Grand Willys Project

[jzp]

Woah woah woah ! Just back straight into it?

Where are the holiday snaps? How's the Wife and family? ...

.... Just kidding.... Nice to have you home dear!

[Gojeep]

I have been spending many hours on it every week but just not very photo worthy just stripping paint and putting them through the citrus acid bath. Might put a few up later if I get a chance.

One thing I can share is last night I bought a Australian Army Trailer from 1945. Called a No.4. This one was made locally by Ford but they were also made by GMH at the same time.


Years ago when I was deciding the length of the cab extension, I made sure I had enough frame left to use a trailer tub from one of these as my bed. Thought it would be nice and different and tie in with the theme that I am going for.


Will have to do a tailgate conversion on it to make it easier for the dog to get in and out. Was going to use my 48 Willys tailgate, but that is a lot shorter in height. Will see what ideas come up.


Stripped of paint and some minor dents taken out. Still needs a bit more work but has been soaked in citric acid since and got all the surface rust from inside the tubes out as well. Not sure how to incorporate this into the trailer tub?

[jzp]

Love the old trailers. How much do they sell for these days?

[Gojeep]

Originally Posted by jzp

Love the old trailers. How much do they sell for these days?

Hard to find them under a $1000 even with buckled and rusted out floors. I picked this beauty for a good price in much better condition. Been searching for the last 4 years for just the right one.

[Gojeep]

Took a break from stripping paint and tackled this dent on my Willys bumper.


Can see the distortion in the reflection and also the damage on the underside.


I just did it this way. Using a soft mallet on the stump so both had some give and wouldn't stretch the metal.


With most lifted it was on to more detailed work. Used a matching curved dolly and a flat faced hammer on top. I had the bumper sandwiched between the base boards of my house at one end and jammed into my stomach at the other while the middle rested on the stump. This was so I could push up hard from underneath with the dolly while tapping around the outside of the dent with the hammer from above. Pushing up harder than you are tapping down off dolly will raise the centre.


The metal is way too thick to use my bullseye pick hammer, but I used it to mark exactly underneath where I had a tiny amount of a crease left on top.


Then I line up the marks from the bullseye pick over the crack in the stump and then hit down, with the new hammer I bought while over in England recently, to hit on the marks.


Can see it has come up pretty well and have done no filing. Just light hand sand to show up any low spots.


Still got to get a little bit more on the side which I will do over a piece clamped in a vice to lift it.

[Gojeep]

I am having second thoughts about using the trailer as a bed. Been looking it over and the proportions are all a bit too small to suit the bigger cab. I might just replace the frame rails on the trailer and repair the main rust damage in the side and floor in the one corner and sell it on. Will need some 16" skinny tyres for it so if anyone got a couple lying around going cheap, let me know.

[Gojeep]

A little update.

Think this is the last major original pieces to be chopped up. This is to make the grille nearly 9" wider overall.


So this is my new 10 slot grille just balancing together for the photo. Still need to add a couple of inches each side in the headlight area yet.


Can see with the original 1958 8 slot grille next to it how much wider it is.


The 1948 10 slot grille next to it. So it keeps the tie in with that and the age of the chassis and original cab too.


All together it is easier to see the differences. Thinking I might leave the horizontal grille bars off too, but we'll see.


Left over pieces might be good for a golf buggy or rock crawler.