Grand Willys Project

[Gojeep]

With the radiator back in you can now see the clearance between the cross member and the fan support.


This is where I want the grille body mounts to go, but it is not quite flat enough.


So I used some 6mm-1/4" plate ground to fit the contour and make it perfectly level on top. Welded a nut inside the chassis to take the mounting bolt as will cap the end of the chassis later on.


Next is to make a mount off the grille without welding to the face of it so it doesn't show once painted.


I will see if I can use the body mount as a support later on for the top radiator mount as well.


I folded up the mount so it has a tab that goes over the double layer of steel where the lower grille tray overlaps the grille flange. This helps spread the load and is also a strong section. The vertical brace is up against the side of the bead I put in where it is the stiffest.


The outside brace welds directly to the steel strap that runs right around the outside of the grille. I had already extended it to the very bottom when I made the grille longer in preparation for the mounts. Back of the grille was painted and then flexible caulking put in between the front face of the mount.


Using two mounts instead of the factory single centre mount makes it much more sturdy than stock.


That is the last the the cab and front clip body mounts done.

[Gojeep]

Just making some lower radiator brackets. Going to weld them to the heavy duty OEM swaybar brackets as works out to be a very convenient spot.


The mounts I folded up out of the 4mm-5/32", same as the swaybar brackets.


Bolted back into place. These carry all the weight of the radiator, condenser, transmission cooler, hydraulic fan and A power steering cooler. Plus all the coolant and oils they carry. The top mounts only stop the assembly moving backwards and forwards.


The radiator sits on the OEM rubber mounting pads.


All into position with just the top ones to go.


Before making the top radiator mounts I wanted to fit the new cooler for the fan and power steering. The top one is the original that was as wide as the radiator. This meant that the whole radiator assembly would have had to be mounted 25mm-1" further back just to fit it in. So after hours of searching I found another Mopar cooler off a Jeep KJ Cherokee/Liberty that had the same core area, but taller and narrower. This will mean in can sit inside the 'V' of the grille and not take up any extra space.


The cooler brackets are too short to reach the original cooler mount and also space the cooler too far out.


The other side it is also too high to reach the top bolt below it where the OEM one mounted.


I also needed to change the straight up ports to side ones. The OEM hard line fittings were screwed out and found some -6AN elbows to replace them. Then a conversion to 10mm-3/8" rubber line barb. They are from the Australian company Speed Flow.


I did have to swap over the O rings from the cooler on to the new elbows as they were thicker and sealed better.


The elbows also can be positioned in any direction and then the O ring tensioned with the half nut.


I just extended the brackets with aluminium and riveted them on to the straightened out cooler mounts. I thought this was better than welding them on as can then transfer them easily if the cooler ever needs replacing. Also used an extra bolt on the one side. The cooler was spaced 6mm-1/4" from the core behind it, the same as factory. This needs to be done to keep air flowing through to the next core.


The lines will run in under the top grille tray.


Even after turning the exposure right up on this shot, it shows the cooler blends in which is what I wanted


Now to make that top radiator mounts. Only a 6mm OEM bolt holds it from moving backwards and forwards. No weight it carried as that is done on the bottom mounts.


I started by making some bosses with a nut welded inside. Told you those holesaw slugs are worth keeping.


Folded some 40x5mm, (1.5"x3/16"), flat and welded the bosses to them.


The flat goes from the body mount to the front side of the radiator mount before folding in under the top of the grille frame that has the steel strap underneath. This leaves enough room behind the headlight bucket and for the hard lines for the transmission and A/C condenser to still fit!


The radiator OEM mounts are rubber and can slide left to right to take up any movement. You couldn't have the radiator mount half on the chassis and the other on the body otherwise.


I have mounted off the front side instead of the OEM backside so it is easier to lift the radiator in and out without removing the grille. I will weld it all in place once the grille is off next time.

[Gojeep]

Just looking at some lighting options. Looking at going to a reflector LED 7" round headlight that doesn't look too high tech. Has to be ADR approved to get it passed for registration. https://www.narva.com.au/products/72104 So with that in mind not sure if to go with the original parkers/indicators or not? These are the ones off the 52 Willys grille.


They don't stick out much at all. The headlight above it will sit out more once the trim ring has been added.


This was what was on the 58 grille. Very much like the 47 Fords. Looks a bit undersized I think.


52 on the left and 58 on the right in the picture.


I actually bought these LED ones many years ago and got them in white, yellow and red versions to use on the front and back of the Truck. All are clear when not lit. I was going to run a yellow and a clear version above each other on the front, but don't think they suit anymore. Maybe still for the back?


Narva make this combined unit and are the same size on the outside as the 52 Willys ones. They might suit the LED headlights more and have a arrow look to the indicators.


I have taken out the lowering springs on the front and put the standard back in to get a better feel for final ride height. I still want a good amount of useable up travel and the lowered springs only gave me 40mm-1.5" before hitting the progressive bump stop. At the moment it is running at only a touch higher than what they were in the Grand Cherokee. So now deciding on tyre size. These are the stock donor Grand Cherokee size at 29.5" tall. Too small.


These are off my KK Cherokee and are 30.5" tall. Looks much better. I have raised the front 1/2" to show what it would look like mounted as well.


These are off my trailer and are 31.5" tall. Raises the front an 1" over stock, (2" taller overall). Maximum I can go and might be tight on fitting a full sized spare and on up travel. Is it worth it over the 30.5" tall ones?

[bodgie]

I reckon the 30.5" wheel works well, I also think the Narva indictor/parker combo would probably look pretty good too, might modern it up just enough.

Jason

[Gojeep]

Originally Posted by bodgie

I reckon the 30.5" wheel works well, I also think the Narva indictor/parker combo would probably look pretty good too, might modern it up just enough.

Jason

Thanks for the input Jason as been going back and forth on it. Especially the tyres size.

[SeaComms]

I think the 31.5 would be too big on the rear, I like the 30.5 too. Also a fan of that combined led indicator

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[Freetripper]

I also concur with the general consensus that the 30.5's give the right appearance and proportions.
I also quite like the Narva LED's as they give a little subtle nod to the modern drive train and features/comforts hidden underneath and inside.
People are always going to be looking at "that cool old Jeep that just passed us", but only someone with a keen eye and ear would notice it wasnt any old jeep but a hand crafted work of mechanical art.


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