Howdy, this is the intro to my 59 Willys wagon thread. I will be doing a complete body off resto/refresh on this truck. I have never done a frame off before so this should be an adventure, I have however rebuilt my 73 FJ40 from almost the ground up in the last 3 yrs. I also have a 56 wagon that may or may not provide some parts for the 59. My plans are wide open right now as I tend to plan as I work, but I'm thinkin fuel injected SBC, maybe an NV 4500, x case, dunno yet, axles, not decided, SOA, maybe coil front, tube front fenders along the same lines as Firewiz has done on his truck, new Autometers, blah blah blah...well there you go. I should also say that this will probably take me the better part of the next 2 years as I aquire parts and such, unless I win the lottery :shaking:., so patience will be useful. Now I gotta find some pics
59 Willys, circle the wagons!
73FJ
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Howdy, this is the intro to my 59 Willys wagon thread. I will be doing a complete body off resto/refresh on this truck. I have never done a frame off before so this should be an adventure, I have however rebuilt my 73 FJ40 from almost the ground up in the last 3 yrs. I also have a 56 wagon that may or may not provide some parts for the 59. My plans are wide open right now as I tend to plan as I work, but I'm thinkin fuel injected SBC, maybe an NV 4500, x case, dunno yet, axles, not decided, SOA, maybe coil front, tube front fenders along the same lines as Firewiz has done on his truck, new Autometers, blah blah blah...well there you go. I should also say that this will probably take me the better part of the next 2 years as I aquire parts and such, unless I win the lottery :shaking:., so patience will be useful. Now I gotta find some pics
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Now up to this point I have completely gutted the interior, pulled and sold the motor-tranny-x case, it still ran believe it or not, pulled all the glass and saved what I could for templates. The body will be a challenge, both rear panels will be cut out and replaced, most of the body mounts are completely shot and will be replaced, a new gas tank will be fabbed by yours truly, possibly from aluminium, and I will be building a rotisserie to put the body on this winter. The frame will be set aside until the spring and will be at the least boxed in, but probably starightened too. I have a complete set of interior panels, some with the original ashtray, these will be remade out of aluminum.
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Today I got around to filling some of the holes in the firewall, man it's been a long time since I welded thin gage. I'm not going to get real picky about the firewall, I think I will be putting some kind of a textured product on there. So there you go, this is my truck, it's probably not gonna be SEMA quality but it will be fun. Moab 2011 or bust! Now to do some grinding and measuring. I'm not sure if this is the right spot for this, hard core, soft core, so if it needs moving go for it.
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Ya brother.This needs to be moved to the Willys forum, maybe one of the mods could help us out.
I think we are talkin to ourselves tho.....
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Right On 73! I am really looking forward to your build. This is a great time to start it with winter coming on. As long as you have a nice heater in your shop! Subscribed!
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Here are some shots of the frame, pretty rough with lots of booger welds, it looks like someone made an attempt at repairing some cracks and I'm sure they meant well but it was poorly done. So what I will do is cut off the front of the frame and remake it out of fresh steel and quality welds, probably chop it just behind the hole for the steering box. The rest of the frame is surprisingly well preserved except at the back where more booger welding took place to hold the cut down Ford rear bumper.
I did manage to get the old gas tank out tonight and the body is pretty much ready to come off, maybe this weekend if I don't go fishing.
I did manage to get the old gas tank out tonight and the body is pretty much ready to come off, maybe this weekend if I don't go fishing.
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Well, I think that may have been the practice spot, you know, to get the heat set right. :skull:
Kinda looks like they tried to weld it from beside the vehicle just reaching under the frame with one hand. Then failed to inspect their quality work to see if they acutally hit the crack with any weld. Must not have wanted to get any hot sparks burning into their chest as they lay there in determination to do a good weld.
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May 2011 you mean, right? I'll never make 2010 unless a Lottery win interrupts my posh oilfield trash lifestyle
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