Hey Guys,
I'm new to this forum and building cars. I’ve been into motorcycles for the past 16 years. When I was 14 years old I saw a primer grey Willys pickup and thought it was the neatest looking pickup I’ve ever seen. 14 years later, I had a chance to purchase one for $1,300. It started up and ran, but it was very rough and still is.
I drove it home and quickly learned that it wasn’t going to fulfill my dream of driving a Willys back and forth to work. I started to contemplate what to do.
I love the reliability of the Toyotas and Nissans and thought that a body swap / Frame swap was due. The Toyotas were common but didn’t have the best MPG(important when you want to drive back and forth to work everyday). They also called a premium price in CO. I had a 1989 D21 Nissan when I was in high school and remember getting close to 30MPG often. They also were a little cheaper than then Toyotas.
I looked and asked around and it seemed that Lots of people had success doing a body swap from an older Truck to a modern S10 pickup, but my experience with the little Jap pickups reliability set me on a Nissan or Toyota. I also wanted fuel injection.
After searching Craigslist very aggressively for a few weeks I landed a donor. It showed a mere 130k and sported wide rims (necessary for the willys) and bought it for $1,300.
A little measuring and it seemed feasible.
After tearing apart the Nissan, I had a load of random parts, wires and switches that looked like a 50, 000 piece puzzle with no picture. My neighbor even came by and bet that I would never hear it run. Thank you for the confidence…
Using a tractor loader, both bodies were off. I had to remove the front fenders and grill to get the cab over the Nissans frame. I soon discovered that the stock Nissan body mounts in the front needed to be cut off for the body to fit where it should. I was able to flip them over and weld them back to the frame and catch the stock Willys mounts using the Nissan Rubbers. SCORE!
The motor needed the fan removed, a different radiator (thank you 1964 ford Falcon) and I installed an electric fan. I had to build a frame for the radiator to sit in.
I mounted the computer under the passenger seat and somehow was able to hear it run. I was able to use the stock Nissan brake and clutch pedal assembly with the help of a small wood spacer. I also scored some clearance lights at good will for $4.
My neighbor has some treated lumber and I had a few dimensional 2x12’’ and 2x8’’ and I built a flatbed. My wife painted a little symbol on the rear and that’s about all the more I have finished in the last 6 months. I still have more to do, but its been a fun build!
I'm new to this forum and building cars. I’ve been into motorcycles for the past 16 years. When I was 14 years old I saw a primer grey Willys pickup and thought it was the neatest looking pickup I’ve ever seen. 14 years later, I had a chance to purchase one for $1,300. It started up and ran, but it was very rough and still is.
I drove it home and quickly learned that it wasn’t going to fulfill my dream of driving a Willys back and forth to work. I started to contemplate what to do.
I love the reliability of the Toyotas and Nissans and thought that a body swap / Frame swap was due. The Toyotas were common but didn’t have the best MPG(important when you want to drive back and forth to work everyday). They also called a premium price in CO. I had a 1989 D21 Nissan when I was in high school and remember getting close to 30MPG often. They also were a little cheaper than then Toyotas.
I looked and asked around and it seemed that Lots of people had success doing a body swap from an older Truck to a modern S10 pickup, but my experience with the little Jap pickups reliability set me on a Nissan or Toyota. I also wanted fuel injection.
After searching Craigslist very aggressively for a few weeks I landed a donor. It showed a mere 130k and sported wide rims (necessary for the willys) and bought it for $1,300.
A little measuring and it seemed feasible.
After tearing apart the Nissan, I had a load of random parts, wires and switches that looked like a 50, 000 piece puzzle with no picture. My neighbor even came by and bet that I would never hear it run. Thank you for the confidence…
Using a tractor loader, both bodies were off. I had to remove the front fenders and grill to get the cab over the Nissans frame. I soon discovered that the stock Nissan body mounts in the front needed to be cut off for the body to fit where it should. I was able to flip them over and weld them back to the frame and catch the stock Willys mounts using the Nissan Rubbers. SCORE!
The motor needed the fan removed, a different radiator (thank you 1964 ford Falcon) and I installed an electric fan. I had to build a frame for the radiator to sit in.
I mounted the computer under the passenger seat and somehow was able to hear it run. I was able to use the stock Nissan brake and clutch pedal assembly with the help of a small wood spacer. I also scored some clearance lights at good will for $4.
My neighbor has some treated lumber and I had a few dimensional 2x12’’ and 2x8’’ and I built a flatbed. My wife painted a little symbol on the rear and that’s about all the more I have finished in the last 6 months. I still have more to do, but its been a fun build!
