"Secret Willys Revival" (My chopped '53)

[Todd]

Looks good. The seat could be a little hard to deal with.

 

[Tim...Ok]

I've got an old metal milk crate in mine, uhh, for "testing".. You are making really good progress and it's lookin great..

 

[skull]

legs

sexy legs[ddev

looks like good progress[cl

Later

 

[Shea Laking]

Thanks Tim, yeah it won't be long........we have a couple acres of grass here and a 1/4 mile driveway to work the bugs out of this thing [ddd I still need to finish welding my spring perches to the rear end and get a couple new u-bolts before I throw the drive shaft in.....need to put my shifter back in too. The yard is pretty level so I don't think brakes will be necessary at first This truck has never moved under it's own power since I've owned it (30 yrs.) so I'm getting pretty excited [cl

I worked on a roof all day so I've spent the evening in the A/C instead of working on the Willys But here is a short video I shot last night......something about this accomplishment that makes it seem more like a real truck !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhWYXZg4y3A&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Stay tuned, morale is way up

Ray

[cl

Great video! I bet that felt good to hear! I'm grinning ear-to-ear for you! Thanks for sharing![P

Regards,
Shea

 

[zzrodder]

It runs !! [cl[cl The sweet sounds of success.... at first I thought it sounded a little buggy . Man those are some seriously loud bugs you have for company there.

 

[hflhfl]

Just read through this whole build ! Awesome truck ! Great work so far ! Love the cab light , glad you're keeping them ! [cl

 

[Snake Farm]

[cl

Great video! I bet that felt good to hear! I'm grinning ear-to-ear for you!

Regards,
Shea

Thanks Shea, you think you're grinning for me now wait till you see the video I shot this evening Will post it after while if it ever loads

Man those are some seriously loud bugs you have for company there.

Yeah, you just kinda get used to it. I hadn't really noticed how loud they were till I played the video. We kinda live out in the boonies too so you can hear every little thing.

Just read through this whole build ! Awesome truck ! Great work so far ! Love the cab light , glad you're keeping them ! [cl

Thanks for the kind words. As for the cab lights......Skull keeps trying to talk me into filling them in but they are staying

Stay tuned for an update on this weekend's progress.

Ray

 

[Snake Farm]

I ended up working quite a bit on the Willys this weekend. One of the things I got done was hanging the doors back on......

......I know, pic looks the same as a lot of the others but the doors are much better now. I just had them stuck together before but I welded some reinforcements in the hinge mount areas and aligned (I use that word very loosely) the doors in the openings.....by align I mean they open and close without rubbing or hinge binding .
Years ago when I put the rear end in I had to move the spring pads inboard a little and we just torched them off and tacked them back in place. Today I plated the gaps and welded them up and replaced one of the u-bolts that was broken. After I got that done I couldn't help but notice that if I skipped a few things and could find enough tie wire, string and zip ties that I might have a surprise in store for my wife

So, I put in the drive shaft and strapped an overflow bottle to one side of the radiator.....

...strapped a "gas tank" to the other side

...this thing should move out like "Greased Lightning" Then I grabbed a couple chunks of egg crate foam and fashioned a nice comfy seat and yelled for Momma to come give me a hand. Now for years I've considered this my wife's truck so I've always thought she should be the first to drive it However as I said I skipped a few things.......like brakes and door latches to name a couple So, after explaining that there is only one pedal......the "Speed Pedal"......and after some brief instructions on how to drive a vehicle that has no brakes, I put her in, tied the doors shut with some nice little bows and sent her on her way

Hang on for some video......

 

[Snake Farm]

Well here it is, a short video of the "Snake Farm" shop truck's maiden voyage!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt9qIIECC60&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Sorry about the giggling but I couldn't help it I didn't know if the tranny had dried up completely or not but after adding fluid a couple times it decided to move. In the vid she had to pull it down in low to get it to go but after her first loop she took me a ride and it pulled along pretty good in second but still no drive....hopefully that will change with a filter and some new fluid I was surprised it done as well as it did after sitting over twenty years!
So, for the first time in the 30+ years I've owned this thing it has now moved under it's own power [cl And judging by the smile on her face I think Momma likes it too!

Now to get to work on some brakes, door latches, wiring.......(it's just rough wired right now)

.....get the gauges hooked up and a leaky radiator fixed and we'll be cruising.....at least around in the field and drive way

It's been a good day at the "Snake Farm".

Later,

Ray

 

[bradyjames]

Gauge cluster

I know it's a couple threads back, but I love the new gauge panel/cluster!

 

[DJ3100]

Get video! There's almost no better feeling than that first drive. Mrs. Snake Farm did excellant, my wife would have tried to mate the Willys with the tree or the house.

 

[skull]

first drive

there is not many things better than that first drive with your'e project

l am so glad to see it move on it's own, ya come a long way in the last few months.

OK, l guess the lights don't look that bad what tires and wheels are gonna be on it when done?

l like the stance,[cl[cl

try some lucas or other tranny additive along those lines and see if it helps the gears in the tranny.

cab looks great with no drip rail.

