"Secret Willys Revival" (My chopped '53)

[Snake Farm]

I'm not getting much spare time at all lately and starting tomorrow I'll be working 12-14 hour days (been working 10's) for the next 10 days straight so progress is going to be slow to say the least However I did piddle around the last couple of evenings with a mock up for the bed on the Willys. I had a bed made of cardboard several years ago with fenders and everything. I found the side panel stashed behind a workbench in my wood shop the other day and decided to play with it some. The original mock up was pretty conventional albeit short at 5 feet long, but when I got to messing with it this time I got to wondering what it might look like if it matched the wedge shape of the cab and front clip? These old Willys trucks are very wedge shaped..........for instance the width of the cab at the front of the doors is six inches narrower than at the back of the doors, in fact it is pretty much one straight wedge from the back of the cab which is 60" wide to the nose of the hood which is 38". With this in mind I set the bed side at the same ratio and snapped some pics and then with the bed side sitting straight........which do you like best??

angled?

or straight?

angled?

or straight?

angled?

or straight?

Sounds like you're at the eye doctor huh? LOL And one from up high, although you can barely see the bed sticking up.
..angled?

or straight?

Another reason I'm considering this is that the Chevy Luv chassis has a front track width of 66" (with my current wheel offset) which fills the fenders nicely but the full size Chevy Blazer rear end with the wheels I'll be using has a width of 76". Even with the 10 inch difference it still looks good with the wedge shape of the rest of the truck, so right now I'm really leaning towards a wedge shaped bed......the tailgate would be about a foot wider than the front of the bed. Sooooo...........what do you all think????

To be continued,

Ray

 

[ratty34]

1 vote for the wedge shaped bed.

 

[clamor]

1 vote for the wedge shaped bed.

I second

 

[jfg455]

I vote straight and square for the bed

 

[Flipper_1938]

Straight bed sides.

The uneven gap with the tire and framerails would bother me.

 

[Gastrick]

I personally like the straight.

 

[Snake Farm]

Busy week with no garage time to speak of However I have been pumping some WD-40 into the cylinders and valve guides in preparation of firing it up one of these days. As discussed earlier the engine hadn't been turned over for 9+ years and even though it turned pretty easily by hand I'm still soaking it good.

Straight bed sides.

The uneven gap with the tire and framerails would bother me.

It will have fenders if that helps..???
Thanks guys for the input on the bed. I'm still leaning on wedge shapped so far. Hope to get some time soon to mock up the fenders and tialgate.

 

[rainman]

Straight!!

 

[the reverend muddy grimes]

Its your build, and if you want wedge, go wedge. I prefer the straight myself, but like I said, its yours.

 

[Sam_Fear]

I'm leaning toward wedge. You'll have to make the fenders straight though or it'll look screwy.

It's kinda hard to get a good vision of it from cramped pictures. Either way will be good looking.

 

[Tripper]

SF,
Wow... somehow I missed this thread & glad I caught up. It's way kool u held on to the Willie for this long & I definitely think the time is right for a revival! Sweeeeet!!! [cl

BoB

 

[Snake Farm]

Well, so far the "bed score" is five votes for straight and three for wedge shaped.........'course I haven't voted yet

I'm leaning toward wedge. You'll have to make the fenders straight though or it'll look screwy.

It's kinda hard to get a good vision of it from cramped pictures. Either way will be good looking.

Yeah Sam, I would make the fenders parallel with the tires......they would be wider in the front like the front fenders

..and would be shaped like the original Willys rear fenders..

BTW you said a mouthful when you mentioned "cramped pictures" It's hard to step back and look in a 16X26 garage Hopefully I can gather enough cardboard to build the whole bed including fenders and then push it outside so I can get a better feel for it.

Again thanks guys for all the input.......I'll keep you posted.

Ray

 

[Snake Farm]

Been working seven days a week so not much happening in the garage I did steal a few minutes and build a fender.......it's pretty crude though, even for cardboard
Here's a few pics....

Note the fender is wide in the front and narrow in the back to fit the wedge shaped bed.

.......so, what do you guys think?? I found my old tailgate mock up stapled to the ceiling of my shop so I still plan to mock up the whole bed with both fenders, tailgate, side steps and side panels to cover rear frame and shackles...when I get some more time that is.

To be continued,

Ray

 

[Gastrick]

I think the fender plan looks real good and blends in nicely with the truck.

 

[clamor]

Woooo Hoooo!
I love it!
-Chaz

 

[Shea Laking]

Haven't checked in on this one for awhile...You're making good progress, SF!

Add one more vote for the "WEDGIE" bed look. Somehow, it just seems to fit the "CARtoon" proportions of the whole thing! I really like it!

Time to stop gluein' and start [ Get your work situation back to normal first, though.

Regards,
Shea

 

[skull]

roof

straight on the bed.

l would smooth the roof above the windshield, it takes away from the "flow" of the rest of body. it makes the roof look like a afterthougth instead of being include in the rest of the build. as dad would say, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

just my O2c,

Later

 

[Snake Farm]

straight on the bed.

l would smooth the roof above the windshield, it takes away from the "flow" of the rest of body. it makes the roof look like a afterthougth instead of being include in the rest of the build. as dad would say, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

just my O2c,

Later

I've actually kicked that idea around before and may still do it before it's over with. I also had this crazy idea once to cut the top off around the drip rail and make it removable......kind of a "mutant targa" top That drip rail going all around makes these old Willys recognizable from a mile away so I'm not sure I want to remove it.......[Son the other hand I wouldn't mind smoothing it out for the same reason If I were any good with photo shop I would remove it and see what it looks like...hint, hint

Later,

Ray

 

[Snake Farm]

Okay, so Skull has really got me thinking on the drip rail [S I'm not much good at Photoshop type stuff but I managed to kinda get rid of it enough to see what it might look like. In fact the finished product would probably look very much like this by the time I beat and grind it into submission[.........so what do you all think?

Drip rail.....

Or no drip rail..?

To be continued,

Ray

 

[LOWANDRATY]

bed

I think the wedge bed is a good look for the truck, it will make the back look like the front end, on the fenders I would make small running boards on the front of the rear fenders also and wedge them in toward the cab, just like the front are, but backwards, the drip rail is a hard one for me, I have a willys wagon and like you said before that drip rail makes the trucks looks, and one thing about that drip rail when it rains, it will stop you from taking a bath when you open the door, but it's your truck, so make it the way you want it, after all you have to drive it not anyone else, every thing looks good so far, keep up the good work