Hot Rods 1929 Willys Whippet coupster wreck-reation

I found this, it followed my home. Its been ID'd here as a '29 whippet leatherback coupe.

Heres what it looked like day 1

 

The cowl vent was pretty much gone. Suprisingly it worked, really well. But it was shot. I filled it because this is destined to be a roadster.


The cowl sides were virtually gone too, so i made a pair of new ones by hand. I dont have a bead roller to make the rounded body line so i ended up using a piece of 2x2x1/4 angle iron and a body hammer to roll it. The rest was all done on my brake.

 

Heres some progress i made today. Installed both side panels. Cleaned the firewall. Ground off some rust, and sprayed on some rust converter.




I still have some work to do on the firewall. There are some rot holes on the cowl sides. I also have to figure something out for the windshield, the posts are shot. I dont know if i am going to rebuild them stock, or cut them off completly and make something custom.

 

Sweet another old Whippet on the HAMB!!! (or what's left of one) I've got a '26 2door sedan I'm turning into a RPU.

So what are your plans for it??

 

Three words: Low, Fast, and Loud.

The plans not set in stone, but i was thinking...
-2x3 boxed tubing frame
-looking for a Jeepster continental 6 w/tranny (open headers, possibly split manifold with Smithys)
-Dana 44 from a willys jeep
-ford front axle with split wishbones(37-40)
-suicide front axle

 

Sounds cool, I like the Continental 6!

My Willys plans....

-'18-'22 Dodge Frame (the spring set up in the rear is sweet)
-'29 Pontiac Grille Shell, with recored honey comb radiator
-Model A Box
-'47 Buick 248 Straight 8, dual carbs, custom header
-'47 Plymouth Dash
-'36 Olds rear shock (cool lever shocks, with a stablilizer bar in between them, I think it's like an early version of a sway bar)
-'26 Whippet 2door Sedan body, cut down into an rpu
-'36 Olds Artillery Wheels, painted black, black walls, trim rings, '36 GMC caps
-'52 Olds Rear
-Saginaw 4spd
-bench seat covered in black vinyl, rubber mat for the floor
-'36 Olds clutch and brake pedals
-Old Aluminium Sterling Truck gas pedal
-Farmall Regular Gas Tank with cast stands and straps(sounds bad, because it's from a tractor, but it's really old (20's) and looks very cool)
-a set of guide headlights (don't know the numbers at the moment)
-and a really cool guide fog light
-not sure on tail lights yet, haven't found a set.
-Dark maroon paint, black engine with chromed valve cover, side cover, plug cover, and a few other chromed goodies.

and lots more!! I'm still trying to decide on a front axle, but everything so far was free, and I have it all... That's part I like about it, in the end pretty much all I will have wrapped up in it is alot of time making things work, and some cash to have some one straighten out the body and paint it.

 

Silent_Orchestra
That sounds like a hell of a plan. Im lovin the fact that you got most of the parts free.

So far i have $150 in the body, $6 for the spraybomb of rust converter, and like $15 in cutoff wheels and grinding pads.

Its always nice to have more time than money into one of these, fuck those street rods. With there chrome IFS, and there Red or Yellow fiberglass bodies.(what? they make other colors?)

 

That's what I like about it too.... Time, hell I've got time up the ass.... Money.....Well shit I don't have to much of that...

This one is gonna be kind of a learning experience, I've never built an entire car, I've restored an old John Deere from top to bottom, and put a 425 Olds in my '94 Chevy P/U but this is going to be something I get to use all the skills I've picked up on all my other projects. And there's no time limit...I'm just taking my time, making sure everything works the way it's supposed to, and most importantly make sure it's safe, and looks and runs good.

BTW: I like it to because it's gonna be WAY different than a red '32 with a 350/700r4 IFS and IRS, and ABS, and power this, and computer controlled that... I like the fact that when it's done your going to be able to pick out parts from 15 different manufacturers that didn't come from a catalog.


Oh....I paid $50 for my box.... and it's nice, but that's all he would take.

 

Made some progress on the wreck over the past week or so. Still have to tweek the deck lid, or is it gonna be a rumble seat lid? Need to finish up the driver door, fab some hinges, and redo the lower body lines.

Theres a swap meet this sunday. I'll bring it and see what i can get for it. Gotta fund my next project, the one i've been waiting on for a year now....

 

wow! look at you with your fancy roadster made from nothing. cool

 

your going to sell after making this much progress?

 

Thats only 3 days of work.

Ya want it? Im in Upstate NY.

The reason im putting it up for sale is because i found a '32 plymouth 4door sedan i want to build. See, i need to be able to accomidate a car seat.

 

Impressive work. Too bad you gotta get rid of it.

 

Thats pretty cool, shows you can make something from a wreck. I like it.

Brad

 

great work, keep us posted

 

Very impressive. Looks like the begining of a nice roadster

 

man you do nice work makes me feel guilty that im not working on anything great save ,

 

its just metal. GET TO WORK!

 

I'm impressed.

 

very nice. 3 days work? shit the way your going you could have that thing runnin' in 2 weeks!!

 

just to clear it up. Thats 3 days of work since the first group of pictures. The first day was building a sub-frame to hold the two parts togeather, the second to do the deck lid and lower piece and wheel wells, the third day to add some supports and make the doors.

 

Dang man thats a ton of work in short order! Looking great!

 

well the body sold about 7 months ago. i got paid in full. Its still in my shop. The new owner wants some stuff done, so i guess i'll keep this thread going untill he comes to get it.

The Willys gets some doors hung. The customer wanted them hung suicide style, so im happy to oblige. Were using the cheapy hinges and bearclaw latches from Speedway Motors. These hinges are perfect, and i'de reccomend them to anyone. They cut easy, and you can drill and tap them.

 

Heres the latch setup. These i wouldnt reccomend for use with suicide doors unless you incorperate some sort of safety device.


stud with cage nut mounted inside the pillar

As you can see the door still needs some tweaking, but for the most part shes done.

 

Did another HAMB'er buy this? It would be cool to follow their build thread on this, you really did the ground work

 

I sold this to a guy in PA, he didnt do anything with it. A few months after he picked it up it ended up selling on ebay for a couple hundred less than he payed for it. I don't know who bought it off ebay.

 

I did...lol

Yea I pretty much saved it... the guy was going to build some streetrod out of it. He had no idea what to even do with it. I bought it off him and had to cut it up a little. I had to shorten the doors and frame abou 4" and cut 3" out of the ass end, so it would fit on a model A. It sat way to high so I than channeled it 4" and bolted it down with a floor and some bomber seats... its a "banger" for now but soon will be a lake style racer at some point. Have a nice flathead for it, and 4 spd. For the time I take the kids for rides and have alot of fun with it. I took it to a show once and no one could figure out what the hell it was... hahaha most thought it was an Model a with a different grill and fire wall. So "hillbilly", thanks for saving it... it lives on!!

 

wow that's really cool, small world.

 

so did you start your own thread? pics or it didn't happen

 

The car has been used and abused since I put it together. Has raced at TROG, Jalopy Showdown, Circle M and a bunch of Circle dirt tracks. I’ve tried to give it one hell of a second chance. I also have it tagged and insured for the once in a while street drive.