Have 38 coupe and have few questions.Car does not have full length rain gutters like other newer 39-42 years I have seen,any info? Need upper steering column bearing,Need pair of front leaf springs,info on any gl*** rear fenders with 37-8 style opening for about 30" tire,I do not want to cut steel fenders,who makes best steel lower rockers? also looking for info on doing small Chevy,4 speed,Olds/Pont. drivetrain swap with least amount of cutting and ch***is,crossmember alterations,what pedal set up works best? Radiator? Plan on going the one piece gl*** nose route to eliminate cutting any steel inner panels.What fenderwell headers fit best? Anyone have info to convert to sealed beams with stock size headlite?
you can't install fenderwell headers without cutting some steel. Willys Replacement Parts are good folks to deal with. You can find springs at a local spring shop. You may wish to have a bit more arch and some additional leaves to support the added weight of a heavier engine/trans. I bet the bearing you seek was used by lots of manufacturers. But if you can get dimensions, it is likely available as a generic bearing at a bearing supply house. We found an aluminum radiator in the Speedway catalog that was very close in size to the original, if memory serves me. if you can find a 57 Pontiac/Olds rear axle, it is going to be narrow enough to use without serious mods to the housing. No matter what, you are going to need to radius the wheel opening to fit a 30 inch tire, unless you hope to tuck it up inside. We hand crafted the pedals in the car in my avitar. But another Willys I owned had pedals from a late 60's Chevelle. They actually worked out well.
turning willys into race cars is the reason they have not all been crushed---cutting them up was their salvation----sounds like you might be a closet "resto" guy---seriously there is plenty of steel left for the willys resto market so do as you please with yours
Do you think those rain gutters were shortened in the front. Here's a pic of Larry's old car. ****py close up
Car look pretty bad *** Steve soon to be even badder I'm sure. Sorry I can't help answer any of your questions but at least it'll be bumped to the top !!!! Congrats. And Merry Christmas.
37''s were rain gutterless. 38 up had rain gutters. I have a 40 sedan a**** my 6 steel willys that has some modified gutters along the front of It.
Wow, that is a sweet piece. Are you going to keep it street legal? Because if you race it the question about 'cutting it up' is out of your hands. I'd cut it in a heart beat - no problem there. I'd leave as much original steel as possible, the front end especially. The aftermarket fibregl*** i have worked with do not have the same dimensions as the original, they follow a 'loose guideline' of the original. When selecting the parts/pieces to use i would not have a guideline for 'the least amout of cutting' as a criteria for getting to the finished product. The people that offer those kinds of products are the people that you'll hear the most complaints about because they are sales driven companies not quality.
Willys Replacement Parts, as stated earlier. Willys Works use to make those fenders & a flip front end, but they are not in buisiness anymore to my knowledge.
I have seen a few of the 38s with the shorter rain gutters. I have a 38 sedan with them ( mine has not been modified ) and have seen a few old pics with the same. I believe that the gutters were shorter on the earlier build 38s, and were changed as production increased. I have seen more 38s with the full rain gutters than the short ones.
I saw a 38 coupe recently which had this gutter arrangement (see pic). It was like an additional gutter that had been riveted all the way around the door opening and down the cowl. We get a fair amount of rain in the UK so i'm guessing it was added fairly soon after car was purchased as it looked to have been a long-standing fixture. I ***ume it wasn't factory but i'm not an expert and haven't seen this on any other willys?
They're right about it being a 37 ( no rain gutters). Also, the 37 dashboard had only two big gauges, speedo and multi in one unit. The 38 dash had the two big gauges plus a small 2" in the middle that was a water temp gauge.
Any one have info on sealed beam conversion for 37-38 Willys with original size bulbs?? Not liking the oversize headlite rings car now wearing.
flintstone charger You have a lot more options with a '37-38 set up than the rest of the Willys years. You could get reflectors modified to accept a halogen bulb set up, and use the stock lense set up (would require getting reflectors re-plated...do nickel instead of silver, cheaper!!!), or Ron Francis makes a bright bulb to fit the 3 prong old style socket, but they are not all that bright. Two other options...the 5"+ style of the old quad set up is available with clear lenses, and mounted behind your 37-38 gl*** will provide plenty of brightness...just not as focused as you'd like. I have a similar set up in my '39 coupe, and they have the same buckets as the 37-38. Here is what I just did for my '36 (willys) sedan. A Bob Drake reflector kit for the '37-39 Fords is 6 &7/8" dia. (most round willys reflectors are 6 & 3/8"...I made this set up to work on my '36 buckets, just haven't had it on the road yet, but they seem to be very bright. Good Luck g-willys
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