FrankenWillys

Finally got a chance to get the '51 out. I've maybe drove it 3 miles after I bought it so it was going to be a new experience driving it 20 miles to the trails. The jeep drives great on the road. Tons of power and acceleration from the 4.3L and 4 barrel carb. No problems cruising at 60 or racing up hills. I got stuck in traffic and that got pretty rough. The clutch is extremely stiff and the engine started to get hot. It didn't help the idle was way too high. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1470582187.023928.jpg
The speedo is a little off. I was doing over 50 at this point.
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We finally got to the trails and I met up with a few friends. So driving it on the trails was a completely different experience. The jeep bounced everywhere and it just want to go fast. I couldn't really get it to go slow enough. I tried to get the carb dialed in but it died several times. It's been sitting for a few years so it probably needs gone through. Also I suspension had zero flex. The drive was more challenging but also fun. The aftermarket seats sit so high that you have to lean down to look out the windshield. I may have hit my head multiple times on the roll bar. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1470582639.858313.jpgImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1470582654.214334.jpgImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1470582676.593529.jpg
Here's a shot of the group. I think I won the award for the least amount of flex and the most flex. My wife brought the JK. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1470582778.553754.jpgImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1470582806.358864.jpg
 
So at the end of the day, I had an idea of how I want to move forward on this build. I need to fix the seats. I may have to move the gas tank since the seat is stilling on top of the tank and I won't be able to drop it any lower. I'm thinking of swapping in an automatic to make it more manageable. Rebuild the carb or covert to EFI. I'm not sure what I want to do with the suspension yet. I want to get rid of the chrome wheels and get some originals or just a simple steel wheel. More fun times ahead.
 
I've been underway for the last two months so I haven't been able to make any progress on this until now. I cleaned up the inside of the tub and hit it with some Rustoleum Bed Liner. Nothing fancy but it works. It has a sandpaper finish. IMG_3398.jpgIMG_3401.jpg
The next problem to be addressed was the seats. They sat too high and I found myself looking at the windshield frame. I tried to redesign the mounts but realized I couldn't go any lower unless I relocated the fuel tank. I finally gave in and bought some new bucket seats which work perfect. They sit much lower and I moved them back for more leg room. Now I'm chasing an electrical gremlin. I'll save that for tomorrow. IMG_3700.jpg


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I hate electrical gremlins. Hard to find. Good luck. [emoji256]

I like the seats. I still have the stock ones in my Willys for that reason you mentioned about being too high. I have seen people relocate the fuel tank but you have two poor options. Lose clearance under your seat or lose cargo space.


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2Cross said:
I hate electrical gremlins. Hard to find. Good luck. [emoji256]

I like the seats. I still have the stock ones in my Willys for that reason you mentioned about being too high. I have seen people relocate the fuel tank but you have two poor options. Lose clearance under your seat or lose cargo space.


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I fought with the Bestop seats that were in there for a long time but couldn't come up with a good solution. I was moving towards putting originals back in but I couldn't find any used and new ones were so expensive. These ones only put me back $150. For the electrical, I think it's in the ignition switch which is a GM column. I ran it today and It died while I was adjusting the idle. After that it wouldn't start and it sounded like it didn't have any spark. I'll figure it out.


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Got the '55 wagon running today. Once it started, it idled perfectly. My brother and I started making a list of things to do to make it ready for the big trip this spring. It needs the brakes gone through, tires and we need to address the steering. It likes to wander on the road which may be due to the Scout axle up front. Apparently they have zero degrees of caster angle which can make a vehicle wander. I need to get it to my garage to dig deeper. IMG_3745.jpgIMG_3748.jpg


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Update on the CJ-3A. It wouldn't start and had no spark. Started looking around and found the alternator wire to the battery fried. It runs through a ammeter first. Also found some other questionable wires.IMG_3705.jpg I pulled the alternator to have it tested and it passed with flying colors. After that the jeep still refused to start and kept blowing a fuse. The ignition switch in the GM column was sketchy at best so I bought a new one. That fixed my short but still no spark. I had power to my coil but nothing from the distributor. From there I inspected the cap/rotor and verified continuity through all my wires. I replaced the coil and still no luck. The Willys has an aftermarket Mallory ignition with coil, control box and distributor. They are no longer in business so parts are harder to come by.

This is where I decided to upgrade to HEI. Everything is integrated into the distributor and it's a one wire hook up. IMG_3843.jpg It's has a much bigger cap and trimming the firewall was required to drop it in the block. The cap is so big that it won't work with my Holley double pumper carburetor. This meant I had to go with a Edelbrock setup to get the clearance required. Found a 600 CFM on CL for $50. IMG_3845.jpgIMG_3849.jpg A 4 BBL carb it too big I feel and a two barrel would be better. But it ran pretty well on the 540CFM Holley so it will be alright for now. I'll have to wait until next week to hook everything up.


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WJCO said:
Wow. Lots of work. Custom swaps always have surprises. Looks good.
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Thanks. What makes it difficult is that I wasn't the one that did it. That means I have to figure out what the previous owner did or figure out what they were thinking. But problem solving is still fun.


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HEI conversion is complete. Willys runs again. Just need to get a real choke cable and replace the one I currently have (zip tie). I'll probably rebuild the carb. IMG_3925.jpg


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