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Strange willy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Messages
64
Location
Kearney, Nebraska
So I bought a 31' Willys C133 pickup off eBay in April of 2012 with the intent of building a mid-engine rat, the body is real straight with only a few small rust holes, the wood is junk and it was held together with wire when I picked it up out in Parker, Co. There were less than 3000 trucks made in 31' so pictures or parts are extremely hard to find.

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So I spent the rest of the year staring at this body stuffed in my garage trying to figure out the design and gather parts, my girlfriends cousin happened to have a mid 80's Jag that I robbed the rear axle out of and a 500 ci/Th400 combo out of a 72 caddy. I chose to go with IFS in the front to match the Jag IRS in the rear but I don't have $4000 to buy the Heidts open wheel kit that I really like the looks of, so with a bunch of emails between a few company's I have enough info to build my own. With the living room in our apt filling with boxes of parts in February I feel I have enough stuff to start.

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Lower A-arms 1 1/8" Dom with Chevy ball joint
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Upper A-arm 1" Dom with Dodge ball joint
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I'm using 69' Camaro drop spindles so I had to ream the upper holes to make the Dodge ball joints fit.
 
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Frame rails are 2x4x3/16, width is 27" wide pinched to 20" at very front to match the grill.

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Trying to figure out how much Z to make the frame level, static ride height designed for around 4-5
 
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Since this body was basically in pieces when I bought it and most of the wood is gone or junk trying to find the natural fit of the panels was kind of a chore. This will bite me in the butt later on!

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1x1 bent in our 50t press
 
like

looking great[P

l think these wheels or this style of wheels would finish it off perfect.

(personal choice of wheels:D)

Later :cool:
 

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Thanks for all the compliments, I wasn't sure if my build would be of any interest as there aren't many out there and it is really out of the norm but I wanted something strange and different that could still be long, low, loud, and sinister!
 
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Adding more structure and strength to the body


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Have to do something with the doors, wood is old and dry.

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Pulled the wood and bent some 1x2 to match the curves

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Now I have a door that has a solid frame work and won't twist

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I got a good set of stock bottom hinges with the truck but the upper I didn't care for so I found this old set of brass house door hinges and made them fit.

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They open and close nicely and the body lines are good

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Building the floor with 1x1

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Scored some seats from a coworker for helping him remodel his bathroom
 

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