Hey guys I've poked around and read a lot of good information on here for a couple years. Now that I am taking on my first off frame restoration of a 1948 willys truck I thought Id join share my experience and also get some help and advice on the project in particular the timken rear axle. I am 26 years old, I love the older cars and trucks of all types and hope to learn more about mechanical fixes and restoration. I try to do most of my own fabrication and wrenching and keep my projects simple and cost effective. Anyways Im going to look around and see whats going on and soon be posting more. Hope to hear from you all!
This is my first attempt at a project this large, I found two of these trucks on the side of the road one my dad bought that is in good condition I took this ******* child on as a long term project to try my hand at a full restoration/transformation. I have never done body work before. So far I have spent 6 months doing rust repair and nearing completion. I am using just a cheap flux core wire welder from harbor freight and it is working really well in replacing and patching sheet metal. I have used about 12lbs of wire on this project haha. First time ever pulling a body on a vehicle, I built the gantry system myself. Funny story when I was welding on the underside of the truck I kept hearing popping sounds turns out the old farmer had 22 shells stuffed in the front of the cab hidden and they were firing off from the heat. I think I removed 30 bucks in 22 shells from it. My goal is to have a nice willys truck I can drive through the flat lands of Kansas and maybe even take it to the mountain trails in Ouray Colorado. I am going to run a flat bed and design it like an old ranch farm service truck.
There are a lot of master fabricators on this site, I know a lot about jeeps and offroad vehicles but I am here in hopes to learn more from you guys on fabrication and engineering specifically axles etc.
Welcome to the HAMB, project looks fine so far, looks like you have a good supply of tools & equipment. Bob
The Jalopy Journal
