Playin' with my Willys

I've been in the game for a bit and had almost any rig you can think of. its no mystery if you know me that I don't keep anything for any amount of time but I do LOVE building stuff. I'm not a big internet troll and rarely post but i have done a few threads in the past of rigs that meant something to me and I enjoy reverting back to them from time to time. I'm taking a break from the off road thing for an unknown amount of time but wanted to build another jeep since I'm not really a "car" guy. These are some of the rigs I've built previously...

1989 MJ on Superduty tons and 40" PitBull rockers, Stroker, cage...



1997 TJuggy on built tons, coilovers/ airshocks and TSL SX's. This started out as a full tub, full frame rig...




1989 XJ on built D44s, stroker, hybrid cage, late model door/ front/ interior swap, long arms, custom bumpers, boatsides...


1991 YJuggy on 2.5 tons, mild SBC on propane, 465, 205 on airshocks and 44" TSL's. This started as a full tub/ frame rig...




Tube chassis with Vortec 350, TH400, D300 on built tons, coilovers and cut 40"s. This rig was sold before finished for a good penny...



as well as a full build on this and a cage on the red one...



Keep in mind I don't have alot of fancy tools or a garage. I do all this in the driveway and do it to have fun. I have a good welder and a 6 year old bender that has a homebrew air over hydro conversion. All this leads up to the next project... My Willys.

This brings me to the new project... Back in the 70's my grandfather and his best friend had a Willys they would take out and wheel but as times changed it got left in the backyard and left to rot. Fast forward to about 6 years ago and I had been doing the auto thing for a bit. I don't come from a family of vehicle entheusiasts, its something i came into on my own. It was always a back thought that it would be cool to find that old Jeep that I had heard so many good stories of when I was younger, and from time to time I would check the web but never came upon much until that one day. it was late in the day after work and i had gotten online killing time and came across a '46 Willys CJ2a on Craigslist. I knew that was the year but could it be the Jeep? I called the owner and spoke to him a little, telling him my story and explained the Jeep had been sold 11 years before. He told me a little bit about it and described its condition. I couldn't remember anything about this old thing other than it had baby blue paint on it. When it started to develop rust there was some left over pool paint and that was good enough. Sure enough the owner told me that under the hood and in some places on the interior it was painted baby blue. It took me no time before I was there with a trailer and full asking price in cash. It didnt run, stop or turn but this was it and it came home that night. I didn't have anywhere special to store it or space/ money to work on it at the time so I stuck it under the old pine tree in the backyard and there it sat for 6 years.

Now that the history of this is out there I'll come up to modern day where I was trying to decide my next project. I had sold the truck I had put together and I was scouring the web for the next build for a few days. One night the wife and I were in the backyard around the fire pit, relaxing from a day working around the house and it hit me. "Why don't I just build that thing?" She agreed it might be time and I began to plan what I wanted to do and how to go about it. I have had plenty of ton/ 2.5 ton rigs and quite frankly I don't want to wheel a Jeep with anything less than 100" wheelbase, however these "Flat Rods" that i see on the net from time to time look like fun. Time to pull the Jeep around front and plan and assess the condition.




I knew long, low and mean was where I wanted to go. Fabricated frame, suicide front axle, full width rear... simple, effictive and clean. After a few days of disassembly and cleaning I realized this thing was a little rougher than I was hoping to start with. The tub had rot but it was all original. Motor was free, trans and t-case was there and axles still roll. It seemed like a shame to scrap the decent stuff to use the scrap. Meanwhile Jason Cooper had a CJ2 project up for sale and it already had a well built frame started and that frame would be a good start if it would work for this application. I arranged to check it out one afternoon and
get some measurements. One look and I knew it was a much better start with a blasted tub and complete sheetmetal. A few days later it was at the house and the original Willys was hosed down with WD40 and put back in its "storage."

