dirtrider
Bigger Hammer
After a year of creeping around here I figured it was time to start my own build thread.
First, a little about myself. I grew up building cars with my dad with my first being a 1966 Rambler (don't judge it was a cool car!) and we owned and restored a couple of Marlins. Around this same time, we switched pages and built a 23 Ford T bucket street rod with a small block and 9" ford rear. It was a very fun car but limited on how much we could drive it due to the open top and no fenders. While still owning the T, we built a couple of 49-52 Chevy trucks with Nova subframes, 10 bolt rears, and small blocks with autos. These were very fun and one my dad drove daily for years. My senior year in high school, a friend ran from the cops, hit a fire hydrant, and ended up with a DUI and jail time (due to other offenses in the past). Since he was going to jail for a while, he offered to sell me his 69 Dodge Super Bee with a 383 and factory 4-speed. This is the car I had drooled over and dreamed about even before I knew what girls were!
This car started a long line of Mopar muscle cars for many years including a 69 Charger R/T, a 68 Charger R/T, another 69 Super Bee, a 69 Coronet R/T, and a 70 Challenger R/T. There were more but you get the idea.
In 2003 I had always wanted a Jeep and traded my 69 Super Bee for an 03 Rubicon. I immediately started modifying it and had an absolute blast with it. Unfortunately around 2010, the cars, Jeep, and 70 Dodge Power Wagon that I owned at the time had to be sold due to a divorce.
Rebounding from the divorce, I built a linked YJ with Dana 60's, coil overs, ARB's, NV4500, Howell fuel injection, etc. It was a LOT of fun but just a little too hard core to enjoy unless we were on a hard trail.
I sold it and bought a 2000 TJ which I still have. It's pretty mild but has an 8.8 Ford rear, 4:88 gears, Ox Lockers, winch, OBA, Currie steering, etc.... This Jeep is a lot of fun and gets driven and wheeled a lot. It and the dirt bikes will give me some stress relief while building my Willys.
Enough about me. On to the Willys!
A few years ago, while doing training for Search and Rescue, we were in a helicopter and we flew right over the top of a Willys wagon. I did some research and found out a friend owned it and had for 14 years and it was stored at his moms place. I didn't even know he had it. I had always wanted one and tried to buy it but he wasn't budging. Then last June he called me out of the blue and said he was moving to Seattle and would sell the wagon. I hooked up the car trailer and was there the next morning with cash! When I arrived he was weed eating all the weeds that had grown around the wagon. This is how it looked the day I picked it up.
Once home, I partially assembled and cleaned what was there to take stock in what I had and start with a build plan since I didn't have the original engine, trans, or transfer case. Overall the wagon is in really good shape with very little rust and other than the drivetrain, is pretty complete. I'm only missing the rear seat, driver's door handle, and driver's side mirror.
More to come........
First, a little about myself. I grew up building cars with my dad with my first being a 1966 Rambler (don't judge it was a cool car!) and we owned and restored a couple of Marlins. Around this same time, we switched pages and built a 23 Ford T bucket street rod with a small block and 9" ford rear. It was a very fun car but limited on how much we could drive it due to the open top and no fenders. While still owning the T, we built a couple of 49-52 Chevy trucks with Nova subframes, 10 bolt rears, and small blocks with autos. These were very fun and one my dad drove daily for years. My senior year in high school, a friend ran from the cops, hit a fire hydrant, and ended up with a DUI and jail time (due to other offenses in the past). Since he was going to jail for a while, he offered to sell me his 69 Dodge Super Bee with a 383 and factory 4-speed. This is the car I had drooled over and dreamed about even before I knew what girls were!
This car started a long line of Mopar muscle cars for many years including a 69 Charger R/T, a 68 Charger R/T, another 69 Super Bee, a 69 Coronet R/T, and a 70 Challenger R/T. There were more but you get the idea.
In 2003 I had always wanted a Jeep and traded my 69 Super Bee for an 03 Rubicon. I immediately started modifying it and had an absolute blast with it. Unfortunately around 2010, the cars, Jeep, and 70 Dodge Power Wagon that I owned at the time had to be sold due to a divorce.
Rebounding from the divorce, I built a linked YJ with Dana 60's, coil overs, ARB's, NV4500, Howell fuel injection, etc. It was a LOT of fun but just a little too hard core to enjoy unless we were on a hard trail.
I sold it and bought a 2000 TJ which I still have. It's pretty mild but has an 8.8 Ford rear, 4:88 gears, Ox Lockers, winch, OBA, Currie steering, etc.... This Jeep is a lot of fun and gets driven and wheeled a lot. It and the dirt bikes will give me some stress relief while building my Willys.
Enough about me. On to the Willys!
A few years ago, while doing training for Search and Rescue, we were in a helicopter and we flew right over the top of a Willys wagon. I did some research and found out a friend owned it and had for 14 years and it was stored at his moms place. I didn't even know he had it. I had always wanted one and tried to buy it but he wasn't budging. Then last June he called me out of the blue and said he was moving to Seattle and would sell the wagon. I hooked up the car trailer and was there the next morning with cash! When I arrived he was weed eating all the weeds that had grown around the wagon. This is how it looked the day I picked it up.
Once home, I partially assembled and cleaned what was there to take stock in what I had and start with a build plan since I didn't have the original engine, trans, or transfer case. Overall the wagon is in really good shape with very little rust and other than the drivetrain, is pretty complete. I'm only missing the rear seat, driver's door handle, and driver's side mirror.
More to come........
