Just another chopped and channeled Willys wagon on one tons build.

[D Rat]

People have been after me to get a build thread going for a while now, so here it is and any feedback or ideas are welcomed.

1953 Willys wagon
1987 chevy 3/4 ton frame
39.5 Iroks on H2 wheels
D60 front axle with factory locker
14bolt full floater rear with factory locker and disc brake conversion
Chevy LS 5.3 on propane
Turbo 700r4
Toyota doubler transfer cases
52" chevy springs in the front
54" chevy springs in the rear
Beard buckets in the front and beard bench in the rear
Art Car shifter
Warn 8274 winch
2wd stearing box
27 gal propane tanks
warn hubs

So far with all this above Im into this build a litle under 3 grand total.

Wanted parts

cross over steering
hydro assist ram
4brl intake



This is how it sits as of today, now before you start in about rear fender clearance I need to get the full cage in and some more wight so that I can start flexing this thing out to determine the front and rear ride height since the front and rear shackles have yet to be made .

[D Rat]

So it all started one day on the way home when I took a shortcut and found this.





100 dollars later and it was all mine.

[D Rat]

Started putting parts together and getting some ideas on what direction to go.



A good friend of mine gave me a call and asked if I wanted a roller, some have asked why I went with a chevy frame ? It was FREE and met my needs.



Removed every thing that I didn't need and cleaned up the rest.



Swapped out the frames and shortened the wheelbase.

[D Rat]

Found a set of doors, the price, I had to haul away the hole truck, no problem.



Doors are on and as you see it, Im into this build 200 dollars.

[D Rat]

Found my axles but once again I had to take the trucks, so I ended up with two of every thing.

This one only had 800 miles on it.



This one had 8800 miles and a locker in the front.



This is my kind of bling, waiting on the rear disk set up.

[D Rat]

So by now my scrap metal pile is getting prety big, a friend of mine was closing the doors to his shop and asked if I wanted to trade my scrap for his two compressors.



As of today I have sold one set of axles, the utility bed the scrap and Im still only into this build 200 dollars and I still have this all aluminum box.

[D Rat]

Started the sheet metel work.







Bent up the new rocker support.



Installed and started cutting in some ground clearence.





As you can see I took a few inches off the bottom of the doors.

[D Rat]

Now with the new rockers in I was able to cut out the rest of the floor pan and firewall.



Lowered the body down on the frame and welded the body mounts.



Now its starting to look like it does in my head, thanks to my good friend David aka daveyjeep for loaning me some tires for mock up.

[D Rat]

I had my winch plate bent up and changed the front B52 mounts and added my new to me winch.

[D Rat]

Started the top chop, instead of chopping the windshield I lowered it into the cowl.





Cut out the dash and started welding it all back together.







doors are cut and welded and back on.

[D Rat]

Found this just sitting in a field, so I started cutting it to fit the wagon.



A little more cutting and some welding and I like it, now I have to build my own hood.



Got the rear bumper mounted, D rings on and the tailgate cut and welded to a frame.

[D Rat]

Found some Vortec heads here on the PBB.



Got my propane tanks, 33gal water 27gal fuel.



Cut off the old mounts and welded on some new mounts, fits like a glove.

[texasag02]

Sick!

[kpj]

Nice build!!!

[blueskies]

Looking forward to more build updates... subscribed.

Pete

[Goldie Locks]

''Rules the trail as Mr.Cool'' I love it!

[slinkytj]

Fawesome!

[APU]

lots of cool shit happen'n. i like it. looks real cool

[73FJ]

Love the chop top, truck has a killer stance.

[FordFascist]

Awesome build, but I would ditch the Propane and the V6. What you need is an fuel injected V8 to turn that drivetrain.

[masonmachines]

Did you get the axles for free as long as you took the whole truck with its aluminum box?

[D Rat]

Thanks guys, now that it has cooled down I should be back out working on it again.

FordFascist, last thing I want in this is a computer, and here in Az fuel breaks down so fast its not funny, and as for the v8 it is set up to fit right in but with the weight savings and the fact that there is less chance I will break something I want to give it a try, by the way, have you ever seen my old blue 79 F250 with 40" M.Ts., cutouts and spare in the bed running around San Jose ?

masonmachines, I wish, no for what I sold the other axles, bed and scrap for I broke even, so ya they ended up free.

[JohnnyJ]

Nice work. I amazed when people can wheel and deal and come out with something like this with just a few hundred out of their pocket.

[FordFascist]

Originally Posted by D Rat

Thanks guys, now that it has cooled down I should be back out working on it again.

FordFascist, last thing I want in this is a computer, and here in Az fuel breaks down so fast its not funny, and as for the v8 it is set up to fit right in but with the weight savings and the fact that there is less chance I will break something I want to give it a try, by the way, have you ever seen my old blue 79 F250 with 40" M.Ts., cutouts and spare in the bed running around San Jose ?

masonmachines, I wish, no for what I sold the other axles, bed and scrap for I broke even, so ya they ended up free.

San Jose is a big city so it's doubtful I've seen it.

Computers are nothing to fear as far as I'm concerned. The driveability is fantastic and the ability to get fuel anywhere is great. You have a lot of capacity which will keep you from running out of gas, but it would still worry me to be on propane out in the boonies. As far as power, I am a fan of the "When in doubt, throttle out" mentality, which led to a 351W in my flatty. To each his own - it's still a great build!

[Gojeep]

This really great that you have finally put this into to its own thread. Subscribed for sure!
Also wish I had some of your luck getting parts so cheap! Had a really bad run trying to get anything for my project. People here like to take advantage of you as there are so few about.