Projects My Willys Pickup Project

Hi all, I'm new here and decided to start my own thread to sort of break into this site. Not sure if this qualifies as HAMB material, so go easy on me if it isn't. I originally started looking for a late '40's Power Wagon. Found out people thought they were made of gold and once you get them started, money would come pouring out of the tail pipe like a slot machine. Then I searched for an M37, they were more reasonable, but I soon realized trying to get one home would require a house mover! They're pretty big and I have a tiny little garage. It finally dawned on me that a Willys would fit the bill. Scouring craigslist and by p***ing all the junk, came across this brown one. Sitting for 12 years with Stabil in the tank and fully insured and registered! He wanted to concentrate on bicycles and needed it out of his garage. We struck a deal and it was mine. A quick call to AAA and it was home.

 

It came with a late '70's Buick 231 with HEI. Best guess, a '78.





These look like Fiesta seats to me, pretty comfy and a nice size for the small cab.

 

Took the plugs out, sprayed some WD40 in the cylinders and rotated the engine by hand! So I changed the oil, filled a new filter with oil and cranked the engine up without the coil plugged in. Oil pressure came up, engine was quiet while cranking, all good signs. Put plugs in, quick spray of carb cleaner and.....

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I didn't have the clutch adjusted when I first started it, so there is a bit of grinding trying to see if the wheels would move.

 

Of course the brakes were shot, so I had to replace everything. Decided to go with a dual circuit kit from Herm, the Overdrive guy. With the kit, you have to remove the old master and cut the plate it mounted to off the frame.







I decided to go ahead and paint the master, this would prove to be premature later.





New brake lines all around.



These were very hard to mess with and forget flaring them. I messed some up with my less than quality flare tool. I just ended up buying as close to the lengths I needed.



Took a long time replacing all the lines and hoses, tedious work, but worthwhile for peace of mind.



Ordered some more brake parts from Willys America.



Time for new wheel cylinders and shoes!



As with any new project, once started, no going back. May as well reseal the front knuckles and look at the king pins. OOps, normal king pin bearing failure.





Time to order more parts and wait.

 

Ok, you guys are getting the quick version. More parts!



While waiting for parts, look what I came across?



A T90/D18 combo with the B/W overdrive. Pretty rare and hopefully not blownup when someone tried it in overdrive with the 4wd engaged as it's only overdriven in two wheel drive.

Time to get the knuckles back together. Mixed up some knuckle pudding and packed it in.





Back together, just have the other side to do and the rears. Whew!

 

Oy! The right front is the same, bad king pin bearings.



I'm much quicker on this side as I've had practice. So it's back together much quicker. While putting the hubs back on good thing I checked the locking hubs. One didn't work so well.

Seems someone ran the bolts down while it was extended or not seated properly, so it bowed out the center, binding the dial.



Willys Forum came through for me with good used ones.

On to the rears. These needed a strong puller. I may have failed here, it wasn't strong enough and I bent the saucer.



I spent weeks trying to get this drum off. Every few days I'd crank down on the puller and hitting things with a hammer. I finally got the blue wrench and heated the hub till it was cherry red. Cranked down on the puller some more and BANG! it finally released!

The force was so strong that it shot the other side's axle out of the housing! Good thing the wife's car wasn't on the other side.

 

looks like a very cool and hamb friendly ride, keep at it

 

Thanks.

 

Time for the parking brakes. Uses a cable, but the original was broken. A new one was in the spare parts, but too short. So I spliced the two cables together. I needed the end of the original due to the unique ferrules.



I used a wire vise and it worked perfectly.







Now that all the brakes were done, time to bleed the system. No amount of bleeding would get all the air out. Good thing my wife is a good sport about it and knows how to bleed brakes as well as my kids. I've had countless times they've helped me push cars into the garage! LOL!

Turned out the rebuilt master was bad and $34 on ebay scored me a new one. It's a common dual circuit master, for a Javelin without power booster. It cured the air in the lines.

 

Another problem is what to do about the brake lights? It uses the old pressure switch. Well, I'm into motorcycles and sourced a rear brake switch.

The bracket I used was laying in my junk drawer, unfortunately, it was too short and had a bad angle.



Had a spare alternator bracket I took off the 231 engine since it had the wrong one anyway and I replaced it with the proper one.



It worked pretty well, still needs a support "L" bracket to give a little extra strength though.



It's a spring pull switch and I attached it to the eyelet at the brake pedal.

 

Time to take it out for it's first drive! So excited that I forgot to adjust the clutch, so grinding was a result.

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But it was fun! About this time, Willys America had it's open house. (this was last year).

They had a Blue Gr*** band that year.





Yes, they were made in Japan as well. This was a Mitsubishi version.

 

Work underway at WA.
















These will probably be done by this year's meet on the 13th of July.

