Projects Willys PU build....from sedan panels.

Your coupe looks cool, reminds me of the first Stone Woods Cook Swindler.
Good luck with the build.
I'm pulling the motor on the truck this winter for a freshen, and will be seeing if I can find some more horsepower. Need to get that nine second timing ticket.

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Good luck getting into the 9''s.

I just had shoulder surgery for the 2nd time so the build is going a LOT slower than I hoped for.

Look forward to any progress you'll be making.

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I can give you some pointers if you need help. I built mine from a fiberglass body and used a steel four door for the cowl, floor, chassis, front suspension. I have a thread of my build on here under "im not selling it now,40 willys coupe" . I used my car trailer as a surface plate. I hope you like it !

 

I am so lovin' your build & the look you have.

I'm going for an "early '60's" street/strip look with our Willys

Since having my original shoulder surgery (Dec '16) I have not been able to do any major work on the Willys. Now with just having my shoulder redone last month it'll be many months before I can make any significant progress on the build.

So right now I am living thru others' builds & Willys related posts.

I also considered "trading/ selling" for a more completed hot rod. But like you right now I am refocused and looking to getting back to work on the Willys ..... ONE OF THESE DAYS

I'll hook up with you build thread.

Always nice to hook up with another Willys owner

Thanks

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Finished freshening the motor and decided to put it on an engine dyno to see how much horsepower it was making. Happy to report it made 612 hp and 550ft lb of torque underdriving the blower and only 8 lbs boost on pump gas. Roll on the new race season eh!

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Hell yea..
That pickup's gonna be fun for sure ...

 

Heres a short video clip of the last dyno pull, 6300rpm.

 

Thought I'd post a couple of pics from our recent Dragstalgia Event at Santa Pod Raceway, the trucks running well since my winter engine rebuild and dyno session and I finally have some consistency.
It's now running regular 10.30's which helps a lot in our group which is a dial in class, made it all the way to the semi finals on a roasting hot weekend with temperatures in the 90's, got nosed out by .06 of a second by the eventual winner.
Also I've added a bit of sign writing to the truck, first one to promote my business and the other as a nod to where the truck originated from (hope Kiwi Kev approves).
Next round of Gasser Circus is next weekend back at Santa Pod for the Mopar Euronationals.

 

Ol pickup looks great ...

 

I'm friends with Kev so I approve of the signage. I'm sure he will too. Looks fantastic. Such a neat truck. Glad you are having fun with it.

 

Cool Ray, Looking awesome. Bad ass little truck and you're having fun.

 

Fantastic job.Could not of went to a better home...

Steve

 

Thanks, I thought it would be a surprise for Kev, a bit of well deserved recognition.
Obviously a spoof zip code, 41 Willys, 327 Chevy (even though it's a 350). Thought it had a nice ring to it.

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Thanks that's good of you to say. It wad a great base to work with.
I've upgraded most of the original running gear for racing but managed to keep the soul of the truck intact. Its a lot of fun now

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Ya, It's a spoof alright. Calif. postal zip codes start with a 9.

 

Spotted this on www.fuelcurve.com

 

Thats a great photo of the truck racing this year at Santa Pod Raceway during Dragstalgia.
Thanks for posting it, hadn't seen that one.

 

No problem! Here's a link to the article:
https://www.fuelcurve.com/dragstalgia/

 

So cool.
Amazing how it came to life Kevin always has such the best eye and vision to get cars together


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I


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During our vacation to California this year I took the opportunity to contact Kev with a view to finally meeting the guy in person.
We arranged to meet at his place after work on a Friday which gave me a couple of hours to check out his amazing back yard where my truck was created from a pile of parts before heading out to downtown Ventura for a bite to eat and a very enjoyable evening sharing racing and rodding stories with Kev and his lovely wife.
It seems we had more in common than just the ownership of a Willys pickup as amazingly we were both at the Gateway Gasser Gathering in St.Louis in 1999, small world eh!
As a sort of thank you for selling the truck to me I took along some Gasser Circus and Willys Wars goodies from the UK.
It was great to finally put a face to a name and I felt like having met Kev we have now come full circle, I can't believe it's been almost 5 years since it came to England and am glad that he loves what I've done with it.

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Damn, its been 5 years already, I remember Kev building that pickup..
I also love what you have done with the pickup, its always nice to put a face with the name,,
Thanks for sharing ...

 

It was great to finally meet Ray and his sweet wife, we all had a very nice evening! Ray was the perfect person to end up with that truck. I just love everything he has done and it is all done right. I wish I had taken a little more time on the truck. There are things I could have done a better job on. Lucky Ray has that machinist brain so the truck only gets better. Thanks Ray for putting my name on it. Hope to see you again some day.

 

Thanks to both of you for your hand in the making of this Great little truck. Thanks to Ray for continuing to share with us the rest of the story. Looks like awesome gasser swag, enjoy the rest of your stay and have safe trip home

 

Thought I'd give a quick update on the state of play with the Gas Junkie.
This past weekend was our first Gasser Circus meeting of the season, the Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway.
Only change on the motor was to downsize the secondary squirters to try and alleviate a slight bog off the line at wide open throttle, wasn't expecting much improvement but I was amazed that we picked up a couple of tenths and got so close to being a 9 second truck at last.
Managed a best of 10.019 at 132mph with a 1.42 60 ft !
Next round is in 4 weeks time back at Santa Pod for the Retro show, let's hope I can live up to my HAMB username at last

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July 12/14 meant it was time to set off for Santa Pod Raceway for Dragstalgia but also the weekend of our 44th Wedding Anniversary. Having an understanding wife meant I got to go and play with the truck and have her by my side all weekend too.
This meeting is not only the best nostalgia race in the UK which is the third round of the Gasser Circus showdown and also the 6th annual Willys Wars with 35 entries!
With 21 Gassers entered for a place in the 16 car field qualifying was going to be tough.
Our group is a dial in class and after 4 qualifiers the first 9 were all .0 off the dial in!
I surprised everyone including myself by ending up number one qualifier with a 10.0321 on a 10.30 dial in!
Sunday is race day and won my first round, the second round saw me up against the 55 chevy Green Onions, a very consistent runner but an 11 second car that I would have to chase down so I knew I had to be on my game, I dialled a 10.02.
Managed to cut a decent .08 light and took the stripe first.......then the bad news, you broke out......followed by the good news, you just ran your first nine in the Gas Junkie 9.98!
So that was the end of the weekend for us but what a great way to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary, the trucks running quicker and faster than ever and more importantly, consistent too.
Next round is three weeks time at the Mopar Nationals let's try and go to the finals.


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Congrats on the 9! Excellent stuff.

 

That's COOL!

 

Cheers Kev, at last I've lived up to my username once again.
The trucks running really strong and is one of the quickest cars in the group now.
I'm collecting parts for a 301 small block at the moment and may try it out in the truck if I can get it built over the close season.

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Congrats on your 9 sec run !!