Projects Nasty Habit Willys, part 10....Hood,door gaps,headlights,front brakes,primer.

I have been driving my Willys all over town lately, I drove it to work every day last week while a lot of the country was buried in snow. It is a blast to drive! I didn't like the patch work of colors so I finally gave it in a fresh coat of primer. As much as I want a real paint job on it I just can't afford it right now (or any time in the near future), hell, it took me 2 months to save up for a rebuilt alternator. For a car built on a tight budget I must say I am very happy with it!










I was very low on funds during the Christmas season so I worked with what I had on hand and concentrated on more fiberglass repair. The hood needed new corners added, a lot of crack repairs and the scoop mounted....



Both corners were broken off so I made a pattern of the shape needed and ground it down and then added fiberglass cloth and mat.



I clamped a flat piece of aluminum to the corner with parchment paper on it so the resin wouldn't stick. After everything dried I put the cardboard pattern in place and marked the new shape to be cut.





I used Dzus fasteners on the corners and the classic spring loaded hold downs up front. There is no hinge, it's a lift off hood.



The hood scoop was a $5 swap meet item . Here it is beginning it's new life...

 

Your Willy is one good-looking lady! (as contradicting as that sounds) I love the picture with the cop cars. If you really do have a nasty habit, then several of those units have already turned their lights on behind that Willy. Is that what you do for a living?

The fiberglass work looks pretty good. Any idea on what the scoop is?

 

The door gap on the drivers door was really big on the top front corner. You could put your finger though it so I sanded that area down and built it up with fiberglass (the doors are old race 'glass from the 60's). I don't have an "after" pic right now, will post one later.

 

Texasspeed.......No, I'm not a cop. I am a welder/fabricator for the County of Ventura. I don't know the maker of the scoop.

 

Lookin' good Kev!

 

Nice kev... Looks good!!!

 

Wow, that is looking good.

 

Those parking lot pictures rule.

 

Looks good Kev...Good to see ya at GNRS.....

 

GREAT looking willys!!! always look forward to see what you have to post.... you have great collection of goodies !!! you are making me want to get something done on one of mine.... but im suck with the snow and cold. think its time to start thinking about moving!!!

 

BOING!!! Omg....awesome.

 

The fenders had flat areas where the headlight goes . First I held the ring in place and marked the ID with a pencil and cut it out. I had two buckets that were a perfect fit but they weren't Willys parts, I think they are Ford. I bolted them in place. The tricky part was getting a sealed beam bulb in there as they were empty.







I got a couple of headlight mounts from a 63? Chevy pickup (dual headlights) and cut them in half. I welded the same side half of each into the buckets and that gave me the mounts and adjusters. I also added a socket at the bottom for a turn signal bulb. Pretty easy and low buck.

 

I bet your still itching!

Looks great!

 

The shot sitting in the middle of the limp dick vic's is awesome. Thats a classic. The Willys is Bad Ass. I bet those cops cringe when that thing rolls in beatin' the ground.

Keep up the good work and show us more.

 

Here is the alternator mount I came up with. I wouldn't call this alternator period correct but then again I don't really give a shit. I just wanted something small that I could tuck down kinda out of sight. It is from a Chevy sprint. I have tried hard to give this car a real mid 60's flavor but I am just not super picky about being period correct on every detail.









I also made this brace for the Ansen pedal assembly because when I pushed on the brake pedal the pivot rod going through the two pedals flexed like crazy.

 

Really sharp! I love this build. How many amps does that alt put out?


-rick

 

69fury.... Beats me but this is the 3rd car I have put one on and they work great. None of the cars has much in the way of power operated extras.

 

bitchin WILLYS,I like the I don't give a shit part

 

Looking realy good Kev.

 

Perfect!!!!!

 

I haven't got the front brakes on yet but I am working on them. I am using Airheart calipers and MG rotors. I worked out a trade with a fellow H.A.M.B.er and got a Willys front axle with MG disc brakes already adapted. This was great because my Halibrand front wheels are 4 lug and so were the MG rotors. I figured I would just put those spindles on my axle and make brackets to mount the Airheart calipers in place of the MG ones. Well my plan turned to crap when I removed the rotors to check out how they had been adapted. It turns out whoever did it needed to move the outer bearing further up the spindle so instead of putting it in a lathe they just took a grinder to the spindle. I am a risk taker but I don't want that on my car. I was going to take my spindles off and machine them but I have found a bearing that will work on the spindle if I just machine the rotor a little. So I need to buy the bearings, machine the rotors and Fab a caliper bracket. I have already rebuilt the calipers, bead blasted and turned the rotors. I also redrilled the rotors to my 4 lug pattern (1/4" different from MG). I also need to plumb the system from the firewall forward with a line loc.



MG setup....



Airheart caliper...



Not too safe grinder modification.......

 

Damn I love this pic. You've got a very cool car there Kev.



Sent from my iPhone using TJJ

 

Simply awesome!

 

I wanted to get a good burnout pic for this thread so this morning I tried but all I got was exploded spider gears. Oh well, I need to find the weak links and somehow make them stronger, just part of the fun.







A few more pics....

 

That car looks good out in the sun Kev. Bummer about the gears though.

 

If you haven't already purchased the bearings, could you please PM me the part numbers and your address? I'd be more than happy to send them your way.

It's the least I could do to thank you for posting these Very Inspirational threads!




Malcolm

 

Thank's for that Malcolm! I will be in touch.

 

Kev,
Great to see the Willys on road.
Always wanted a Gasser Style Willys, must be a bit surreal driving the beast around.
Any plans for a blower & injection?

 

Dreams but no plans.

 

kev nice willys by the way that hood you have on your car i sold it to wd who was restoring the mallicoat willys