 

Got some tires for my truck. They look way too big, but they are a common size. 235/80 x 16. These come on a lot of trucks and 1t vans. Would have preferred the more obscure 215/80 x 16 though. This guy worked his tail off installing these, but he was a professional and scrubbed the rim where the beads rests. He replaced all the valve stems and balanced them.







They're big, but they ride quiet and handle well. They even seemed to have lightened up the steering too.

 

i love it, keep us posted as you progress along

 

i love those things! i started a build on a 47 wagon, swapped a newer 50's 4x4 frame under it, found scout dana 44's, np 205 twin stick, etc, then it stalled out and i sold it off.

 

Great truck!

Wish we could get some of the Willys truck guys to come wheel with us. Just like the HAMB needs diversity, we get tired of seeing nothing but Dodgers willing to drive their old 4WDs they way they were intended.

More trailride photos

 

Thanks everyone! You're all enabling me. LOL! While at the Willys America meet last year, this guy had some interesting art work.












After the meet, we went to a bar/bakery and spotted this. Had a nice laugh.

 

Went to the local hardware store for some bolts and on the way back, this happened.



Climbing a really big hill and it started to sputter, had to be fuel. If only I could make it to the top of the hill 50 yards away........arrggg, nope. Trust me, this hill is steep.



There it sat. Good thing it was a nice evening. Glad I also had the wheel chock since the parking brake wouldn't hold while I was trying to start it and goose the gas, work the clutch, dance a jig etc.

So, AAA on the phone a car drives by cautiously. It's my wife and she was on her way home. Glad I chose this route instead of the busier one with no shoulder. Tow truck is on the way, so she heads home. When she gets there, a tow truck is already next door to us. Maybe AAA got it wrong, as they asked for the home address and the one I was at. No mistake, my neighbor called them for their own car. The kid operator is good enough to pick up the call for my truck as the other guy is stuck in traffic. He gets me home quickly. Time to check it out.



This looks mushy, filter was new, but will be replaced again.

May as well replace the (unknown circa) fuel pump as well.



Unfortunately, the pump they tried to sell me was Heche de China, no thanks. They could get me another AC/Delco in a couple days. Ok, only $35. It came, but was Heche Mexico.

Total of about 20 minutes to install, just love old cars!



This is the fuel line from the tank to the line. I'd say I found the culprit.



A little chaff protection.

 

Time to dump the **** radiator. Got an ebay radiator at a good price. Not quite the look, but definitely better than the one I had.









As with all projects, things need "fitting", as in the Buick doesn't really fit the stock type cooling system. I spent a lot of time at O'Reilly stores mixing and matching.



I used an exhaust reducer to connect the large lower hose outlet to the 1 1/2" hose of the Buick waterpump.

 

Looking good, may as well replace the t-stat as well. Water was pretty rusty and tried flushing what I could. What a mess.

 

Do you know the artist's name or where he hails from?

 

Time to work on the heater. I only have the core and housing, no fan. This is the original snail shell.



Heater housing in the interior.



I have an old Mazda GLC heater motor and housing I'm going to use.



A little drilling, some aluminum tape for the original holes and some bolts and it's on.



Time to mount the motor. Hmm, I'll have to get a picture of it. Ah, got one now.



On to the controls. This is also out of the Mazda.



Of course it needs "fitting".





It's mounted.



Now it needs to control the fresh air door and heater valve. Choke cable to the rescue.





While trying the heater motion, I got this.



Guess I'd better get a heater valve.

 

I have a card somewhere around here..... He's from Sebastopol, CA. That I know, but will get a card from him on the 13th. That's when the Willys Meet is.

 

This rig needs some seat belts.



Got some brackets from online.



Fishing up the mounting plate.





Driver's side is done.

 

Truck has to earn it's keep, sold the scooter and will meet up with the buyer.

 

I also have a 55, currently waiting for its turn in the shop, forgive me, but isn't this supposed to be a traditional hot rod forum?

 

"I also have a 55, currently waiting for its turn in the shop, forgive me, but isn't this supposed to be a traditional hot rod forum?"

Well, ya just knew it was coming, right? I'm surprised it took two pages, but sure enough, here it is...

Here's another one. Closer?

 

You mean the Buick V6 doesn't cons***ute a hot rod?

 

This is going on the truck.



Drove the truck 120 miles round trip to a friend's house for some welding.



He welded a few parts for the truck and some motorcycle bits. I'll tell you, the ride in the truck rides, well, like a truck. So I decided to do something about it since I have a day trip coming up. So I decided to remove a few leaves. It was recommended to remove three leaves, every other one after the first.





Right side really stubborn. Sprayed with PB Blaster and let it sit with pressure on it.



Today, I went back after the right side and I was successful!



Bad news...





Broken leaf spring. Time to order some parts.

 

Seems like it belongs here as much as a lot of other posts. Any old car/ truck is welcome in my opinion.