Projects 1940 Willys Coupe Gasser Build

Measure, measure, measure, then after that measure. A trick I used in building the wood and plaster pattern for my eventual fiberglass body of my Mysterion I took photos of each side, loaded them into PowerPoint, reversed one side to mirror image, made it translucent, then overlaid them. Got really close to perfect match. Actually not good for the authenticity since Ed famously never used a tape measure and admitted his uniformity was pretty random!

Here is a reverse image comparison of Ed's car showing differences.


Here is a photo of the Mysterion where I sketched the outlines of one side then flipped the outlines over and laid them on the opposite side. HUGE differences! You can do a lot just with photography.

 

Well said and good job on Mysterion!

 

Few more steps forward today, front ladder bar mounts, tomorrow front shock mounts

 

Thank you for the information @willys36 and @Inland empire hot rods. Nervous but looking forward to the challenge.

 

"The great state of South Carolina were the left hand lane is......just another lane!"

Not in Texas. Left lane is unlimited speed lane, middle lane is 10mph over limit, right lane is dual purpose; for those few who want to honor the limit and as passing lane for the left two lanes. Always drive in rear view mirror.

 

Your car is a work of art! So glad you have included us with this build thread. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

 

Thanks Kev, your builds are awesome too

 

More tubes!

 

I take it, that this is a strip only car ?

 

If you have have ever heard of or seen the 55 Chevy called Orange Krate, that car was crazy. It was regularly street driven, trophied in big car shows and dragged the bumper in 2nd gear running 10.40s. That is my goal for this car, well street driven is loose term, where I live there are not as many car enthusiasts and so many who dont care or are just in hurry to get around you, so we shall see how many miles its driven, but it is already licensed to drive lol

 

My daily driver. I drove it to work for several years.

 

very freaking kool!!!!!

 

I remember seeing this car regularly around Bakersfield before Jeff moved to Texas bitchin Willys

 

Never missed a Hot Rod Reunion or March Meet at Famoso 'til I moved in 2019.

 

Slow and steady progress

 

How do you walk away from that Willys and go home, man, I swear I could sleep with that thing!

 

I thought you meant "THIS" Orange Crate... I didn't know of a '55 Chevy called "Orange Krate". Love this DRAG CAR, thought the ghost flames coming up from the bottom of this body was a bit "CHEESY"... Would much rather have seen the "BEST FLAMES EVER" - Larry Watson "seaweed" flames!

 

Haha that's funny, don't need another divorce so I know where to be at night.... but it's hard

 

Google Orange Krate with a K 55 Chevy and watch it drag the bumper in 2nd gear.... nicest 55 Gasser I've ever seen

 

WICKED - BEAUTIFUL - FAST... You made a believer out of me!!!

Orange Krate with a K 55 Chevy - Google Search

 

Yep me too Tony! Linda and I took Several Pictures with Jeff and the Willy. We bought his Book on the Mysterion Build. Very Very Detailed Read! Could Kick myself for not going to his Garage, but time was limited.

 

More progress pics

 

Call me crazy, but I tried 3 times to post 10 pics and it keeps duplicating pics.... oh well

 

Not a big deal... Go back to your post - go into edit and delete your duplicate photos manually. Outstanding engineering with your chassis mods!

 

I have seen that 55 race at the Meltdown drags in Byron and driven on the street. It is one bad machine. Im sure this Willys will give that 55 a hell of a run.

 

Chassis and cage nearly complete

 

Wow! Talk about reinforcement to help keep the axle tubes from "snapping"...

 

That's the plan hopefully