51 Willys Build

[Bamamav]

A Ranger 8.8 rear should be about the right width, about 58" IIRC.

 

[willyD]

That is just about right. The toyota rear end is 56.5" wide. I don't mind going a little wider and grabbing some wheels for the back with a bigger backspacing since the ones i have now only have a 1 inch backspacing.

Also, a correction to my last post is that I have a c6 not a c4 trans with the 351.

 

[AZRodDave]

Awesome build and VERY creative with the details! The new drivetrain should be a blast once it is in! Big fat tires on the rear? Super cool.

Oh, and since you asked about the visor (another splendid feature!), it looks okay black, but trying to match it to the hood and grille would look better. Wonder what's under the black paint?

 

[willyD]

The visor has the factory light green primer under the black rattle can job. They didn't paint the back side black so it's still that funky green color. I almost wish it have more layers of paint on it so I could just sand it a bit. Messing with that has now taken a serious back seat to the drive train though

 

[clamor]

As a recovering Jeep addict, I'm a sucker for flat fenders...any plans for putting yours back on?
Fantastic build, carry on!
-Chaz

 

[AZRodDave]

The visor has the factory light green primer under the black rattle can job. They didn't paint the back side black so it's still that funky green color. I almost wish it have more layers of paint on it so I could just sand it a bit. Messing with that has now taken a serious back seat to the drive train though

I can surely appreciate that!

 

[willyD]

I'm unsure at the moment if the fenders will go back on it or not. I have all of them and they are all usable. If I did, I would likely modify them. I do kinda like it fenderless for now though.

I really like this truck and it has fenders similar to what I would do if I used mine I think.

 

[willyD]

I managed to get a smoking deal on an 8.8 posi rear end. It will be fun to get that tucked in at some point.

I also found a few issues with stuffing the new (to me) motor and trans in. My toyota frame uses the trans cross member as the torsion bar mount. Well, because of where my cab and grille need to sit on the frame, that cross member is way to far forward. So the torsion bars have to go so that I can chop the cross member out and put it where it needs to go. I looked into a bunch of options and decided that bagging the front will be the easiest and, oddly, the cheapest way to go. I'll just do the front for now and deal with the back next winter maybe. Needless to say, my motor swap is snowballing. Not like that is a big surprise but still...

 

[clamor]

the good kind

It's the kind of snowballing that we like here from the sidelines.
[P

-Chaz

 

[willyD]

I need to upload a few more pics but I haven't had time lately. I had a bit of a shopping spree and have a pile-o-parts sitting in the garage now which is cool. The motor/trans fit really nicely now that I took the cutoff wheel to a bunch of the work I did in the spring on my tunnel and firewall and the factory trans crossmember and motor mounts. I also canned the sway bar, torsion bars and another bolt in crossmember. I'm getting close to fabbing motor mounts and a new trans crossmember. The material is in the garage and some of it is even cut. Hopefully next week, I'll have the motor/trans in on their own mounts.

 

[willyD]

Well, I have the motor/trans sitting on their mounts in the truck. Feels pretty good to get this far. There's still a ton to do of coarse but its always good to hit those milestones! I built the mounts out of 3/16 wall 2 1/2" square tube. They bolt to 3/16 flange angle that is welded to the frame. I found some rubber pucks that are old ford flathead V8 mounts to use. On the motor side, I cut some half in barstock to length and bolted that to the two bosses on 351w block. It all goes together really nicely and it lets me pull the mount arms out when I pull the motor so that they don't interfere with anything. The cross-member for the trans is 3/16 wall 2" square mounted on 3/16 flange angle as well. It's very simple and easy to install and remove as well. The motor fits really well. It's almost entirely behind the front end cross-member and I set it so that the sump on the oil pan is pretty much flush with the bottom of that cross-member. I also rebuilt the front of my floor frame over the new trans. I'm working on piecing together some sheet metal that I salvaged from the Willys to cover the front section of the tunnel.

 

[willyD]

I haven't posted in awhile but I have been getting stuff done.

I managed to salvage enough original sheet metal to plate in the front on my tunnel. I also got the remote oil filter finally setup. That turned out to be way more of a pain in the butt than expected!

 

[willyD]

I have also been working on my lake headers. I'm a total noob for this kind of thing so it has been an interesting experience. They are finish welded yet and I still need to punch the holes in the cones but they're coming along. Getting around the steering shaft was tricky but I think I got it sorted out.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Nice Work!!

Yeah....don't keep us in the dark so long....lol...seriously nice stuff man...[cl

 

[soltz]

Nice work all around [cl love the headers, wander if that design would work on the old sprint with holes in the hood or maybe the fenders [S i've been wanting to make a little more noise
Like sgt said, keep us in the loop a little more [P

 

[Whyworry]

Looking good Willyd ... I see you managed to get the engine in place without messing with the hood ,I had to make mine longer to fit the 460 in . Keep up the good work .

 

[Flipper_1938]

Killer little truck. I like it.

 

[AZRodDave]

Killer little truck. I like it.

Yup, SERIOUSLY cool. [dr

 

[DJ3100]

Haven't seen this until now - great build.

 

[willyD]

Thanks for all the compliments! I'll try to keep updating more. I get so busy with every day crap that I run out of time for posting... You all know how that goes! There's still a ton of work to do!