First thing was to source a drivetrain and get the new Willys stripped down. I considered a V8 but what I really wanted was a straight 6 and thankfully I found one that was being sold to make room for a SBC swap in another CJ. Now that I have a motor, I need to find the trans, a 2wd AW4. I'm familiar with them and wanted a strong trans with overdrive. Just so happened that Scotty that delivered the Jeep had one back at his shop and the price was reasonable. All these parts gave me a place to start from and I yanked the leaf spring suspension from the fabricated frame and cut off the brackets to make room for a duo of link setups...






It took me a week of staring and thinking about how to hand the drivetrain but once it was in place it was time to make room for the trans. At this point I had a full width Ford 8.8 and a D30 2wd front beam and a pile of suspension fab parts. I set out to build a triangulated 4 link rear and 3 link with quarter elliptical springs frenched into the frame. 3 weeks later and I had a rolling chassis. I was pleased with how it came out and look forward to having modern brakes and servicability.




Fast forward to where it is now after I snagged a set of 1.25" wheel spacers for the rear to make enough space to tuck the tub in between the rolling stock and did some prettyserious cutting to drape the tub over this rear suspension.




Managed to cut back and reinforce the.rear wheel tubs so I could get some more leg room.



It still has a long way to go but it's finally at a point that I can sit back and see I'm going in the right direction. The front wheels are just rollers and the rear will have a taller tire but the wheels on the back are the ones that will be used and I have a matching narrower set for the front. Steering, firewall and a few other details will be beyond the ordinary and I hope to update this as I go. Thanks for the space and the time.

My Willy's might be bigger but yours looks longer!

:roflmao:

This thing looks cool Matt! I really dig the old school style & staying true to the jeep heritage by using a lot of jeep parts. Any plans for a power adder on the 258? A small turbo would be really easy to do & would add to the cool factor even more.

Looking forward to seeing more... Makes me want to build one lol.

Power adder would be a blast and something I'm sure I'll look into later (if I don't sell it, haha) and I look forward to driving it as is and seeing how much of a handful is going to be as is. It's 118" wheelbase, 4" belly and 84" wide at the back tires.

Holy cow that is bad arse!

Another pic for size reference...

I kinda dig it. It would be cool to find a way to mount 6 mikuni side draft carbies with chrome filter horns on it. I realize a turbo would help power more, but I think style is worth it in this case.

A good friend of mine also has a nice offenhouser intake with a Holley truck avenger that he'd love to sell at a reasonable price... That could be neat as well.
Came off a 258, carb has less than 1000 miles on it.

This build is going to be really cool! I know the detail that Matt puts into his work... can't wait to see it come together!

Damn it, Matt! At least finish this one before you sell it!

Nice! Is it just an illusion or is the grille stretched farther forward away from the cowl than OEM?

It's not an illusion, it's stretched a good bit. Not going to see a hood on it anyway, motor is too tall.

Sweet. I eventually want to do this with a gladiator grill in a narrowed FSJ core support and an M-416 tub for the bed. I want mine to still be 4wd though even though slammed own to the ground.

rredalty said:

It's not an illusion, it's stretched a good bit. Not going to see a hood on it anyway, motor is too tall.

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Cool. Looking forward to progress!

FlexdXJ said:

Damn it, Matt! At least finish this one before you sell it!

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i told him i at least need a ride in it....the last 6 have come and gone so quick i didnt even get to see them, and i live 5 minutes away!

I've wheeled with the Tjuggy, seen the green XJ at a Crawl and then saw it with it's new owner at Uwharrie. Now that was funny... Isn't that? No way. Holy crap it is.

I also like how you are keeping a Jeep powertrain in it. Looks like a blast.

Looks amazing bro!!

Exhaust? A set of six straight zoomies out the side would look killer. There's no way a full exhaust is gonna fit under it! Can't wait to ride in it!

The Hard Struggler said:

Looks amazing bro!!

Exhaust? A set of six straight zoomies out the side would look killer. There's no way a full exhaust is gonna fit under it! Can't wait to ride in it!

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You should come visit and check it out....

Awesome!

Wheeled with the MJ on tons and the Tjuggy. Great builds from a great builder. Love the new direction! Try and finsh it and give some rides before you sell this one!!!!