Wakefield Willys Update 3.8

Body Work

Passenger Fender is off, took a lot of work, had to cut some bolts in order to get it off the frame.

Discovered some very bad body damage on the firewall, I have some repair work to do, that I was not prepared for. No problem, that is what happens when you work on an old beat up farm jeep.

I may have to use the mig welder sooner than I was planning on...... Stay tuned.

Wakefield Willys Update 3.7

As seen in previous posts, I have been doing some shopping, assembling components for our front end project. We are almost set to tear down the front end and rebuild it. Very exciting.

While waiting for some parts, I have begun cleaning up the Tailgate, the most valued body part we have. Hard to find, and we have a good one

Part of the reason it is solid is the paint. I am telling you, I have wired brush what feels like 20 lbs of paint. It is so thick I feel like I am slicing through the paint.

Here are some photos of the tailgate. The picts really tell the picture. Notice all the colors, Grey, yellow, red, green...... I wonder how many times this tailgate has been painted? Many many times I am sure.

Windshield Bracket Screws

Posting this pict to find replacement screws, so far I have not been able to find them.

New Alternator

So upon doing some research on electrical options, I decided to replace the generator with an alternator. Reading forum entries on earlycj5.com, I have settled on a Delco / Remy Alternator that would be for a 1976 Chevy V8 Pickup. More powerful and a very common part to find. Both local parts stores I visited had them in stock.

This will replace the broken generator, and supply electricity to the Willys. An outfit in AZ, willysworks.com has a retrofit kit to connect the Delco Alternator to the F-Head Hurricane Engine.

Looking forward to this upgrade and seeing electricity being once more produced by this old Willys.

Wakefield Willys Update 3.6

It has been a busy time with the project. Here is a brief update.

Body
Firewall has been cleaned up and painted on the driver side. Still need to clean up the other side, but we have made quite a bit of a difference. Looking forward to finishing the firewall.

Electrical
This is a new area, and frankly I stumbled into it by accident. This needs some explanation.

Some Willys either have a 6V or 12 V system, and there is no way to know by year or serial number if your Jeep has which type of electrical system. My battery died this week, and I figured out that the generator is not working. We confirmed it today, it is doing nothing. We think it is a 12V generator given the voltage regulator. But the preferred upgrade is to install an alternator. Which is what we are going to do. Was not planning on getting into this, but we do plan to replace the belt, and it will be a good time to switch this engine component given all the body parts will be off.

Busy time but good, and I like the idea of upgrades and finishing off certain parts of the project. Starting to feel like a restoration, and less like a rusty old Willys.

First Paint

Mark the date, an important milestone has been achieved.

I am calling it..... First Paint.

The hood is primed, the fenders are being restored to bare metal and the grille has not been touched. But none of those body parts have received a coat of paint.

When I attached the fenders, I do not want them coming in contact with rust and dirt. So the front of the tub, needs to be cleaned, primed and painted. Here is the very first part of the tub being cleaned, primed and painted.

SIDEBAR - the square holes to the left on the tub was where the heater was located. Made a big mess with antifreeze, and found a mouse den, cemetery. Not pretty.

Where the CJ Fenders are located....

So for those interested, RMR Restorations is doing the body work on the CJ Fenders. Located in Beautiful Hollis, NH they have some amazing cars in various stages of restoration. Check out their website.

Looking forward to see the end result of our vintage CJ Fenders. They felt they were in good shape, and can easily be restored to near perfect condition. Glad to see we are still moving forward.