Hot Rods 1933 Willy's Steel Gasser boat load of questions

My dad bought this car almost 40 years ago in South Louisiana. It has been garaged ever since. It is an old gasser. It has/ had Redmond & Sons on the side. It has track decals on the windows from the 60's. It has a glass one piece hood, glass rear deck lid and fenders and I think the panel at the rear by the trunk for the exhaust might also be glass but I am unsure. I have found someone who makes steel parts and I am considering replacing the glass with steel. If you all have anyone who has exact steel parts please let me know?

I would first like to see of anyone remembers the car and by chance has any pictures of it?

Second comes the restore questions. It has the old frame on it but to be honest it is shaky at best. We want to go with a new chassis. I have found a few makers of chassis and all claim to be the best. Then come the questions of are you looking for pro street or gasser or other. And this is where I get lost at Step 1. Ideally I would be looking for a comfortable ride to cruise the streets. The car will never go down a track. So a smooth comfortable ride for cruise night would be ideal. I see they have packages where you could convert an old S-10 frame and others that are complete. I am hoping to get a chassis that already has suspension and wheels and powder coated but no drivetrain which leads me to my next question. Is there a chassis out there that has a universal design that will let me make up my mind later of what type of motor and transmission I want without having to weld anything else in place or repowder coat?

 

A few photo's would be nice to look at to see what it is that you have. If it is as intact
as it sounds, I would consider selling as a whole to someone who would bring it back to it's former glory and history. Sounds like all that you would be using is the hull of the body. You would probably be better off money wise getting a complete glass body/frame combo and build from there. Just my $.002

 

Well I understand the point but the truth is there is no way he would sell. MY dad is getting older and it has been a project he has wanted to complete for 40 years. No one except for my mother would ever think about selling it. I will try to post a few photos as the discussion moves along. It still sits as it did when he bought it with the exception of some small sanding I tried to do on it to remove as a kid with an orbital sander. He bought it with frame and body without a motor or transmission. He had it running when I was younger but was scared of how shakey the chassis, steering and suspension was so he parked it and years later he gave my uncle the engine and tranny he had put in it so it has sat like that ever since. It had several layers of paint and it didn't really put a dent in the paint to be honest. That is why I said it has or had Redmond and Sons on the side. I remember removing it from one side but do not remember if I took it off the other. It was mutli color with a dark blue flake on the top and trim with a beige/orange sides outlined in black.

We are open for suggestions on the car or input as we have not really made a decision. When you say bring it back to its former glory? What are you saying? As a gasser or original as it sat in 33? I assume you mean as a gasser as it was in the 60's. If I were to do that then what would be the difference in one look opposed to using it for cruising?

 

I have and had 2 33 Willys. The gold car is all steel except for the front clip. It has an original chassis which I race. I had a glass 33 with a custom chassis. they are both gassers. The original is much more solid as far as ride and stable. If you could salvage that I would. They where both boxed. with ladder bars. Finding a all steel front for one is a chore. I ve always been on the lookout for one in the 10 year. Sometimes you find pieces and parts but not often. A good fabricator can make a steel deck lid. Rear fenders pop up now and then. I have an original front window molding, but it's so cheesed I had one duplicated . Check with Scottrods for a 33 grille and glass body parts. or Hillside Streetrods for glass parts. They are very good quality. Don't get to caught up in the steel thing. 95% of the people out there don't know what kind of car it is anyhow. But that said a steel body alone is impressive. I always get a wow. Then called a nut for racing it.

 

Nice cars. I will get some pics to show exactly what I have and then get some opinions from there.

 

As promised. It has a window sticker that 1968 NHRA World Finals participant Tulsa.

 

a few more

 

last bunch. Obviously the color is sanded off and faded now. I will try to get some pictures of it from the 70's and 80's when the paint was in better shape.

 

Here is a link to the closest car/ color scheme I could find to it but doubt it is the same car however I am unsure. http://chuckfinders.com/magazine_articlescf/03-3-2_drL.jpg and http://chuckfinders.com/magazine_articlescf/03-3-3_drL.jpg

 

Searching more on google the Prock and Howell car is the F troop car shown at the link. It might be the same car but I am just not sure. I do not see any of the same stickers on the car anywhere and the front clip, rear fenders and grille are different.

I would love to know more of the history of the car.

On the rear deck lid it says JAK Dallas, TX <<< does that name ring the bell of a racer or painter that anyone remembers?


UPDATE:

It is not the prock and howell car.

