Wakefield Willys Update 1.3

I have not posted anything for a couple weeks because things have slowed down.

I am coming to the conclusion that we probably can not use the frame of the 1965+ Willys. For that reason, and the weather, we have come to a crawl as far as progress.

We have primed some parts, a hood, transmission cover, tool box cover, etc.... I find it quite satisfying to clean up some of these parts and priming them for eventual painting. Feels like we are getting somewhere, and it does not look like a rust convention.

Why it can't be a 1959 Willys Jeep

Since I have picked up the Willys, I have had my suspicion that our "Bondo Jeep" was not a 1959. There were some noted differences from our 1957 but I did not have any information to the contrary.

Until now.....

If you click on this link, you will see a great explanation of the differences between CJ5 over the years. With this info, I am convinced our "Bondo Jeep" has to be a post 1965+ Willys.

This website also indicates it was built sometime between 1965-1968, given the windshield wipers.

This is not a problem, given the frame should be the same.

So from now on, I will be referring to it as a 1965+ Willys

Before & After 1959 Willys Jeep

Wakefield Willy Update 1.2

Drew & I set aside today to make some forward progress on the Willys Project, and we got a lot done.

Engine
Nothing, all parts are at a engine shop in downtown Nashua. We have put a lot of work in that arena already and did not really have anything to do in this department.

Frame / Body
We got a lot done here thanks to my newest power tool, an angle grinder. Boy did this save a lot of work! Rusty bolts are so annoying, until you slice them in half with this. A must when working with rusty parts.

We basically started stripping the 1959 Willys. Removed the Hood, Windshield, and other assorted parts. The last major hurtle is to remove the "tub" or "bucket" if you prefer. For that, we will either need to cut it up, or have a number of men help us lift it off the frame. We will see.

Drew did a lot of sanding, and removing bolts. Between the 2 of us, we got a lot done.

Wakefield Willy Update 1.1

We have ignored the Willys for the past few weeks, the last couple of weekends have been busy. But today we had time to do some work on our project.

Pretty simple, but dirty.

We cleaned engine parts....

Crankshaft
Flywheels
Cylinders
Head Gaskets
Oil Pan (by far the worse in the group)
and many many more random parts.

It took a few hours, but the results look promising. Hopefully this coming week we will take the parts we have cleaned down to the machine shop where the engine block is located. Boy am I dirty!

Powerplant => F4 Hurricane

Not the best picture, but at least it shows what we are starting with. Let me introduce you to the future power plant of our Willys Jeep. The famous F4-134 Hurricane.

This is the replacement of the more famous WW2 Go-Devil Engine. It came out right before the introduction of the CJ5.

It is a great engine and we are looking forward to hearing it roar to life in a few years. It currently is at a machine shop in Nashua and it is being checked out to see if it indeed can be rebuilt. I hope it can, or I am out of an engine! We do have a spare engine, but it is a Go-Devil and we want to stay with the more accurate engine. We will find out hopefully sometime soon.

Willys Sanctuary

Looks peaceful doesn't it?

Well it was quite chaotic to get those Willys to the backyard, but they are finally at home.

They will both be covered soon as Winter will be approaching. The blue tarp marks where a tent shelter will be erected soon.

The Yellow Willys will simply be put under a tarp as we will not be getting to it until probably after Winter.

Anyway, glad they are here, nice to not have to travel 30 minutes to see them. A few engine parts are still in storage but that will not take much to get them over to the house.