My 1950 Willys Trail Rig

[Dirty S10]

I started building this jeep in late 2007. The plans were to use the drivetrain from my old SAS S10 in a trail Jeep that I bought for $300 and add some tube, leaf springs front and rear with a wheel base of 95 to 100"

Start.

[Dirty S10]

This was kind of the first mock up... It was way too tall, the 700r4 was way too long, etc. I decided I would run a different trans and T case... NP435 and bronco 20. I used Novak's guide on adapting Chevy bellhousings to Ford transmissions. The Bronco 20 was fitted with Tera Low gears and modded for twin stick operation







Column, pedals, clutch master and booster from a CJ7

[Dirty S10]

Steering box mount, 1990 Wrangler box drilled/tapped for hydro assist






TBI Wiring


Bending tube and mounting 8274

[Dirty S10]

[Dirty S10]

Fuel Cell #1


Seats


Odds and ends

[Dirty S10]

First test drive... holy axle wrap


A few people told me to build an anti wrap bar... I had other ideas

[Dirty S10]

Lowered the front with less leafs, shorter shackle, lifted the driveline, WB@102"



Exhuast, AA headers, I had to mod the driver side to clear the slave cylinder




60# skid plate

[Dirty S10]

Corvette master


Ready to wheel!



Didn't make it too far, day 1



Next try, it went nice, overheated a lot, my Perma cool fan was undersized


Electric fan from a Mercedes... works well

[Dirty S10]

3rd day!


A-Z weld ons!



More wheeling! Winter 2009-2010

[Dirty S10]

New tires


New fuel cell, modded for a YJ sending unit




Badass tail lights


Put rear shocks where they should be

[Dirty S10]

April 2010 Club Comp RC Rocs/ Wheeling trip




August 2010 RC trip

[Dirty S10]

Fall/Winter 2010 Rebuild/Redesign
-Lower ride height
-4 Link front
-Stak Transfer case/SM 420
-More reliable cooling system

SM420 from a 1950 GMC




1967 Input housing (with seal) and shaft mod

[Dirty S10]

Goodies

[Dirty S10]

Unhooked everything, and unbolted the cage

I was pretty surprised when I unbolted it, it held its shape, I thought for sure after the rollovers it would spring away from the mounts.

A couple of friends came over and helped me yank it out



Trimmed some fat




Cut out the front floor between the frame rails, to make it easier to fit the new drivetrain


In the garage, new tires mounted 1/23/11

[MEANEXPLODER]

cj looks very nice... but the driver obviously needs alot of work..

[MrWillys]

Great build thread. Needs a picture of a woman to be complete though. Keep up the good work.

[cherokeejat]

Badass Cj dude.

[Dirty S10]

Thanks guys. I started this build a long time ago but decided to put it up here to possibly get some better input.



my current engine mount setup that I made myself. The bushing is from a Lincoln SA200 Welder. No issues but I have looked at a few mount setups using a round poly bushing and sleeve (like a shacke mount bushing). I would like to do something like this. I am pretty good with a tape measure and geometry, but any tricks to getting the engine where you want it when fabricating these style mounts?

Also I have just been working on tearing this thing down. I pulled off the front sheet metal and radiatior, and transmission and transfer case... very hardcore




STaK fitted up to the SM420


Also picked up a Miller TIG to do most (if not all) of the welding for this redesign of this rig. I do a lot of stick and MIG welding at work, TIG is more of a fun process.\

[MNtal]

Cool trail Rig.

Looks like you've got a couple trail rides on her and it has evolved into a capable rig. It will be cool to see the next stage of evolution.

[theDMAXman]

hey Owen its Cardinal, build threat is sweet, i like the upgrades so far, you will love those tires. t-case 2 for that matter, i am picking up my new meats sunday morning. what did you do with the old 20 t case? what ratio did you go with?

[CJesse7]

man, you dont mess around, nice build!

[bjordan]

Great project, one of the only cages I like in a Willys. Nice lines. Why cut so much of the tub out?

[Dirty S10]

Originally Posted by theDMAXman

hey Owen its Cardinal, build threat is sweet, i like the upgrades so far, you will love those tires. t-case 2 for that matter, i am picking up my new meats sunday morning. what did you do with the old 20 t case? what ratio did you go with?

Thanks, the 20 I was running cracked, I put one together to move it around the yard and do a little wheeling. Just sold it along with the np435. That Stak is 5.22:1, I wish I bought a 3 speed. I might put it in my wrangler and buy a 3 speed anyway... well see.

Originally Posted by CJesse7

man, you dont mess around, nice build!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by bjordan

Great project, one of the only cages I like in a Willys. Nice lines. Why cut so much of the tub out?

Thanks, it was my first time with a tube bender, but I was happy with it. I cut out the rear tube to turn it into a "Juggy" or perhaps a "Willuggy" (?) I want to cut off the frame from the rear link mounts back so I can make the jeep lower and still have some uptravel. I am going to use the cage and modify the rear so it ties in, and the air shocks will mount off of it. I also think having a tubed out rear will help visibility.

[Dirty S10]

Heads off, new gaskets came in, now I am just waiting for my Torque angle guage



New clutch


Had to clearance the the 420 top cover to clear one of the ribs on the bellhousing


Installed


Tossed it in

[Dirty S10]

Had to clearance the frame



Messed around with ride height, I used some fancy jack stands to set the frame at the height I want and used another pair to set the axle at the height it will sit at with the tires aired down a little. The tape measure represents "4 feet"