupe but I am not sure if they would vary for a fiberglass car.
Hello Scotchss77, As Elgringo71 said about finding the right frame then you just set things together and build. I have a 1940 Willy's frame that I started with and found out after I boxed it that it does not fix under a 1938 so it is for sale if you are interested. I found that 1937 to 39 are the same and 1940 to 42 are the same from my searching. When I found out that my 40 frame was to wide and to long to fit the 1938 body I search out more information to find out just what I could use, the above information is as close as I could find. Anyway don't know just what you what to do but as I said I have a frame that could solve your problem, It has been boxed from the rear up to where the engine sets, I have all of the pieces that I did remove but it all goes with the sale of the frame. If you are interested PM in a conversation and we can go from there. I am asking a very fair price and not trying to make a lot just willing to help fellow Willy's guy out.
hi there I would like to buy your frame please call me at 586-944-8615, I would really appreciate it thanks
The frame in the photo appears to be a '41/'42 vintage. The "X" member on the early frames ('37-'40) is the same width from the attachment points on the main rails, to the center connection area. On the '41/'42, the center meeting point of the "X" member is WIDER than the rest of it.
My 40 frame is identical to my 38. I am using the wider 41 sedan frame to build a 40 truck. The wider frame won't matter since I'm using a custom bed. Im looking for a nice 37-40 frame if anyone has one.
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