Later

 

[Snake Farm]

I know it's a couple threads back, but I love the new gauge panel/cluster!

Thanks Brady, here it is in fresh white paint.....and I mean FRESH.....I just came in from painting it and the bugs were still flopping in it when I turned out the lights!

I just wanted to do something a little different with the cheap gauges than hanging them under the dash with the chrome bezel. This way they might look like the good stuff at first glance

I've been starting it up pretty often lately....trying to work the rings loose and now trying to limber up the tranny, so this will let me install the gauges for good so I can keep tabs on stuff.

Later,

Ray

 

[Snake Farm]

Get video! There's almost no better feeling than that first drive. Mrs. Snake Farm did excellant, my wife would have tried to mate the Willys with the tree or the house.

Yeah she had a blast, she's still talking about it today.....said at first she thought "uh oh I'm going a little too fast for no brakes" but then she said all she was thinking was "Wow, I can't believe this thing finally runs and drives" I sure enjoyed watching and going for a ride with her too......I'll drive it once my daughter and son in-law drive it in a couple weeks.

l am so glad to see it move on it's own, ya come a long way in the last few months.

Me too! I have come a long way since New Years haven't I.....Done more in seven months than I had in 30 years!

OK, l guess the lights don't look that bad what tires and wheels are gonna be on it when done?

l like the stance,[cl[cl

cab looks great with no drip rail.

Later

Ahh, I knew you'd come around on the cab lights
I'm going to run those rear wheels that are on it and some old 15X5 six lug solids that I'm going to reverse to get them out near the edge of the fenders. I like the stance too but right now I have the torsion bars cranked all the way down on the stops so the front may have to come up a little.

Later,

Ray

 

[skull]

cab lights

on the cab lights, make some lens covers out of lightly colored yellow plexi-glass or colored lights and clear plexi.

that way the lens covers don't stick out to far and interfere with the nice smooth looks you achieved by shaving the drip rails[

l did the plexi-glass thing on the front to clean up where the oringal lens covers stuck out to far on my truck.

l used a hole saw with no drill bit in it. l clamped the plexi to a 2x6 on my drill press to cut them out.

Later

 

[Sam_Fear]

Great video! With the wife in it, it looks like you coulda chopped it another couple inches.

 

[Snake Farm]

Great video! With the wife in it, it looks like you coulda chopped it another couple inches.

Thanks Sam, it does have plenty of head room .........if I had it to do over I would go for an 8" chop [ddd

Later,

Ray

 

[Snake Farm]

Well, since the Willys has now moved under it's own power I'm really anxious to get some brakes on it so I can run it around the yard and driveway. So that's what I've been working on over the weekend. First of all in order to avoid being 'Crucified' or worst yet 'Banned', I decided to chuck the 'fruit jar' master cylinder I had and picked up a manual dual reservoir Mustang unit. When installing a master cylinder by yourself I strongly recommend installing suicide doors first.....

....makes the job so much easier

Got the master and the pedal mounted..........

.....and then the trouble started Mustang M/C, Chevy Van prop valve, Chevy Luv front hoses (metric). Looked all over this little one horse town for lines and fittings and waded into it this after noon. Was getting pretty frustrated and overwhelmed with clutter in my little hole of a garage....

...so I quit and started tidying up a bit. Then to my surprise my sister and brother in-law showed up with a bunch of fittings and a flaring tool and it was 'back on' ! With me cutting and bending and my brother in-law flaring we were able to get the M/C plumbed to the prop valve, the rear port plugged (I don't have any drums or brake parts on the rear yet) and the left front wheel plumbed to the flex hose!

Not the prettiest job but it should making stopping a lot easier
Tomorrow I will pick up enough line to go to the right front......then put my new calipers, pads and flex lines on and I should have front brakes......or would that be a 'line lock' [ddd

To be continued,

Ray

 

[Snake Farm]

Oh almost forgot, my brother in-law brought me a 'loaner' gas tank to use till I get a permanent one. An old Harwood 5 gallon that he used to have on a drag car years ago....

...should give me a little more range than the Greased Lightning bottle

I mentioned awhile back that I had set myself the ambitious goal of making it to a small car show with the Willys on Labor Day weekend. There's no way I can get the truck finished enough to be legal by then so here's the plan as of now...if I can get the front brakes working, the fuel cell mounted, the radiator leak fixed........and if the tranny don't let me down, we plan to haul it to within a couple miles of the show and drive it in. Granted instead of cruising in all cool and laid back it will be more like 'hanging on for dear life' i.e. no glass, no bed, no brakes on half the wheels, no lights, doors tied shut etc. etc. I think it'll still be cool though [ddd

Stay tuned,

Ray

 

[skull]

Granted instead of cruising in all cool and laid back it will be more like 'hanging on for dear life' i.e. no glass, no bed, no brakes on half the wheels, no lights, doors tied shut etc. etc. I think it'll still be cool though[ddd

sounds like a normal cruise in the stuff l used to build[dr

Later