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/1606-prock-a-howell-f-troop-willys-honored

 

Lee Kay is THE man for steel panels for Willys Model 77 - the best of the best!

www.kayskustommetalworks.com

 

In my opinion if you do redo the car in a different manner and it turns out to be a car with a lot of history then you have lost all of that. If i had a car that was X Gasser i would be for putting back as close as i could. Brakes and steering up dates only to help in making it safe to drive but change the rest will lose the valve of the car. That is my 2 cents but it is your ride so you need to decide how you want to do the build. If the 38 2 DR Sedan i own had Drag History that's how i would rebuild it, but it is not so i am going to build it as a Gasser with the safer options. Have fun with your Project and keep the updates coming. Any Willys is always worth building.

 

Prock & Howell FTroop is and always was a fiberglass body FYI

 

Cool looking car. Have you any more pictures of the unusual steering set up? Looks like its a flexible cable rather than the normal shafts.

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Very cool gasser! You must be very excited!!

 

I don't think you should do anything to the car. Take it out to some gasser meets and let people enjoy it for the survivor that it is. In the meantime collect period correct parts and restore it to it's former racing beauty. Good luck with it. Lots of folks will be extremely jealous.

 

A lot of good suggestions. Just not sure. I did contact Lee Kay about making panels for me. He seems to make a good panel but if I am going to restore it to the way it looked as a gasser than the current fiberglass parts would remain. I bet the paint job would be tough to match. I think it would be cool to restore it's exterior paint and possibly leave the fiberglass in place. Maybe try to buy the same stickers if I can find them to make it appear as it was but when it comes down to the cassis and suspension to cruise around I just am not sure. The steering is shaky at best so to make it safe for road travel that would have to be addressed at the very least. Then the rear suspension is welded together so both wheels move as a unit so I would have to replace that too. It might be equally cool to put anew chassis under it and redo the body as it was then rebuild the old chassis as it was for show. Lots of ideas just have to get enough cash lol

I will try to take more pictures of the steering set up soon and post.

 

It's your car, do what you think best with it. But since you asked, if you are going to drive it on the street, and the chassis is "shakey," either get a really good fabricator to build you a custom chassis, or at least box the original frame and replace the suspension parts. If it were mine, I wouldn't worry about the fiberglass parts. they are now traditional on old gassers. Given how old they are, though, they may need replacing with new 'glass, but steel replacements would probably be really expensive. I think it would be really cool to repaint it in its original gasser colors. Most important, keep at it, you are now in charge of preserving a piece of drag racing history, and please keep us posted on your progress.

 

That's pretty cool you still have the car in the family. If I were you, I would restore it to look as close to the original car as possible, and still make it streetable. Don't get caught up in finding all the old steel parts. Just replace the bad fiberglass with new quality pieces. Below is the only picture I've ever seen of the car. The photo is by Steve Reyes, and it was in an old gasser calendar from a few years back.

 

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I appreciate you digging it up for me. Do you by chance know the year and location of the picture?

 

Sorry, I don't have any more info. Maybe someone will recognize what track it is from the sign in the back ground. If I had to guess a time frame, I would say 69-70. BTW, Steve Reyes is on Ebay. I think his user name is Hot Rods to Hell. Just search "AA/GS" and some of his pics will come up. Then you could contact him to see if he has more pictures.

 

If you want it to ride and drive like your moms Buick...then go buy a new Buick. These cars are raw bare bones drag cars, and to change that for a smooth ride is seriously wrong. It needs to be put back the way it was.

Meltdown Drags July 18-20 2014

 

I'm not sure of the way he signed his artwork,but Jack Dooney was a striper in Dallas back in those days..
as I understand it,Jack now lives in Mesa,Ariz

 

The sign says Springnationals so i guess Bristol.

 

That's a real cool Willys!


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That's a cool piece.

 

It would be a shame to lose the history. I'm all for making minor upgrades to the chassis to make it safe, but not alter it so much as to lose the "look" it originally has. Lots of old gassers have been restored and made safe to run again, and not lost their appeal.
Nothing you do with it will be cheap, but the end result will be more valuable as a restored gasser, than just another street rod.

 

That is very cool.. I'd have to agree withe majority. Build it like it was. People love the history. It can be made streetable . Just don't expect a good ride or be able to hear a radio. But you'll have allot of fun. Just don't throw allot of HP in it. There hard to keep cool. They move like a bat out of hell no matter what you put in it.

 

I understand that its not for sale-

Just Digging it out will increase its value, And more than any modification or new stuff you could ever think of doing.

 

All interesting suggestions that I appreciate and will consider and ask a bunch more questions on before we move forward. To the guy asking about the steering shaft. I asked my dad and it turned out that him and Boogie Scott who he grew up around made that. It was off a Fiat. It was called a flex shaft. It was not Boogie's idea. My dad put it in and I think Boogie built some adapters in hopes to make it fit. He probably should have brought it to Boogie from the start and he would have had a different design and wouldn't have had the trouble with his steering had Boogie designed and built the entire steering assembly .