I've got the sickness; new project

About a month ago I picked up a Model T body & ever since I've been keeping a keen eye out for pieces & parts that might come in handy. Last week my in-laws were up visiting and while taking them on a ride thru the country my mom-in-law spotted something neat... an old car tub sitting in front of a antique store.

The store was closed, but I wrote the number down & called back later on. The gal at the desk claimed it was a Willys. I decided to head back today, you know... just to check it out again. It looks like it was a 4 door car, untill someone cut the 2nd set of doors off. There are door latches against the B-pillar, looks like the car had early suicide doors! The gal also claimed it was a mid-30's car, which I'm not too sure about. I'd say late-20's, but I'm just guessing. I'm not even sure it's a Willys, but she was so I'm taking her word.

Here's the pics-









After drooling over it and having a vision of the completed project in my head, it ended up in the back of my truck... cost, $150. Thankfully I have a understanding wife, or I'd be sleeping in the new car! After talking it over with the understanding wife, I decided to build the Willys first. See, this whole hot rod thing is somewhat new to me, and I think this will be an easier project than the Model T will be, so I'm going to break myself in with this one, keep it simple with an opened top and build it on the cheap. I want to do the Model T right & I think the experience of having something to practice on will be beneficial in the long run.

My build plans are pretty loose, but I'm going to build my frame from 2x3 channel, clean up the body a bit where it was cut & patch the holes, fab my own doors, the windshield frame, fab the bed from scratch (I'm going to use a Jeep Willys tailgate, with 'Willys' stamped in it), channel the body down over the frame about 3". I just made a call to pickup a 500 inch Caddy motor, found a Early Bronco 9" for $20, and thats all I have so far.

Thanks to the HAMB & reading all your cool stories & buildups, I now have 2 old, rusty bodies in my garage.

 

That looks a lot like my Dodge body.That will make a cool Tub.

 

The fire wall and where the windshield supports woudl go look just like this dodge I had a few years ago


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Yeah, after seeing the pics I think you guys are right on... it's gotta be a Dodge. Thanks for the clarification! So much for the Willys tailgate! Now if only I had a 426.

What year do you guys think it is? I'm guessing mid-20's? Anyone have a set of doors?

 

earlier than 1920. Mine is like yours and it has a patent plate from 1917. But then again they probably carried the same body style for a few years.

 

I would recomend 2"x3" rectangular tubing, weighs about half as much depending on thickness and plenty strong, a lot of folks use it for frames.

 

That's what I meant, rectangular not channel. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

I picked up some frame material, two pieces of 2"x3" .120 wall rectangular tube, 13 feet long. Since I now had the beginning of the frame, I just had to lay the body on top of it & see how everything measured up.

The frame rails look like they'll be 19" apart (hopefully the Caddy 500 & TH400 will fit in between!), and the rear portion is going to 'Z' up behind the body, around 12-14" high. This'll make room for the axle & coil springs.

I layed a wheel & axle out to begin taking measurements for the wheelbase, I like the look of a long front. I may shorten up the front, depending on how the motor fits lenghtwise. These pics have the wheelbase at 124". I dig it.








I started on the windshield frame, didn't have enough material for the other side though. It's round 7/8" x .120 wall tube, I heated it up & bent it to 65*. Looks like a good angle for the windshield.