My willys truck gasser build thread

That guy that drew it didn't know what he was doing....



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There's a red '41 up here that runs 11's. I have a pic of it out my O/T car's window in the staging lanes at BIR. Pretty cool. It would have been cooler if my car beat him.....

 

Very nice! Just discovered your build here! Was hoping you'd do one here!

 

Kool build !!!!!!

 

No pics at the moment but small updates.

The front end is almost done. We mocked up the front end and decided it sat too low. Ended up making new brackets and shackles to raise it up an additional 6"

Pics to follow shortly.

 

Good to hear you're still working on it! Any pics are welcome.

 

great score---want to see it done

 

Been making progress. It's no longer just a frame sitting on a table. front and rear axles/suspension are in. Here's a quick mockup pic.



Yes, it sits HIGH in the front. I wanted a dramatic rake to it, similar to the Silver Dollar. Keep in mind this was the first time it had even really rolled. The springs will settle some. I've set the motor and trans in it since this pic and it brought it down some already. I'll post pics of that shortly.

I also bobbed the bed about 9" to make it more proportionate, made a tail gate and roll pan and installed tail lights (50 pontiac)

More pics to follow.

 

Your off to a great start! Let the sparks fly!
Subscribed!

 

Thank you. Ordered my Hurst cheaters from Cody yesterday too. Pumped.

 

looking good!

 

FWIW - the Speedway springs won't settle much , if at all . Mine sure didn't anyways. Stiff as hell !!

 

Good to know. The motor already settled it down some and I still have the nose and radiator and misc stuff to put up front. I've never ran speedway springs before, I just assumed they would settle.

 

Great start on the build.....I used a tube axle for the sme reasons you did.... my truck drives super straight at freeway speeds (at least well enough you can take your hands off the wheel at 70)...

The speedway springs don't settle much, but I did re-arch mine about 3/4" to get a better shackle position. The front rides pretty smooth, bettwer than the old original axle did...

Keep up the good work..
Tom

 

WHAT THE HELL IS IN THE BACKGROUND???
Dude, you're holding out on us.

 

^
Ha. My buddy's 40 coupe. Old race car that sat for years and years. He made it safe to drive and left everything else alone. Races it a lot. Runs a blown small block.

 

LOOKS Great less than 90 days!

 

aw shit!

 

Made some more progress. I've been working on the bed, which I shortened about 9" to make it more proportionate:


H3 009 by estranged2, on Flickr

Yesterday I worked on some of the small details on the bed.

First, installed the rear tail pan and 1950 Ponitac lights:



Then I made some rear panels. The ones that were on it were fairly straight but badly pitted and I didn't need them to be as long as they were. I decided to just make a set, rather than alter the existing ones:



Test fit (they will be welded to the rear panel) :



Then I moved on to the tail gate, which still needs adjusting and finish welding tonight. It will not operate, it will be fixed in place:



I also made the small lower panels for the front, but neglected to take a picture of them.

More fun to follow!

 

It was great talking to you at the Early Bird swap meet, I'll be following along on this build ever so closely. You're doing a great job. It will be badass when it's done.

 

Hey thanks bowtie! It was good chatting with you too-the tail lights are going to work out great!

 

Inspiration:





If I had the time to chop it, I'd think hard about it.... but I don't want it to come off as a "Silver Dollar clone"

Love this truck though.

 

Great idea and The Silver Dollar truck is a good point to copy from. Never did like the hood scoop on it however....subscribed !!

 

Looking good. Can't wait for the finished product.

 

That is sooo nice !!!!! Great work.

 

I wanted to do something special with the bed rails, something I hadn't seen done at least on a Willys pickup....

Started by patching the stake holes in the bed:


wheels 014 by estranged2, on Flickr


wheels 014 by estranged2, on Flickr

Then, it was time to get to business. Before ya know it-BOOM.

Holes!

 

Hurst pie crust cheaters



Shit, you know I'm running Hurst up front too!

 

I cut the rear fenders about an inch to clear the new tires.

I didn't like the jagged edge it left, so I rolled the edges by hand



This, and a little patience


wheels 007 by estranged2, on Flickr

got me to this:

wheels 005 by estranged2, on Flickr

Then a little bit of hammer work and I had a nice smooth rolled edge


wheels 015 by estranged2, on Flickr

 

Good times.

 

Awesome!!