Hi, My friend that is building the Willys gasser is looking into a new chassis rather than boxing the old original. Is there a shop out there building a chassis for an all steel Willys coupe? We've seen them out there for fibreglass bodies but nothing found yet for original tin. The gasser's chassis will need to be set up for a solid axle in front and ladder bars and coil-overs in the rear. Blown 392 with TH400 trans and a 9 inch rear is the drivetrain. Details to be worked out between my friend and the potential chassis builder. Any help appreciated. Thanks Jeff
Which year Willys coupe? I am not aware of any accurate reproductions of the 1933-1942 Willys frames. Most of the aftermarket stuff is generic universal fit - one size fits nothing. None of them that I have seen are close to the original and I have seen some real frightmares. There are differences between the various years and some of them significant so you need to specify what you are dealing with. For example the 1941/42 coupe floorpan and chassis is very different from the 1937-1940 and the two do not readily interchange without considerable work. Your best bet is still to find a good solid original and rework it, if what your friend has is too far gone....
If you have a 'gasser' with blown hemi and plan to race it you have no choice but to go with a fabricated chassis that won't resemble anything that was under a willys. the chassis with have to be sfi certified. I can build you one. Go to my photos and you'll see funny cars and promods coming out of my shop.
Plenty of modified stock chassis Willys raced in the gasser classes with blown hemis. If no one had done it in the first place with an original chassis how would it have become popular? I have an original 1941 modified gasser chassis from the 1960s complete with it's original chromed front end and original drum brakes. It is plenty strong enough for a blown early hemi....
You may well have one and i'd love to have it as well. But, i don't know of any legal tracks that will let you make a pass - it has to have that sfi sticker, there is no getting around that. I also built 'Old Bones' an early style FED that is very popular - they won't let us 'Putt' down the track or even 'whack' the throttle at starting lines..display only. When i offer to build something i do not offer lightly and when complete it is the very best you can get, i am not going to waste my time to build another closet queen that looks good in magazines and displays but is unable to go down a track. I build racecars for many years before getting reintroduced to hot rodding and i know my craft well - there is a corvette in my photo gallery that is the world record holder Nitro Coupe, not the 2nd fastest, not a pretty gosh-darn nice coupe but the world record holder the baddest on the planet. I do not build race cars from secondhand wore parts that were hammered out decades ago - find some other fool to pretend that they are worth working with. I just went to look at my photos - in case the corvette wasn't there and i was making a fool of myself - the very first car in my album, the orange cavalier, that was the car we crashed last summer. I posted a video of hit hitting the wall and exploding during an 1/8th mile pass and it hit the wall at 165mph (it was a 4.30ish pass). Ryan blocked the thread as it was inappropriate for this forum. When the car settled from rolling and literally exploding the drivers door open and the drivers get out, waves and looks at the wreckage. I can tell you right now with absolute certanity if the car that hit the wall had a 60-80 year old boxed frame, no sfi certification and a suspension designed to race 60years ago then i would have had to make a trip to the hospital along with the driver - if he was still alive - and that because i had turned a blind eye to modern safety standards it was my fault that he was injured. My competition #'s are T/S116P and i have a blown alcohol BBC for that nova in my the gallery and it too has the highest possible SFI cert.
I have an Art Morrison chassis for a '41 Willys that I bought from another Hamber for my pickup. The dimensions are pretty close as far as length goes and the body mounts line up with both my sedan body (all 3 mounts) and pickup cab (front 2 mounts), both steel bodies. The rear is narrower than stock, but it will be hidden once the floor is replaced. My understanding is that you can get the frame from them with either straight axle front rails or rails for a Mustang II frontend. More than strong enough for a blown hemi. If your buddy needs dimensions, pm me with what you want.
Our shop does repop Willys chassis. We make our rails taller to get more room for the crossmembers. They are lazer cut from 10GA P&O steel. You can order them Pro Street for any width tire or you can have them stock width. The pictures are one we did for a customer that had a steel body and wanted a 60's look. He did not want it real nose high so it has a 2" drop axle. We can do any suspension/engine combo you would like. All welding is tig, and crossmembers are 1 1/4" .120 wall tube. Give us a call and we will be more that happy to discuss your project. Thunder Road Rod & Custom 811 Park Ave East Suite D Mansfield, OH 44905 419-522-4712 www.thunder-rods.com
Found some pics of a straight rail one (no tubs) with Olds rear on leafs w/ladder bars that we fabed. Stock Willys front axle set up for a blown Hemi.
PM me, I had one built for my steel car and we used an original as a pattern and I have a blown 392. I have all the info you need.
Why won't they certify a factory stock frame? Are the frames weak even after adding a cage? I think this deserves a call to NHRA this afternoon.
Wouldn't you need to know the purpose and what et/speed you want to run before figuring out wheather the chassis needs certified (and what certification)? A chassis doesn't need certified until 10.00. And I think there are two other certs for faster cars. I think one 7.50 to 10.00 and one 7.50 quicker. But this could be all wrong, calling NHRA or a chassis builder would clear things up. A chassis for a street car would be a little different than a Pro Mod chassis. Larry T
I have a stock frame in my car....although it is not blown, but I have beaten some blown cars Most nostalgia events don't look for a chassis cert, unless your going really fast, like sub nines.
Yes, you are right. There are several different 'layers' of certification. The class that he competes in will tell you what he has to certify for. He is building a AA/GS and that class carries a high certification, he might have the worlds slowest 'gasser' and not get out of the teens - but, he still has to have the proper creditials, safety gear, licensing and certifications. In brief, do you think he can line up alongside Rocky and make a pass with a street legal chassis? I don't think so, Rocky would back out of the lights and have a chit-chat with the starting line crew. Remember that 55 chevy where the guy flew out of the door? That was a street type bracket car, imagine that car with a blown hemi. You are an experienced racer and i am shocked at what you wrote, i apologize for being the guy that made you look at what you wrote but a reality check was needed. Again, the certs, safety gear, licensing etcetcetc go by the class not how fast you go. Bracket racing is the opposite. But when you mention blown hemi and race car in the same sentence you need to have your eyes wide open.
Sorry, I never saw where the original poster said he was building the car to run AA/G. Isn't the Boss Hydro on stock style rails? Larry T
Rocky is at the PRI show right now, so he can't answer, so I will for him....Both the Boss Hydro and the KS Pittman cars are on original frame rails, as per the NHRA rules of 1967-68....both have been boxed, new crossmembers, strengthened, and NHRA approved roll cages...both are NHRA certified to 8.50 and slower....Bill and Rocky painstakingly built both these cars to be exactly period correct, while meeting current rules, and being safe to the best of their ability....Fred Bear
Thanks for helping to clear this up Fred - what is yours built to? And if a person isn't recreating a specific car that is period correct how does that work. Build it to an 8.50 index? Do you run quicker than 8.50, that would be about a 5.50 eigth right? Do you run quicker than that? Good to hear from you bud, got Bob Bechners' chevelle in the shop right now looks like we'll shove a 632 in it over the winter. oj
Mine is a full tube chassis with strut front and 4 link....that's one reason I drive the KS car for Bill and Rocky in the strictly nostalgia events.....My car is certified to 8.50 or slower .....so far we haven't gotten it go that quick....I'm not sure the old cast iron 354 block would take that much over drive....Fred
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