wheelinjp's Willys Wagon Long term project

wheelinjp · Oct 24, 2010

Well I sold the nissan yesterday and picked up a new toy. I found a 1963 willys utility wagon with a sbc 350 and th350 mated to the stock model 18 t-case and stock axles. Im assuming by my 4k rpm trip down the freeway at 60mph that it has 4.27 gears. it was quite an adventure driving it from Des Moines to rainier. Only took about an hour and a half. The interior is all there all stock and almost everything works. The gas gauge doesnt work and the interior light, but everything else seems functional. The biggest issue is rust. there is some rust in the typical spots that I plan on tackling little by little. Since the truck is orange under some tan paint, and flat black, I want to get it into some sealer primer and start on the rust spots. Oh and it has manual steering and brakes and doesnt corner real well haha. My plans for it include repairing and repainting the body, upgrades here and there like power steering and power brakes, disc brakes, upgrade the axles to wagoneer d44 front and d60 rear(flanged 35spline d60 from a 60s jeep j3000 thats 5 on 5.5) , updated springs sprung over and 33in tires. I want to keep the stock interior completely stock as well. If I get real ambitious I will also toss a 90 tbi 350 heads and intake on it and fuel inject it for reliability. Now here is how its looking as we speak.

good time of the year, its orange, black, and gray.

nowires · Oct 24, 2010

Nice

can't wait to see progress

pokey · Oct 24, 2010

Nice Sean :awesomework: I knew you couldnt stay out long :haha:

wheelinjp · Oct 25, 2010

thanks and you are right jim. My injection is today btw. bite me larry is on his way here to take me to my appointment. This one will never be a wheeler though. maybe a christmas tree run or snow run on wide log roads haha. it will primarily be a family cruiser for local trips to the store and fishing. I plan on driving it alot. It drove pretty nice actually other than getting a lil sketchy over 60 and grabbing the ruts on 167 a couple times. it has all stock steering haha.

Roccrawler · Oct 25, 2010

Holy money pit !!!

be cool done though :awesomework:

zukkev · Oct 25, 2010

Always liked these rigs...just plain cool!

Lookin' forward to the progress...

Zoediak · Oct 25, 2010

hmmm.. i might actually have one of those rear axles laying around, I will have to look to be sure...

wheelinjp · Nov 6, 2010

well no pic-worthy updates yet. I just dinked around with some little stuff. My very first order of business is to get a few things fixed that I feel are important. First things are the defrosters and heater, then the gas gauge, and the exhaust leak. I found the heater fan in the back of the truck and its location taped up under the dash. The fan cage was broken off its epoxy mount so I drilled and screwed the cage and hub together. It is now installed and fixed. Next I started tracing out the gas gauge wiring and that is where I left off. I have to pull the gauge cluster out of the dash to move forward. So I did some other stuff not on the list. I measured and it looks like an hei distributor will fit in the engine bay. Then I found an axle ratio tag on the front axle. My wagon has 4.27s in the front axle. It doesnt have a front driveline yet so I dont know if the axles have the same ratio. It is hard to read, but the 2in tachometer gauge reads over 4k. rpms at 60. So I am wondering if the rear axle has 5.38s in it. That would explain the lack of a front d-line too. thats all Ive gotten done so far. :awesomework:

jeffroadams · Nov 9, 2010

wheelinjp said:
(flanged 35spline d60 from a 60s jeep j3000 thats 5 on 5.5)

This axle equals really expensive wheel bearings, about $150 a piece and a pain to track down. for whatever reason they make the aftermarket ones sealed units. I would avoid this axle I wish I would have

wheelinjp · Nov 13, 2010

thanks for the heads up jeff. I will definitely remove that from the parts list. I will probably end up with a 9in. rear and waggy 44 front. Im in no hurry so I will shop when im ready. Heck I will probably end up with both axles from a waggy and just run 6lug. we will see. Now that you mentioned this I remember my friend john having a heck of a time tracking down those bearings. :awesomework:

leadfoot067 · Nov 13, 2010

sometime in the near future sean i will have a set of 6 lug chevy ralleys,with 33 allterrains in nice shape for sale...theres 5 of them...and a pair of 10 bolts, rear with eaton posi and 3.73 gears,both tight axles..

wheelinjp · Nov 24, 2010

leadfoot067 said:
sometime in the near future sean i will have a set of 6 lug chevy ralleys,with 33 allterrains in nice shape for sale...theres 5 of them...and a pair of 10 bolts, rear with eaton posi and 3.73 gears,both tight axles..

cool thanks shane, but now I am thinking scout axles(5 on 5.5 and narrow) and I will be going tall and skinny on the tires like a 255 85 16 (33-9.5) bfg m/t km2. we will see though, I might change plans haha.

monstaru · Nov 24, 2010

scout axles are by far the easiest to mount.that is what my neighbor has on his.mine is still running stock 30, and 35.ifn you need any parts .let me know.i or my neighbor might have an extra.cheers

wheelinjp · May 22, 2011

started the floor replaceing part. cut out the passenger floorboard. now I am just fitting the new one, and gonna shoot everything with some POR15 before I weld in the new pan. lots of cleaning to do still.

wheelinjp · Jul 14, 2011

well I finally set the scalers aside long enough to work on the wagon today. I got all the old floor cut out to fit my first big floorpan on the passenger side. I was surprised how good it fit. now to learn sheetmetal welding.

Ok this welder larry lent me is sweet!!! thank you. I threw down some practice welds. just like butter. Im going for it tomorrow. middle tacks were dialed nicely.

wheelinjp · Jul 16, 2011

I know it isnt a cool buggy build or a tricked out coilover install. Once I get the floors done, i can start on the fun stuff like power steering and power brakes. then the suspension and axles will go in. so this is not as easy as the test welding looks. it goes great everywhere the metal meets up perfectly, but in the places there is a lil gap it isnt going real well.

skinny_pedal · Jul 16, 2011

Need bigger pics:flipoff:

wheelinjp · Sep 11, 2011

this is gonna be another small pic haha. took with my cell phone. cleaned up the motor a little with a performer intake, mallory distributor, and some black spray paint. still needs valve covers and a nice air cleaner. they are old chrome ones from china that are rusted badly. Now as of today it needs a damn starter. oh and last week I put a new water pump on it too. All I have left to go bad is the alternator haha. The new intake and distributor made a world of difference in the running though. Nice and smooth with better power.
still needs 8mm wires, plugs gapped wider, a new coil for looks, and all the brackets and pulleys cleaned and painted.